Where were all the surprise games at E3 ’07?

Aside from Ontamarama and Blast Works, this E3 was filled predictable sequels and “AAA” titles instead of smorgasbord of games. During Nintendo’s conference they spent inordinate amount of time talking about the success of the Wii and they announced their big guns: Mario, Metroid and Super Smash Brothers. Unless you perused Nintendo’s release schedule with a careful eye you probably wouldn’t realize they have a lot of other games coming out that have nothing to do with Zelda. Endless Ocean (aka Forever Blue), Fire Emblem (subtitle still not determined) and Professor Layton for the DS are all due out this year. The same thing sort of happened at Sony’s conference. Sure we caught a glimpse of Echochrome, but Everyday Shooter didn’t get much attention despite the rave reviews its getting. It was shoved in a corner with little explanation on how to play it.

Part of the problem with having a smaller show is each company gets less space. There is only so much you can do with a boxy hotel conference room, there are only so many games you can fit in. In the hangar each company has equal space, which meant Microsoft couldn’t have a giant booth with twenty different demos of Blue Dragon (it wasn’t even playable), Viva Piñata Party Animals and their Xbox Live Arcade titles. On the plus side you didn’t have to wait to play games, but on the downside there weren’t many “hidden” games to scout for. The annual grouping of Korean cell phone developers never showed up and a number of USA publishers didn’t attend the show either. Instead of having a broad line up most publishers that attended E3 this year chose to focus on a few titles rather than throw everything they had in development in a mammoth booth. At past E3s games scheduled to come out two years later were playable, but not at E3 ’07. The focus was on letting people see what was coming out this holiday season.

I missed the diversity in past E3 shows. Even down at the Indie Games Showcase there were only a few games to see. Cloud from thegamecompany, Everyday Shooter on the PC and N+ which is going to be turned into a portable game care of Atari were the highlights. But you probably know about most of these already. The only oddity I saw and was impressed by was Night Journey. It isn’t a game in a traditional sense. You walk through a forest at night where the world blurs around you. When you meditate you can remove part of the fog and get a clearer picture of trees, the moon and the river. Meditating means moving faster and more exploration. The Night Journey gets an award for creativity and for being the only playable black & white game in the show.

If E3 ’08 does exist, where ever that may be, I hope more people are allowed to showcase their wares and companies get more space than inside meeting rooms. Otherwise each year’s E3 is going to be limited to the games publishers think are going to sell rather than their creative titles in their sleeves. Diversity is the spice of life right?