Games of the Week for 05/07/09: E3 is over edition

8:00 PM on 06.07.2009   |   Jim Sterling

27 comments

So, E3 has closed its doors for another year, and what a week it was! The most common opinion on the showfloor seems to be that this year's E3 instilled a lot of enthusiasm in the industry, bringing back the sense of fun and joy that comes from writing about videogames. There was so much great stuff there, and I mirror the sentiments of those who say "E3 made me love writing about videogames all over again."

It's a shame that my good feeling is about to disappear, because I have to review Damnation!

Still, it was a great week, and I got to meet all sorts of people, including chaps from Joystiq, Kotaku, and GayGamer's wonderful Flynn de Marco. I also never thought I'd see the day where I was drunkenly singing with my arm around a member of evil publisher Activision, but it happened at E3! Of course, the biggest pleasure of all was working in person with so many Destructoid staff members. It was a privilege, and an inspiration.

Also, videogames happened, and you can hit the jump to find out which ones!

Chester: I was hoofing it at E3 all week, and I played a bunch of stuff... but actually watched more people play games. It's quite a long list, ranging from God of War III to DJ Hero, from Gran Turismo PSP to PixelJunk Shooter, etc. and blah blah blah. Now that I'm home, I've had time to fire up some Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta, and play some Rock Band Unplugged while on the toilet.

Sterling: Like Nick, I saw a lot more than I played. However, I got some hands-on with Bayonetta (sexiest game of the year), Left 4 Dead 2 (zombiest game of the year), Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma (wobbly-tittiest game of the year), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (pretentiously namest game of the year), White Knight Chronicles (Chronicleiest game of the year), MAG (most confusing HUDest game of the year) and a load of other shit I can't be fucked to remember. I am also playing Damnation for review now, and it makes me want to hoof.

I am now going to go and sleep in a bed that doesn't have Samit Sarkar in it, as much as I enjoyed our little bonding nights.

Ross: Not a ton of time for gaming since so much was going on. Still addicted to Demigod, although I've become a little disillusioned after running into some seemingly unbeatable character combinations. Tried to get through of more of ARMA2, but I'm absolutely terrible at the game which makes it really difficult. Spent most of the weekend playing in the Aion beta with Gandy, which actually is a very, very solid MMO.

And, of course, Weakest Link at Chad's. :)

Concelmo: I played every-freakin'-thing in the Nintendo booth at E3. And it was glorious. :)

Other than that, I dabbled in so much stuff at the L.A. Convention Center that I can't even list them all. Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time, Brutal Legend, and Shadow Complex were some of my favorites.

In my real life, I am playing some Marble Saga: Kororinpa and Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure. Both are awesome!

Davis: I almost won that game of The Weakest Link. So close! Jon Holmes stole the win from me!

I continued the trend of playing way too much over the course of the week, but my favorites were Scribblenauts, Ghostbusters, Brutal Legend, Cave Story Wii, and Sin and Punishment 2. I carried my DS along with me and played Kirby Super Star Deluxe during the tiny bits of free time I had (mostly while standing in lines). I also got to try out a few DSiWare games on Holmes' DSi, including Pictobits, Art Style: Aquia, Mighty Flip Champs and Dr. Mario Express. Any time I wasn't writing or asleep, I was playing games. I cost myself some rest that way, but I just couldn't stop.

Sarkar: Just like everyone else not named "Anthony Burch" or "Ashley Davis," I felt like I didn't play nearly as many games as I saw. But here's what I do remember playing during a whirlwind week of awesome-tastic fun: Sing Yourself Hoarse Twice in Three Days (thanks, KarE3oke and The Beatles: Rock Band); PixelJunk Shooter (WANT -- the fluid dynamics, and the physics in general, are sweet); Gran Turismo PSP (looks absolutely amazing for a PSP game, and boy, the PSP Go is sexy); Bayonetta (I came); Scratch: The Ultimate DJ (lacks polish at this stage, but it's definitely fun); Scene It! (Chad kicked all our asses); Brütal Legend (it rocked my face off); Madden NFL 10 (awesome); and The Bigs 2 (simple but satisfying fun -- thanks, Conrad!).

And now, it's time to sleep in a bed that doesn't have Jim Sterling in it. It's a bittersweet moment.

Razak: Seeing was definitely the name of the game at E3 it seems, but I got in on some action too. I'm not sure how many people got time with it but Split/Second was one of the coolest games I got time with at E3. Driving under a crashing airplane FTW any time of the day. Also played Red Steel 2 (meh), New Super Mario Bros.(awesome), Spirit Tracks (sweet), A Boy and His Blob (adorable), Blur (very rough, but it was pre-Alpha), Cooking Mama 3 (same as 1 and 2, but still fun), Aliend vs. Predator (very sweet), Bayonetta (even sweeter) and a handful of other awesome stuff. Oh, and right before E3 I got to tear through some of Punch-Out!! finally. That game is sick fun.

DMV: As one of the few non-E3 people, I had a lot more relaxed schedule, not having games crammed down my throat. I'm attempting to unlock everything in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2, and that seems like a
daunting task right now -- but I think I'm up to it. Otherwise, I've been making headway in Retro Game Challenge. I also went out to some arcades and got my ass kicked in Kung Fu Master, Punch Out, and all
other sorts of arcade games. I did do well with the Simpsons arcade game, though!

CTZ: I played the game of E3. It was a hard game.