e3 2005
I'm back from E3 and still processing the overwhelming stimulation of the loud bright insane world that is gaming. I'll have notes on the big displays in a few days, feel free to email me if you want them. (I won't be posting them here) .
Today, a few random comments about Kentia Hall, without a doubt the least-reported-on venue of E3 but home to my favorite little slice of the industry, the small companies making all sorts of little products to support gaming (and the only hall with a full bar.) Down in the basement, I boxed, danced, played tennis, whacked some baseballs, and tried out a gadget that lets you play simulated golf with your own club -- very cool idea, still needs some work (pretty long delay before the onscreen image appears). I saw at least seven disk-cleaning gadgets that promise to buff away those annoying gouges and scratches that make your $50 game disk useless. Still none for the home gamer, these products are geared towards rental outlets. Rats. I await the price point that will bring one of these gizmos into my home and perhaps end the incessant "what the f*** did you do to my GAME?!" conversations that plague us.
Goofiest moment: after meeting with Europeans all day, I ran into one of our testers and gave him the kiss-kiss greeting. Always cool, he brushed away my embarassed attempt to explain. Thanks, Phil!