Best Looking Game - In-Game Graphics
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PlayStation 2)

Matt: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater—although Final Fantasy XII and Resident Evil 4 make stronger strides in terms of sheer detail, Metal Gear Solid 3 is the biggest stand-out aesthetically. The level to which Kojima's team has simulated the subtle look of celluloid is amazing. Bright flashes look like over-exposed film—a masterful way to invoke the feeling of Hollywood action cinema.

Honorable Mention
Rumble Roses (PlayStation 2)

Brad: Do I even have to say anything?

Most Over-hyped Game at E3
The Matrix Online (PlayStation 2)

Brad: The demonstration consisted of boring, stiff-looking characters running around aimlessly and "kicking ass" by pulling off the same spinning kicks and slow-mo effects over and over. Do they really expect people to get into this when there are so many other MMORPGs out, and even more on the horizon? I doubt the Matrix license itself will be enough to keep people jacked-in for long.

Scott: This was clearly a situation where the hype trumped the gameplay. Why on earth, after the lackluster sequels, anyone is even bothering trying to turn the franchise into a MMORPG is a mystery to me. Consider me unplugged.

Lived Up To The Hype Award
Fable (Xbox)

Scott: Did I mention the fact that you can fart in this game? Oh, I did? Bodily functions aside, the much-anticipated Fable looks like it's finally making good on its promise. With lush graphics, a unique sense of style, and the ability to "live" a very good or very bad "life" in the game, the ambitious Fable seems determined to redefine the way we play games. I appreciate that.

Honorable Mention
Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)

Brad: As someone who's been with Capcom's flagship series since day one (and watched it spiral slowly downwards ever since) the hurdles for me to get excited for another installment were set ludicrously high. However, Resident Evil 4 not only cleared those hurdles, it sailed far above them, with plenty of room to spare. Despite all the hype and claims being made about the game, I have to say that my jaw hit the floor once the controller was in my hand and the action got started. Screenshots can't even begin to capture the game's feel.

The Under-hyped Award

Scott: Halo 2. The Master Chief was nowhere to be found on the convention floor. Trust me, I looked everywhere. Damn you, Microsoft!

Matt: Sly Cooper 2. Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Brad: Yeah, but at least people have heard of those. My vote is for Dog's Life. Has anyone even heard about this besides me? I didn't think so…

Kyle: Odama. I had never heard of it, but it's quite a good concept.

Most Overcrowded Booth
Nintendo

Erin: Microsoft, who made the poor choice of having an enclosed booth with single entrance and exit points. As a result, bodies accumulated in the basin like trapped lemmings, and it was almost impossible to navigate from one end to the other.

Scott: Tie: EA and Konami. While EA sported the bigger display screen—that sucker must have been at least 80 feet in length—both booths drew monster crowds. People actually set up little camps in each booth, just to watch the hourly game trailers.

Kyle: Nintendo. The snaking line for the DS (which topped a two hour wait at points) just kept getting in the way, and everyone kept pushing forward to see the ("hottest" sounds too subjective to me) Gamecube games.

Least Crowded Booth
Nokia

Brad: It was like a ghost town when I went in there, with the reps outnumbering the convention-goers by at least two to one. Watching the reps give each other pep talks in case someone came in to see their wares was pretty depressing.

Kyle: Nokia. At many points throughout the show I saw more reps playing the systems than interested showgoers.

Honorable Mention
Infinium Labs

Scott: The Phantom reps were so bored, I saw one giving another a shoulder massage.

Best Booth Babes/Hunks
Nintendo

Scott: Not sure they qualified as "babes," but the apple-pie-cute Nintendo girls in their polo shirts and khaki shorts were attractive in a healthy, wholesome kind of way. I appreciated that.

Honorable Mention
Namco

Brad: The Nintendo girls were definitely classier (except for the off-duty stripper that was heckling me while playing Donkey Konga) but the Namco girls were on a higher level as far as intensity. I think I was most impressed by their ability to not look bored even on the third day, and a few of them seemed to be genuinely enjoying their stage time. The short shorts were nice, too.

Scott: Easy there, Brad.

Brad: Hey, pass me some Kleenex, would you?

Worst Booth Babes/ Hunks

Scott: The hooker stationed on the corner outside the GC hotel on S. Westlake Street. Nice clogs, mami!

Brad: I dunno, that tired-looking two-girl team of Asian prostitutes working our hotel gets my vote. I wanted to offer them a comfortable chair or a cup of coffee or something… they were definitely workin' hard for the money and looking worse for wear.

Matt: All those non-jockstrap-wearing, non-pec'-exposing, non-body-building men I saw walking everywhere. The hunks were nowhere to be found this year.

Biggest Fall From Grace
Sega

Brad: Sega, by a mile. They used to have big booths in the main areas right alongside all of the big boys, but now they're relegated to being in a peripheral space in the hallway between the South and West halls, just a few steps down from the baggage check area. They didn't even have decent press kits, just little paper slips directing you to their website!

Matt: It seemed the only thing they had was The Matrix Online, and that wasn't really even theirs.

Honorable Mention
Atari

Scott: Atari had only a couple of kiosks showing Driv3r, and a large poster hanging in the hallway showing off—drumroll, please—Railroad Tycoon. Oh, joy.

Best Marketing Gimmick
NCSoft

Erin: NCSoft After Life. NCSoft's entire media booth was decorated with After Life characters. Their press kit came in an After Life bag, which also held a giant After Life pop-up book. And the game wasn't even playable.

Honorable Mention
Wizards of the Coast

Kyle: Wizards of the Coast for having a Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour preliminary tournament on the show floor. For anyone who plays Magic seriously, this was a very cool thing to see up close.

Best Free Swag (Specific Item)
Metal gear Solid "LP"

Kyle: Konami, for the Metal Gear Solid soundtrack CD single disguised as an LP record. Those things went incredibly fast because they're incredibly cool!

Matt: Namco's double-DVD set was pretty classy, but I personally would have loved to have laid my hands on the MGS3 "record" they were handing out.

Honorable Mention
Nintendo Press Kit Bag

Erin: The Timbuk 2 laptop bags that Nintendo gave out at their press conference. The same bag retails for over $100.

Worst Game Title
Crash: Twin-sanity (PlayStation 2, Xbox)

Kyle: Crash: Twin-sanity. See, he's got a twin… and it's also insanity. Har har har.

Honorable Mention
Spyro: A Dragon's Tail (PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
and Thief: Deadly Shadows (Xbox, PC)

Erin: A Dragon's Tail. A tired cliché.

Matt: Thief: Deadly Shadows. I suppose it wasn't by far the worst title of E3, but it's a bit too hokey and generic for a series so classy. Previously—games had cool titles like "The Dark Project" and "The Metal Age."

Most Common Genre
Military Shooters

Erin: Army games based on WWII and Vietnam.

Honorable Mention
Third-person action games with RPG-elements

Scott: Honestly, if I ever hear another booth rep say these words, my head will blow off.

Weirdest Concept

Erin: That Japanese rolling-ball game.

Matt: It's called Katamari Damacy.

Kyle: Katamari Damacy, but Donkey Konga: Jungle Beat is a close second. Using a rhythm controller for a non-rhythm game is one of the best ideas I've heard recently.

Brad: My original votes were for Chulip, the kissing RPG and Odama as the runner-up… however, I think the other Critics are on the money with Katamari Damacy. I dunno how well the idea will hold up as a full-length game, but the demo sure had me scratching my head—in a good way.

Best Moment of E3 2004

Erin: Watching Brad put the smackdown on the cabdriver who tried to cheat us.

Brad: Meeting Hideo Kojima on the show floor and shaking his hand. He had great hair.

Scott: Finding a Blood Rayne 2 producer playing his own game all alone in his booth, confessing to him that I really didn't like the first game, then having him say, "Between you and me, neither did I."

Matt: Seeing Hideo Kojima looking down on the crowd watching his MGS3 trailer from his sound-proof, third-floor office window. I imagined him saying "Ha! You fools! You have no idea what's in store for you! Mwuhahahaha!!"

Kyle: Getting to meet and hang out with all my new GC peeps.

Most Horrifying Moment

Matt: I asked the Nintendo reps if I could see the DS, and instead they lead me into a dark room where I was assaulted by the giant face of Mario talking and making bad jokes to a captive audience. After two agonizing seconds of that, I fled back out onto the floor where it was safe.

Scott: Smelling the bad breath on the level designer who was demoing Goldeneye 2 for me. Try a mint, brother!

Movie Tie-In We Could Have Lived Without

Scott: Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is to never make a game about Fight Club. Honestly, who thought making Fight Club into a videogame was a good idea? Give me that man's phone number, because I'd like to have a word with him.

Top Five Lines Overheard AT E3 2004

1. From several of the Critics:
   "Where's the General Lee?!?"
2. From a booth babe to a convention-goer with a proposition:
   "No thanks, I pose on my own website."
3. From the speakers in the Nokia booth:
   "Prepare to be N-Gaged!"
4. From a player looking at the displays in the Nintendo DS booth:
   "I'm not sure if these are games…"
5. From who we assume is a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan:
   "Yes!! Fight Club!! It's about time!!"

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