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Scott's Daily Agenda

What's the holdup with Sony's new PlayStation console? Is Halo 3 really as good as they say it is? Why is the video game industry trying to clean itself up?

If these are the types of questions you want answers to, then ask Scott Colbourne , our man at E3.

Each morning we'll lay out Scott's plans for the day — who he's interviewing, what he's seeing and where he's going. Send him your questions about the annual games extravaganza and we'll publish them below, along with Scott's replies, the next day.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is the video game industry's annual trade show in Los Angeles. Hordes of attendees will navigate 540,000 square feet of displays, viewing some of the 1,000 new games and related products. There will be stars, corporate honchos and parties galore.

This year's E3, writes Scott in his Saturday preview story , is an important show for the industry, as it's facing pressure from lawmakers looking to regulate game distribution because of the sexual content and gratuitous violence in some of them. He also talks about the effect the slow and fitful rollout of next-generation consoles has had on the industry. Plus, Scott identifies what to look out for at this year's show.

Friday's Agenda:

Scott will be putting the finishing touches on his "best-of-show" piece for Saturday's Review section before running off to a three-hour meeting with Electronic Arts. He'll meet with Bioware one more time and then hop a plane home.

 

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Monday's Q&A:

Michael Enright from Toronto writes: Which Canadian companies are at E3? Is there a new up-and-comer Canadian company there?

Scott Colbourne: If you are talking Canadian companies and their impact at E3, two have to be high on the list, both highly respected development studios: Bioware, based in Edmonton, and Silicon Knights, which makes games in St. Catharines, Ont. Bioware has joined forces with a venture capital company, Elevation Partners, and another developer, Pandemic, to pool resources and make next-gen games. They will be showing off several of those titles behind closed doors this week. Silicon Knights is working on an Xbox 360 game called Too Human that is building up hype at an almost alarming rate -- it is this month's cover story in Electronic Gaming Monthly. The sci-fi epic, slated to be the first in a trilogy, will mix the philosophy of Nietzsche with Norse mythology and a cinematic fighting style, according to Silicon Knights guru Denis Dyack. That combination has people talking, to say the least.

There are plenty of smaller Canadian firms here as well, and much of what happens at this trade show involves constant meetings in back rooms, and selling software and technology. For example, AI Implant is a Canadian company that specializes in the artificial intelligence of video-game enemies -- the coding that determines how all those skeletons with swords or nasty aliens respond to the presence of your character. They will be looking to sell their software to game developers at E3, and I will be speaking to them and a variety of Canadian companies during and after the show to see how they fared.

Mike S. from Toronto writes: What PC titles, as opposed to console, are generating the buzz this year? And how many of them are MMORPGs?

Scott Colbourne: Everybody has a MMORPG in the works it seems, especially developers that own popular licences. But I haven't heard about anything truly exciting yet in terms of on-line worlds. It is a potentially lucrative business model, but the set-up costs are very high.

For PC games, Spore will finally be seen in action. It's the latest oddity from Sims creator Will Wright. And one game that real-time strategy fans should look for -- it is actually being released this week instead of just being talked about -- is Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends. It looks great, and it is trying some new things in the heavily played (some would say played out) RTS genre.

Tuesday's Agenda:

Scott will be attending a Nintendo press conference in the morning (seated in the "Mushroom Kingdom" section, according to the invitation). Later, he has interviews with Microsoft. In the evening he'll be attending the eFocus party where he'll view several Canadian presentations.

 

Tuesday's Q&A:

Kevin Kimmis from Edmonton writes: Alright, so here's what we know about the PS3: It's about $100 more than the XBox 360 (although that's somewhat misleading, since the base 360 has no hard drive and the base PS3 does); it supports HDMI/DVI jacks (although I don't notice a huge difference on my HDTV); it has a Blu-Ray drive (but since Microsoft has plans for an external HD-DVD drive, I don't see that as anything more than Sony trying to create a market for its own product); it has a supercharged graphics card but perhaps not as complex a CPU as the 360); and it has motion-sensor controllors (which strike me as a fad that could wear out rather quickly). The real issue is: what games does it have? My beef with the 360 is that it had no killer app (PDZero was a bust) save for COD II and now Oblivion, which is like crack. Many games like Madden probably won't look or play that much better on either system. So what games will move PS3's off the shelves for Christmas? And did what you see strike you as significantly better or worse than what the 360 offers now? I might buy a PS3, but I need a better reason than the article I saw on this site to do so. Your thoughts?

Scott Colbourn: Thanks Kevin — great question. I have one for you (and others facing the same decision): What are your favourite games? As you write, each platform — Xbox, Nintendo's various oddities, PlayStation and PCs share many games but then have franchises all their own. Sony built up a lead in the last generation largely thanks to its exclusive franchises, many of them originating in Japan: Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto. Sony relies on these built-in fans to follow them from one machine to the next, and many will. If you don't need to play one of those exclusives (and there are fewer than ever before -- Microsoft is good at making corporate connections), then Sony will have more trouble signing you up given the wait and the extra cost for the PS3. To answer your question about specific games, I haven't seen any PS3 titles that truly thrill me yet (Heavenly Swords is the closest thus far). But this is early going down here and you have to get your hands on them before you can really tell. Of course, given this rate of disclosure, it might be mid-2007 before original PS3 games start converting people on their own.

Ricky Lam from Toronto writes: If you need an assistant next year, take me with you?

Scott Colbourn: By assistant, do you mean unpaid intern who has to cover their own travel costs and run errands? If the answer is yes then you're in. I have actually been thinking of outsourcing -- again, with zero salary -- several duties: playing through all new games, so I can skip levels when I get stuck, and losing graciously to me in multiplayer sessions. But sadly Ricky, it looks like this burden of so much to play and too little time is mine to carry alone. Thanks for the offer though.

Wednesday's Agenda:

Scott has a morning interview with Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo and Nintendo booth tour right after. Later in the morning, a group session with Miyamoto-san, who is going to unveil a hush-hush new title. Scott has afternoon meetings with Windows Vista engineers, showing the OS playing games, then tours of the Ubisoft, Sony and Microsoft booths. He's also going to try to see Gears of War, the Epic sci-fi game that looks really good. And, oh yes, then there's the Nintendo party in the evening. They say the Princess will be there.

 

Wednesday's Q&A:

Anonymous Guest from Lake Oswego, OR, United States writes: Scott, all video controllers are built for 10 year olds. I'm looking for a controller I can play that fits an adult. My thumbs don't work like that. I need something like: the ForeArmature where I can use my wrists and forearms. Do you see anything like that out there in the E3 field?

Scott Colbourne: Well, I think 10-year-olds would love the controller pictured there, but I get your point. The way players control games is really opening up. More developers are making their own control systems for specific titles: I just walked past the booth for Guitar Hero 2, which uses a guitar-shaped controller. And the Wii, the next Nintendo console, is built on a bold attempt to change how people play by sensing motion. And this needs to happen since complicated, multi-button systems turn a lot of people off. For your specific needs, what about playing PC games? The keyboard and mouse combination can do some pretty amazing things, too.

Mark McKay from Toronto Canada writes: Scott, ask Sony why the new Play Station is so ugly. Give Miyamoto a hug for me.

Scott Colbourne: I could ask, Mark, but the answer would go something like this: 'It is beautiful and everybody loves it ....'

This is not just Sony — E3 is about looking on the bright side at all times. Relentless optimism is the order of the day. Every once in a while the mask slips: on Wednesday, a young woman showing me a demo of a game, at the end of eight hours playing the same level over and over again, muttered: "It's a great game. I hate it right now and I won't touch it after Friday, but it's a great game."

And Miyamoto-san was in hugging range at Wednesday night's Nintendo developer event. The creator of Mario and Nintendogs dropped a bombshell: A 90-second video of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, with all of the usual suspects and Metal Gear Solid's Snake as a playable character. Most of the assembled crowd of media types wanted to hug him after seeing that (of course, several of them had prominent Nintendo-themed tattoos, and the cellphones that went off all seemed to play music from Mario games). Also, he seems so happy all the time.

Jim Bizzocchi from Vancouver Canada writes: Scott — I know that the PS3 and the 360 both have HD output capability. I am curious about the effects that the combination of big home flat-panel displays and HD-quality visuals will have on the gaming experience. Also, did you find any indications of how the game companies are factoring these two conditions into game design? Thanks, Jim Bizzocchi.

Scott Colbourne: Thanks for the questions Jim. Right now, I think high-def screens can heighten your involvement in a game if you love graphics, if you stand still and look at mountains in the background or birds flying by (or, let's be honest, bullets parting the air and sunlight glinting on armour). But I have not seen a game where HD changes the way you play in terms of interacting with the environment. Developers are factoring it in, but mostly because it affects the many math and science equations that make games work. Now, a curved or circular high-def screen that surrounds the player - that could really change things.

Thursday's Agenda:

Scott's booked with meetings all day, so if you've a specific question for any of these developers, get them in. He'll start the day with Activision, then move on to id Software, Bioware, Konami, Square Enix and Buena Vista (Disney's game wing). He'll be part of a group interview with Xbox 360's head guy Peter Moore and then will be attending the Sony party in the evening.

 

Thursday's Q&A:

Bud Johnson from Oakville Canada writes: Good Morning Scott I have a kid who knows about Nintento Revolution through related articles. He is desperate to find out the release date of the Revolution consol. He also said that there is a game called Supper Smash Bros. Revolution for the game. I was hoping that the e3 expo would provide a release date?? Thanks

Scott Colbourne: Hi Bud and hello Bud's kid. A lot of people were hoping for a release date, but Nintendo is only saying that the Wii console, formerly known as the Revolution, will arrive in the fourth quarter. That probably means November to get it in stores in time for the holiday, but no guarantees.

There will be a game called Super Smash Bros. Brawl and it will arrive in 2007, according to the young man heading up its development in Japan, Masahiro Sakurai. There is a video making the rounds that will make Bud Lite (sorry) and many others very happy. You can find it here .

Maureen McClelland from London writes: Hi Scott: What's the near future looking like for PC-based role-playing games? Any talk about a next-generation Neverwinter Nights from Bioware? I especially like games with great depth and character development such as Neverwinter or the older Ultima games.

Scott Colbourne: Hi Maureen. That is a good question because a lot of things are going to be happening with PCs and role-playing games judging by what I have seen here.

I'm assuming you know there is a Neverwinter Nights 2 on the way. It looks good and right now they are saying mid-September. Then there are two new ones (or new to me anyway) that take the RPG formula and apply them to non-fantasy games: Titan Quest is set in a world that looks like a combination of ancient Eygpt and Greece; Hellgate: London is much darker, and as the name implies, has some first-person play. It's being put together by one of the studios behind Diablo.

As for games with depth and layers and layers of character development, they are moving to other types of gaming as well. A lot of popular massively-multiplayer worlds are basically role-playing games — Guild Wars is a good example. Then you're seeing titles like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the new Bioware game, Mass Effect, being brought out on the Xbox 360. Oblivion's success is going to make a lot of publishers and developers take another look at the genre, that much is clear. Hope that helps and thanks.

Bishop 201 from New York writes: Has there been anything said about the new Socom that im hearing about? I hear it has co-op but i would like to know more.

Scott Colbourne: Bishop, I just saw it on the show floor. It is called SOCOM: Combined Assault and it is indeed a co-op PlayStation 2 game. Instead of a squad made up of characters controlled by the computer, you can play with three other people on-line and do missions together. The graphics look pretty old-school compared to the PS3 games a few feet away, so it's not getting all that much attention here. But it has the same controls and feel as the other SOCOM games and it will probably make a lot of veteran players happy. I don't remember the exact release date — all the titles are blurring in my head — but I think it is this fall.