THE E3 DEMO: WORTHWHILE?

In addition, the demos created for E3 are often not much more than technology showpieces—it’s not like these versions of the games are ones you’d want to take home and play for hours on end. Last year, Sierra’s Half Life had a fantastic technology demo which really wowed those who saw it, but in reality, what was shown at E3 was nothing close to a real game. Still, the fantastic graphics and visual effects excited everyone, and most of us even believed Valve when they said it would be out by the end of 1997. Still, I’m sure Half-Life will have a fantastic showing this year because much of the game will actually be in place as it prepares for a Summer ship date.

Although a lot of developers complain about having to waste a good month of their time creating a "mini-demo" for E3, today’s publishers demand an impressive showing at E3 for any product, big or small. Not having a major game on the show floor raises a lot of questions, and as such sometimes games that clearly aren’t ready to be shown (such as Activision’s Apocalypse last year) are pushed onto the floor. With the point of these demos being to try to catch the viewers attention within seconds, most designers spend weeks setting up specific environments for the E3 demo, and in many cases they force technology to be integrated before it’s ready. Namely, companies will start to integrate character art, weapons and other elements into the game well before they really would if E3 hadn’t been on the calendar.

E3 is definitely a pressure point for developers, and in some ways it may spur them to put the petal to the metal and see if their game really is going to work. Although all games with major publishers have to meet certain performance goals (called milestones), the standards for an E3 demo are at an ultimate high. Unfortunately, because of the dire need to show product to buyers and press, most publishers are forced to put all their games on display, when often no more than half of them are really ready for prime time. (Witness last year’s lackluster showing of Daikatana, which was clearly on display well before it was ready to go head to head with other 3D games that had been in development for years).

Tomorrow I’ll be back with a preview of some of the games to look out for at the show, and news on some of the celebrities scheduled to appear, including former New York Mayor (and People’s Court judge) Ed Kotch, and everyone’s favorite FBI agent!

Thanks for reading,

Geoff Keighley
Editor-in-Chief
GameSlice

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