Noisy Balloonist Blog is the apprentice

Take a look at the videos Ignited Minds Motion+Sound produced for Sony at E3 a few weeks ago, the product of months of exhaustive prep and a ton of work by all involved during show week. We had this gig at E3 2005 and I was disinclined to trumpet the results. This year’s output is something to be proud of.

Click on the feature segment to spawn a pop-up video player. Select SHOW COVERAGE or G.A.P. VIDEO COVERAGE from the tabs up top, then browse segments in the categories on the left. A few recommends:

SHOW COVERAGE
Access Granted: Okami
Access Granted: Guitar Hero II
PlayStation 3 01: Next-Gen Starts Now
Access Granted: Destroy All Humans! 2

G.A.P. VIDEO COVERAGE
Monsters of G.A.P.
Pilgrimage 01: Auditions
G.A.P. Beat 02: PSP System Sports
And introducing the very first (and possibly the last) E3 short film, G.A.P. Guerrilla

PlayStation Underground Hosts
Diane Mizota & Steve Truitt Production
Dolly Tarazon; Richie Kulchar; Justin Towery; Teresa Medoza; Alisia Vega; Scott Reedy; Jennifer Gonzalez; Hernan Trujillo; Peta MartinCamera
David Grabias; Howard Shack; Melissa Miller; Sean McGinn; Vanessa Holtgrewe; Rick BrushEdit
Jeff Berger; Cory Pampalone; Bob Green; Daniel Berhman, Tyemi Lee

Audio
Kyle and Justin for Subtractive; Brian Kessler

Music
Grassy Knoll; Subtractive; Brian Kessler

Tech Support
Greg Geilman

Crew 2 Content Director
Brent Gordon

Art Direction and Graphics
Wilfred Wong

Executive Producer
Diego España

Show Creative Director, Lord of the Edit and Yogi
Brian Kessler

All segments developed, written and most directed/co-directed by Show Content Director
Ben Calderwood

Someone will be distributing our lunch money shortly.

Kojima Productions‘ staggering Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots trailer is worth more than the entire show put together. There is nothing else.

I wish I had more to report, but the Sony shoot keept me so busy I touched nary a controller the entire week. Wii, we hardly knew ye.

Hideo Kojima’s storytelling chops meet or exceed those of any novelist, songwriter or Spielberg. No one wields the medium to maximum dramatic effect as confidently as he does, and his prophetic observations on America’s war-mongering are not to be ignored. Whether or not Snake’s lone bullet will escort him to the grave before the FOXDIE virus does—lurking in his bloodstream since Shadow Moses, remember?—there is no doubt 4 is final title in the series, as promised. The whole trailer feels like a dirge, and an air of finality lingers over every polished minute. That’s 15 airs, if you’re counting. For now, there is a WM stream here [PC users may need a browser refresh].

We filmed at the Sony press event on Monday, an opulent, over-produced affair where 32 meg Memory Sticks are dispensed like Chiclets and guests forage a rolling prairie of free booze and ice cream and perspiring cheeseburgers before entering the theater where six HD cameras will record them clapping at everything Kaz, Ken, and Phil have to say, even when they say that a properly kitted PlayStation 3 will retail for 600 bucks. You still rock that launch-day Neo Geo, right? Oh I forgot—you thought that anyone willing to drop that kind of coin on a home console, arcade-perfect Samurai Showdown or not, was fucking batshit crazy. Yes.

Anyway, I saw Tetsuya Mizuguchi there (Space Channel 5; Rez; Lumines) as well as Yoshiki Okamoto (Genji) and other nihonjin game luminaries too numerous to name (or recognize). And I saw Kojima-san. When my testicles finally descended and I resolved to say something to him, his yakuza enforcers smelled my fanboy musk and hustled him into the crowd and away. Kojima was wearing pinstripe denim, his trademark black-rimmed rectangular specs, and red leather shoes. It’s like if God shopped at Kenneth Cole Reaction.

Okami appeared in full hallucinatory bloom and will stand, along with Final Fantasy XII, as the PlayStation 2’s most irrefutably gorgeous game. We interviewed creator and Clover Studio president Atushi Inaba. This man has a business card that requires two hands to operate. God of War II taps the action vein for more bloodletting. I personally interviewed Dave Jaffe and game director Cory Barlog back in April at the DGA. The PlayStation 3 SingStar looks super fun. Think karaoke that detects pitch and scores you accordingly. With over 400 tunes to purchase and download via the PS3’s “Live” service it’ll make a righteous party game, much like Guitar Hero II. I tore through “War Pigs” once on hard, the only E3 game time I got . New Super Mario Bros. for DS is magnificent. The fact that Nintendo continues to cash in on a 20-year old re-re-re-release/refresh is testament to Shigeru Miyamoto’s historic genius. His gameplay is primary. He doesn’t make games so much as formulate and express fundamental universal properties, like Archimedes or Newton. Miyamoto’s Law.

The DS Lite is some sort of kissable enameled game lozenge. There is enough top-tier content planned for the Big N’s handheld alone to keep gamers busy for a geologic age. Never mind the new paradigm Nintendo Wii, which earned the dubious distinction of breaking every E3 record for line length and wait time. I could not access the inner sanctum, but Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Twilight Princess, and WarioWare: Smooth Moves resonated well beyond the gauzy Wii enclosure at the center of the booth. PlayStation 3 titles look great, but there are no launch window must-plays. Final Fantasy XIII, meanwhile, is astonishing.

So not much to say. Sony shoot. Details of which and links will be posted soon. We’re holding until all the segments are live. This was my 8th E3, and one of the best.

[Editor's note: I know I link to Wikipedia a lot. I know it's not always complete or accurate. At least it's not selling anything.]