Hope

It’d gone, it was dead and I thought my dream was over. I thougtht that my life would forever be incomplete with my lifelong goal taken away from me by powers beyond my control. Resigned to this fact I built a new life, new goals and new people surrounded me yet sat transluscent compared to my neon dreams of days gone by. I wore a smile as a mask hiding my disappointment at what had come to pass, what was to be not what I had desired and what was I couldn’t be content with. I wandered lonely and saddened through Hyrule, Azeroth, Rapture, City 17 and in the streets towards No Mercy Hospital looking for a calling but found nothing but similar souls lost in a world without meaning. Then a new year came and with it the most wonderous of things. Hope.

Yup, E3 is back with a bang this year. It’s back in LA and looks like it’s going to be bigger than ever. I had thought the downsizing of previous years had killed the quintissential geek dream of going to gaming mecca, but this years looks like one hell of a return to form. Back to a convention center, open to anyone who wants to show something (meaning we will get deliciously obscure games shown once more) and crucially there is a spectacle for the industry once more. TV has it’s awards shows, cinema has the Oscars and Cannes and we have E3. Removing it removed the pride we have once a year where we can look impressive, show slick press conferences and trailers generally putting a lick of paint on our hobby so we can show it to the world with pride. This year will be keenly watched, the new gamers the Wii and DS ensnared will suddenly be watching and the close competition between Microsoft and Sony means that they will be jockeying for our custom like never before. Fighting tooth and nail for the loose change in our pockets can only be good for us and I have a sneaking suspicion that, despite the global economic hoo haa, we’ll have a good year this year. The consoles are hitting that purple patch where developers can get a hell of a lot out of them so games quality will be high (Mass Effect 2 come to papa) but equally the hardware is stagnant so we may see new consoles and accessories. The rumours point to some sort of body sensor from Microsoft and the next PSP from Sony…that alone makes my year. Now every year I will have my dream of travelling over the pond and gorging on game demo’s and freebies. I and every other gamer like me has hope agai. Granted there isn’t much hope, but a wise man once said that even if your hope hangs by a thread then there is still hope.