With 60,000 attendees, 2,000 games, and a million shouts of "awesome", it could only be one thing. E3 - the world's largest and most important videogame conference - was in full swing and Los Angeles was in party mode.
After a transitional 18 months that has seen the end of established formats such as the N64 and Dreamcast, the videogame industry is looking to a bright future with the show seeing the first proper demonstrations of two new hardware platforms - Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox. Both dominated E3 and though neither is due for UK release until spring 2002, they showed enough promise to threaten Sony and their market leading PlayStation.
The Nintendo booth was packed throughout, with attendees trying out the first GameCube releases, including the new Mario game, Luigi's Mansion. Other Nintendo releases included action epic, Starfox Adventures and the fighting game Super Smash Brothers Melee. Perhaps the most interesting title was Pimkin, a Lemmings-style puzzle game designed by Zelda creator, Shigeru Miyamoto.
Apart from the Nintendo releases, other GameCube software was thin. Other than LucasArts, with the graphically stunning Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2, and Sega, with three titles on display, there was little else to see.
But while Nintendo seems to be following its usual path of self-reliance, Microsoft, with little experience in the area, has welcomed developers to the Xbox. The surprisingly bulky console had over 80 titles on display at the show and it was clear that Sony has a serious challenger to its domination of the market. Standout titles were futuristic battle game Halo and the innovative Munch's Odyysee. Project Gotham, an update of Metropolis Street Racer on the Dreamcast, was less impressive but some of the graphics the machine produced were extraordinary, especially the water effects on Blood Wake.
Nevertheless, it will take more than impressive visuals to change gamesplayers' perceptions of Microsoft, which lacks the credibility of Sony and others. Richard Taversham, UK head of Xbox marketing, accepts this but emphasises the importance the Seattle-based company are putting on Xbox: "The launch will be bigger than Windows 95," he says.
Sony was always going to have a difficult show. Lacking the glamour of a new hardware launch, the emphasis was firmly on the games. After a disappointing first wave, the next batch promised a bright future for Sony's mega console.
Standout titles included James Bond: Agent of Fire, Soul Reaver 2 and the Ghost and Goblins copy, Maximo. Other biggies included the truly eerie Silent Hill 2 and the violent Devil May Cry, which was the first 1m-selling PS2 game in Japan.
Elsewhere, Jak and Daxter - a colourful Nintendo-style platformer - and Herdy Gerdy - showed the diversity on the format. Metal Gear Solid 2 still drew a crowd but it was a far cry from the show-stopping antics of last year and shows how the overall graphical standard has risen in only a year.
In among the noise and power of the console launches it was easy to miss many PC games. But there was enough to suggest that pessimistic predictions of the format's future are premature. Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Aliens Vs Predator 2 were impressive sequels, while Lara Croft creator Toby Gard's latest title, Galleon, and cop title Max Payne, showed that for visuals at least, the PC cannot be beaten.
Elsewhere the trend towards strategy and first-person shooting games continued, with little that deviated from these proven formulas. However, when done well, like Medal of Honor Underground, the lack of imagination matters less. The biggest treat, and possibly game of the show, was Republic. This ambitious title, set in a fictitious eastern European state, allows you to control numerous characters as you try to gain domination. With attention to detail bordering on the obsessive, Republic is one PC game to watch.
Perhaps a real sign of future trends was in the handheld and mobile sectors. Nintendo's Game Boy Advance is out in June and software support was in heavy evidence, with Bam Entertainment's first person shooting game, Ecks Vs Sever, particularly impressive. The first proper upgrade to the 12-year-old original, the GBA, has upped the ante in handheld gaming. Graphically and sonically the machine is a vast improvement and the amount of games available showed the machine has a promising future. Perhaps the only real competition comes from an unlikely source - mobile phones.
Nokia's Snake game showed how popular mobile gaming could be and developers are flocking to produce games for Wap and new handsets.
Richard Teversham says: "E3 2001 will be remembered as a pivotal show, with the two hardware launches and impressive games across the floor."
