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E3 2008: Adam Sessler's Take

Jul. 23 8:55 AM by Terry Terrones

Last week, on the last day of E3, I headed over to the G4TV studios and hung out for awhile with Adam Sessler. This is the fourth time I've interviewed the X-Play co-host and as always he was funny, honest and crammed about 2 hours of conversation into 30 minutes.

On the day we met he was very excited about G4TV's numbers but not very happy with Nintendo. Here's what he had to say about E3, the most impressive games of the show and how he thinks EA is making a statement.

TT: How is this year's E3 now that its back at the LACC?

AS: For us the benefits of coming to the convention center were huge. All the games are under one roof, where last year we were presented with huge problems because everyone was in hotels and getting everyone over to our stage (in the Barker Hanger) in a timely manner proved to be an impossibility and we didn't get anywhere near the amount of demos we wanted to as a result of that. When you consider the traffic in Santa Monica during the summer period, then with E3 going on? This year was just nice. Every game that I would consider to be a major title that was in a playable form, on the whole, came to the stage and we showed it off. I just loved being able to broadcast to viewers a game as its being played. It's the most effective way to get a sense of how you'll be playing that game and what you'll be experiencing in that game.

TT: So no E3 complaints?

AS: One of the things I noticed, in comparison to last year, is that I saw more of my colleagues. My biggest complaint about last year was that because things were so spread out you pretty much saw what was on your beat and didn't get to see that much more. So getting that kind of overview of the industry as a whole, even if you're not writing about something, it's easier to get that big picture. From where I'm sitting, the industry is doing just fine.

But what we don't have is that kind of fanboy excitement in the background. Even though those fanboys really weren't supposed to be at those E3's all those years ago, yes, they were there. Now you're always getting the presses take on things, and with all due respect to so many of my colleagues, I think there's a fair amount of jaundice that's out there and cynicism about things. The fanboys offered a kind of counterweight with their enthusiasm and there is something of value to see a more general consumers reaction to something. They're the true audience of video games because they don't make games for the press; they make games for the gamers out there.

TT: Was there anything from the Big 3 press conferences that caught your attention?

AS: Yeah, Nintendo not having anything for their core audience. I know they're trying to say that Animal Crossing is for their core audience and it's a great game, don't get me wrong and I think the games they showed were cool games but they showed a very limited catalog of titles. They had made statements that they were going to show something for the core gamer and that didn't seem to manifest itself. Animal Crossing was great, when there were other games coming out. When it came out the first time it was the same year as Wind Waker and Sunshine, it can't stand out on its own in one year as the one core game. I'm just mystified how Nintendo thought that what they were showing was going to go over well with a western audience and they actually seemed to be surprised by the reaction. Afterward there was some degree of scrambling as we heard successive citations by Miyamoto, and from Reggie and from Iwata that the Zelda and the Mario teams are working on something and then there was the admission that they were working on a Pikmin. It's almost like they were scrambling to remind people. It's almost like they completely forgot how vocal, and strong, and passionate those core Nintendo people are. If you pull back from the casual gamers, they won't go screaming from the rooftops that they're not getting enough of their games.

TT: How about Microsoft?

AS: What really struck me was that they seem to be moving in a direction that might work out better for them. They came in as a hardcore console and now they are branching out. They actually have something of a Trojan horse; they put the console out into the home, primarily maybe for the one gamer in the family. And then there are all these new things coming out for it, with all the success of Xbox LIVE Arcade, with downloadable movies. It suddenly has all these other things that other family members can take advantage of. They seem to moving in a very practiced way. A lot of people think they're just aping what other consoles are doing, but as Morgan Webb likes to say, "Nintendo didn't invent the avatar."So on one level it may look like they're copying but that's not to say they shouldn't go in a direction other people have succeeded in. They're trying to branch out and broaden their base, but its funny, when you go online and reach message boards and see that people really seemed irk by casual games and stuff like Rock Band because they feel games have to be this one thing. The thing is these games aren't making Fallout 3 any less fun, that's what's so perplexing to me. Lips is fine for people who like Lips, Fallout 3 is fine for people who like Fallout 3. The two can co-exist very easily.

TT: How about Sony?

AS: I don't want to say I was disappointed by Sony because I wasn't. I think once again, similar to Microsoft, they showed a nice breadth of what they're doing. I don't think we needed to be shown how to download a movie and be that particular about it. I was taken aback that we were shown a demo of only one game. I felt that they could have done more to really strengthen up the gaming part of the PlayStation 3. We know they have Blu-ray down. Sony makes great original games and they didn't seem to be standing behind them as I expected they would. And we needed to hear about more franchises. Hearing about God of War III being in development is like saying tomorrow is Friday. Make a better case about what is in development! Where are you standing in terms of those games? I want to hear it, I want to believe its true, and the less I hear of it the more I wonder whats happening.

TT: Third Party's?

AS: EA has done a turnaround like I've never seen. They were just turning out licensed games that weren't that good. People were buying them because of the license and they didn't do any research into the game. There were just a lot of Medal of Honor games that didn't have much spark. Wow! They probably have the most unique and diverse catalog of games this year, and then the fact that in only a year Peter Moore has gotten EA Sports some amazing features. The new features in Madden are amazing, the updating of stats in NBA Live is astounding, I've been wanting that for ages. I've always heard Ricatello (EA's CEO)really likes games and he does care and I think you can make a case for that. The old EA would not allow for these type of games to take these chances and be allowed enough development time for them to actually work. I'm very impressed with them.

TT: Any other third parties?

AS: Its interesting that Konami is trying to get into a space (with Rock Revolution) that some might even feel is a bit saturated already with Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I think they're a little bit late to the party on that one. Capcom has a nice mix of developers from the east and west, I like that. Segas doing it as well but I think Capcom's a little more solid on it. I think Dark Void is really neat and is one of the unsung games at E3. There's a lot of fun to be had with that. The id one is interesting to me because they've been with Activision as long as I can remember. This goes back to what I said earlier about how impressed I am with EA. What I didn't like about the old EA seems to be what I can say about the current Activision. We're just getting a lot of reliable reiterations or sequels that dont seem to have much spark. Call of Duty 4 is an entirely separate matter, but theres something labored about a lot of the stuff there. And the fact that id is going to a company thats trying to change its image. Bioware didn't need to go to EA, so clearly they felt comfortable with them as well. That's very, very telling.

TT: Let's talk about PlayStation Home. How much is its continuing delay hurting the PS3, or does it have any effect at all?

AS: I dont know if its hurting the PS3, I dont know if anybody would buy a PS3 exclusively for Home. But would it help create a stronger identity for the PS3? Yes, yes and yes. One of the biggest issues with the PS3 is that it doesn't have that sense of identity that the PS2 had and I think the Xbox 360 has. Home would go a long way to build that. Why is it not coming out? I think its something very ambitious and they're wise in not committing to a day. I think they feel theyd look worse committing to a date and changing it than frustrating people.

TT: So we have some more Wii peripherals, the Wii Motion Plus...

AS: The Wii Motion Plus is not a peripheral, it's a fix. Clearly Nintendo didn't think it could do what they wanted it to do for something they might be working on down the line. I think the Wiimote works fine but I think it will help with more fast paced first person shooters where you need more reaction time.

TT: So is Nintendo using this to cover up a weak game lineup or are they just being innovative?

AS: I don't think they're covering things up. I think they now feel confident in moving in new directions. Cleary that's worked very, very well for them. As games present the opportunity to do use something new, they will include that. There are new applications for the Balance Board and as for WiiSpeak, while I don't see myself taking advantage of that, I think for younger players it's really cool.

TT: You mentioned earlier that sometimes hardcore gamers view casual gamers with disdain, but casual games, whether downloaded on a console or an iPhone are becoming more prevalent.

AS: Games are becoming ubiquitous. The expectation that everyone has some form of active entertainment that they can always engage in is coming very close to reality. We're not asking people to come to games, games are coming to them, both in the delivery system and in the nature of the creativity.

TT: Not to get all philosophical on you but what does that say about our world when we always expect to be constantly engaged?

AS: I think some of it is stress reduction. In first person shooters people always think the appeal is that you can shoot things, I think the appeal of the game is the threat of being shot. I think its harder these days for people to feel good about themselves, myself included. We're so worn out, we're so distracted, we're constantly trying to do better for ourselves. We have a culture that celebrates the uber-rich, just because they're rich. The stock value of the individual has gone down and games offer accomplishments both minor and major. You play a bit of Geometry Wars to get your mind off of things and to accomplish something. It kind of nourishes a need to be in control of something. People are feeling a loss of control in their own lives and games provide, on various levels, a return of that sense of control because its in a contained space. I think that originally, years ago, adolescents played video games because of social ostracism. Games are a safe place to feel good about themselves. That has now grown on a larger scale because everyone is ostracized in some fashion.

TT: Any sleepers you want to share?

AS: I was astounded by the demo for Far Cry 2. This is a really, really neat shooter that people should really have their eye on. People aren't talking about Fable 2 enough. I can't wait to play it. I love that style of gameplay. And this is not scientific but a lot of women like the original Fable. I'm not 100% sure. Its not heavy on the machismo and you dont feel like you have to go and play your husband's action movie. Its also very inviting and because of its control scheme is more accessible. I think its really going to sell. I think Mirror's Edge is great. I don't know if its high profile or not but if it qualifies as a sleeper, I think it's a sleeper. I was also really impressed by Dark Void. Ed Fries is involved in the game and I love that man, a lot of his tastes in games is very similar to mine.

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