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Multitap #1 - E3 footage, bitching & moaning.

May 19, 2003 By Glenn Turner

Multitap is a series of discussions concerning the current issues in gaming today, which mostly just result in myself and unitdaisy bickering for about five minutes.
Since we couldn't actually be at E3 this year, we though we'd examine some of the hot & most talked about trailers at E3 this year, making us feel big and important. You might want to actually view some of the trailers before reading our reviews though. And without further ado, let us tackle ....

Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) - View Gameplay Demo:

unitdaisy: Well on a purely visual level I'm impressed, nice simultaneous shadow and reflection on the water, however, the game looks very boring.
peccaui: It does look really really dull. What's the point of being a ninja if you're just like every other 3d platformer out there?
unitdaisy: And that dinosaur skeleton looks as dumb as dirt. Pretty but vapid.
peccaui: I think the demo was to show how BIG and SCARY he was. But it was lame. Big and lame.
unitdaisy: Also if you're going to show controller shots, show them from the point of view of the player. And I don't care if it is a game played demo, show an interesting part of the game. And if that is the most interesting part of the game - that's really sad.
--
unitdaisy: Any ninja without a scarf is pointless.
peccaui: Agreed - too bad they didn't show any new shinobi 2 footage.
unitdaisy: Mmhm, female ninja. I know how that's going to go. Look at me in my ninja wetsuit!
peccaui: Have you seen the screens?
*views screens*
peccaui: Okay, you're right - but look - it's stylized!
unitdaisy: Mmhm. And why work on mapping fabric motion if you aren't going to work with real fabric?


Tony Hawk Underground (GC/PC/PS2/Xbox) - View Trailer:

unitdaisy: First off, the word unbreakable is irrelevant in this context - they just added it as an excuse to break glass in the trailer. I know I am supposed to be looking at this footage to form an opinion about the game and not concentrate on the quality of the trailers, but if you can't present your product well - why should i believe you are able to produce something worth buying.
peccaui: But it looks good!
unitdaisy: I mean what on earth was unbreakable about the first four Tony Hawk games? Nothing.
peccaui: You forgot about bones. You could break a lot of bones.
--
unitdaisy: They should have a mtv mode in the game where the visual style of the game would constantly change while you're skating like they do in this footage.
unitdaisy: Exactly how are you supposed to download your face texture into the game?
peccaui: I think they're going to use an external peripheral and then you save it to a memory card or hard drive or you'll scan it or ... fuck if i know. Vaporware anyone?
--
peccaui: It looks like a skater version of GTA.
unitdaisy: Yeah - it looks like how Vice City should have looked.
peccaui: Why the hell would you say that?
unitdaisy: Because i didn't think vice city looked all that good. These roofs actually have tiles. Overall It looks more realistic in the irregularites of natural textures and weathering of buildings, roads, etc.
peccaui: Perhaps. I highly doubt it'll be as expansive as GTA though.
--
unitdaisy: I think it's ironic that they're marketing it as an underground game that you can be a part of, but somehow in you little underground world famous mainstream skaterswant to skate with you, not very underground.
peccaui: Well, what's in a name anyways? Personally, i'm having doubts that they'll be able to pull all of this off - the story mode probably, but as far as having a large world where you can do what you want, skate with whoever you want ... that's reaching a bit.


Killer7 (GC) - View Trailer:

unitdaisy: Frankly, this is what i think video games should look like - highly stylized animation, living comic books.
peccaui: Realism is for suckers. The technology isn't there right now to make an effective drama - and people always want to play comic books. I really fucking want to play this comic.
unitdaisy: Not to rip on Vice City again -- well, yes, to rip on Vice City again -- I think it would have been a much more powerful game if the visual style of the game had been similar to the promotional material. That would have been a visually appealing game. And certainly much better than half way there realism.
peccaui: 1) We're not talking about VC and 2) GTA isn't really about the visuals, it's about the world you are put in. Either way, this looks like it might merge the two together. but who knows? Most of the footage in this trailer we've already seen in the screenshots that have been handed to us, and the mtv editing doesn't really give us much of a clue about how fluid the game is.
unitdaisy: True but at least this trailer made it look more interesting than a lot of the gameplay demos we've seen.
peccaui: But this is a trailer. That's the point of trailers - that's not the point of gameplay demos.
unitdaisy: Yes it is.
peccaui: No, it isn't.
unitdaisy: Case in point - our next video for Metal Gear Boredom. Was that a trailer or gameplay demo?
peccaui: Trailer.
unitdaisy: Boring as fuck 10 min trailer.
peccaui: I fell asleep half way through it. Then I woke up to get my laundry. And it was still playing when I came back!


Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2) - View Trailer:

unitdaisy: So if this isn't about Vice City, why do they keep talking about it in?
peccaui: Because they think they're clever. Like Roger Avery.
unitdaisy: They're all wrong.
peccaui: It looks like rambo.
unitdaisy: And how exactly does a seasoned army fellow find taking bites out of fish through the skin and picking the scales out of his teeth more efficient than filleting them? Look kids - your hero is an idiot!
peccaui: He said he was hardcore. What more do you want?
unitdaisy: What, is it stealthier if you sneak up on the dead flesh by biting through the skin instead of chopping up the animal?
peccaui: I just think he saw The Horror.
unitdaisy: And why the odd undeveloped visual choices? The entire trailer is monochrome and then there are little completely out of place multi-color sequences in the middle and then bam, borring. We don't have to watch the trailer again do we?
peccaui: Fuck no.


Pac-Man GCN (GC) - No free trailer available at this time:

peccaui: When I first heard about this, my response was: "Doesn't nintendo have better things to do?" but after seeing the demo it actually looks like a fun, albeit simple party game
unitdaisy: Yeah. I think the 3D part is confusing because of the maze, why would you only show a portion of the maze?
peccaui: Beats me. I'm sure there's some point though. Or maybe it's just to entertain those waiting in line to play. Maybe it should have just stayed as a GBA link-up game with no GC connectivity. Nintendo seems to be going a bit too wild about this GBA/GC connective crap - i mean, to have four players with four GBAs, four linkup cables and a GC - that's a pretty chunk of change you're spending.
unitdaisy: So now we can connect gba to your GBAs, GameBoy(s) to your Gamecube and GameBoy to your TV and your GameBoy to your sewing machine.
peccaui: But you can't get online with a decent title. Thanks Nintendo!
unitdaisy: Maybe the world is finally ready for the GBA with cellphone and mp3 player! Screw the developers going in the opposite direction.


Halo 2 (Xbox) - View Trailer:

peccaui: I'm not a fps fan, but i can't say i wasn't excited by the pseudo-Twisted Metal Black sequences.
unitdaisy: Blahblahblah - the environments do look better than the first one ...
peccaui: That's it? That's all you have to say?
unitdaisy: Blahblahblah. The cameraman was too busy jacking off to hold the camera straight.
unitdaisy: Just look at the jerky glidy way the characters still move in the game - there's no subtlty or grace to this game - i suppose that's not what teenage boys are looking for, but ...
peccaui: We're probably the wrong people to be reviewing this trailer.


Half-Life 2 (PC) - View Gameplay Demo:

unitdaisy: Strider strider! Strider strider!
peccaui: I loved Strider. why won't Capcom make a new one?
unitdaisy: I'll say it now - this whole magentic gun thing is ridiculous.
peccaui: Ridiculous, or just so crazy it blew your mind?!
unitdaisy: I so didn't buy the whole 'hey mom look at me i can rip a radiator from the wall and throw it at someone'
peccaui: That was too cool. I nearly wet myself when I saw it.
unitdaisy: Why can't you just use your magnetic gun on all your enemies, pick them up and throw them across the landscape? Why have a crowbar when you're just going to use it as a blunt object to smash the wood instead of utilizing the very nature of a crowbar and pull the pieces off of the door? Why have anything but that damn gun?
peccaui: Then ... you wouldn't need .. things... and stuff. Just let me watch the rest of this. So ... much ... interactivity. BEST OF SHOW.
unitdaisy: I will admit that pulling the 'F' off the wall was pretty cool. Strider strider!


Fable (Xbox) - View Trailer:

unitdaisy: Who wants to be a good guy when all the bad guys dress better?
unitdaisy: The kid looks like such a dork.
peccaui: They're actually using tony hawk's technology to map my face to the kid. Thanks a lot.
unitdaisy: Okay, that grass monster is pretty cool.
unitdaisy: I think the concept of this game is really neat - it's really intriguing in a dorian grey sort of way it's neat to have people's personality's mapped out in their appearances. Other than the fact that it's for xbox, it looks like a great game.
peccaui: Well, I'm just glad to see that Lionhead Stuidos is doing something other than sitting on their mounds of money and cackling at us.
unitdaisy: As far as trailer making goes, these people win - hands down - they actually give a sense of the depth of the game and the variety of both characters and situations available in the game. It's even better than the Killer7 trailer because it gives you not only an idea of the style of the game, but the potential.
peccaui: I could probably cut a trailer out of EQ footage and make it look like that. All i saw was mostly combat. And morph effects, which weren't cool when Michael Jackson did it and it wasn't well done here.
unitdaisy: By far, i think these designers have the best use of color out of anything else we have seen. the scenery and the costumes don't look surreal or unreal, but they don't look monochromatic either - it achieves a subtle and expressive use of color without looking like a disney movie.
peccaui: Personally, i'm surprised at the amount of combat the trailer showed. I'm hoping it's not mostly a hack & slash - and I doubt it will be, but the trailer appears to be a bit misleading in that way.
unitdaisy: I don't think so - I think these people actually understand the purpose of a trailer and they showed you the variety of different characters that you can achieve in this game, and they understand that the development of those characters is only intersting when you are actually involved.
peccaui: Well, I was just speaking concerning the reflection of the game vs. what the trailer showed us. you know, just like those trailers that make movies like XXX look like a romantic comedy.
unitdaisy: Yeah, well showing someone and their in game conversations for a minute wouldn't be interesting.
peccaui: I'd like to hear what they have to say. it's probably better than arguing about this.


Doom3 (PC/Xbox) - View Trailer:

unitdaisy: At least the characters move more realistically than the halo characters do.
peccaui: It looks pretty, but half-life 2 ruined me from enjoying this. i know they're trying to achieve a scary single-player experience, but a) i didn't really get that from the trailer and b) well... no gravity gun.
unitdaisy: Boring.
peccaui: I'm sure it'll scare the hell out of you when you see it though.
unitdaisy: Oh look! More humanistic reptilian/insectoid aliens! More future desolation spaceships! Science-fiction is in a rut.
peccaui: ...says the woman with 10 2" thick sci-fi compilation books by her bedside.
unitdaisy: Always looking for the author to take it another step further.
peccaui: Wait - you're telling me id games have plots?
unitdaisy: Either way, i'd appreciate games more if they went beyond imitation giger nightmares.
peccaui: But then they'd loose the highly valued 14-year old goth boy demographic!

And that's all for this week. Tune in for the next discussion, where I try to convince unitdaisy that I don't need to pay my student loans so I can upgrade my computer for Half-Life 2.

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