“
Nintendo had given us a little taste of the Ultra at E3 1996, but what they showed us at E3 1997 blew everyone out of the building. It was a moment comparable to the first unveiling of the Super Nintendo CD at CES 1992, and everyone pretty much stood up and took notice.”
-Dan “Shoe” Hsu
“
When we saw what the Ultra Nintendo was capable of, I think I realized that my job had just gotten a lot harder.”
-Tom Kalinske
“
There weren't many long lines in Atlanta, but there were a lot of long walks! The place they had E3 in that year, it was just huge! I mean, I was glad there were plenty of kiosks for all the media to play games on, but I definitely got a workout that week.”
-Ted Crosley
“
My favorite E3 probably had to be the one in 1997. Our games were just huge that year. Quake, Daikatana, of course... it was the first year that Nintendo and Sega both had their next-gen consoles ready to go and our games took the show by storm. Well, and then there was that Goldeneye game...”
-John Romero
“
1998 was going to be the Year of Rare, and for the first time ever, we had our own presser at E3! Me and Chris felt like rock stars that year. It was just about the only place that a couple of nerdy Brits could look like rock stars, outside of, I dunno, maybe a Doctor Who convention.”
-Tim Stamper
-
June 19, 1997
*Howard Lincoln takes the stage.*
“
Good morning, everybody. Twelve years ago, we introduced the Nintendo Entertainment System to North America, a console that revolutionized gaming forever. In 1991, we introduced the Super Nintendo, and the year after that, we teamed up with Sony to create the Super Nintendo CD, utilizing the new compact disc format to create games that were bigger and better, games that once again redefined what it meant to play a video game. This year, we're going to do it again. This year, the Ultra Nintendo will be released in North America and around the world.”
*A picture of the Ultra Nintendo is shown, a black rectangular looking console with four controller slots and a slot for discs.*
“
The Ultra Nintendo is the next generation of video game technology, the most powerful and advanced gaming device ever made. With dozens of companies already signed on to produce games for the Ultra Nintendo, it will also be the most innovative gaming device ever made. We're going to show you more than 50 upcoming Ultra Nintendo games this year at E3, most of which will be playable on the showroom floor. We'll be introducing some of these games shortly, but first, take a look at the innovation that our software partners, as well as the talented game makers at Nintendo and Sony, will be bringing to our newest game console.”
*A five-minute video, set to U2's “Where The Streets Have No Name”, plays, showing off footage from games like
Super Mario Dimensions,
Final Fantasy VII, Ultra Mario Kart, Star Fox 2, Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, Goldeneye 007, Yoshi's Story, Wave Race, Ballistic Limit 2, Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey, 1080 Snowboarding, Gran Turismo, Einhander, and more than a dozen other games, including early preview footage of
Tale Phantasia 2 and the new
Zelda game. When the video ends, there is raucous applause from the crowd.*
“
As you can see, we have been preparing for this launch for a very long time, and on November 21st...”
*The crowd applauds again as the release date is displayed on screen.*
“
On November 21st, the Ultra Nintendo will launch in the United States and Canada, for $299, with Super Mario Dimensions, Mario's newest and greatest adventure, as the pack-in game.”
*There is more applause as the price and pack-in are revealed.*
“
The Ultra Nintendo brings a whole host of technological innovations to the table, and before we show you some of the many, many games that will be on display at this year's show, I'd like to introduce Mr. Ken Kutaragi, who has some more information about the Ultra Nintendo that we'd like to share.”
*Ken Kutaragi steps out, a smile on his face as he goes over to Howard Lincoln and shakes hands with him, the two hug briefly and then Kutaragi steps up to the stage.*
“
Good morning, I'm Ken Kutaragi and I am the head of development at Sony Interactive Entertainment. When I first proposed the idea of a Super Nintendo CD nearly a decade ago, I could not have imagined that it would lead to the most successful partnership in the history of this industry. But with the trust that so many have placed in me, I hope that I have been able to give all of you the very best that Sony has to offer. Right now I would like to discuss the new storage medium for the games of the Ultra Nintendo.” *he holds up a disc that looks identical to a CD but with a gold surface*
“This is the GigaDisc, capable of holding up to one gigabyte of data. It is nearly double the side of the CD-ROMs used on the Super Nintendo CD and it will allow for far larger and more complex worlds to be created with these new games. The new Super Mario Dimensions, for example, spans 21 worlds emanating from a central hub world. All of these worlds could not have been made possible without the extra storage capacity of the new GigaDisc. This device will also ensure that the new Ultra Nintendo games retain their value, making it very difficult if not impossible for software pirates to copy these games. This will ensure that the price of games remains affordable for the average player. Now, in addition to this new GigaDisc technology, I would like to discuss the legacy capabilities of the new Ultra Nintendo. The Ultra Nintendo will be capable of playing both music CDs and Super Nintendo CD game discs.”
*The crowd applauds at this, though it's a slightly muted applause since many in the media already knew of the Ultra Nintendo's backwards compatibility.*
“
This means that gamers who might not have owned a Super Nintendo device will be able to jump right in and will have a large library of games already playable when they purchase the Ultra Nintendo. We hope to continue innovating in the years ahead, and we anticipate the Ultra Nintendo to remain the gold standard in video game devices for many years to come. Thank you, and now I will return the floor to Mr. Howard Lincoln.”
*Kutaragi smiles and shakes Howard Lincoln's hand again before exiting the stage. Lincoln begins to speak again.*
“
Thank you, Mr. Ken Kutaragi. As you have seen, the Ultra Nintendo hardware is very impressive, but what good is the hardware without games to play it on? We've been showing more and more of Super Mario Dimensions for the past year now. The game is already complete and is in the process of localization, and we'll have both the complete Japanese release and the latest English version of the game playable here at E3 for all of you to enjoy. Let's take a brief look at Super Mario Dimensions.*
*Another quick video, about a minute long, plays, showing off the game. Mario is in the Mushroom Kingdom, wandering amongst a realm where time and space have torn, opening up new worlds for him to explore. We see him exploring worlds, both similar to OTL's
Super Mario 64 (like Bob-Omb Battlefield, Jolly Roger Bay, Lethal Lava Land, and Tick Tock Clock), and entirely new worlds such as a giant factory, an outer space world, a world based on ancient Greece/Rome, and a world that takes place in a huge city, complete with what looks like Donkey Kong climbing a giant skyscraper. After the video ends, the crowd once again applauds.*
“
In Super Mario Dimensions, Mario must rescue Princess Peach, who has once again been kidnapped by Bowser. However, in Bowser's haste to make sure Mario can't follow him, he has ordered his court wizard Kamek to cast a spell to create a world that Mario can't reach. The spell was botched, and now holes are being ripped in the fabric of space and time all over the Mushroom Kingdom! Mario must explore these dimensional rips, 21 in all, in order to gather Stars that he'll need to reach Bowser and rescue Princess Peach. There are 180 stars to collect, so Mario's work is definitely cut out for him. This game is the biggest and most epic Mario title yet. The most worlds in any previous Mario game was ten, in Super Mario World 2. This game has more than twice that number, with seven different objectives available in each world, and dozens more missions and goals to achieve outside of the dimensions in the Mushroom Kingdom. You'll be able to explore all of these worlds when you play Super Mario Dimensions at our massive Nintendo booth. Now, we've talked a lot about Mario today, but what about Mario's green dinosaur pal Yoshi? Well, you won't see much of Yoshi in Super Mario Dimensions, but don't worry, because Yoshi's got his own game and it'll be coming out early next year for the Ultra Nintendo.”
*A brief video plays, showing the colorful graphics of
Yoshi's Story, the sequel to the SNES game
Yoshi's Island.*
“
Yoshi's Story picks up where our classic game Yoshi's Island left off. In Yoshi's Story, Yoshi and his friends must work together to defeat a terrible evil that's darkened their land. You'll be exploring Yoshi's world, gathering items and completing mini-games in this brand new quest. As you can see, the Ultra Nintendo brings the colorful world of Yoshi to life like never before. It looks an awful lot like a living storybook, doesn't it? This game plays a lot like Yoshi's Island, with the familiar egg shooting and enemy munching moves that made Yoshi such a blast to play as on the SNES. Now, we know we haven't told you very much about this next game, because the folks at Argonaut Software have been so hard at work making it even better than the original. Last year, Squad Four: Eclipse continued the story of four brave interplanetary heroes, and this year, four different space heroes will see their own story continue...”
*Brief scenes are shown from
Star Fox 2, but instead of Muppets, it's full rendered graphics displaying Fox and his friends, similar to OTL's
Star Fox 64 but with somewhat smoother graphics. The crowd applauds after the brief preview video is complete.*
“
Star Fox 2 is the long awaited sequel to our 1993 hit, and as you can see, the technology that made Star Fox so amazing has gotten a significant improvement. Star Fox and his squad return once again to battle the evil Andross, but this time, they've also got to deal with the dangerous rival squadron Star Wolf, mercenaries hired by Andross to take them out. You'll need to fly faster and more skillfully than ever if you hope to survive an encounter with these ne'er-do-wells. But Star Fox 2 isn't just about an exciting and challenging single player mode...for the first time ever, we're introducing versus mode to the series. You'll get to take to the air or climb into the all-new Landmaster tank to battle your friends. Or, you can even do battle on foot. And, if you're on foot, you also have the option to play as the heroes of Squad Four. Star Fox 2 is looking to be our biggest space adventure yet, and you can demo both our exciting single player mode and the new versus mode out on the floor. Oh, and one more thing... Star Fox 2, like Super Mario Dimensions, will be available at the launch of the Ultra Nintendo on November 21st.” *the crowd applauds and cheers*
“Now, this next game, unfortunately, will not be available at launch, but we're hoping it's worth the wait. We're going to bring all the exciting fun of the biggest extreme sport in the world right now, snowboarding, to the Ultra Nintendo. Our 1080 Snowboarding is going to be the most exciting snowboarding game yet, and it's set for release sometime next spring. We want to make the Ultra Nintendo your one stop shop for all sports, not only the major sports, which will all have games appearing on the system within the first year of launch, but also the latest and most thrilling extreme sports. In addition to 1080 Snowboarding, we've got the new water sports game Wave Race, which WILL be one of the many games available on launch day this November. Wave Race is an exciting and competitive racing title that not only features some of the most challenging racing of any video game, but some of the most extreme stunts you'll ever see. You can compete in races or you can challenge your skills in the game's stunt mode, with dozens of different stunts to perform and some of the most realistic graphics ever seen.”
“
But while Nintendo's been hard at work producing some of the best original titles for the Ultra Nintendo, we wouldn't be where we are today without our many software partners who have also been tirelessly developing games for the Ultra Nintendo. Today, I'd like to announce that two of today's most popular video game franchises, which previously had not appeared on Nintendo systems, will be appearing on the Ultra Nintendo early next year. I think you've seen Lara Croft's face all over the convention center today...” *the crowd begins to cheer*
“And I would like to announce that Tomb Raider, both the original game and its upcoming sequel, will be released on the Ultra Nintendo next year. And so I'd very much like to thank Eidos for bringing Lara Croft's amazing adventures to our new console, I have no doubt that everyone who plays the Ultra Nintendo will enjoy both Tomb Raider games when they're released next year. The original Tomb Raider, in fact, will be appearing in January. And I'd also like to discuss our friends at Capcom, who not only will be bringing two Mega Man games to the Ultra Nintendo next year, including an installment of their hit Mega Man X series, but will also be bringing the terrifying horror franchise Resident Evil to the Ultra Nintendo, also sometime next year.” *there are more cheers at this announcement*
“And of course, I would be remiss to continue without thanking the folks at Sony, who have been our steadfast partners throughout the last five years, who have been equal partners in bringing our vision of the Ultra Nintendo to life, and who have also contributed some of the most beloved video game franchises in recent memory, including Twisted Metal, Tales Of The Seven Seas, Dog Dash, and Ballistic Limit. In fact, speaking of Ballistic Limit, there's a brief video those of you who are fans of that game will want to see...”
*A video begins to play on the screen. Ash Beckland's voice can be heard over a black screen.*
Ash Beckland: Mission Log 2747, Ash Beckland reporting... the intel was right, this planet is unfit for all organic life...
*A very brief scene of Ash and several others walking out on the surface of a hostile looking planet is shown.*
Beckland: The virus on this planet is capable of radical mutation...
*Ash's friend Sara is looking through her visor, a horrified look in her eyes as a shadow draws across her face.*
Beckland: Anything it touches is transformed, irreparably. The virus...threatens all sentient beings in the galaxy.
*Ash and his fellow crew members are standing in a circle, firing their weapons desperately.*
Beckland: And due to our exposure to the virus...none of us can ever come back home.
*A voice can be heard screaming “Oh God! Oh God, no!”, as a scene of a crew member being swarmed by something hideous, followed by a very brief glimpse of Beckland looking slowly upward as an enormous monster, larger than a skyscraper, towers over him. The
Ballistic Limit logo appears.*
Beckland: We're already dead...
SUMMER 1998
*machine noises*
Nin-ten-do
*The crowd applauds and cheers after the trailer concludes.*
“
Ballistic Limit 2 is only one of the many games that Sony will be bringing to the Ultra Nintendo over the next year. In fact, the company, in partnership with Naughty Dog, will be bringing another exciting game to the Ultra Nintendo just in time for the system's launch. Crash Bandicoot is the newest action platformer, starring a bandicoot with attitude named Crash who must rescue his girlfriend from the evil Dr. Cortex. Also next year comes perhaps the most realistic driving game ever made. It brings all the excitement of some of the most competitive racing in the world to your living room, and powered by the Ultra Nintendo's technology, it also brings some of the most realistic graphics as well. Say hello to Gran Turismo.”
*Another brief video plays, showing off video from
Gran Turismo's exciting race courses, this too draws plenty of applause from the crowd.*
“
So, as you can see, over the coming months and beyond, the Ultra Nintendo will continue to bring the exciting and innovative games you've come to expect when you purchase a Nintendo console. However, we do have one more game to show off, and for that, I'd like to introduce the director of Squaresoft's North American division, Mr. Ted Woolsey.”
*The crowd applauds as Ted Woolsey takes the stage.*
“
Thank you, Mr. Lincoln. This is kind of a new role for me so I'm hoping all of you bear with me, I'm used to translating these games, so talking about them in public is something that's still a bit awkward.” *the crowd laughs*
“Fortunately, I can go ahead and let this game do the talking because I think it speaks for itself. I'd like to show you now the very first five minutes of Final Fantasy VII.”
*A video showing the first five minutes of
Final Fantasy VII begins to play. It's very close to OTL, showing Midgar, Aeris, and the start of the familiar bombing mission, along with the game's combat system as you battle the first couple groups of soldiers outside of Mako Reactor No. 1. After the group enters the depths of the reactor, the video ends.*
“
If you're all wanting to see more, we do have Final Fantasy VII playable at the big Squaresoft booth on the show floor. The game is in fact complete and will be releasing in Japan in August. It's currently in the process of localization and I'd like to announce for the first time that Final Fantasy VII will be a launch title for the Ultra Nintendo-” *VERY loud applause and cheering interrupts Woolsey here*
“available on November 21st in the United States and Canada. But that's not the only game that Squaresoft plans to release for the Ultra Nintendo. We've also got a couple of fighting games on the way...” *the crowd cheers again at this*
“Bushido Blade, featuring sword-wielding samurai, will be available in North America hopefully before the end of this year. And for early next year, we have God Bless The Ring, a sci-fi inspired fighting game with some very wild characters, that should be available next February. And we'd also like to announce a strategy role-playing title based on our popular Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy Tactics, which will be available next spring. And it's not just the Ultra Nintendo we have games coming out for, Squaresoft will also continue to release games for the Super Nintendo CD, including a new title in our popular SaGa series, SaGa Frontier, that will also be coming out next spring. Also next year, two games still early in development that will be released later next year, including a sci-fi horror title based on a popular Japanese novel. You'll be hearing more about that game, Parasite Eve, most likely at next year's E3. Rest assured, Squaresoft is fully committed to the Ultra Nintendo and we hope to have many more games in the years ahead. Thank you and you can come see more of our games at the Squaresoft booth out on the floor.”
*Ted Woolsey leaves the stage and Howard Lincoln returns.*
“
Thank you, Mr. Woolsey. So, as you've seen, Nintendo has no shortage of games for our new Ultra Nintendo. In fact, our launch is planned to be one of the biggest console launches of all time. We've got seventeen games planned to be released on launch day, including Super Mario Dimensions, Star Fox 2, Ultra Mario Kart, and Final Fantasy VII.” *the crowd applauds and gasps at the four mega-blockbusters announced for launch day*
“And....there is one more game I'd like to show off for you all right now, this game is still extremely early in development but we have a video ready. This game is from our partners at Konami, and I'd like just to show all of you an early look at this upcoming title.”
*A video plays showing off a very early look at
Metal Gear Solid, once again the crowd applauds.*
“
Metal Gear Solid is set for release late next year, and Konami will have a lot more of it to show off at next year's E3. But for right now, thank you all and enjoy the show!”
-keynote speech from Howard Lincoln at E3 1997
“
Hey, thanks guys, I'm Tim Stamper and this is my brother Chris, and we're here to show off some of the upcoming games that Rare has in the works. I think we're going to go ahead and kick this off with a look at the game that most of you are here to see, it's a game that's been in the works for a long time and has gone through many iterations to get here, so let's just show off the almost-complete Goldeneye 007 for you all today.”
*A video is played showing off a preview of
Goldeneye 007, including the game's four-player split screen multiplayer mode. Chris begins to speak as the video is playing.*
“
Er, as you can see here, this is our four player multiplayer mode, which is one of the very first first-person shooter games on a home console to have split-screen multiplayer. There's a variety of modes here, including classic deathmatch, there's capture the flag, or in this case, the briefcase, there's a lot of variety here so you can pretty much play however you'd like. The game itself follows the movie pretty closely but of course we've added a few things to make it a longer and meatier game.”
“
That's right, here you've got the classic dam scene from the start of the movie, you can hear the classic James Bond music playing, it's more of a driving rock beat here. So certainly, um, Goldeneye is a game that we realized was only possible on the Ultra Nintendo. We're not going to have it out before the release of the new James Bond movie, which is kind of a shame, but we're not the kind of people to just rush a game out there, and I hope you all agree it was worth the wait.”
*The
Goldeneye video stops and the Stampers move on to the next part of their presentation, with Tim introducing the next game.*
“
Now while Goldeneye was only possible on the Ultra Nintendo, we're not quite done developing games for the Super Nintendo CD. We know you all like Donkey Kong Country, and the big ape is getting ready for one more ride...”
*The
Donkey Kong Country 4: Donkey Kong Returns logo is shown on screen to a lot of cheers from the crowd.*
“
That's right, Donkey Kong is back, and he's back with Diddy, Dixie, and Kiddy. For the first time, four players can take control at once, but with four Kongs comes new challenges, we've designed some tough stages that you'll be hard pressed to get through even with all four Kongs at your disposal. King K. Rool has returned for one final showdown with the Kongs, and it's gonna get hairy.”
“
It's the biggest Donkey Kong Country game yet with ten worlds and over 70 levels. We're pushing Donkey Kong to his limits and we hope that this game sends the Super Nintendo CD off with a barrel cannon bang. We've got some levels available to play at the big Rare booth, so check us out if you get the chance.”
*Chris Stamper remains at the podium now. After briefly discussing
Star Wars: Masters Of Juyo for the Super Nintendo CD, set to be released later that year, and the Ultra Nintendo release of
Killer Instinct 2, scheduled for 1998, he changes tones as he discusses what has up to this point been referred to in game publications as Project DREAM.*
“
We've got one more big game scheduled for next year, and this one is a project we've been working on internally for more than three years now. We originally conceived it as a Super Nintendo CD title but, like Goldeneye, it was clear that this game wasn't going to be able to become a reality on last generation's tech. So instead, we kept this game on the backburner until the Ultra Nintendo development kit became available to us. After that, our minds started racing. What we're going to show today is a game that is about halfway done, perhaps a bit more than halfway, and that we're planning to release sometime next year. We called it Project DREAM, and now it's very close to being a reality.*
*A video plays on screen as a teenage boy begins to speak. The boy is sitting in a badly damaged home on an island as his younger sister sleeps nearby.*
I've always wondered, what's out there....? What's out there beyond this place that has nothing left for me?
Boy: *he looks at his sister, a sad look on his face*
Before my parents died, they said there were dangers, that we could never leave this place... that everything we needed was right here.
*Scenes are shown of the boy wandering around, gathering food, fishing, trying to provide for his sister, but then a scene is shown of a terrible storm that nearly destroys their house and kills them.*
Girl: *looking into her brother's eyes* Edison, are we going to be okay?
Edison: Of course, Ella...I promise.
It was a lie. After the storm, I knew if we didn't get off this island, we were going to die there. Whatever lay beyond this ocean, it couldn't be worse than what awaited us here.
*The boy builds a raft, and with his sister, sails out across the ocean...another storm hits, he holds her close.... the raft washes up on shore and the boy is alone, nearly dead, as he is found by an anthropomorphic bear and his bird companion.*
Kazooie: Who is he....?
Banjo: He's hurt, we gotta help him!
I made a mistake. And now, Ella's.....
Edison: *sits up in bed* Where's Ella, where is she? ELLA!!!
*The boy realizes he's in a village full of animal characters, including Banjo the bear, Kazooie the bird, Tiptup the turtle, Bumper the badger, Pipsy the mouse, and a dog named Dinger*
Tiptup: Please, don't try to get up-
Edison: I'm going to find my sister!
*The first gameplay scenes are shown, the game seems to be a 3-D platformer like Mario but with much deeper combat, indeed the game in reality plays like a hybrid of OTL's
Banjo-Kazooie and
Kingdom Hearts, less role-playing elements than
Kingdom Hearts and with a lot of
Banjo-Kazooie-style collecting, after the gameplay scenes the boy is shown being brought on board a ship, blindfolded with his hands tied in front of him, a pretty girl about his age removes the blindfold and smirks at him, her name is Madera*
Edison: Let me go, I have to find Ella!
Madera: You're not gonna be findin' anyone, pirate!
Edison: I'M the pirate?
*More scenes play, showing a mix of human and animal characters in various roles, also showing more gameplay with Edison fighting alongside Madera and Banjo, Kazooie can be seen attacking out of Banjo's backpack. Then there's a scene showing a towering castle with lightning flashing in the sky, standing in the castle balcony is an ugly green witch who is almost identical to OTL's Gruntilda.*
Gruntilda: Find them, find them all and bring them here!
*Edison and Madera are seen standing in front of a shaman, OTL's Mumbo Jumbo.*
Mumbo Jumbo: Inkum bokum! *casting a spell that causes a wave of smoke to engulf Edison and Madera*
*Another scene plays, showing the two under attack from a pack of werewolves.*
Edison: Madera, behind you!
Madera: *barely dives out of the way in time to avoid the werewolf swiping at her*
*Another scene is shown of Banjo strumming on his banjo as Edison and Madera and some of the animal characters begin to dance. More scenes play, including a boss fight against a huge lava creature.*
I don't know if I'll ever see Ella again. I don't know if she's even still alive. But I'll never stop looking. I'll find Ella, or I'll die trying.
*Edison and Madera are sitting on a hill underneath the stars. Madera places a hand on his.*
Madera: I'll never stop looking either. We'll find her, Edison. You and me.
Edison: *just smiles at her*
*The game's logo is displayed.*
THE DREAMERS
1998
Only for Ultra Nintendo
*The crowd explodes into wild applause as the Stampers soak it all in. Tim Stamper speaks.*
“
The Dreamers is the culmination of all of our hard work, effort, and creativity over the past three years. We hope you enjoy it and we do have a demo available to play on the show floor. Thank you all and come see us at our booth!”
-Tim and Chris Stamper's keynote speech at E3 1997
“
Welcome to Atlanta and welcome to E3 1997! I'm Tom Kalinske and I'm here to talk to all of you today about the number one video game console in the world. That's right from right here in North America to Latin America down south, to Europe, to Australia, and all over Asia, the Sega Saturn is the #1 selling game console of the past 12 months! And do you know why? Because Saturn does what Nintendon't: providing the best games with the best gameplay and the best graphics and the best everything else. Sonic 4 is the top selling game of the year and it's still lighting up the sales charts worldwide. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is the top reviewed game of the year and still the top selling game in North America. And this year and next year, we're going to continue to bring you the greatest games that you can buy. We've prepared a music video with the help of our good friends, the Smashing Pumpkins, to show you all the games that you'll be playing over the next year and a half.
*A music video is played: OTL's “The End Is The Beginning Is The End”, which IOTL was used to promote
Batman and Robin. ITTL, a different song is used for the film, and so instead, Sega co-opts the song to use for a Saturn hype video. The video is similar to the one from OTL, but with clips from Saturn games, both upcoming and already released, instead of scenes from
Batman and Robin. The games shown off include:
Fighters Megamix, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Boom Island, Tekken 2 and
Tekken 3,
Daytona USA 2, Raigeki, Tick and Tock: Time Tricksters, Troublemakers, Sonic RPG, Planetary Probe, Krystalshade, Windborn, Phantasy Star V, Tomb Raider and
Tomb Raider 2,
Resident Evil and
Resident Evil 2,
Ultima: Scions of Britannia, Panzer Dragoon Saga,
Operation Zero, and
Contra: World War. The crowd cheers after the video.*
“
The Sega Saturn continues to bring you the best games that you can't find anywhere else. And now, we'd like to announce that the Sega Saturn will be easier to buy than ever, because effective immediately, the MSRP of the Sega Saturn will be $249.99.” *the crowd cheers*
“And, when you purchase the Sega Saturn, even if you've never played a Sega system before you'll be able to catch up on all of Sonic the Hedgehog's adventures, because not only will the all new Sonic the Hedgehog 4 be packed in with the console, but our Sonic compilation game Sonic Jam, featuring Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, 3, AND Sonic CD, along with several other classic Sonic the Hedgehog titles, will be included, for free, with the purchase of the Sega Saturn console. And, we'll also be releasing the new Sega Saturn Arcade Fight Collection, which includes the Sega Saturn, Fighters Megamix, Virtua Fighter 2, Tekken 2, and an extra Saturn controller for $329.99. So whether you're a Sonic fan or an arcade fighting junkie, we've got a fix for you. Now...on the subject of Sonic the Hedgehog. Our Sonic game collection: Sonic Jam, is available for sale right now. Right as I am talking, the new Saturn bundles and Sonic Jam are going on sale. And Sonic Jam, let me tell you about Sonic Jam because it's not just a collection of old Sonic titles. They've ALL gotten upgrades, including full CD audio soundtracks and, for all of these games, we've opened up the Sega vault to include all new levels. So even if you've played these games before on the Sega Genesis or the Sega CD, there are plenty of surprises in store and this collection retails for the low price of $39.99. But, that's not all the Sonic news we have to share. If you think that the only Sonic content we're releasing this year is a collection of classic Sonic games, well....check this out.”
*Another video plays, showcasing the three new Sonic games set for release later in the year:
Sonic Fighters, SoniQuest, and Sonic R.*
“
Starting in July with the release of Sonic Fighters, we'll be releasing a brand new game featuring Sonic and all his friends every two months for the remainder of the year. In July, Sonic Fighters brings all of the Sonic characters you know and love, not just a select few like in Fighters Megamix, into the ring to brawl it out in one on one combat. In September, SoniQuest is an RPG featuring Sonic and his friends as they team up to stop a terrible evil that threatns their world. And in November, Sonic R brings the excitement of high speed racing to the world of Sonic for the first time! All three of these games will be playable at our booth, so go check them out and see all the latest fun that Sonic has to offer! But of course, one of our biggest games of the year is set for release this October, and to introduce that game, I'd like to bring Mr. Stephen Streater, president and founder of Eidos Interactive, up to the stage to talk about Tomb Raider II.” *the crowd applauds and cheers as Stephen Streater takes the stage*
“
Thank you, Tom, it's a pleasure to be here today. Tomb Raider II is the sequel to one of last year's biggest hits, and I'm pleased to show off some gameplay footage right here right now, showing that Lara's learned a few new tricks over the past year...”
*A gameplay video is displayed of Lara standing in a huge room filled with terracotta warriors, it's a maze room and Lara is being pursued by men in body armor.*
“
Now, as you can see, Lara's in a bit of a spot here, but she's got some new tricks...”
*Lara lays down a mine and goes to a different section of the room to detonate it, as she's making her way over there, an alert comes on screen, showing that Lara is being attacked from behind, with the touch of a button Lara can flip the attacker over her shoulder and with another timely button press Lara puts a bullet in his chest. The crowd cheers at this.*
“
Lara's got a new 'situational awareness' that will help her out in melee situations. You'll be alerted to the presence of an enemy and if you trigger the command quickly enough you can get the jump on them even when they're coming from behind. Now, as for the rest of them...”
*Another alert is displayed showing enemies in the proximity of the mine Lara just put down, even with a little split-screen showing the enemies approaching. Another button press and an explosion is triggered, blasting three of them into the air.*
“
You've got new ways of dealing with enemies so you can focus on tomb raiding and exploration. There's a lot more to do, with even more levels than the previous game and an exciting new quest that will take Lara once again all over the world in pursuit of treasure. Tomb Raider II will be released for the Sega Saturn on October 9th. Thank you.”
*Streater leaves the stage and Tom Kalinske comes back on.*
“
And remember, the Sega Saturn will have Tomb Raider II before anyone else. We'll also have another hit game before anyone else, and right now we've got that game, Resident Evil 2, on the video screen right now.”
*A preview video is shown of
Resident Evil 2, depicting two new characters, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, exploring a Raccoon City that's overrun with zombies. The game seems bigger in scope than OTL's game, taking Claire out of the city and to a strange survivalist compound outside the city's walls in a series of very creepy scenes, while Leon is shown dangling from a ceiling, shooting desperately as a massive licker approaches him.*
“
Resident Evil 2 is set to be released on the Sega Saturn early next year, once again before it's released anywhere else. Now, here are some games that will be featured exclusively on the Sega Saturn, and while we're not going to call 1997 the Year of the RPG, we ARE going to say that this year, the Saturn's selection of epic role-playing games will be the best of any available system out there. We'd first like to announce that the latest installment of the classic RPG series Phantasy Star will be making its way to North America before the end of the year. Phantasy Star V: The Forgotten Colony, will take a new cast of characters to a world beyond imagination as they explore the remnants of an ancient civilization full of mysterious technology. This game is fully designed for the Saturn from the ground up, and as you can see, the graphics far surpass any of the previous four games in the series. This game has been a major best-seller in Japan since its release and we think it's the best Phantasy Star game yet. Leap into adventure with the all new epic role playing game Phantasy Star V, coming later this year. Speaking of great role-playing games, our partners at Enix have brought us two. First up is Planetary Probe, the kind of game you really need to see to believe.
*A video starts to play, showing a beautiful space backdrop illuminated by stars. Suddenly, a spaceship enters the frame, showing off the game's impressive polygonal graphics.*
Lance: Our mission is to explore the worlds beyond the stars, to uncover what secrets the cosmos keeps hidden.
*A woman steps up next to Lance and she begins to speak.*
Atria: To spread peace and knowledge throughout the galaxy, and above all, to quench the human thirst for discovery...
*The ship is shown landing on a seemingly desolate world. Several astronauts step out. The land seems deserted but as the camera pans up, it shows a sprawling civilization with a city that seems to encompass a third of the planet. The camera continues to pan out and it travels along the galaxy, showing world after world, all filled with different civilizations and different types of landscapes.*
PLANETARY PROBE
October 1997
*The crowd applauds as Kalinske begins to speak again.*
“
Planetary Probe will take players all over the galaxy in search of new, amazing worlds to explore, with danger around every corner. It's an RPG that spans many worlds, but in Enix's other RPG, Krystalshade, you're confined to one world...though it's a very, very big world to explore.”
*Another video is played, showing off
Krystalshade's battle system, an action-RPG similar to OTL's
Star Ocean*
“
In Krystalshade, a young man named Archie will confront his destiny. The game features a fast-paced battle system that will require strategic knowledge and lightning quick timing, and will challenge even the most seasoned of role-playing game veterans. RPG vets might also like our next RPG, published by Namco, which is in a bit more of a traditional vein...”
*A brief video shows an anime-like cutscene showing a young girl venturing across a beautiful landscape, being protected by her new friends, a group of heroes and heroines. The title of the game,
Windborn, is shown, and then scenes from the game's exploration, with beautiful and colorful 2-D graphics, followed by scenes from the game's traditional turn-based battle system are shown.*
“
Namco's Windborn follows the story of a girl named Brezia who is the last survivor of the People of the Wind, a race of people who can literally hear messages carried on the winds. Those who destroyed Brezia's people seek to destroy her as well, and only her new friends can protect her and help her find her purpose in this world. These four games are set to be released over the coming months, but they're not the only role playing games planned for the Sega Saturn. In fact, we've got another of our top original franchises getting the RPG treatment in Virtua Quest...” *the crowd cheers at this news as images of the
Virtua Fighter characters are shown on screen*
“Set to make its debut later this year. We've got more details on this game at our Sega booth, look under the big Virtua Fighter display for demo kiosks featuring Virtua Quest.
And yet another of our original franchises is going to be making its RPG debut...”
*A video is shown of
Panzer Dragoon Saga, which features amazing graphics and gets some of the biggest applause of the show.*
“
Panzer Dragoon Saga takes our popular dragon-mounted shooter game into the realm of the RPG. This game is going to be the most massive Saturn game to date, spanning a full four discs and encompassing a truly epic scope, far longer than the previous two Panzer Dragoon games combined. Now, I'd like to bring another special guest on stage and this man really needs no introduction. He's the legend behind the classic Ultima series, so everyone please give it up for Lord British himself, Richard Garriott!”
*Richard Garriott takes the stage now, as the logo of
Ultima: Scion Of Britannia is displayed on the screen above.*
“
Thank you very much, Tom, and I'm glad to be here today. When I agreed to have Ultima featured on the Sega Saturn as one of its premiere franchises, I couldn't have imagined the success we'd have when we brought forth Ultima: The Worldly Lord as a featured launch title. Now, Ultima: Scion Of Britannia continues the Ultima legacy in a big way. In this game, you play as a young woman, living in our modern world, who discovers her heritage as the lost heir to the throne of Britannia, and who must venture to a world she's never known before in order to claim her birthright. But in order to achieve this goal, she must prove herself worthy by obtaining the eight Virtues as she explores a massive world, far more massive than the world featured in the previous Ultima game. In The Worldly Lord, the player had to build a city while roaming the world in search of people to populate it. In Scion of Brittania, the player must choose whether to earn the throne through obtaining the eight Virtues, or to seize the throne through force and deception. On your journey, you'll come across others who seek to lay claim to the throne. This game is all about entering a brand new world and shaping it in your image, for better or for worse.”
*Garriott continues to speak as gameplay footage is shown, the game is near completion and it's a vast, open world with significantly better graphics than
The Worldly Lord.*
“
Scion of Britannia will be released in just two months, this August it will be released exclusively for the Sega Saturn. Thank you and please come visit our booth to try out this incredible new game!”
*Garriott exits the stage to applause, hugging Tom Kalinske who returns and begins to speak again. Kalinske discusses several more games, including the fighting game
Raigeki and
Contra: World War, before reaching the end of his presentation, with
Tekken 3 as the last game he discusses.*
“
Tekken 3 will be released exclusively for the Sega Saturn next February. It and many, many more games will be available to play at our Sega booth. The Sega Saturn continues to be the home of the best games, the best characters, and the best value of any game console on the market, and in this year, the next year, and beyond, Sega will continue to do what Nintendon't. Thank you all very much and enjoy E3!”
-keynote speech from Tom Kalinske at E3 1997
-
Ted Crosley: There's so many games here at E3, but obviously the first thing I wanted to check out, and Alex agrees with me, is the Ultra Nintendo.
Alex Stansfield: And honestly, I don't know where to begin with this thing! This year there are a LOT more games available to play, I counted at least 40, including all the big ones, I'm gonna go ahead and start with
Star Fox 2.
*Alex plays through the first level, Corneria, blasting enemy ships out of the sky as character dialogue plays every few seconds.*
Alex: As you can see, no more Muppets, this is all in-game graphics, and your wingmen are a lot more talkative in this game. Falco, Peppy, Slippy, they're all back, and there's a new character, a girl fox named Krystal who seems to be Fox's girlfriend, maybe?
Ted: The game moves at a really smooth pace, everything looks a lot smoother, there are detailed environments and a lot more enemies this time around too. Even the bosses have something to say!
*Alex is fighting the first boss who's talking trash to Fox and his crew as they circle around in all-range mode to take him down. After a bit more
Starfox 2, the duo moves on to play some
Final Fantasy VII*
Ted: This is
Final Fantasy VII and like
Starfox 2, it's fully voiced.
Alex: Yeah, this game is way more movielike than any
Final Fantasy game so far. The first mission has you bombing some kind of reactor, and then you end up in the slums, it's a lot darker and dirtier than any
Final Fantasy game before it as well. I think a lot of players will like the new, more serious direction they're going with this but I almost kind of prefer the light-hearted high fantasy roleplaying games.
Ted: Well, we did try out
Ultra Adventurers but it doesn't look nearly as fun as this, or as good. Check out how detailed the characters are in this game!
Alex: And every enemy attack is so beautifully animated, I could see myself getting into random battles just to watch all the animations, wow!
Ted: There are so many more Ultra Nintendo games to try out that it would take more than an hour to show them all to you. We'll try out a few more of them later in the show, including
Goldeneye 007, which could very well be the game of the show so far.
(...)
Brittany Saldita: And I'm here with Yukio Futatsugi from Team Andromeda, trying out
Panzer Dragoon Saga! I am just blown away by this game! *she's in the middle of a battle with a large enemy, quickly having gotten the hang of the game's targeting system* I never imagined that
Panzer Dragoon could be adapted into such a fun RPG but I am enjoying myself way too much right now.
*Brittany wins the battle and quickly gets into another one as Yukio points out some of the aspects of the battle system to her and the viewers.*
Brittany: It looks like it's really complicated but honestly, it was pretty easy for me to master it and I imagine players won't have much trouble with this at all. It's such a beautiful game, it looks even better than
Zwei and it looks better than most of the Ultra Nintendo games I've seen too.
Yukio Futatsugi: You can move the dragon in all directions, in order to fully explore the world around you.
Brittany: It's one of the biggest, most open RPG worlds I've ever seen. You've done amazing work and I can't wait to play this game once it's released.
Panzer Dragoon Saga is looking like one of my most anticipated games of next year.
(...)
Gary Westhouse: This is
Race'n'Chase, and it's definitely not like any game I've played before. You've got a lot of freedom here.
Sam Houser: Well that's the idea, you can pretty much do whatever you want.
Gary: It's a lot like cops and robbers, but as a video game.
Sam: *laughing* Well, did you actually shoot people when you were playing cops and robbers?
Gary: You know, some of those games got pretty intense! *he runs over a couple of pedestrians* Holy *bleep*!
Sam: *laughing again*
Gary: You can run over whoever you want?
Sam: That's right, but watch out or you'll have the cops after you.
Gary: It looks like they didn't notice me, that's good. *gets out of his car and starts shooting people with a machine gun* I think they'll notice this!
Sam: Yeah, you got a star, you better run. *laughs*
Gary: What if I don't wanna run?
Sam: You don't have to, that's the beauty of it! You can just stay there and shoot the cops if you want to.
Gary: *laughing* Before I continue, a disclaimer, MTV does not endorse the shooting of law enforcement.
Sam: You guys don't play any NWA videos then? *laughs*
Gary: *he tries to shoot more of the police officers but he ends up getting wasted* Damn, that didn't go so well!
Sam: It's not an easy game!
Gary: No, but it's a lot of fun.
Race'N'Chase, for the Sega Saturn?
Sam: Yep, and then coming to the Ultra next year.
Gary: Sounds good!
(...)
John Walden: Hey, what's up? I'm John Walden and I'm sitting down to play some
Gran Turismo. This game, a lot of people have said it's just about the realest racing simulator available anywhere, is that true?
Kazunori Yamauchi: We've been working on this game since before the Super Nintendo CD was released.
John: Is that right?
Yamauchi: That's right, it was originally supposed to be an SNES-CD game, but when we saw the Ultra we re-did the whole thing from scratch, it just wasn't going to look good enough unless it was on the Ultra.
John: Well let's see how well a job you guys did on this game. *he begins to play, the graphics look better than even
Gran Turismo 2 IOTL, the Ultra Nintendo easily making the game's graphics look significantly better even than some OTL Dreamcast games* Good lord!
Yamauchi: It's good?
John: It's incredible! *he begins racing but gets into a couple of wrecks early on* It's not me, I'm just stunned by how realistic this game looks!
Yamauchi: It was a pure labor of love, this game.
John: It's got me floored. *he quickly gets used to it and is driving quite well on one of the game's gorgeous tracks* How many cars are in this game?
Yamauchi: Over 200 cars.
John: *crashes again*
Yamauchi: *laughs*
John: This game's unreal! I can't get over how realistic it is. Now, I had a lot of fun playing
Ultra Mario Kart but this game seems to be for people who want something more realistic, more challenging.
Yamauchi: Hopefully there's room for both games!
John: I think there is, I think this game's gonna be a big hit. *he keeps playing*
(...)
Lyssa: *is playing
Parappa the Rapper on a Super Nintendo CD* What we've got here is another musical game, in this game you're a rapping dog and you're trying to win the heart of a talking sunflower. The plot is ridiculous but some of these songs are really catchy!
*Lyssa is playing the third level, with the flea market frog*
Lyssa: In the rain or in the snow, got the funky funky flow.... *singing it to herself as she plays* It's a really charming little game! And that's the thing, even with all the hype over the Ultra Nintendo, a lot of the best games I saw at E3 were for the Super Nintendo CD. You've got
Donkey Kong Country 4,
Tales Of The Seven Seas 2 looks just amazing, and then there's
Parappa, which, honestly might be my personal favorite. *continues singing* I can sell a bottle cap like this...
(...)
*Ted, Alex, Brittany, and John are sitting on a couch with Ultra Nintendo controllers in hand, the controllers are each a different color, one is black, one is gray, one is blue, and one is green.*
Ted: All right, time to play some multiplayer
Goldeneye. We don't have all day, so we'll play You Only Live Twice mode, if you die two times, you're out!
Brittany: Sounds fair.
Alex: Prepare to get capped!
John: Y'all are going down!
*They start to play in the Facility level, Ted quickly arms himself with the Golden Gun and he's going on the prowl.*
Ted: Now, the Golden Gun can kill a person in a single shot.
Brittany: Thanks for telling me so I know to stay away from you like I do after you've been eating Taco Bell.
Alex: Oh *bleep*! *Ted takes him out in one shot*
John: Damn, damn, damn! *Ted takes him out too, he quickly respawns and is able to get a decent automatic weapon*
Alex: Brittany, where are you?
Brittany: I'm not gonna tell you, you'll kill me!
Alex: We gotta team up to take down Ted!
Ted: Too late! *he shoots Alex, killing him again*
Alex: NOOOOO!!!
John: You're out, man.
Alex: *shaking his head in dismay*
John: *gets behind Ted and sprays him with automatic weapon fire*
Brittany: Ha!
John: *gets into a firefight with Brittany now*
Brittany: Oh no, oh no oh no....!!! *John kills her too*
Ted: *takes John out from behind with a karate chop* Hi-yah!
John: Hell no! *groaning*
Ted: Okay, so uh, who's not been killed?
Alex: I think all of you guys are down to one life. *sighing*
*Ted, Brittany, and John walk around for a bit, searching for each other, John gets a Golden Gun*
Brittany: I'm coming for you, Ted!
Ted: Aaaaahhhhh! *he tries to get under the floor*
Brittany: *shooting at him*
Ted: Come on, come on! *gets killed* NO!
Brittany: YES! *kicking her legs excitedly*
John: *stalking Brittany*
Brittany: *she heads for where the Golden Gun spawn is but it's not there* That's not good...
John: *keeps stalking her*
Brittany: Either Ted had it when he died or John has it now. *she notices John getting close to her*
John: Hey, hey, that's cheating, no peeking at my screen!
Brittany: *laughs* All's fair in love and Goldeneye!
Ted: Yeah, that's a legitimate tactic.
John: I'm still gonna kill you!
Brittany: *manages to hit him a couple of times, ducking around a corner and John barely misses shooting her* Come on...he's got like half his health left....come on come on...!!! *making a run for open ground*
John: *following Brittany* You can't run, you can't run!
Alex: I don't know, I think this one's over!
Brittany: No no no no no!!! *laughing a bit now as she gets out into the open and turns to fire at John*
John: Ah *bleep*, ah *bleep*! *Brittany hits him a couple times and gets him down to his last life bar but he manages to hit her with the Golden Gun and she goes down*
Brittany: *lets out a shriek of frustration and kicks her legs in the air again*
Alex: I gotta say, even though I suck and I got killed right away, that was pretty fun.
Ted: Yeah,
Goldeneye multiplayer...dare I say it, more fun than
Doom multiplayer?
Alex: The Ultra Nintendo seems to be setting itself up as THE multiplayer system, so games like
Goldeneye and
Star Fox and
Mario Kart are all playing really nicely into that. Will that put it over the top of Sega? I think so.
Ted: I wouldn't count Sega out just yet, they've got that awesome new Bomberman coming out.
Alex: Yeah, but so does Nintendo.
Brittany: Are you guys really fighting over Bomberman? *rolls her eyes*
-excerpted from the June 24, 1997 episode of
GameTV
-
Games, Games, And More Games: E3 1997
As expected, Nintendo pulled out all the stops this year at E3, with their Ultra Nintendo as the centerpiece of the show. All the games they showed off in video form last year were playable for the most part, while Super Mario Dimensions, Final Fantasy VII, and Ultra Mario Kart all had completed versions ready at the show for us to try. Super Mario Dimensions was probably the best game at E3 as far as we were concerned, it's a massive game with an incredible variety of worlds to explore and objectives to achieve. No longer is Mario limited to “here's the stage, get to the end”, each of the game's 21 worlds was fully open for exploration and while there were still familiar things like level goals and boss fights, there were also more obscure objectives, like exploring a sunken ship for buried treasure, or plunging into a fiery volcano. Even Donkey Kong makes an appearance in one of the levels, bringing some awesome nostalgia to this otherwise shiny and new game. We also got to play Star Fox 2 for the first time and while its rail-shooter gameplay is familiar to those who enjoyed the SNES-CD original, it got a huge presentation boost, ditching the Muppets for fully rendered character polygons and massive multi-staged boss fights. If there's a game that we liked almost as much as Super Mario Dimensions, it was the new Castlevania game, which seemed to take some cues from Super Metroid in its level design. While the graphics were fairly primitive next to most other Ultra Nintendo games, we had trouble putting the controller down as we guided the new hero Alucard through a spooky castle filled with all sorts of deadly beasts. We also got to play an early demonstration of Telenet Japan's Tale Phantasia sequel, which doesn't yet have a final name but does look quite lovely on the new hardware. Other games we enjoyed: A tongue-in-cheek 3D platformer called Blasto, featuring a superhero of the same name, a very lovely Squaresoft RPG called Fairytale, featuring the music of Yasunori Mitsuda (of Chrono Trigger fame), and Rare's title The Dreamers, which looks to be an incredible hybrid of 3-D platforming and hack and slash adventuring. Rare had an incredible E3, perhaps winning the whole show between The Dreamers, Goldeneye 007, and their fourth and final SNES-CD Donkey Kong Country game, Donkey Kong Returns. Even though Nintendo was focusing on the Ultra Nintendo, the Super Nintendo CD had a pretty good showing itself in what is likely to be the console's final year of major releases, with sequels to Tales Of The Seven Seas, Dog Dash, and Victory all heavily featured and all looking quite good, and a Disney title based on their classic obscure animated film The Three Caballeros, which we enjoyed almost as much as the new Donkey Kong Country game. If Nintendo needed to score a bit comeback at E3 to counter the rising sales of the Sega Saturn, mission accomplished.
However, it wasn't as if Sega had a bad E3. On the contrary. Though their two biggest third party games of the show, Tomb Raider II and Resident Evil 2, were also announced for the Ultra Nintendo, they'll be coming to the Saturn first, and both of them look really good, among the best games displayed at the show. Our personal favorite Saturn game was Saturn Bomberman, which, while not visually as pretty as Nintendo's Ultra Bomberman, looked to be somewhat more fun, and unlike the Ultra Nintendo's game, will feature a TEN(!!)-player versus mode. Sega also showed off a myriad of RPGs, and count us most impressed with Planetary Probe, a sci-fi adventure that looks to be in direct competition with Final Fantasy VII, with stunning 3-D graphics and some great battle animation. They also showed off RPGs such as SoniQuest, Virtua Quest, and Panzer Dragoon Saga, all three of which are based on some of the company's biggest franchises. It's clear that Sega saw Nintendo's big RPG lineup in 1996 and is now playing a bit of “monkey see, monkey do”, with RPG lovers as the clear winners. Sega also showed off a couple of anime adaptations, Ghost In The Shell which is coming this fall, and a Neon Genesis Evangelion game that will hopefully make it to the West sometime next year. While Nintendo may have stolen the show at E3, Sega definitely made their presence felt, and the rest of this year and 1998 look to be the most exciting time in video game history.
-from
Electronic Gaming Monthly's coverage of E3 1997 in the August 1997 issue
-
E3 1997 was the most eventful E3 to date, with games displayed by nearly every major software company. Nintendo and Sega proudly showed off their wares, while on the PC side of things, games like Quake II and Ultima Online made major splashes. Perhaps the most exciting game to come out of E3 is Half-Life, produced by Sierra and developed by Valve Software. The game is a first-person shooter focused on exploration. Though the game is still early in development, we were extremely impressed by its AI, which promises to provide the player with realistic enemies that will both challenge and horrify them. Half-Life likely won't be released until late next year or perhaps even early 1999, but in the mean time, we look forward to discovering more of this game as it gets closer to release. Another major game that was announced at this year's E3 was Duke Nukem Forever, the sequel to Duke Nukem 3D. Duke Nukem Forever promises to take the classic franchise into the next generation, with graphics rivaling even those found in games like Quake II. The game has been announced for a late 1997 release, with console ports announced to come some time in 1998. Another highly anticipated first person shooter is the game Daikatana, developed by John Romero and id Software. The game is being designed for Nintendo's new Ultra console, but is planned to have a concurrent PC release, and Romero has promised that the game will take the first person shooter genre to a “new level”, with time travel said to be a major element in the game's storyline. Tomorrow, we'll count down the top ten games that have us most excited from E3, and we'll also let you know what to expect for the second half of 1997.
-from a June 21, 1997 article on Gamespot.com
-
>So, what was your favorite bit of news from E3?
-->Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is getting localized! Games 1 and 2 set to come out for Saturn later this year!
---->That game was stupid when it came out on the PC Engine, what a pointless port.
------>It looks so much better on Saturn though.
---->The Saturn gets all the anime games, doesn't it? It's getting Magic Knight Rayearth next year too, right?
------>Yeah and Ghost Of The Shell too
------>Magic Knight Rayearth looks dumb
---->Awesome!
---->It looks SO good on the Saturn, I can't wait to play.
-->Donkey Kong Country 4, yay!!
---->Why not make Donkey Kong Country 4 for the Ultra Nintendo?
------>They don't wanna compete with Super Mario Dimensions, duh
-------->That is such a crowded launch, I have no clue what games to buy
---->And FINALLY Donkey Kong comes back to his own series, he was starting to get kidnapped more than Princess Peach
-->The Dreamers looks amazing
---->I know, right?
---->AWESOME
---->That bear looks stupid and why does he have a bird in his backpack?
------>That was so cool
---->Ella's not dead
------>Yeah she'll show up later for sure.
-->Resident Evil and Tomb Raider are coming to Ultra Nintendo!
---->This was a no-brainer, of course they were gonna come over eventually.
------>I knew Resident Evil was coming but I thought Tomb Raider would stay exclusive.
---->This is a slap in the face to Sega fans.
------>Shut the fuck up
-------->U shut teh fuck up
------>Ha ha!
------>You guys still have the best fighting game franchise so quit whining
-------->Nah, Killer Instinct is better
---------->Killer Instinct sucks
------------>Fuck you
-------->Street Fighter III is Ultra exclusive, what are you talking about?
-->I was waiting for Zelda news, nothing : (
---->Yeah really, when is it coming?
------>1999 at the earliest
---->It'll take FOREVER for the new Zelda
---->They at least showed that old video from earlier this year again I think
------>The one with the big Stalfos? That was from last year!
-->The Ultra, it's backwards compatible, I don't have to buy an SNES-CD
---->Dude, just go buy one, it's only like 79 bucks
---->Don't most of us already have one?
---->I wonder what Babbage's will give me in trade?
-excerpted from a video game forum on InsideTheWeb.com on June 25, 1997
-
The 3rd Electronics Entertainment Expo took place on June 19-21, 1997, in Atlanta, Georgia.
The show had moved to a larger space from the previous year's show in Los Angeles, partly as a move to counteract some of the painfully long lines at certain booths in 1996. While the larger exhibition space did mitigate much of the problems with the lines (though games such as Final Fantasy VII, Goldeneye, and Tekken 3 still had some decent waits), the sprawling space did make for a somewhat difficult trek for journalists who had to make their way from one end of the floor to another, which often took upwards of 20 minutes.
PC games had a bit of a resurgence at E3, particularly first-person shooters such as Quake II, Half-Life, Unreal, Duke Nukem Forever, Sin, and Prey. However, it was a console FPS, Goldeneye 007 for the Ultra Nintendo, that really stole the show, impressing many of the gathered journalists with its exciting four-player split screen deathmatch mode.
Nintendo had the biggest showing of all at E3, revealing all the details of their upcoming Ultra Nintendo console, including the price ($299, largely as expected), several technical details (including backwards compatibility with the SNES-CD, the worst-kept secret in video gaming, and the new Gigadisc proprietary format for games), and most of the games in the console's launch window and beyond. As the event was just days before Nintendo's big Japanese launch, all of the Japanese launch games were present in their finished form, while Nintendo also introduced games such as Star Fox 2, Yoshi's Story, and 1080 Snowboarding to an eager public. Nintendo and Konami also showed off Metal Gear Solid for the first time, with a very impressive video that wowed audiences and confirmed the game to be a Nintendo exclusive. Other trailers that impressed the crowd included Ballistic Limit 2 and the former reveal of Rare's game The Dreamers, which, along with Goldeneye 007, showed that Rare had become Nintendo's most valuable second party, even ahead of companies like Argonaut and Telenet Japan, which also had impressive E3 showings. Zelda was, unfortunately, a no-show at E3. While it was in development at the time (and, as it turned out, fairly deep into its development cycle), Nintendo wanted to keep the game under wraps so as not to overshadow all the other games they were displaying at E3. While it was apparent by then that the SNES-CD was on its way out, games like Donkey Kong Country 4 and Tales Of The Seven Seas 2 were very well-received, and other titles like Intelligent Qube and Parappa the Rapper, both developed by Sony, also showed that the SNES-CD would continue to be a presence at least through 1997.
While Sega had some of its thunder stolen by the fact that arguably its two biggest third-party games (Tomb Raider II and Resident Evil 2) were revealed to be coming to the Ultra Nintendo before Sega got the chance to formally show them off, Sega still made waves at E3 by announcing a Saturn price cut and two new bundles: A Sonic collection that included Sonic 4 and Sonic Jam (which was announced as being released AT E3) and a fighting game collection that included Virtua Fighter 2, Tekken 2, and Fighters Megamix. The company also showed off a myriad of Sonic games and a bunch of new RPGs, hoping to counter quality (Final Fantasy VII) with quantity. Though Sega had reason to be worried after the very positive reception to the Ultra, the company didn't show it at E3, confidently promoting dozens of upcoming Saturn games, and for the most part, Sega's E3, while not the brash display of hubris that was Sega's E3 1996, did feature more quality games than the previous year, reassuring Saturn owners that they'd indeed bet on the right horse, at least for the moment.
3Dfx had a major presence at E3, with nearly every PC game displayed at the show featuring some kind of “powered by 3Dfx” logo nearby. The company even had some comparisons between games on the new Ultra Nintendo console and PC games featuring 3Dfx technology. Not surprisingly, the 3Dfx games looked better, though to Nintendo's credit, on some games it was hard to tell.
Star Wars had a big booth set up at E3 as well, not only to promote the VHS releases of the new “special edition” trilogy, but a host of new games as well, including the fighting game Star Wars: Masters Of Juyo on the Super Nintendo CD (which Rare also promoted in their press conference), Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire on the Ultra Nintendo,
Star Wars: Battle Of Despayre on the Saturn, and the PC game Star Wars: Jedi Knight Dark Forces II. Their booth was flanked by men in Storm Trooper costumes and women in Princess Leia's slave outfit from Return of the Jedi, which highlights another aspect of E3 that really grew that year: booth babes. The Duke Nukem booth was flanked with numerous scantily clad women, and even the Eidos booth had a scantily clad Lara Croft on display to talk about Tomb Raider II. It was the beginning of a controversial trend that would continue in subsequent E3s, to a much greater extent.
Ultimately, the consensus Game of the Show was Super Mario Dimensions, with Goldeneye 007 considered a distant second. If videos are counted, Metal Gear Solid has a good case for being considered Game of the Show. Either way, E3 1997 symbolized the true beginning of the fifth generation, with the Super Nintendo CD pushed aside in favor of the Ultra Nintendo, while the Saturn continued unabated, on an inevitable collision course with Nintendo's new machine.
-excerpted from IGN's E3 1997 article (based on this real-life article on IGN.com about OTL's E3 1997: http://www.ign.com/wikis/e3/E3_1997 )
