Well, that was pretty average. But onwards with the highlights for me:


1. RYGAR. This game is coming along very nicely indeed. Visuals are just fantastic, both technically and artistically. Great imagination in the design -- the environments are based around assorted elements from Greek mythology, and it's an extremely fresh look. Giant temples in the sky, battling hydras and other Jason & The Argonauts style bosses. One spectalucar level has you using your Krull-style whip disc to swing across chasms with towering dark clouds below, as they light up with lightning. Attention to detail is also superb, with from level design to camera, to tiny sprigs of grass and vegetation growing through cracks in the levels.

Control is also very fluid. You can use your whip-disc thing to swing across chasms Castlevania style, and also do a variety of awesome scenery destroying attacks.

In short, this is the true 3D Castlevania everyone's been waiting for. Rygar is shaping up into THE AAA action title this year as far as I'm concerned.


2. DOAXBV. My God. Not playable, but an absolutely sick new trailer, accompanied by lots of real girls in bikinis. We see that Hitomi finger sucking action in slow-mo. We see luxurious endless closeups of half naked women bending over.

Note: I was chatting with Seamus Blackley later, and apparently the idea for this game was born in his study late one night, talking with Itagaki. Initially they called it 'H.B.' for Hentai Ballet. So we can see where they're going with that. Good stuff.

Note 2: The next Dead or Alive game was also announced after this. Dead or Alive: Project Cronos. No video yet though.


3. UNLIMITED SAGA. I didn't get to play this, but hands down, this game has the best graphics at the show. I mean, Square is just using some ridiculous, liquid 3D brush to paint this game. I was in awe. Every other RPG at the show looked dead in comparison.

A purely visual judgement, obviously.


4. N.U.D.E. Some kind of funky digital assistant game from RED Entertainment, featuring a gorgeously rendered manga/robot sort of chick with pigtails. She rocked. Game looks stylish and cool. Infact, it looked like by far the most artistically stylish game on Xbox to date -- and an interesting concept potentially. Look forward to seeing what they do with this one.


5. ZOE 2: ANUBIS. Wow, the sheer geometry this game was throwing around was just INSANE. It looked like the end of Flash Gordan with giant space battles with thousands of airborne winged critters. The game is a MASSIVE step over ZOE. Let's hope it's a longer experience. ZOE2 is far from a cash in, rather, it makes the first game look like a tiny taster for what they really had planned for the ZOE concept. A big surprise


6. MINNA NO GOLF ONLINE. First time we're seeing this! No big revelations, but it was nice to see this at the PS2 BB corner. Real time play, chatting, as well as new levels, clubs, extras and all the uually we expect. Anyone who's experienced Minna No Golf 3, knows that this is going to be nothing less than a killer online app.


Oh. And the XBOX Booth chicks. The leather-clad troupe were at it again. So hot they made you cry.


More comments on other stuff, as the muse takes us.


-Justin
EMail justin