I just attended IGN Live, a gaming expo open to the public, yesterday. It was the first one IGN has put on and overall I think it was a good first try. I tried not to let my E3 attendance distort my expectations of what could potentially be a mini-E3 for Joe Gamer. I wasn’t initially going to go, but the announcement of playable 360 games and plain curiosity (coupled with an online discount offer for tickets) changed my mind. My DDX buddy, Ackibat (Vince), came along and we spent the next 5 hours looking at mostly current-gen games, playing in an old-school arcade (set on free play!), and spectating a Halo 2 tourney. (Acki actually entered but I’ll let him tell you how he did.) I think the biggest disappointment was that the reported and rumored 360 games that were supposed to be there were not. King Kong, Need For Speed:MW, Call of Duty 2, and Tony Hawk:AW did make the show. Madden and the MS titles sadly were MIA. Not that I’m a big Madden fan but I really wanted to see if it lived up to its trailers. King Kong and Tony Hawk were obviously just slight upgrades from their current gen counterparts. They definitely didn’t make you go “WOW.” NFS, to me, is just another driving game that looks prettier. Nothing revolutionary there. Call of Duty 2 on the other hand looked great! Does it scream NEXT-GEN? No. But the level design, gameplay, and visuals were enough to put COD2 on my must buy list for launch. An Activision rep also told me that it will support up to 4 player co-op ONLINE! We’ll see… But the absolute joy of the show was, without a doubt, being able to demo GUITAR HERO from RedOctane. No it’s not a next gen game, nor is it on Xbox. It is a PS2 guitar game in the vein of Dance Dance Revolution. The guitar controller is absolutely awesome and the gameplay is so incredibly fun, I’m more excited about playing more of this game than any of the 360 launch titles. Yeah, you heard me! Take a look at this video: http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/748/748976/vids_1.html Yes, it is as much fun as these guys make it look. I’m looking forward to an Xbox 360 version with downloadable songs, but I WILL be picking this up for my PS2 in November. So you may be thinking, wait Shima, I thought you were on the fence about the 360. Well, due to peer pressure and the ability to get the 360 at Game Rush strictly on trade-in credit (yeah, I did it) I figured “what the hey?” And as a so-called “game enthusiast” I knew I had to be one of the first playing in the next gen. Will I spend all my gaming hours there? Heck no! With games such as From Russia with Love, Metal Gear Solid 3:Subsistance, and Resident Evil 4 coming out for the PS2 and Xbox this year and next, I got plenty of current gen gaming to keep me occupied. (I’m finally getting to Ninja Gaiden now that the Black edition is out.) So what will be the 360 games I’m getting at launch? Well, like all my decisions, let’s see how the reviews come out. Call of Duty 2 for sure to satisfy the multiplayer arena and I’ll be renting Elder Scrolls:Oblivion for my single player experience. What of PDZ? Like I said, let’s see first of all IF it makes launch and second if it’s any good. COD2 and Oblivion will keep me busy for many hours as it is so I’m not too concerned about titles beyond that. Remembering how the PS2 launch went, I know not much will come out for the 360 after launch until Holiday Season 2006 (that goes for Gears of War as well, just wait…), so I won’t be in any rush to pick up games since I’ll have to savor their experiences for 11 months. And during down time, I’ll just have to pull out my guitar controller and jam to some Judas Priest! ?