Whoever is in charge of Xbox Live over at Microsoft should have a bronze sculpture made. His left arm holding onto a Xbox 360 and his right arm grasping towards the sky. I say that because while the Xbox 360 games we saw weren't impressive, the plans they have for Xbox Live on the 360 are amazing. They're so brilliant that in hindsight it seems obvious -- let people buy smaller games via Xbox Live and download them right away.
They're starting their Xbox Live game purchasing out on a smaller scale with Xbox Live Arcade. They handed me a Ms. Pac-Man DVD to play on my Xbox when I get home. But people will be able to buy "smaller" games electronically via Xbox Live and have them to play. Very cool. It opens the door for all kinds of game development. Just when you think the consoles are shutting the door on the sub-$10 million dollar game product, something wonderful like this happens. I could see Xbox Live's on-line game buying system being a significant purchasing factor for gamers.
And while I was all stoked up from that, I encountered a wonderful surprise in the form of Heroes of Might & Magic V. Ubi Soft is really serious about revitilizing this series and it shows in what they have. The new HOMM sports a state of the art 3D engine that is applied to the game in such an ideal way that it is as if they read our minds. The battles are so cool now, reminded me of the heady days of the Amiga version of Archon. And the world itself allows you to zoom in incredibly close to things (not worm coming out of apple close but pretty close) all the way out to seeing a good chunk of the map.
Not everything was warm and fuzzy though on the show floor. Nokia is still pushing the n-Gage. The n-Gage is a cellular phone that can play fairly impressive games. This is the second iteration of the product. The first iteration required you to remove the battery in order to change games. I suspect any momentum they may have possibly have had died that day. You have to give Nokia credit -- they're really trying. But I think the ship has sailed on that one. Their booth was usually pretty empty compared to others to the point that it often appeared more like a walk through area to get to booths near it.
I admit I'm not usually a fan of portable game consoles like Gameboy but I have to say that the Sony PSP is pretty damn cool. If I was permitted to move away from my desk more often I would probably be tempted to play that. But of course, that would take precious time away from World of Warcraft which I could stop playing any time I want. I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM...
Peter Molyneux's "The Movies" does look very cool. Like most of his designs, they are brilliant. As long as he's able to make it reach its potential it could be one of the real stars (no pun intended) of the game market when it comes out. On a sad note, one game I was really looking forward to learn more about, Will Wright's Spore, I was unable to get a glimpse at. But it sure does sound cool.
Meanwhile, I was very pleased with how the stuff we were showing was received. Society, our massively multiplayer strategy game that we're developing drew particular interest.
That's all for tonight. Tomorrow I take the plane home and will go over my full notes, videos, pictures, incriminating booth babe evidence and start compiling things. Stay tuned!