E3 2004 Quick Takes, Part 2

More games and gadgets from last month's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Andrew Brandt, PC World

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When I wrote about new games I'd seen at the E3 trade show in last month's Game Room, I could just scratch the surface. There were dozens more games I couldn't fit into one column, and a bunch of accessories designed for gamers. Herein, I'll cover some of each.

Bandai for Dummies

I spent nearly an hour at Bandai's booth. The Japanese game company has a wide selection of some of the most unusual titles for consoles and for the Game Boy Advance handheld. Here's what looked interesting:

DDRExtreme: What happens when you combine a fast-paced dancing game for the Playstation 2 with Sony's Eye Toy USB camera? DDRExtreme is one of the next generation of Eye Toy-enabled games. In the new version, you have to wave your arms around as well as step on the right coordinate on the dance pad to have an aerobic good time.

Enthusia: Konami's racing game, similar to Gran Turismo, puts you behind the wheels of some of the most powerful sports cars in the world, racing along courses ranging from the Sahara desert to the streets of Tokyo. And if sports cars are too passé for you, why not give a New Mini or a Smart car a test drive?

King Arthur: Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the castle, you take on the role of the namesake of Arthurian legend in battles against human and nonhuman foes in full medieval-royal gear, wielding a fairly well-known sword you pulled out of some rock somewhere.

Karaoke Revolution, Volume 2: If dancing isn't enough of a musical pastime, you can test your vocal chords in this singing game. Not only do you have to hit the notes in time with the music, but the game rates how well you stay on key as you sing. If you're successful, the crowd's excitement meter climbs and you get bonus points. If not, well, you've embarrassed yourself in front of a bunch of video game characters.

Metal Gear Acid: The latest installment in Konami's first-person shooter franchise looks great, considering it's not even made for a console or PC. This will be one of the first games for the Playstation Portable, due out this holiday season.

Metal Gear Solid 3: What can be cooler than playing a third-person shooter as a futuristic commando? You get to wear clothes that create camouflage based on whatever environment you happen to be standing in--black and red squares in front of a brick wall, green and brown in a swamp.

Nanobreaker: Third-person action platform games can get tedious over time, but Nanobreaker's got an interesting twist. You're not shooting a gun or fighting with a sword or any other kind of normal melee weapon: You've got an electrified whiplike cord. Now whip it, whip it good!

Phantom Crash: You may have played Big Robot games before, but this one lets you play multiplayer death matches over the Internet, using Sony's network adapter for the PS2. My favorite aspect of the game: Your character can be anything from a muscle-bound warrior to a cute little kitty cat. I knew that when cats got opposable thumbs, it would mean trouble.

Silent Hill 4: Imagine what you'd do if you went to bed one night in your apartment and woke up the next morning to find the windows boarded up and the door chained shut---from the inside. SH4 puts you into an alternate universe where everyone else has turned into a zombie, and you've been transported right into the middle of a nightmare.

Suidoken IV: Sure, you've played Everquest, Dark Ages of Camelot, or any number of other multiplayer role playing games. But have you ever had to command your party into combat against dinosaurs with fish heads, or armor-plated, man-sized chickens? You haven't, you say? In Suidoken IV, you probably will. Don't believe me? Don't blame me if you get killed by a chicken.

Hardware Goodies Excite Gamers

PlayStation Portable: The PSP, or Playstation Portable, was the hottest hardware item at the show this year. Sony's multi-hundred-dollar handheld will sport a high-res screen, an audio and video player, and--of course--a landslide of new games. Storage will come from the two memory stick slots and a new high-density optical disc format Sony calls Universal Media Disc.

Unfortunately, nobody who waited in the hugely long lines to see the PSP actually got to touch the thing. Sony kept its prototypes safe, mounted to the wall behind a glass barrier. The best anyone could do was look at the various models and marvel at the looping video and nifty accessories, like color-coordinated headphones. I guess we'll find out this coming December whether PSP will bring about the next generation in handheld gaming, or if it'll just be another Betamax.

Tapwave Zodiac: Meanwhile, over at the Tapwave booth, I actually got to touch and play with the two newest models of Tapwave Zodiac. These Palm OS-based handheld gaming devices offer crisp screen resolution on a bright LCD, with an analog stick and trigger buttons, as well as a D-pad. The new models improve on the older versions by adding substantially more internal memory. Best of all, you can actually get one of these things right now; they're running between $300 and $400.

Phantom Gaming Service: Over at the Infinium Labs booth, you could tell the company was stinging from charges that its product--the Phantom Gaming Service--is vaporware. Representatives from the company were handing out T-shirts emblazoned with an "I Believe!" logo to people who braved long lines to have a sit-down demo of the new game system. The Phantom will deliver A-list PC games over the Internet to a "black box" game system that can be connected to a TV or computer monitor. Playing on a high-def TV, like the ones Infinium Labs had in its booth, look great; I'm not sure how fuzzy it would be on my dumpy old RCA.

The Phantom boasts what might be the best game accessory in the history of consoles: A keyboard and mouse built into a special lap-friendly configuration. Best of all, Infinium will be giving away the hardware with two-year commitments to its service, which will start at around $30 a month.

Razer Gaming Mice: Razer, the PC hardware company, was showing off two of its new gaming mice. The Viper is a slick looking optical mouse made of transparent plastic and lit from within by red LEDs. Serious gamers were drooling over the BoomSlang II optical mouse, which features a high sample rate as well as an almost-flat horizontal design engineered for hours of gaming comfort.

Pyramat Floor Pad: And speaking of comfort, gamers can finally claim their rightful place---on the floor in front of the TV---without fear of cramped neck or pins and needles. The Pyramat is a foldout floor pad with a built in cushion to rest your head against; The PM300 model features built-in stereo speakers, so you can experience the full auditory illusion of 3D gaming as you recline. Forget couch potatoes---the Pyramat may very well spawn a new generation of floor potatoes if it takes off.