Square-Enix's presence at E3 was nothing short of impressive. From their booth,
to the demo stations, to the presentation and trailers.
The Booth
Square-Enix's E3 Expo booth was simple, but futuristic. By simple, I don't mean
this in a negative way, as it was done very effectively. While many other developers
chose to use props or giant replicas of something from their games, Square-Enix
did not. Instead they went for a very large and dominating booth that was instantly
recognizable. The Square-Enix logo could actually be seen from several booths away,
so as one is walking towards it, you know you are going in the right direction!
At the entrance to the booth is a large video wall, or more so a video arch. The
video wall contained a looping display of all of the titles that were featured at
E3. This included Advent Children of course, where one could see Cloud and Sephiroth
larger than life! Don't scream too loudly now Fan Girls!!!
As you walked though the archway, a wide ramp took you up to the presentation theatre.
The theatre was by ticket only, so it was guarded by a Square-Enix representative
at all times. A desk just inside the arch, to the left was where you could obtain
your presentation tickets. These sold out [well not really sold, as they were free,
but that's what the sign said] very quickly. A standby line was provided on the
right of the theatre entrance in case any spots became available. I had to endure
the standby line today as unlike yesterday, I missed out on a ticket. Luckily I
only had an hour's wait, but when I came out of the presentation, the line had doubled.
An information desk was set up to the right of the theatre entrance where you could
obtain a Square-Enix product brochure, and if you were early enough, a demo CD of
Front Mission 4 [unfortunately for me, it's NTSC and won't play on my PS2].
On both sides of the booth, demo consoles were set up. To the left Final Fantasy
XI, to the right Final Fantasy XII. More consoles were also set up further back
with games such as Front Mission 4, Full Metal Alchemist, Star Ocean and Samurai
Legend. The demo stations were all set up with LCD flat screen televisions, with
either a PS2 controller or keyboard, depending on the game. Many demo stations had
a set of headphones so you could hear the sound for the game you were playing easier.
Two smaller sections were down some stairs on the left and the right [in between
the demo stations], one featuring Square-Enix Mobile and the other featuring Kingdom
Hearts: Chain of Memories. Both areas contained more demo consoles of all of the
games, but this time there were seats to sit and play at.
The Square-Enix Mobile area consisted of a glass counter with a couple of staff
members to keep an eye on the cellphones that were set up in the area. The cellphones,
which you could pick up and look at closely, contained demos of different products,
including Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest mobile versions, the Square-Enix Gallery,
and of course the Cloud model.
The KH:CoM display featured a large model of Sora circled by demo stations which
had the game on them. Silver Gameboy Advance SPs were set up here, and the image
of the game was displayed on a LCD flat panel instead of the Gameboy screen.
Towards the back right of the booth, were two glassed in sections displaying Square-Enix
merchandise. Along with the Advent Children merchandise, there were also other jewlery
such as pieces from FFVIII and Dragon Quest, and the Final Fantasy Character Arts
figures. Interestingly enough, there was a sign on this display saying "no photography",
yet no one was guarding it, and everyone was taking photos! There was also another
glass case containing manga based on Full Metal Alchemist.
The back of the booth was simply a black wall with a large Square-Enix logo emblazoned
on it.
Finally, there were two second levels on each side of the theatre, however these
contained "private screening rooms" which Square-Enix would use for special presentations
and VIPs. We wondered if there was any Advent Children screening in there.
The Presentation
Square-Enix's presentation was held every half an hour, with the presentation
itself going for around 20 minutes. If you had a ticket, which was in the form of
a badge [or button], you assembled under the video arch. The theme for the presentation
was "Step into the Red", so when it was time to go in, the lighting changed to red
and a voiceover came on the speakers advising that it was the time. It was all very
impressive and gave a sense of importance about it all.
Once inside, you found yourself in a round theatre. Seating was in the center all
facing the same way. Later on, you were to see that the theatre resembled a semi-Imax
kind of theatre, with images being shown on much of the wall. The floor also rotated
to give a more dramatic effect.
The presentation basically went through all of the titles that were being shown
by Square-Enix at this year's E3. Trailers were shown in the following order:
- Front Mission 4
- Samurai Legend
- Star Ocean: Til the End of Time
- Full Metal Alchemist
- Final Fantasy XII
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
- Kingdom Hearts 2
- Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia
- Square-Enix Mobile
- Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
The most impressive of the trailers were Advent Children [obviously], Final Fantasy
XII and Kingdom Hearts 2.
The FFXII trailer was very emotional, and both times that I have seen it so far
I have had tears in my eyes. It is not really that the trailer is sad in itself,
it is the way it introduces the characters. It just brings emotion. This trailer
combined both FMV footage with gameplay footage.
The Kingdom Hearts 2 trailer was much like the one shown at the Tokyo Game Show
last year, however it did contain some new scenes, one of which was the scene with
Auron in it.
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