E3 Day 3

Well, it's over. I think I might cry.

I did manage to get into the Portal 2 showing. In a word? Delightful. I was just in awe the entire time I was watching it. You really can't appreciate the complex puzzle possibilities of the new environment elements until you see them in action. This is particularly true for the excursion funnel. This apparently asbestos-based device (pictured above) creates a tunnel in space that moves people and objects through it. It also travels through portals. One puzzle they showed us (which is the one pictured above) had them using the tunnels to move a block around. They'd move the block horizontally for a while, and then shoot a portal beneath it to quickly move it upward. It was pretty cool to watch. On top of the new puzzle elements, it was also delightful to hear the new dialog from GLADoS. I had very high hopes for this game before, and now they're even higher. I just hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment.
[Update] If you'd like to see some of the exact footage that I saw behind closed doors with Valve, you can watch it here.

I played some Marvel vs. Capcom 3. If you liked Marvel vs. Capcom 2, you'll like 3. If you didn't like 2, then you won't like 3. That's really all there is to it. Personally, although it was a lot of fun, I'm probably going to skip it. I already have Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and the new one feels a whole lot like the first one but with shinier graphics. Plus, I'm tired of getting my ass kicked online when I play fighting games.

I got my full ten minutes with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Since I had an exhibitor pass I was able to get in line before any of the media or 'Exhibits Only' people could, and I chose Zelda over the 3DS. Why? Zelda was giving out free t-shirts, and they weren't giving out bupkis for the 3DS. Anyway, Zelda: SS (Link's a fascist now) looks like someone took Twilight Princess and painted over it with Wind Waker's palette. I guess the idea is to make it immediately distinguishable from the past two console Zeldas. Anyway, the game feels pretty good with the motion plus controls. The side effect that I find unfortunate is that you really have to get into your sword slicing now. A friend was telling me how much he liked and he then posed like he was clutching an imaginary sword and shield. I found it hard to get into it that much with some Nintendo rep constantly trying to help me. Sure, I might not have figured out that Link can sprint now without him, but it was still annoying.

My team members were telling me that LeVar Burton came by IndieCade and that he really enjoyed Vision by Proxy. This was particularly awesome for one of my team members who said she grew up Star Trek. I just know LeVar Burton as that guy I saw on Reading Rainbow when they forced me to watch it at school. Still, it's pretty cool, though. Several smaller bloggers wanted to write pieces abut us, so I'm going to keep an eye out for that. There were also some other independent devs who want me to try out their game and give them feedback, so it felt pretty nice to be part of this indie community. We may actually have to finish our game now, so stayed tuned for that.

Well, that'll pretty much do it. I'll write a wrap-up for the show when I get back to the ATL and I've had time to mull it over. I'm just so sorry that it's over. Going there and having a game of mine on display was a dream come true.

--Chilly P