Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee (PlayStation2, Xbox)

The General Lee and E3: Stalled Out
By Scott Jones

The most striking landmark at this year's E3 was the freshly waxed General Lee from TVs Dukes of Hazzard. The car was parked in the entryway to the South Hall, sectioned off with velvet rope, and decorated with two bored-looking LA models posing as a duo of Daisy Dukes. You couldn't miss the damn thing.

I went to this year's E3 with Chi's games—as-art premise echoing in my head-foolish of me, I know—hoping to find unique visions, evidence of innovation, maybe even a game or two that pushes the very limits of the medium. I found nothing of the sort. Instead, sequels and uninspired movie tie-ins reigned supreme this year. The floor was dominated by titles like Spider-Man 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, and Splinter Cell 4. Even scouring the darker corners of the booths—something Brad is a true master at—only revealed less-than-thrilling "finds" like Devil May Cry 3 and TimeSplitters 3.

Spider-Man 2 (PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube) (top), Prince of Persia 2 (PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube) (bottom)

The top 10 best-selling games of last year (Variety, 5/10/04) were all either sequels to established franchises (Madden NFL 2004, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) or movie tie-ins (Enter the Matrix), and it was painfully obvious at this year's E3 that every first and third-party publisher in the business was a little too familiar with that list. Aside from a handful of quirky titles like Nintendo's Odama, no one seemed willing to take any chances, or go out on any aesthetic limbs this year. Even Ubisoft, who brought a bold, diverse line up to last year's show, played it safe this year with Ghost Recon 2, Rocky 2, Prince of Persia 2, and yeeeeehaw, an upcoming Dukes of Hazzard game.

The General Lee became an important landmark for the GC team; we convened by the car's back bumper each morning to trade notes and arrange our schedules for the day, saying things like, "Let's meet at the General Lee at six o'clock." On the third and final day of the show, as I stood next to the car talking with Erin, Brad, and Bracken, it dawned on me that the General Lee—this symbol of nostalgia, mediocrity and kitsch—represented all that was wrong with this year's show. As I watched E3 attendees file past the car each morning, I could almost hear the collective sigh of disappointment. I wanted to print up T-shirts that said, "I Traveled 3000 Miles To E3 2004, And All I Saw Was The F@#*ing General Lee."

With the world economy in flux, a presidential election on the horizon, and a war going on indefinitely, it makes sense that the videogame business would embrace familiar symbols. While the General Lee certainly looked "purty" enough glimmering there beneath the cathedral skylights of the LA Convention center, never once did the engine start. For three straight days, the car, like E3 itself, did nothing but sit there, perfectly content to be stuck in neutral.