Why I Shouldn't Blog E3 For 1UP! - A 1UP classic from April 07, 2005

There are a lot of qualified people going for the coveted spot of 1UP E3 blogger, but there are several reasons why I feel I'm the most qualified for the spot. I define myself as a gamer. Hardcore, true-blue, never give up, that all applies to me. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep all I think about is breaking into the game industry. For the past few years this is all that I obsess about. The only thing that keeps me going after many letters of rejection are those 3 days in May.

You can ask my family and you can ask my friends. I live and breath for only three days of the year. My birthday, Christmas, New Years and Superbowl combined don't mean as much to me as the E3. Sounds crazy? I can only say that after having touched the face-of-God known as the E3. Nothing else compares. But let me take you back a few years, way back to 1999.

Well even before 99 really. Back when my brothers and friends first found out about the E3 we were in high school. The E3 had moved from LA to Atlanta following on the heels of the new ATL Convention Center and the Olympics. My friend Robert and I were trying to convince our parents to let us fly out to Altlanta, stay at his sister's house and forge passes to get into the expo. Our parents thought we had completely lost our minds. Just how much did videogames really mean to us? People talk the talk but my friend and I walk the walk. We had budgeted ourselves for the expo and had even talked to a travel agent about tickets. We would do and try anything to get into the expo even if it meant running away... but our parents kept us on lock-down until we finished high school.

A few years later my friend Robert and I were newly-enrolled college students. The E3 was returning to Los Angeles. Being a lifer since the pinball machine was replaced with Asteroids (I can actually remember a time when pinball machines still took about 60% of the arcades). I knew that we had no excuse to miss out on the E3 happening in our back yard.

We concocted a plan, an impossible dream that you can't get away with today. We were going to get into the E3 with false credentials... We got hold of some applications, went to the local Kinkos and made up some phony business cards.

Since the E3 is supposed to be "industry only" we figured to put on our best suits and look the part. Although we later found out that it's casual, people treat you a lot better when you look like a professional.

This part may come as a shocker but in 1999, the tickets for the E3 (exhibits only) were $50. Moreover you got one guest pass for every ticket purchased. My two brothers bought tickets so they joined Robert and I and we invited four more friends. In 2000 ticket prices went up to $150 and no guest passes were given out to ticket purchases. Prices for E3 tix has steadily increased and security has become more stringent in the past few years.

We set out to the LA Convention Center with our friends, cameras and skateboards in tow. You'll find out about the skateboards later. We parked a few blocks away, walked to the CC, waited in the registration line and picked up our badges. On the way we ran into some publicity seekers.

The next few hours and days were filled with many sights and sounds, and easily could be more than enough to overwhelm even the most jaded gamer or industry veteran. Just typing about the E3 in 1999 makes my heart pound.

The first thing you notice is the deafening sound coming from all of the booths. The sound levels have been cut back but Electronic Arts always seems to ignore that policy. The displays themselves are glorious. I mean, Walt Disney would even take a step back in amazment at the sheer scale of some of the bigger booths. Giant robots, military vehicles, skateboard halfpipes... you simply cannot brace yourself for what you can expect to see.

We split into groups and all went our separate ways. Robert and I were checking out the skateboarding games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was being debuted and almost the entire Neversoft staff and Tony Hawk himself was out there promoting the game. Now you know why I brought skateboards.

The sad part was that most of the attendees (even Robert) had no idea who Tony was or what the game was about. So many people passed on the title... Little did they know that a few months later Tony would land his first 900 at the X-Games and the momentum would carry over to the game where it would become an instant hit and bring skateboarding to the mainstream...

Fortunately for me I was a skateboarder, knew them by sight and could approach them at the expo and seek autographs. The first person I saw after Tony was Colin McKay, I was turning a corner when I saw him sitting down behind a ramp and just chilling before a demo. I asked "You're Colin McKay?" And he turned, nodded and looked at me funny.

I was wearing a tux after all and looked like just another businessman at the expo. I looked over his shoulder "And you're Bucky Lasek, and you're Rune Glifburg, and you're Bob Burnquist! Holy shi... can I have some autographs?!?!?!?!"

The skaters were more than happy to oblige as I was the only person in a sea of suits that knew who they were and was down with skateboarding. Many an attendee just stared as I pulled out skateboard after skateboard and poster after poster from my backpack. Not a one knew why I was getting autographs or even who the riders were. (Today you can't go to the expo without seeing one or two skateboards being carried by autograph hounds)

When the demo started the arm candy on many power players would whistle and yell "go higher!" as if the skaters were trick ponies sent to amuse them. I walked away wondering if any of the people would ever remember who they saw that day.

 
We went on to convention hall after convention hall picking up swag and playing games. Sony had impressed us with the scale of their display, they were put between Sega and Nintendo in the North Hall. Promoting Gran Turismo 2 Sony put real race cars on the walls of their booth.

Not to be outdone, Nintendo featured the full-scale Anakin Skywalker racing pod from Star Wars Episode I just above their name. It was so low overhead that you could look inside the pod and touch it... Now that's money!

We walked and walked and walked until we were exhausted. Our legs gave out shortly before the expo had ended and very few of us had the strength to return the following days. Having carried around 30lbs. of skateboards had left me the most drained but also the most determined to return the following two days. My legs cramped so bad that night that I awoke vomiting from the pain. But the following day I put on my suit and went back to war.

The expo meant so much to me that I had to share my experiences with my friends and family that couldn't make it. So I gave up all my swag and carefully documented the experience in pictures and video for them so they wouldn't feel left out. To this day I still give away all of my swag and make videos and now DVD's for my family and friends. I know that I could cover the magic of the expo better than any blogger or journalist only because I have been there and each and every day I think about videogames even more than food or sex!

In 2000 I offered the webmaster of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Online FAQ (later renamed PlanetTonyHawk.com) full coverage of the THPS2 title. He accepted and I began writing for the site on that day. Given our dedication to the series we've dropped more exclusives online thanks to the E3 and all of the skateboarders I had first contacted in 99.

I was also the webmaster of the Hydro Thunder Fanpage and had scored an exclusive interview with Team Hydro regarding the arcade sequel.

The industry knew the arcade scene was coming to an end, at least in the US, so Hydro Thunder 2 never came to fruition and the team left Midway to found Swinging Ape Studios and release the critically acclaimed Metal Arms - Glitch in the System.

 
Although Midway seemed to have the budget to finish the lackluster Mortal Kombat 4, Off Road Thunder and Arctic Thunder (which G4TV claims as the most interactive arcade game) they spurned the arcade community by not following through on HT2. I still have the only two screenshots know to exist on the remade HT2 boats straight from Team Hydro.

2000 was also a turning point in the industry. Booths weren't as lavish as the industry entered a slight recession that followed through to the E3 for the next few years. I still have yet to see displays grander and more over the top than in 1999. Ticket prices to the expo had gone up and this time only Robert and myself went. We made the most of it and still look back with fond memories.

In 2001 Robert and I no longer qualified as members of the industry since we were full-time college students. But after having seen so much I would not let myself be denied. A friend at Crave scored me a guest pass and then let onto something that would turn out to be very true these past two years.

Although the E3 is an industry only event, guest passed used to be given out to developers by the box load. Many a kid under-18 managed to get in and more than a few guest passes ended up on eBay. So from 2001 on guest passes would be restricted. My contact at Crave had to sign off for me and I had to vow now to share the pass with anybody. He did this favor for me again in 2002.

In 2003 Crave had cut backs and my friend was laid-off. I was still determined to go to the expo and I asked Neversoft if they could do me a huge favor. Since I had now been covering the expo for PlanetTonyHawk.com for the past few years, plus had submitted volumes of ideas for the series (many of which made their way into the games), if they could score me a guest pass. They obliged and made it into the expo by the skin of my teeth.

The webmaster of PTH Trevor "Slateman" Esposito flew in from New York on his own dime and was given a guest pass from GameSpy. GameSpy offers one pass for each hosted site but does not offer to pick up the tab for flying or rooming during the convention. From that day on Slate and I have covered the expo as a team. I even made tee shirts to celebrate the expo given to Slate, myself, some of the people at Neversoft and Tony Hawk himself.

Where else but at the expo can you get the chance to meet and talk with the president of a small publisher and then share that information with a fan site dedicated to the game rather than some big magazine site? For example I got a chance to talk to the president of Torus games about Carmageddon 3 since Torus had aquired the rights from Stainless. There were many fans around the world wondering what the quality of the game would be like coming from a different publisher. This small news and many others would be overlooked by many magazines going to the convention only to cover the biggest game releases.

Last year was the straw that broke the camels back. Organizers of the Expo had taken so much criticism for allowing non-industry types in that guest passes were only given out by royal decree. Even Neversoft was not given any passes last year.

Having exhausted all of my contacts I called in the favor of all favors. I asked Tony Hawk if he could ask Activision for a guest pass on my behalf. They looked and looked and when they got back to Tony even they were flabbergasted, there is one guest pass among one of the biggest publishers in the world and they passed it on to me. Has the security policy become so bold as to deny anyone that even inquires about guest passes let they be a multi-billion dollar publisher or a small developer?

Since that time Tony has "lost" my e-mail address and Neversoft is under a strict no outside contact policy. I asked well in advance this year to see if there was any possible way I could get into the expo. The prognosis was grim. Neversoft had been denied guest passes again and even Activision was not an option. The word is that guest passes were requested from an Activision-sponsored talent for the family of a boy battling leukemia... that selfless request sparked friction from the industry and E3 organizers. It is still not determined if the boy can go. Can you believe that? It is one thing to do the right thing, but given that the industry is money-driven let's put it another way, "You can't buy that kind of PR for granting the wish of a kid that's had to battle uphill just for the right to live"...argh!!!

So it looks that for the first time in my miracle six-year run I too will be denied the glory. I had requested the time off from work already. I had even ordered new tee's for Slateman, Tony and the guys at Neversoft. I was budgeting myself for MiniDV film and a pair of comfortable shoes for the expo. I was looking forward to producing another video for my brothers and my cousins and my friends, but the closer we get to the E3 the more I realize it may not happen. On the second week of May I may be forced to settle for sitting in front of the TV playing games knowing full-well that not more than 15 minutes away my Christmas/ Birthday/ SuperBowl/ NewYears has been taken from me.

I am reduced to begging for passes from 1UP, whose editors I may have already spurned. I am reduced to competing against far more talented wordsmiths. I am forced to admit that a person that has never been should get the chance to go more than a fat skater that's been so many times.
Damned if I didn't want to give it one more go around.

Or maybe I want to go to the E3 so I can see her again. The super-cute British Activision employee that made a pass at me in 2000, and in my ignorance did not notice so I have been kicking myself every day since.

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NASCAR memories, part 2...

In the previous blog I talked about Richard Petty, and how I became a fan of NASCAR. Sundays were reserved for watching the races. Any time I left the house I looked for racing games to play. I spent a lifetime playing dozens of different titles in the arcade, home consoles, handheld consoles, mobile devices, and on the computer. I learned that simulation games didn’t really hold my interest. The over-the-top action of arcade racing games appealed much more to me. I enjoyed the sense of speed, looking for secret shortcuts, and bite-sized races that were more popular with gamers. I didn’t have the time, or money, to set up a fancy rig like you might see for serious Forza or Gran Turismo fans. Nor did we have a gaming PC while growing up. If the game couldn’t fit on a cartridge, or game disk then chances are we never saw it at home. I especially liked combat racing games, and Formula-1 console games on the Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis. When consoles moved to 3D with the Sega Saturn, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and Sony Playstation then things would get really interesting. There was one NASCAR game that I would rank among the best titles I ever played.

NASCAR Rumble, was developed by Visceral Games, and published by Electronic Arts. The game came out in February 3, 2000. It had 18 unique on and off-road race courses, plus 3 bonus tracks. The game did not feature any actual race track, city course, or super speedway. They tracks were instead inspired by different areas of North America that were influential in the history of the sport. I’m sure that excluding actual locations helped keep the license costs down. Where the game excelled was in the number of available cars, and drivers to race as. There were 33 Winston Cup Cars, 6 Craftsman Trucks, and 7 Legend Cars. Non-race fans were probably familiar with stock cars, however they probably had no idea that there was a truck based circuit as well. The game was a way to bring that five-year-old truck series to the general public. It also honored the legendary drivers of yesteryear, like my personal hero Richard Petty, by hiding them in the game. Seeing the ads featuring his iconic 43 car instantly got my attention.

The game would turn out to be a the perfect snapshot of an era. We saw the numbers of the Petty family represented. #41 originally belonged to Maurice Petty but that number car was not in the game, #42 originally belonged to Lee Petty (father of Richard), the driver of that car in 2000 was Joe Nemecheck. #43 belonged to Richard Petty, but was driven by John Andretti (nephew of Mario Andretti). #44 belonged to Richard's son Kyle. #45 belonged to Kyle's son Adam. I didn't realize when the game came out that it would be the last time we got to see these legacy race drivers in the same game while they were still with us.

Dale "The Intimidator" Earnhardt #3 died in an accident a year after the game was released. His son Dale Jr. was driving #8 at the time. Adam Petty was 20-years-old, and considered a prodigy. He died in an accident three months after the game debuted. Looking back after the losses made me appreciate the moment that Visceral Games managed to capture. The studio approached the genre with the same love that I had when I discovered NASCAR as a kid. They knew that the cars were the superstars. They were bigger, badder, and faster than any other street car. The in-game models had fairly accurate builds, tires, frames, and sponsor logos. They were as realistic as the Playstation was capable of rendering.

Presenting accurate cars was only the beginning for the studio. The game was meant to be as over-the-top as possible. It was going to have to compete with other arcade style racing games. To do this it took the best elements of combat, and cart racing games. I’m sure the original pitch to Electronic Arts was “imagine if Sega’s Daytona, and Nintendo’s Mario Kart had a baby.” In essence that’s what Visceral delivered. Players could pick up random power-ups through the courses. They went from giving your ride super grippy tires so that it could hug the road, or a temporary jet boost, and more offensive weapons such as a nose barrier to plow through opponents, and exploding force field. There were also ranged attacks to sabotage cars ahead of you, including freezing them, throwing a storm cloud to block their view, and make their tires slippery. The biggest field clearing power up was a tornado that would follow the road, and toss all the opponents aside. 

The biggest criticism to the game was how much the power ups could punish the otherwise fun experience. If you found yourself ahead the power ups would sabotage you 90% of the time. If you were behind then they would be more of a benefit to you. The thing was that the amount of power ups could be controlled. You could have it set to None, Some, More, or Mayhem. The game was tough with the More setting, and races were absolute chaos with in Mayhem mode. I found that the game was best enjoyed with Some power ups on. I don't understand why the reviewers didn't point out this little detail, rather than complain about a feature they had full control over.

The tracks were brilliantly designed, hiding many secrets, and shortcuts. The cars themselves became the stars of the game. The default traditional looking stock car, truck, or legend ride was considered the Rookie model. Then there was a modified build known as the Pro version. It featured a larger arrow-shaped hood scoop, roof spoilers, and other aggressive features. This Pro model was a little bit faster, and handled a little bit better. It was a radical design that had never been seen in NASCAR. Unlocking the Pro cars, getting faster track times in Standard, and the computer-controlled Team modes helped extend the game play.

It turned out that wasn’t the peak for the car upgrades. The top of the models were known as the Elite class. Each upgrade was about 10 miles per hour faster than the previous model. Elites topped out at about 183MPH, over 200MPH with a boost power up. These were by far the hardest looking race cars in any game. They looked absolutely brutal, and to this day I have yet to find a race car in any game that comes close to capturing this level of badness. Take a look at this version of the classic 43, and tell me it wasn’t amazing. The Elite car models looked amazing from every angle. I wished that there was a physical model, or toy created of them.

What made the game truly great was that every vehicle in the game had a Rookie, Pro, and Elite version. If you were a fan of a particular driver, or car then you would look forward to having an absolute beast version of the ride. This applied to the trucks as well. The Craftsman trucks already looked cool, but the Pro, and Elite versions were a beautiful form of violence.

If you could win all of the races in the region then you could unlock an extra challenge. The chance to go head-to-head with icons like Alan Kulwichi, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, and my hero Richard Petty. If you beat the Legend of that area then you could earn their car. The Rookie, Pro, and Elite versions of the Legend cars were just a few MPH faster than the standard cars, or trucks. You had to exploit every shortcut, and power up in order to defeat them. Racing as these, and against them added an entire dimension of replay value.

Every track also had a hidden wrench that would allow you to unlock a Bonus car. These cars ranged from serious, to funny. They reflected the culture of NASCAR fairly well. Best of all each of the bonus cars also had a Rookie, Pro, and Elite version. Their paint schemes, engines, bodies, and supporting details became more aggressive. For example the Rookie version of the Loader is a traditional construction vehicle. The Pro version has a larger engine, and racing stripes. The Elite model has a roof-mounted spoiler, and nuclear engine! There were golf carts, hot rods, RVs, and chicken delivery trucks thrown into the mix as well. They all handled differently, had their own strengths, and weaknesses.

I want you to think about how many cars this meant were featured in the game. If you add up every version of the regular, and hidden cars then there were 165 vehicles in total. I understand the numbers are inflated, as the three versions of the NASCAR, Craftsman Trucks, and Legend rides were simply reskinned from the base model. It nonetheless gave the illusion that there was a tremendous amount of diversity. Granted we had seen this type of development “shortcut” previously, and it really didn’t hurt the game. Namco set the record for reskinned rides on the Playstation with 320 rides in Ridge Racer 4. Many fans, myself included, considered that to be the pinnacle of the Ridge Racer series.

Sadly there would not be a sequel to NASCAR Rumble. At least not one featuring the license. EA, and Visceral released Rumble Racing a year later in 2001. It was a visually upgraded version for the Playstation 2, featuring the same tracks, similar music, and commentary. Aside from lacking the NASCAR rides the game added the ability to control the way the cars flipped, and rotated in the middle of a jump. It was nice feature, say for a Hot Wheels knock-off, but it lacked the magic of the earlier game. There wouldn’t be anything remotely close to Rumble for more than a decade. The one that did appear left me wanting. I’m sure many other fans enjoyed it, but wanted a little bit more. NASCAR Unleashed was Developed by Firebrand Games, and published by Activision. It came out in November 1, 2011 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii.

Let’s start with the best parts of the game. Visually is was brilliant. Side-by-side you could see how far the Playstation, and Playstation 3 graphics engine had come in 11 years. The car models, sponsor logos, and paint jobs were accurate for the season. The cars also showed damage during the races. These were all things virtually impossible on the original PS. Unleashed featured 15 real drivers, and 3 additional fictional drivers from the Sprint Cup series. From a game play perspective it was arcade in control, and not simulation. This made it easy to pick up, and play. It added a draft, and slingshot mechanic. This was absent in Rumble, but was a feature that had been seen in Sega’s Daytona USA going all the way back to 1994.

Unleashed also added the ability to create Rivals by being aggressive to, or wrecking opponents. These computer controlled cars would begin to hunt you down, and make races much more challenging. The game featured six actual locations; the Daytona International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. It also had 12 different track layouts. This meant that some of the races were set in the actual track, and other stages had the cars break through the walls of the course, and race through the streets. It was some great design, especially when you found yourself racing sideways along the face of a glass skyscraper. The game also featured 20 cars racing on the same track at once. In NASCAR Rumble the races maxed out at 6 cars. Despite all of these innovations the game itself felt lacking.

The cars were all identical. You could earn alternate paint schemes for each of the rides, and bonus silly upgrades to affix to your car. These differences didn’t have the same magic of the Pro, Elite, and Legend models of the cars in Rumble. The stages were fun, but not as memorable as the ones in Rumble either. The races lacked power-ups, secret tracks, and hidden cars. Each of these things could have added more replay value. With a little more development time, and a bigger budget I have no doubt that Firebrand Games could made a spiritual successor to Rumble. Instead it falls short of the mark. Many players said the title feels like a budget game. The ones you might see in the bins at WalMart. It wasn’t that bad, far from it, it was a decent-to-good game, but it was missing the things that could elevate it to greatness. The kindest critics said this was the perfect intro to the genre for children. I’m sure if I was a kid, and hadn’t been exposed to decades of racing games then I would have a much greater impression of it. The arcade control made it easier to explain the appeal of NASCAR more than any simulation. That much was certain. I still play NASCAR Unleashed from time-to-time because it is a good game. With that said I find myself firing up NASCAR Rumble shortly after, and end up having more fun. 

I have no doubt that the greatest NASCAR game never made would be if the best parts of Rumble, and Unleashed were merged together. I hope that there is an over-the-top NASCAR arcade game in the works. Something with a big budget, and AAA team developing it. We’re long overdue for something like that. Until then I'll always have Rumble to keep me going. Were there any games that you wished had gotten a modern sequel? Were there any okay games that you thought could have been great with a little more time, and polish? Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!