eGames Expo - Melbourne 2008
Feature
The eGames Expo is behind us. We look back at the biggest Australian gaming event of the year and give you our impressions of what publishers have in store for us in the coming months.
Of the three big console producers, Sony probably had the best exhibit, with a decent list of games on show. Their big (pardon the pun) title was LittleBigPlanet. I personally hadn’t seen much of the game beforehand but was really impressed with the creativity allowed in the game. Sackboy and Sackgirl are both well animated and the colorful backgrounds just make LBP a cheerful game.
Sony had a couple of Singstar titles on show - Singstar ABBA and Singstar Volume 3. It is fair to say that some people are indeed tone deaf and should not be allowed near a microphone. Unfortunately, some of these people were at the Singstar site. Sony also had a number of PSP titles on show including one of my favourites, Lego Batman. All the Lego games play fairly similarly, but are just so much fun. I just want to know what the next Lego title will be – Lego Transformers maybe or Lego Ghostbusters?
Microsoft
Microsoft, by comparison had a small site that seemed to copy last year’s Sony exhibit. They used a shipping container decked out with their main title, Gears of War 2. Inside, a dozen or so X360’s were set up to play 2 minute rounds of GoW2 in team mode. Despite stepping into a chainsaw wielding enemy in an attempt to help my team-mates get an easy kill, the game ended in a stalemate. The graphics of the game are superb though – with plenty of blood spilled after a particularly gruesome death at the hands of the chainsaw brandisher. The audio was also of high quality, as the firing of weapons could be easily distinguished. Despite only having one game on show at their stand, Microsoft did have plenty of X360’s at the show, with many of the publishers choosing to display the X360 version of their games.
Nintendo
Nintendo had a similar setup to their display as last year. I was pleased to see that they also had some eye-candy on display, for both the male and female (or so I was told) visitors in the form of their assistants. But we were there for the games, not for the helpful and good-looking staff so let’s not tarry here.
The main focus was on Animal Crossing, Wii Music and Wii Fit. I hadn’t used the Wii Fit balance board before and it took me a couple of mini-games to get the hang of. Once I was able to work out its nuances, it became much easier. Note to self: Might have to pick one up for Christmas. Animal Crossing was certainly cute and brightly colored in the tradition of Nintendo games. Wii Music, which has only just been released in Australia, was also a heap of fun. The game uses the Wii-mote and Nunchuk as a way to play musical instruments in a way they would normally be played. Bang the controls up and down on the drums, strum the Wii-mote like a guitar and even play the Wii-mote like a trumpet. Up to four players can play in a band at once, and the game does seem like a great party game.
Other games on show at the Nintendo zone included the more hardcore Disaster: Day of Crisis and the casual Wario Land: Shake Dimension. For the DS, the main attraction was Kirby SuperStar Ultra. Kirby is back at it again. Graphics and audio are reminiscent of previous Kirby games and Kirby fans will no doubt be impressed.
What a day…
It’s not hard to see why the games industry is booming in Australia (and all over the world, for that matter). The games on show are fun to play and can easily immerse the gamers of today in their storylines. Games such as Quantum of Solace allow the gamer to become James Bond, whilst games such as Guitar Hero and Singstar allow gamers of all ages to imagine themselves as rock stars.
No doubt between now and next year’s event, graphic and sound quality will only improve, as will game controls (and even controllers). I was like a kid in a candy store for this year’s eGames Expo, being able to play the latest games on the consoles that I don’t own as well as games that have yet to be released. I can only imagine what will be in store for me at next year’s event. I can’t wait. I hope you’ll get the chance to be there too.