E3 2011 The Final Day

As many of you know, the last day of E3 is usually the most subdued.  Most people have been up for way too long, drinking and partying way too much.  Even the booth babes want it (read: need it) to be over.  Having said that, I still made time to play some games and view a few demos. 

The first game that I played was Super Mario 3DS.  I must admit that I felt absolutely in love with this game.  I didn't want to stop playing it, but finally had to relinquish the 3DS to the patient gentleman standing behind me.  I loved they brought back the reserve power-up, a feature that I haven't seen since Super Mario World on the SNES.  This game is simply a "must-buy," the day it comes out.

I then stood in line at the Call of Duty booth, for many hours, just to have the privilege (sarcasm) of seeing the best-selling franchise's newest incarnation.  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 takes place in a World War III environment.  The world is in turmoil.  The trailer showed the smoking remnants of:  England, America, and France, and the brave men that are trying to bring freedom and democracy back to the world.  It looked very good, and quite dramatic.  If it's possible to play in the three different countries mentioned above, then you can bet that its gameplay will be fresh as well. 

At the very same booth, we got the chance to see a half-hour demonstration of Call of Duty Elite.  This is not a game, but rather a service that they have put together in order for players to socially network with one another, and to see graphical representations of how their in-game progress is coming along.  It was very involving and quite interesting.  The basic service would be free, but the more in-depth analyses would cost money.  As awesome as it felt would be, I can't see anyone paying for something when it should be free.  The Call of Duty franchise is now the best selling franchise of all time.  More than Mario, more than Zelda.  Which means that they have the largest fanbase.  So why isn't this service free?  I'm sure there will always be hardcore players, that are willing to pay for all the extra "bells and whistles."  But, the vast majority will feel abused.  Not smart.  Especially, in a bad economy where people are already paying for Xbox Live accounts.

After that, I spent the most of my day chilling in a lounge created to look half like an 80's arcade, and half like a typical 80's living room.  The retro look was in order to celebrate the Videogame History Museum.  This is a traveling museum, that has yet to find a permanent home.  Although they are hoping to make it a permanent future residence somewhere in the bay area.  I took many pictures so that we can end this last post with great memories and happy thoughts, just the same way that I left my beloved E3 show!