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LES CLAYPOOL MUSHROOMMEN.COM

Tr 2 Until now, you've had it easy. In other games, you were the best. But in; Online fraternity of SOCOM warriors, you'll learn there's a force even more powerful than you — there & TEAM. And to wage war as a team of SEALs is to know the spirit of SOCOM Confrontation: Alone | am Lethal. As a team | Dominate. Start the confrontation at SOCOM.com. à |

меди Sal navy ти SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation ©2008 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. The Trident Design is a trademark of the Department of the Navy and is used by permission. The U.S, Navy

provided technical support, but does not officially endorse this product. “PlayStation,” "PLAYSTATION," and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The PLAYSTATION Network Logo is a service mark of Sony Computer Entertainment inc.

Strong Language Violence

Dell recommends Windows Vista® Ultimate. ay

Windows Vista

Ultimate

OWN 1 - PWN ALL

Introducing the XPS" 730 H2C. rhese are the facts. With an Industry-Standard ATX chassis, the XPS 730 H2C boasts optional Quad Graphics Cards; giving you four times the graphics horsepower. It also comes with a factory over-clocked'" processor that provides top notch performance and Windows Vista Ultimate, which harnesses the power and 3-D graphics of high-performance games. And with that kind of power inside, including the exclusive Dell H2C 2-Stage Liquid Cooling System was a must. There's really not much else

to say. Except, you're welcome. Yours is here.

Dell" XPS" 730 H2C Starting at

$3999

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Shown with 24" monitor, add for $670. Windows Vista* Ultimate includes the premium gaming graphics capabilities of DirectX 10

to provide the ultimate in true game play.

DELL GAMING DESKTOP SYSTEMS STARTING AT $1099. GET YOURS AT WWW.DELL.COM /ЕСМ730 | 1-800-405-4261

"PRICING/AVAILABILITY: Offers subject lo change, not combinable with all other offers. Taxes, shipping, handling and other fees apply. U.S. Dell Home and Home Office new pura full functionality of your system at factory overclocked settings. Overclocking beyond factory settings may cause system instability and reduce the operating life of your system со Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Newspaper Advertisement Supplement.

serves the right to 6 nol provide tech

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ОТВ, ЕВ

YOURS IS НЕВЕ

arising from pricing or other errors. MEMORY AND GRAPHICS: Significant system memory may be used to support graphics, depending on system memory size and other factors. FACTORY OVERCLOCKED: Dell warrants the for any hardware or software issues arising {rom any third party application, such as NVIDIA nTune 5.0, used to enable overclocking. TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT NOTICES: inte! and intel Core are trademarks of the Intel

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SOLID (256865) © Ace ot Spades

\/ GP > д - ФО Livin’ Опо Prayer 500 available tracks by year's end— Super-durable, wireless peripherals Over 80 brand new songs from rock's New features—Global Online** World the largest library of any game, ever.* including available full-size Fender" guitar. biggest artists, plus rock out to all your Tour, daily and weekly Battle of the Bands, and bass, and deluxe lon™ drum set. previously downloaded tracks. Custom Set Lists, Drum Trainer, and more!

Suggestive Themes ROCK BAND INSTRUMENTS COMPATIBLE WITH ROCK BAND 2 КА See the complete track list on LL A ROCKBAND2.COM HARMONIX cames

*Original Rock Band disc tracks upgrade requires online connection and key purchase. **Internet connection required. See pack back for details.

© 2008 Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Harmonix, Rock Band 2 and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., an MTV Networks company. Rock Band 2 developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. MTV: Music Television, MTV Games and all related titles and logos are trademarks of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. EA and the EA logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the US and/or other countries. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. FENDER™, STRATOCASTER™, and the distinctive headstock and body design of this guitar are the trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and used herein under license. on and lon Drum Rocker are registered trademarks of lon Audio LLC. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. АП other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

ASSEMBLAGE OF MUSIC S IN A GAME TO DATE.” |

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MATURE 17+

Blood and Gore Intense Violence

| COUNTLESS TALES cup m |! 4 НАУЕ BEEN ТОТО E ДЕ here P. s — 5 PANDORA'S BOX.

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MUST SAVE CIVILIZATION FROM BECOMING A MYTH.

EVERY LEGEND

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Issue 233 е October 2008

CONTENTS

ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA

— О |

M

32 Square Enix Report 36 Online Scene __ E 38 The Big 0188 7

Р?

45 Going Mobile

Cover Story:

RROR’ EDGE

EA has us jumping for joy in developer DICE's innovative building-hħopping first-person action дате

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA GAME GROUP

14% ELECTRONI

GM.1UP.CON

BODY WASH MOISTURIZER

(СОМТ. ) ОО REVIEWS "| CO 78 Reviews Intro c jx 80 Mario Super Sluggers Ж 81 МНЕ 09 O © 82 Star Wars: Ф The Force Unleashed е 84 Tiger Woods PGA со Тоиг 09 СЭ N 84 FaceBreaker Ф T 86 Disgaea 3: д | You're probably thinking, © Absence of Justice *Man, l've never seen a videogame = magazine cover like this one"—or, at 86 Tales of Vesperia қ least, you should be. Yes, there have

been many great gaming-magazine

88 Too Human 4 covers over the last 20 years, but I’m 1 6: especially proud of this one because, 90 Viva Pifiata: like with many of our recent covers,

Trouble in Paradise we worked closely with the game's ) developer to make sure it represents 92 Guilty Gear 2: Overture something special. And if you like

what's on the front, then you'll want 92 Spore: Creatures to race to the story itself, because we go in-depth on what's shaping up to 93 Dragon Quest IV: be one of the most original games of Chapters of the Chosen the year. Instead of just cranking out another Battlefield game, Swedish developer DICE decided to take a chance with the first-person genre, GAME OVER ultimately resulting in the parkour- 98 Seanbaby’s meets-first-person-action hybrid you'll Rest of the Crap find in this issue. What’s parkour, you ask? If you’ve seen Casino Royale, 100 Retro you probably remember that on-foot

94 Download Wrap-up

chase scene where they run and jump 102 Blu-ray Bungalow all over the place. That’s pretty much

it. A movement that started in France, 104 Next Month parkour is the art of moving with and

around any obstacle in your way, and 106 Top 10 ® its practitioners can do some amazing

things. When you finally get your EGM EXTRAS ON hands on Mirror's Edge, I'm sure you'll ^ CON agree that the sense of movement Want more? Hit up EGM.1UP is phenomenal—not only for how om for bonus content. Also: it translates into an exciting game Check out our podcasts at experience, but also what it signifies 1UP.com and message for the genre. If DICE can do parkour 2 m with a first-person engine, imagine all of the other game concepts that could be applied to that perspective. It's something worth thinking about. —James "Milkman" Mielke, Editor-in-Chief

2 СОМТЕМТЪ

boards а! boa

ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA GAME GROUP

TAUR

NETWORK

All content copyright © 2008 Ziff Davis Media Inc. Reproduction, miss

by any теа without written permission trom Ziff Davis Media Inc. is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

16 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е EGM.1UI

KC HOPE RUNS DEEP

wwwegearsofwarecom

0) СС Ш - - " „=

Journey, janitors, and the heavy metal umla

1UP Family This month we meet 1UP user Erin Ali (Misato Anami)

How long have you been a member of 1UP?

I actually have been a member of 1UP since before the beta, and before 1UP had member pages and blogs. It was a time when the page was a turquoise background with the old-school yellow/black ТОР logo. | started blogging on Ше beta site in June 2004, making this a little over four years for me.

What games are you currently playing?

| just finished Mass Effect. I'm currently playing Metal Gear Solid 4, Portal, and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 (love King and Pacifism!). I’m looking to start Lost Odyssey soon.

How many propos- als have you received?

No proposals, really, but | do get asked if I’m 12 and a boy when I play Halo 3. | just accept it and go with it.

Trivial Issue

This month’s

EGM question:

What city helped

inspire the scale of Mirror’s Edge’s city? E-mail the answer to EGM@1UP.com (subject head: Trivia: EGM #233) for a chance to win something potentially awesome.

For writing this month's LOTM, Vince gets a copy of Ultimate Ghosts "n Goblins...or something else from our dusty old collection.

18 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • EGM. 1UP.COM

a

i

Falling on hard times

| agree that people are complaining too much about the difficulty of games these days. In some ways, | sympathize. | have spent hours of my time going through the same level or boss fight because it's complex or just difficult. However, this doesn't mean | agree with them. Sure, | agree that games are meant to be fun, but they should be challenging, too. If anything, games have gotten easier over the years. As my parents are quick to point out, the original Donkey Kong had no save spots and no checkpoints. They had to take their little Mario uphill both ways barefoot through the snow while dodging barrels that could kill them. They would always get to the last level before losing their last life and going back to level one.

Don't be so quick to get angry just because you keep losing to Darth Charlie or whomever the antagonist is. At least you aren't going back to level one.

— Vince Winkler

Yeah, good point there—hang on a second. Your parents? Oh, crap, we're old.

Doing science Your "The Story of Story" article [ЕСМ #231] was good except for one critical omission: Portal. Telling a good story is an art form, and it's not easy. It involves knowing how to pace and structure a plot around a three-act framework of introduction, growth, and conclusion. No other game comes close to achieving what Portal has done in properly implementing the concept. It's done so well that even the gameplay follows the same pacing. (Act 2 starts after the player gains full control over the portal gun, and Act 3 begins with the escape from the testing area.) Also, Portal is the best example of a game fully embracing the interactive medium of videogames

"WT А. А" д".

M No save spots here..and we /iked it!

to tell its story. It does not borrow from other media by having the player watch a cut-scene or read a diary. Rather, its plot is one that's experienced. So that's why | consider Portal the closest game we have to achieving "art" status. Not including it in an article about the evolution of how games tell stories is some sort of crime against journalism.

— David Funtsch

Considering the acquisition of the fully functional portal gun as the start of a second act is... well, it's a bit of a stretch, David. But your point about the artistry of Portal's storytelling is well taken.

Get used to it, guys This is a reply to the crybaby 12- year-olds whining that they're disrespected by older gamers online (ЕСМ #230, Letters, "Aren't they precious?"). For one, don't think I’m the kind of 30-year-old guy these kids are complaining about. | am an 11-year-old female gamer.

| haven't ever really been into the games these guys are (for me, it's less Call of Duty and Halo and more Animal Crossing and MySims), but they are just being childish seeing as they are, well, children. Some adults are just like that— cupcakes. I'm terribly sorry that you feel that way, but in reality, you are screaming boneheads to them, and | highly doubt you have real skill. If you want to avoid people like this, get off of Xbox Live, or better yet, go play the SNES so you won't feel insulted.

— Shelby Wazowsiki

Wow, girls really do mature faster than boys, don't they?

Two great tastes that taste great together

| spend a lot of my time playing first-person shooters and real-time strategy games. Why has no one thought to combine the two? What

| have in mind is something like

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frém not just changing your fife but changing the lives of others. y * | | “Sa | Find out more at | | NS E | 3 Ха | = : и. AM \ | | 294 КА | 0.5.АВМУ |=- > Үү Staff камени сте A | m ARMY STRONG. i 2907. Paid for Ву the Unite d Sla ates Ari ONG АН rights Теге. А <a N

B Journey Escape: Watch out for those love- crazed groupies and shifty-eyed promoters!

Savage 2 (PC) but less medieval. For example, think of a game like Company of Heroes (PC) but with the ability to take control of the units and use them like in an FPS. There's an opportunity for an awesome multiplayer game there. Can you imagine how insane tournaments would be? What if a high-ranked Counter-Strike clan hooked up

with some of those crazy Korean StarCrafters?

I'm very surprised that no one has actually tried to make a game like that yet. What do you guys think? Would you play a game like that?

— George Stewart

Boy, are you in luck. Evolved Games is working on Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger, which sounds exactly like what you're looking for. And unlike Savage, which requires you to pick one or the other, Raven Squad will require you to master both the FPS and the RTS elements. It comes out this fall for Xbox 360 and PC.

Don't stop believin’ In ЕСМ #231, for Letter of the Month you gave out Marky Mark: Make My Video. | used to play that and Power Factory Featuring С+С Music Factory, and that brought back memories. | think that was the first music game | ever played. Were there any other music games before that? I’ve been playing games since the early NES days, and | do not recall ever playing a music game other than the Make My Video games. And after that, | do not recall any other music titles until the Р51 came out.

— Bobby Davis

Well, that depends on how you define music games. Since you're citing Make My Video, we're guessing your definition is pretty

20 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • EGM.1UP.COM

broad. In that case, you're forgetting about the unforgettable Journey Escape on the Atari 2600.

The Famicom (the Japanese version of our NES) also featured Otocky, a platformer that played notes every time the player fired a weapon. (Think Rez, only 1987.) But that one never made it out here.

Lighten üp After seeing Brütal Legend featured on your cover, | feel it necessary to request that you notify developer Sierra that it is a stüpid name. If they really think that throwing an umlaut in the title lends any credibility to the game or makes it cooler somehow, they need to put away their Motley Crüe albums and join the rest of the world in the 21st century. Even if it turns out to be the greatest game ever made, | am unable to bring myself to spend my hard-earned dollars on a product put out by people who obviously hold my intelligence in such low regard.

—Scott Crawford

You are joking, right? It’s a joke? Please tell us it’s a joke.

Hail to the king, baby Who doesn’t love a great horror game? We all fell in love with Resident Evil the moment it hit the PS1 (even if the later ones are not so good), and others like Silent Hill prove games can be scary by using creative sound as well as visuals. So who is the master of scare? Stephen King, of course!

Anybody who has read his Dark Tower series can imagine how great of a game it could translate to. If done well it could also be very profitable for those companies who love to make sequels. Of course, doing it well would be the trick.

--Напау Griffiths

Well, the real trick might be getting King involved at all. Yes, he allowed a PC adaptation of The Mist, but that was back in the ’80s. And sure, he devoted an entire Entertainment Weekly column to defending games from overreaching legislation.

The trouble is that he begins the column with, “I’m no fan of video- games; pretty much gave them up in the late '70s or early ’80s.”

Doesn't sound like he's keen on licensing his stuff for new games.

Sour apples

EGM #232 has an article regarding the iPhone's handheld-gaming capabilities. While the iPhone is certainly a great piece of technology, a

handheld wonder it isn't. First, iPhones have a notoriously short battery life. This seems like a major problem for something that's meant to be used on the go. In addition, the iPhone isn't primarily used as a gaming device. If that's what a consumer wanted, they would have bought a PSP or a DS. A PSP can play movies, but that's just a little extra.

In my opinion, Apple just wants a bigger slice of the handheld pie. Do you really think the iPhone can compete with the big-name handhelds already out there?

— Jake LaFollette

In a word: maybe. It all depends on the software and how serious game developers are willing to get. We're certainly intrigued by the possibilities of the tilt functionality.

But don't discount the iPhone over just battery life. With all of the wireless stuff turned off, it should last about as long as a DS on full brightness or a PSP with Wi-Fi turned off and brightness turned down: around seven hours.

Seriously? In Eric Neigher's review of Spectral Force 3 in ЕСМ #231, he says, “Another unexpected ‘strength’ is SF3's unique approach to voice-talent casting; the developers obviously employed some sort of wide-open casting call for the janitorial staff. Kudos to Idea Factory for giving these needy souls a chance to display their acting skills on the national stage."

This is not the kind of nonsense I want to read in EGM. You may write for a magazine, but that doesn't give you the right to talk down to people. You imply janitors lack any skills besides sweeping and cleaning up vomit. People need to feed their families and thus must do less-than- favorable jobs, but you probably don’t know anything about that.

—dosh

Funny thing about janitors: They’re not usually known for their voice acting skills. ќа.

ытаст кшм

EGM@1UP.com

EGM Letters 101 2nd Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105

Web: www.zdmcirc.com Phone: (800) 779-1174

DWIGHT HOWARD ©2008 AMERICA'S MILK PROCESSORS

Bounce back.

Need a strong rebound? Slam some milk. It'S a great choice after exercise, with protein to help build muscle and a unique mix of nutrients to refuel. So train hard and drink lowfat or fat free milk. It's got game.

body: milk.

wwwibodybymilk.com

‘got milk?

RISE ABOVE.

ЕМЕВУОМЕ

Mild Violence

ESRB CONTENT RATING _ www,

Вез! Васто Сате Best Xbox 360 Racing Game Best Driving Game

PC

eve AVAILABLE 9.23.08 — РУВЕМШЕОбАМЕ. СОМ

BLACKROCK

© Disney. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. Release dates are subject to change.

Ў

, deadly tools, apple games, and other stuff

News

Check out

IEWS for up-to- tfe minute video- game news.

XPRESS START

32 Square Enix Report

=" Pil

42 Warhammer smash

THE HALLS OF THE LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER—site of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo game-biz trade show—echoed strangely this July. In place of the pounding music, bright lights, and wall-to-wall people of past shows was...nothing. Tumbleweeds would not have seemed out of place.

This was the new E3 Business & Media Summit, the show’s sec- ond major format change since the 2006 death of the original Electronic Entertainment Expo. And it’s a change that’s, by all accounts, almost entirely for the worse.

Glory days

ЕЗ was born in 1995. Originally intended to give the budding

game industry a more focused exhibition venue outside the mega- lithic Consumer Electronics Show, it quickly blossomed into the gaming event of the year. Investors, retailers, and media descended on L.A. (or,

Gaming’s greatest expo has become its lamest. How this E3

went wrong and whether it'll ever come back By Joe Rybicki

in '97 and '98, Atlanta) to research, plan, and network. These few days would set the course for a year's worth of investments, purchasing decisions, and media coverage.

Even better, by the turn of the 21st century, ЕЗ was serving as ап ambassador to the outside world; the show brought the industry into the public eye on a yearly basis.

In response, exhibitors became locked in a show-floor arms race, trying to outdo each other with fancier booths and after-hours par- ties. At the same time, organizers began to let in more noncredentialed attendees. By 2006, with attendance checking in at a staggering 60,000, the show had become both absurdly expensive for exhibitors and frus- tratingly unwieldy for legitimate attendees. Making matters worse, more game publishers had begun holding private “рге-ЕЗ” events, which began to sap the show of its relevance. E3 had become a victim of its own success.

Dead show walking As a result, the organizers at the Entertainment Software Association drastically renovated the show for 2007. Rechristening it the ЕЗ Business & Media Summit, the ESA slashed attendance to 5,000 invitees and relo- cated the event to a string of hotels

in Santa Monica, CA. Sadly, the less- ened spectacle and constant shuttling between far-flung destinations wasn't a hit with attendees.

And so, for 2008, the show returned to the L.A. Convention Center while keeping the low profile and limited attendance from the previous year. The response was less than favorable. "| hate E3 like this," said Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello to the San Francisco Chronicle. "Either we need to go back to the old E3, or we'll have to have our own private events."

Riccitiello isn't alone. In an inter- view with U.K. gaming trade site MOV, Sega of America President Simon Jeffery said the show "had all the atmosphere of a large hospital

ECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * EGM.1UP.COM е 25

corridor." In a postshow blog, EA Sports President Peter Moore called it “soulless” and noted “a palpable sense of frustration at the structure and logistics from all participants.” And in a report entitled “ЕЗ 2008 Review: The Bad, The Great, and The Boring!" Wedbush Morgan Securities Analysts Michael Pachter and Edward Woo likened the show to "a college library during summer" and “а school cafeteria." Perhaps the most colorful description came from Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. *The world used to come to. ЕЗ,” he said. “Now it's like a pipe-fit- ters show in the basement."

Clearly, the show is in need of a drastic change.

E3 is dead. Long live ES

We spoke to a number of industry insiders about the future of E3 and found one near-unanimous sentiment: If it’s to survive and stay relevant, E3 needs to move back toward the spec- tacle of its glory days. “The greater the spectacle, the greater the [main- stream] media attention,” Wedbush’s Pachter tells us. “It’s as simple as that.” Sega’s Jeffery expressed a similar notion when chatting with MCV. “We'd like to see something that represents the fun, dynamic nature

of the industry a little better,” he said, “without going back to the insanity that was ЕЗ of old."

Hal Halpin, president of the Entertainment Consumers Association, a consumer-rights advo- cacy group, has some ideas for how to do that. “This is a pivotal year for ЕЗ,” he tells us. "There are a lot of things with the event that need fixing." For specifics, he points us to a guest editorial he wrote for industry website GameDaily, in which he recommended returning to the format of the shows of 2006 and before, only with some key refinements. "Reduce the number of folks down to [25,000 to 30,000]," he wrote, "and then apply the Tokyo Game Show model—let consumers come in during the last few days." EA's Moore also feels that the public deserves a spot at the show. "Let's invite the community," he wrote on his blog. "With the right planning, involv- ing our biggest fans in E3 would bring back some of the raw passion the event has lost."

Others have expressed less positive views about the show's future, theoriz- ing instead that E3 would give way to individual events hosted by publish- ers. But Wedbush's Pachter suggests

26 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • EGM.1UP.

+ SHOWS OF FORCE:

Five other gaming expos that outshine E3

=

Tokyo Game Show

October 9-12, 2008

With its big booths, big crowds, and big spectacle, TGS is everything E3 used to be. It even opens its doors to the public at the end of

the show. : SR.

Сате

Developers Conference March 23-27, 2009

| К started as а gathering of gamemakers who would talk shop and have a good group think, but recent San Francisco- based conferences have seen

=| bigger booths and major announcements—to the chagrin of developers who lament the

! show's quieter days.

Consumer tronics Show

January 8-11, 2009

This annual Las Vegas event predates E3 and used to be the only place where game companies could show off. Now that E3’s stumbling, CES organizers are looking to swipe back a sizable game-

DigitalLife

September 25-28, 2008

Full disclosure: EGM publisher Ziff Davis organizes this NYC- based show, which is similar to CES but for the people. The public can browse the latest in electronics, from home theaters'to digital cameras to, yes, videogames.

Panny Arcade с August 29-31, 2008

Of all the shows listed here, only Seattle-based PAX caters to the gamers. Attendees can play games, attend panels, rock out at concerts, or com- pete in the appropriately awe- some-sounding Omegathon gaming tournament.

©2008 The Gillette Company

Kick back and relax with Gillette's most comfortable shave* Gillette Fusion has five blades spaced closer together to reduce pressure with less irritation than MACH3.

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that's both unlikely and inefficient. “Yes, the publishers can replace ЕЗ with several ana-

lyst and gamer days,” he tells us. “I suppose

all 50 of the United States could have inde-

pendently tried to fight World War II, too.” The ESA, meanwhile, isn’t saying how, or

even if, it'll change E3’s format yet again, but a spokesperson says the association is once again listening to feedback. "As it does every year,” he tells us, “the ESA is currently under- taking a thorough research process to ensure the 2009 ЕЗ Media & Business Summit meets the needs of attendees and exhibitors."

The show is, at least, scheduled to go on

for the time being. But in what form is, at the moment, anyone's guess. One thing's perfectly clear: This year's event simply

did not work. “ЕЗ as currently configured is headed for extinction," wrote Pachter and Woo in their Wedbush report, *and the industry is quickly running out of time to fix the show." d

нош ме

THE WAM

We wake up this year’s sleepy E3 with our own show awards

Best Genre Bender:

Mirror's Еда!

Parkour in first person seems like a fast track to explosive motion sickness, but Mirror’s Edge (see our cover story) is a lot more than just building-hopping. It brings sky-high adventure to first-person gaming, combining two genres that have grown moldy.

formed fingers and

snazzier wardrobes h (pleated slacks!), but Microsoft's new Xbox А Live Avatars—mega- жұт meloned characters set to replace gamertags—are obvi- ously cloned from the same superdeformed DNA as the Wii's Miis. After all, when you can’t beat ’em....

Best Co-op Experience: Resident Evil 5

It's not enough that Resident Evil 5 looks stunning; the news that’s making junior zombie-slayers moan like the recently deceased is that the game's eye-candy-tas- tic heroine, Sheva, is a playable character—and not in the RE4 Ada Wong side-mission kind of way. Full-blown two-player online co-op finally makes its way into the series, as players can enter and exit a friend’s game on the fly to unravel the mystery of what zombies—and Chris Redfield— are doing in Africa.

Outstanding Achievement in Core-Audience Neglect: Nintendc

It's one thing to feel flush with the success of having won over the hearts of tens of millions of soc- cer moms in North America with your surprisingly dominant one- two Wii/DS punch. But it’s anoth- er thing to turn your nose up ай the diehards who stuck by you in those seriously crappy, one triple- A-title-a-year N64/GameCube days, Nintendo. Who do you think is camping by their monitors dur-

ing your E3 conference, anyway? Marge Johnston in Sabina, OH? No. It’s the rabid but increasingly irritated fan base that has stuck by you in the lean times, only to see “core user” acknowledge- ment dwindle over the last couple of years. Where are the Zelda announcements or glimpses into the future of Metroid? Star Fox? Yes, Animal Crossing: City Folk is anice step in the right direction, but what was up with Ravi Drums and your dreadful Wii Music performance? Oh, the tears that were wept that day.

Game That’s Got Us Worried: Judgment

A Castlevania fighting game with full 3D movement and simple controls doesn’t sound like such a bad idea on paper—both Power Stone and the original Bushido Blade executed the idea well. Maybe it’s the weird character designs or the Wii's not-so-friend- ly-for-fighting-games controls, but something about Judgment at E3 just felt off.

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Best Gardening Game Since Pikmin: Flower The Zen gaming masters who made microorganism cannibal- ism so relaxing in flOw return with another genre-bending downloadable offering, and this one has you germinating fields and triggering blossom bonan- zas as a Sixaxis-controlled wind zephyr. It's simple, unique, and gorgeous—the perfect antidote to the plague of predictably gritty shooters and uninspired licensed swill hitting store shelves this fall.

Supersleeper Hit: Fat Princ

Thin is so out. A proud-to-be- portly princess acts as a prize in this madcap reinterpretation of capture the flag that pits two 16- player squads (each with its own castle and pampered princess)

in an all-out war to capture the opposing side’s increasingly hefty royalty. Cuddly (yet comically

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gory) cartoon-shaded visuals and an innovative real-time class- changing system further sweeten the deal.

The Looks That Kill Award:

2

Killzone 2 is gorgeous—in a

very miserable, postapocalyptic, never-want-to-go-there sort of way. Forever mocked for its stun- ning E3 2005 trailer that ended up being little more than smoke and mirrors, it's finally, for real, looking the part three years later. Sporting some of the most stun- ning lighting, animation, and tex- tural details we’ve laid eyes upon, Killzone 2 should be labeled “HDTV required.”

Too Late to the Bandwagon:

The successful sounds of Rock Band and Guitar Hero can't be music to the ears of guitar-game creators Konami. After years of watching from the nosebleed section, the original music-game innovators are finally starting a band of their own. Only, uh, three years too late. Can you say one- hit wonder? We already have.

Best No. 2: The Whole To be No. 1 at this year's E3, you actually had to be No. 2. Or three. Or, hell, even four. The biggest games this year were all sequels: Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Rock Band 2, Fallout 3, Killzone 2—need we say more? We were going to, but we're saving it for the sequel...

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Best Game We Couldn’t Cover $

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