E3: Sequels take on new lives
By Walt McGraw
CNN Headline News
 |
"Don't hate me because I'm a sequel": Follow-ups like "EverQuest II" are big at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Story Tools
|
(CNN) -- CNN Headline News is heading to Los Angeles, California, next week to give you a first hand look at the games your PC and console will be booting up in the coming months. The future, though, is going to seem awfully familiar.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo -- or E3 -- is the gaming industry's annual shindig in the sun. Publishers and developers roll out their biggest and most innovative titles. But with the industry having such unprecedented growth over the past few years, culminating in last year's haul of $10.3 billion, the game makers are -- to use a cliché -- sticking with the tried and true.
Send in the Sequels
A few years ago, I attended E3 with Nick Sagan, author of the new book "Idlewild." The protagonist in the book -- fed up by his efficient, but claustrophobic Matrix-like prep school -- decides there must be a "Great Law of Unintended Consequences," which says "nothing destroys like success."
Many of the successful games we previewed then are now back for seconds. But who says sequels will destroy the good names of the originals? Nick Sagan is the son or "sequel" of the famous astronomer. We could call him, Carl Sagan: The Revenge. And besides, even though "Idlewild" doesn't hit shelves till August, I'm already looking forward to the sequel.
Sony will rev up its latest installment of the "Gran Turismo" racing games ("Gran Turismo 3" was one of the PlayStation 2's top sellers). "Doom III," the latest installment of the best known "first person shooter" will once again conjure up horrifying zombies for you to shoot. If you'd rather slay orcs than aliens, I'll bet you a gold piece that last year's sneak preview of "EverQuest II," will seem like a dram compared to the flood that will fill your flagon this time around when the latest version of the game is previewed.
|
| FACT BOX |
The most recent, "Harry Potter" game sold more than 9 million copies, generating nearly $300 million in revenues, due in large part because Electronic Arts delivered the game across all platforms in 20 languages and 75 countries on the day the movie opened.
Source: The Mercury News
|
|
Valve, creators of the critically acclaimed "Half-Life," will open the floodgates on "Half-Life 2." (Do two Half-Life's make a whole?)
"Halo" is still one of the best-selling Xbox games around, so lines could curve past the horizon to see the "Halo 2" display at Microsoft's booth. Sims' creator Will Wright, meanwhile, promises the characters in "The Sims 2" will be "more expressive, more interesting and more lifelike." (More fun too, I'll bet he hopes.)
Eidos Interactive will show off yet another "Tomb Raider" game, timed to release with a new Lara Croft movie this summer. (Technically, this is the sixth in the series, but add up all the various versions of the game and 13 titles have been published under the Tomb Raider umbrella. So many tombs, so little time.)
Infogrames will launch its "Enter the Matrix'' video game from the show floor on the same day "The Matrix Reloaded'' hits theaters.
Paula Abdul will be on hand to vote for the new "American Idol" game. Heck, even the Terminator himself will be at E3 to tout the new "T3" game. This time, I'm told, the Terminator will be "even more indestructible." I'm not sure how that's possible, but I do know this: Sequels or not, there are a lot of games on this list that I can't wait to play.
And as graphics continue to improve, déjà vu can look even better the second time around.
