Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

First off, sorry for the delay in posting, but I was out pretty late last night and decided to go to bed instead of writing this. Anyway, to wrap things up, I want to talk about what was quite possibly the best game at the show: Warcraft III. After that, I'll discuss what was to be seen at several of the independant hardware vendors' booths.
Warcraft III
This is going to be the best game that will come out in 2001. Period. End of story. I had the opportunity to not only talk to Rob Mcnoughton from Blizzard, but also to play the pre-beta demo they had at the show. The game is set up to be much more micromanaged (quite different from Starcraft). The supply limit has been reduced to 75, units have been made more powerful, all units now have magic abilities, and hero units have been introduced which will lead attacks. Some other features have been implemented - such as a constant mining rate for all races - in order to make the game more focused on battle and less focused on resource management.
Another theme persistent throughout the new game is new RPG-like features. For instance, there are neutral units (called creeps) that can be killed by certain races to get manna stones (only necessary for "hero" races - Humans and Night Elves). Also, there are neutral buildings that your hero units can enter to buy items for their inventory. Thats right, all hero units keep an inventory and can be leveled up. Another RPG-like aspect of the hero units is their ability to summon units for a fixed amount of time; the Undead have this ability inherently, as they can raise any dead unit. All these add up to create an interesting mix of RPG and RTS, forming a unique experience for all veteran xCraft players. Some other interesting gameplay changes are that humans can create new goldmines, the builind queue has expanded from five to seven, and the night evles mine by connecting their command center directly to the mine shaft
Not only has gameplay improved, but the graphics have made a quantum leap from Starcraft. The game is fully OpenGL accelerated with a somewhat-dynamic camera. However, the developers severely limit you camera options to slight zooming as to keep you focused on the game instead of messing with the camera. Cutscences will be spliced into the gameplay where the camera will be used much more liberally, which should really show off the power of this new engine.
The new 3-D aspect of the game also introduces several features never before seen in Blizzard RTS's. For instance, buildings cannot be placed on a hill with more than a 30% grade. Also, certain projectiles - such as morters - will deform the terrain, creating craters and other deformities. And check this, the game actually gets brighter and darker as it goes from day to night. The 3D engine also gives the developers a chance to do something they opted not to in Starcraft. Air units - such as Griffins - cannot overlap in mid air. Any Starcraft player will know how Carriers and such have a tendancy to overlap severely; air units in the new game will have collision awareness and will not do this. One pleasent suprise, after all these changes with the rendering engine, will be that the campaign editor will remain virtually the same, so map making will remain extremely easy.
As for multiplayer, a few exciting changes have been made from the previous game. Primarily, Blizzard has decided to add direct TCP/IP independant of Battle.Net into the game. Battle.net will of course remain however, along with IPX and direct serial. The amount of players in a game is expected to move from 8 to around 12 to 16, but will be most likely limited to pairing in 4 teams or less.
The demo was absolutely gorgeous, and this will no doubt be the best game that will come out this year. As for the other things that Blizzard has on the chopping block, they were showing off Diablo II Expansion Pack (*snooze*). As for a Starcraft sequal, Blizzard has no official plans, stating they will only work on one great game at a time.
Independent Hardware/Accessories
HalfKeyboard - Matias Corp. - An interesting item being demoed at E3, this half keyboard hooks up to PC, Mac, Palm, and various other handlheld devices. you can type all the keys on the left side of the keyboard by default, but when holding down the space bar, the keyboard "reverses", giving you a mirror image of the right side and letting you type those keys. It takes a bit of getting used to, but after some practice you can type comprably to the speed you can on a normal keyboard (as proven by the quite apt booth attendant). Checkit at www.halfkeyboard.com.
The X-Arcade by XGAMING - The X-Arcade is essentially an arcade style, two player game controller. Looking like the controller you would find on a Street Fighter arcade console, it has 8 buttons per player and a sturdy joystick. This is the impressive part: through different adapters, the controller is compatable with PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, N64, Gamecube, XBox, PC, and Mac. Great for any fan of 2D fighting games, checkit at www.xgaming.com.
Zio Interactive - Finally, there is a company called Zio Interactive who writes games for Pocket PC, Palm, and various other mobile phones. The most impressive game they had on demo was a full-color version of Sim City 2000 on a Compaq . To get a list of all the games they port, as well as generally check out the company, go to www.ziosoft.com.
Well, that is E3 2001. It was really a fantastic three days, if only for the great presentations put on by pretty much everyone with a booth. While there were several rare treats - like playing Warcraft III or Final Fantasy X - the entire show was just a blast. Anyone interested in attending next year should look out for great Atlanta-Los Angeles deals that the major airlines run at the beginning of the year (I bought my ticket for $90 in January). Also, most anyone in the tech industry can get free passes by mailing in a request on company letterhead. All the info is of course available on the official E3 website. Anyway, I am going to be in LA until Wednesday just enjoying a vacation. We just got back from the Santa Clarita Valley where it was a chilly 108 degrees farenheit, and we will probably head down to Venice Beach a bit later. Anyway, thats about it. Hope you enjoyed the reviews, and be sure to check all the websites I have mentioned for more info.   E3 Expo (official site)