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MR_M DOES GO3

THE CONSUMER EXPO - ROCK BAND, AND SOME OTHER THINGS

I must admit, after what had happened in the week leading up to GO3 I thought I’d be writing some mock article about how lame GO3 was. But, truth be told, I ended up going and it turned out to be totally awesome. So I guess in all fairness to the organisers and the people working there, I should start by saying why my experience with GO3 was totally cool, before doing a mock on how lame the conference (probably) was. So let’s begin…

I went to GO3 on a Sunday afternoon (August 3^rd) with two of my friends, one being a videogame aficionado much like myself, the other not so much but who would appreciate the computer and car tech that was promised by the website (which I must say was pretty confusing to navigate). We went there late so there was only about 2 hours to enjoy the show. Before I go into the expo, I just want to say that the Perth Convention Center really is a great building. It may look like a shed from the sky, but when you walk there and go inside it’s quite a cool, modern building with some nice architecture (not that I’m any expert on architecture). I’ve been there about three times now, but only for big warehouse sales. This was the first time I’d gone for an actual convention, which didn’t feel too different an experience at first- you just walk in and look around, really- but was a darn sight more interesting then browsing a billion CDs you’ve already got in the slim hope you find something you actually want to hand over 15 bucks for. But I digress.

After perusing the website I had a feeling GO3 would be some stuffy, corporate event. You know, the kind where everything is kept in a glass box, there’s no interaction, everyone’s making a speech/sales pitch, and so on. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a very relaxed, casual event, with heaps of interactive things to try. It’s like they organised it with gamers in mind, and they knew that gamers wouldn’t give a stuff about the latest gaming tech if they couldn’t sample it themselves. So basically, it looked like we were in for some fun.

The first thing I noticed was that the place was full of stalls, so the idea was to visit each one once and then hang around if there was anything interesting. The first one I went past was selling a product called ‘CD skin’. Basically, it clips to any standard sized optical disc to provide extra scratch protection, and it’s clear so as not to impede the reading laser and affect playback. So basically, it’s like turning all of your discs into Blu-Rays, except you have to sit there for days applying it to all your discs. I took a flier so I could find out more about the product later, but seeing as I have about a billion discs, I decided not to buy any just yet.

Next to that stall was a real gem- ‘Gifts for the Geek’. Naturally, I had to have a look around. There were Battlestar Galactica (original series I think) figures, Gears of War figures, and even a statuette of Mass Effect’s Commander Shepard. Which is totally stupid, since everyone who plays the game creates a completely different Commander Shepard, but whatever. I did see something I liked though- a scale (?) replica of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E. In other words, the really awesome one that debuted in the movie ‘First Contact’. If you have Star Trek Legacy, it’s the one with maxed out shields and weapons (suck on that Klingons!). After the guy told me it only cost $40, but he was willing to go lower because he was just going to pack it away anyway, I was sold (I got it for $20). I later discovered it had all sorts of lights and sounds, and my friends thought Picard’s “All hands, battle stations” quote was utterly hilarious for some reason.

Next to this was a stall for mobile games. They were advertising the new N-Gage, which isn’t a console but is actually a software add-on to existing phones to allow them to play games. A phone was set up for the public to play games on, and it was connected to a TV monitor to show off a football (soccer) game that, surprisingly, looked kinda sorta half-decent. There was a Nokia rep telling me about the new mobile gaming technology and asking if I remembered the old N-Gage that looked like a taco (and he actually used the word ‘taco’), as if to say that this tech was a marked improvement. While I can appreciate the effort that the guy was making to sell the product, I still didn’t care to be honest. I mean, its mobile gaming- I don’t care about it, you don’t want to read about it, so let’s just move on.

Next there was a Gametraders stall, with games set up. There was a PS3 with Guitar Hero 3 (apparently the only available song was Muse’s Knights of Cydonia, either that or everyone in Perth just felt like playing it that day), a Wii with Wii Tennis that wasn’t being played, and another PS3 with some strange game I’ve never seen before. Hang on… is that Rock Band? OMG IT’S ROCK BAND! The line was pretty big at this point, so we decided to see everything else and play it later. But rest assured, we did play it later, and I have written about our experience later in this article.

Continuing walking, it was instantly apparent that there were all sorts of things on display, with the main focus being computers and video games. I was impressed, since I didn’t think videogames were going to be the focus of the expo, but there were tons of them set up and ready to play. At one stall there was a Wii Balance Board, which I unfortunately didn’t get to try out myself. There were PS3s and X360s all over the place, demoing various games. And they weren’t old games that everyone has already played, they were very recent titles. I saw about 3 or 4 consoles running Soul Calibur 4, which to my knowledge only came out three days earlier. I even saw a PC playing Devil May Cry 4, which reminded me that Devil May Cry 4 is indeed coming to PC. Speaking of PCs, there was a big display for Alienware computers, and another one for various laptops.

One stall that really interested me was the Murdoch University stall. It had some advertising for their videogame design courses, as well as some computers set up with games running on them. I’m fairly sure the games were all student assignments- one even had the Murdoch logo on the startup menu. This stall was pretty interesting and I wish I had more time so I could sit down and experience the games myself.

Another interesting computer themed stall was demonstrating a computer which used a touch screen. The screen was the size of your average monitor, and kids were using styluses the size of pens to draw stuff on the screens. I instantly knew that, much like Pictochat, this product’s main application would be to draw lewd images and send them to friends. I would have tried out this product myself if I had more time… not because I planned to draw lewd images, but because I’m a DS fan so anything involving touch screens immediately gets my attention.

Besides the computers and videogames, there were a few cool non-gaming things as well. There was a Scalextric booth with a track set up for people to try out. Being the huge Simpsons fans that we are, my gamer friend and I had the obligatory ‘race to determine the champion of the universe’. I’m pretty sure I won, but he’s willing to dispute that. There was also an advertisement for some realistic laser tag game with big-ass guns, and I probably would’ve looked into that if I had more time. Finally, there were a couple of other merchandise stalls- one for anime DVDs, one for various non-gaming electronics (you know those battery operated things that you build yourself and they walk/move?), and one for various T-shirts and caps- actually, I think that was still the anime one. I almost bought a cap with the Decepticons logo on it, but $35 seemed a bit steep. Oh well.

One thing I must say is, I was disappointed by the lack of car tech. Sure, there was a car on display, but I thought there’d be a few stalls with speakers and CD players and such. Then again, half the room was empty, and I began to suspect there was more stuff on display during the previous two days. But in any case, we’d gone around the room and seen everything that GO3 had to offer for today (Sunday).

So now that the pleasantries were out of the way, it was time for the most important thing- ROCK BAND! Holy crap is this game good. It’s so good that it makes me hate Harmonix even more for not releasing it already! Actually, one of the Gametraders guys said it had been confirmed (yeah, I’ve heard that before) for an October 12 release in Australia. But here’s the killer- it apparently costs $500. Damn you Harmonix, I hate you with every ounce of my soul. I guess playing the game gave me a nice preview for Guitar Hero IV, which I will be buying since Activision aren’t scum (yet). Oh, and I didn’t get a go on the drums, AKA those things that are most expensive to import and most susceptible to malfunction. Damn you Harmonix.

One thing that really interested me was that some people had no understanding of how to play the game. We were trying to play ‘Run To The Hills’ by Iron Maiden (I was singing), and we kept failing because no-one realised there was an ORANGE PEDAL ON THE DRUM. I was thinking ‘Dammit, why aren’t you pressing the pedal? Aren’t you wondering what those big orange bars on the screen are? We’re failing because of you!’ Eventually, my gamer friend got on the drums, and I was thankful that we finally had someone who knew how to use the drums. So anyway, Run To The Hills- after about 5 restarts we could finally get going in earnest. My friend, a bigger Iron Maiden fan than myself, was tearing it up on the drums, and I was going really well on the vocals. However, the song failed before the final chorus, and I felt like punching whichever guitarist screwed it up for us. After that, I got to sing one of my favourite Elite Beat Agents songs- no, I’m not referring to Ashlee Simpson’s Laa Laa, (Woo! – Matt.) I’m referring to Deep Purple’s totally awesome Highway Star! I was totally rocking the song, going so far as to let a bystander (who insisted on singing along to the point that I could barely hear myself) sing into the mic during a section that didn’t add to my points. You know how rock stars put the mic up to fans in the front row? It was like that. Seriously. I was awesome. I also used the improv bit at the end to finish with ‘Thank you, we love you all!’ I’ve totally got this rock stuff down pat. I’m fairly sure I got a high score (I kept the arrow fairly close to the bar), but I forgot to hang around and check. Plus it was on Easy so a high score wouldn’t count for much.

Oh, and being a wrestling fan, I began one song by holding the mic upside down and imitating the WWE’s Mr Kennedy. Then I said ‘We love you Scranton’ to imitate TNA’s Jimmy Rave. Non-stop awesomeness. I came so close to doing Christy Hemme’s ‘Are you ready, for the ROCK, and RAVE, INFECSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!’ but I felt it was too much work for a reference no-one would have gotten (though they did get the Kennedy one). Plus, imitating a girl in public was just too much even for me. Sure, using my girlish falsetto (my regular voice is too deep) to hit the high notes in Run To The Hills can pass off as manly, because no-one would dare insult Bruce Dickinson’s vocal stylings. But a whole Christy Hemme routine? Nah. Maybe when I get Guitar Hero IV (Harmonix boycott you see) I’ll get around to it…

Afterwards, I had a look through Gametraders’ products and found Contra 4 on the DS for $35. Then I found another copy for $20. The Wal-Mart is lowering its prices! It’s trying to stop us from reaching the center! Random South Park quotes aside, I picked up Contra 4 brand new for $20. Not even Play-Asia has it that cheap as far as I know.

So essentially, we had a very cool expo in GO3. The latest gaming technology, cool stuff to buy, heaps of fun things to play and try out, and some nice looking tech that, if nothing else, was nice to look at. Oh, and no, as Matt would put it, ‘Sweaty nerds cosplaying’. I guess when you find yourself wishing you had more time to try everything, you know you’re at a really good expo. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to go again next year and have even more fun!

THE CONFERENCE- I DIDN’T ACTUALLY GO TO IT SO I’M MERELY TAKING THE PISS HERE

I didn’t get to go to the conference, because there was some ‘trouble’ organising my media pass (surprisingly, this one was not Matt’s fault). I was expecting to get it emailed by Friday, or a special code I needed to obtain my pass or SOMETHING. When I didn’t get it, I slept in. Then I felt sick on Saturday so I slept in anyway. Then I find out it was at the show, ready for me to claim. So apparently, this guy was gonna give a media pass to someone he’s never met before and could only identify by name. Which might have worked, if he’d let me know where to pick it up from. The Convention Center isn’t exactly a small place, you know. Clearly, this was a more casual event than I thought, and I’m now starting to wonder if I could have snuck into the conference without any pass.

But what a great conference it must have been! Academics talking about fascinating game and tech related topics! Topics such as ‘Connection or disconnection from reality’, ‘the real impact of the Internet’, ‘Internet communities’, ‘Online gaming as a marketing device’, ‘Why news just got interesting’, and ‘Web 2.0 and participatory culture’. Yep, I could spend a whole weekend listening to lectures on topics that I studied throughout my three years of University! There was another topic that caught my eye: ‘Marketing Mobile Games’, a presentation delivered by the Head of Title Marketing at Nokia. As I said before, NO ONE GIVES A CRAP ABOUT MOBILE GAMES. Besides, we all know how they’re marketed- with those crappy ads where a lame voiceover says ‘GET THESE AWESOME GAMES FOR YOUR MOBILE! SUBSCRIBE AND GET THIS GAME WHICH IS JUST A 2D PLATFORMER FROM 20 YEARS AGO RESKINNED AS A FILM TIE-IN!’. Or, they take out crappy ads in Hyper which say that owning a handheld console these days, due to rising game prices, is insane, and ‘these games are closer to Xbox and PS2 in terms of graphics and gameplay’. There is a statement that conveniently neglects the fact that the PSP is practically equal to PS2 in terms of processing power (how much closer can you get?) along with the fact that mobile games are inherently shit. Oh, and the fact that the Gamecube probably had more raw processing power than the PS2 anyway. How close are these mobile games to our purple pal? Yeah, not the kind of thing I want to hear a lecture on. Besides, I wouldn’t have even known that the new N-Gage was available to purchase (or even existed) if it weren’t for a random post on a random Internet forum, and I certainly don’t know what titles are available for it. So basically, Nokia released arguably the biggest revolution in mobile gaming without a single shred of hype or advertising. Yeah, great marketing Nokia! Why should we care about mobile gaming if you don’t seem to?

Basically, I didn’t get to go to the conference, and it sounded pretty boring and non-gamey anyway. But you know what? If I get the chance to go next year, I’ll probably be going to the conference. Why? I’m not sure. I guess because I’d rather see what it’s like than take a guess regarding what it was like. Also, it seems a bit mean (not to mention hypocritical) to bag out something I’ve never been to. Who knows, it might have been interesting, I mean those speakers were professors and industry people and probably had a wealth of wisdom to share… oh well, next year then!