@2003 NGV-NextGen Videos
Trade shows are, by design, only for trade people and as such are not open to the general public (thatd be you, dear reader) to attend and experience en masse. As a by-product of that design, trade shows tend to house and display the very latest or not available in shops types of gear, often months and even years before release into the marketplace.
In the videogame industry we have such events as the Japanese Tokyo Game Show (TGS), Nintendo Spaceworld, European Computer Trade Show (ECTS), London Games Week, and the Game Developers Conference, to name but a few. With very few exceptions, most videogame events adhere to the trade show edict and exclude the general public. At the same time, the games of the shows always manage to get jaws to drop and pants to wet with hype and anticipation.
The biggest, baddest, and most important of all videogame trade shows in the whole world is undoubtedly the Electronic Entertainment Exposition or E3, held annually at the LA Convention Center during mid-May. E3 is where its at, where new hardware and software announcements are usually made. Its where the surprises are unveiled, and where the big guns fire their biggest rounds of ammunition. If a company doesnt have something on display at E3, it can sometimes come back to haunt them in the future. Having a strong E3 showing is always seen as a positive thing for any company (Nintendo being no exception). Its because of this that when E3 rolls around, the entire videogame community pulls out all the stops and makes E3 the big bang of the year
Unfortunately for Joe and Jane Average, they cant get into E3 to experience the press conferences, to see and play the latest games, to touch the new hardware, to feel the buzz, hype and excitement all around. Joe and Jane must then turn to online websites like N-Sider or read print magazines like EDGE to get their E3 fix, and this usually involves reading reams and reams of text and looking at the odd screenshot or three.
Enter The Future of Videogames 2K4 DVD.
Boasting over 550 minutes (thats more than 9 hours!) worth of footage on the Ultimate DVD edition and over 150 minutes (more than 2 and a half hours!) on the Nintendo DVD alone, this is as close as Joe and Jane can get to getting into E3, and sure beats the pants off reading all about it without seeing all that much.
Features
- Exclusive game footage available only on the GAMECUBE 2K4 DVD
- 2 1/2 hours of GameCube and Game Boy Advance coverage and booths, babes and happenings as seen from the show floor at the 2003 E3 Electronic Entertainment Exposition
- Over 9 hours total footage in the Ultimate edition, with Nintendo (reviewed extensively here), Xbox, PS2, and PC specific discs in the 4-Disc set
- Cutting edge, fully interactive and integrated 3D menus including a comprehensive game index
- Exclusive interviews and play-by-play commentary by leading Videogame Publishers and Developers
- In-house Custom 3D CGI
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
- Licensed soundtrack from Digital:Newage
- A multitude of features, interviews and Nintendo (1st, 2nd and 3rd-party) game previews.
Mark Medina: This is an impressive DVD. Right from the start, you can tell that it has high production values. 3D animated intros, DVD extras, and animated 3D transitions between chapters all help to break up the mammoth amount of footage on offer here.
At the beginning, you get a glimpse of the amount of work it takes to build and put together all the props and other constructions that make up the huge booths that the various companies have designed for E3.
Then, you get a front row seat at the Nintendo Press Conference where President Iwata makes his speech, along with legendary Shigeru Miyamoto displaying the innovative Pac-Man game he and his team have developed, along with images of all the upcoming games for GameCube and Game Boy Advance.
From there, you get two juicy video interviews with NoAs own Perrin Kaplan and Shinys David Perry. Here you get the usual talking up spiel from Perrin Kaplan and you get a very enthusiastic David Perry talking about how groundbreaking the then-unreleased Enter the Matrix game will be.
Finally, you get the meat of the DVD, the Games. Not only do you get in-game footage and/or in-game trailers of upcoming 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-party games for both systems, but also some games have someone (either a game tester, game fan, programmer, etc.) commenting on their way through games. Its great to see something like this as it gives you an insight into a persons thinking on each game, how they play and enjoy the game, or how they have an obvious passion for the game theyre talking about.
In one example, a game fan is talking her way through Pikmin 2 and can recall all the joys she had while playing the original Pikmin, how she preferred the red Pikmin over all the others and how she liked having control over two characters. It was nice to pick up from the expression of her words how passionate she was about Pikmin, as though she just couldnt get enough of it. Now thats what I like to see from Nintendo games!
My favourite parts of the DVD were definitely the F-Zero, Mario Golf, Star Fox 2, and Mario Kart Double Dash footage. Seeing them in high-quality footage really made my anticipation go through the roof. The biggest surprise for me was seeing the 1080: Avalanche footage, watching the guy play, and listening to him speak about it. He was a NSTC developer who obviously felt very passionate about his work on the game. After watching that, my opinion of 1080 improved from a bit bland to thats actually not bad.
And so it went on for the rest of the DVD, theres footage of games Id never heard of (and wont care about) and the footage of the games I really wanted to see (see above), as well as games Id heard of but didnt really care too much about. These were, in particular, Rebel Strike and MGS: Twin Snakes. After seeing the impressive footage of these two, I couldnt help but be wowed by their E3 showings. MGS really looks like itll be a winner, and Rebel Strike displayed some truly jaw-dropping visuals. They made me glad to be a Nintendo fan.
With over sixty upcoming games showcased for both GameCube and Game Boy Advance, as well as two video interviews, and the Nintendo Press Conference, with a musical extra thrown in, I cant help but end where I started and state that this is an impressive DVD.
In addition to the Nintendo DVD, the Ultimate edition of The Future of Videogames 2K4 DVD contains a disc each for Xbox, PlayStation2, and PC. These contain a similar collection of game footage, interviews, and extras. The big games are Halo 2, Project Gotham 2, and Sega GT Online all for Xbox, Half-Life 2, Doom 3, and Deus Ex 2 all for PC, along with Gran Turismo 4, Metal Gear Solid 3, FF X-2, FF XI, and Jak II all for PS2. For fans of those systems, their respective DVDs are chock full of the same amazing production values, animated 3D transitions, and 3D intros as featured on the Nintendo DVD. The PC disc also contains exclusive Bonus Material in the form of various interviews, making-of featurettes, Sony PSP press conference announcement, and E3 setup timelapse featurette.
If you really want to go beyond reading articles, and actually seeing some footage and getting a feel for what its like to be at E3, then this DVD is for you. A highly recommended purchase, especially at the low price its being retailed at. If youre a truly hardcore Videogame fan who loves all games on any system, then the Ultimate DVD edition of The Future of Videogames 2K4 DVD is, without a doubt, a purchase that wont be regretted.