E3 2005: Level Up
Agetec Stresses Gameplay, not Glamour
Product: Agetec's E3 Lineup
Company: Agetec
Date: 05/18/2005
Avaliable On:

Agetec decided to take a stance against the "Booth Babe" syndrome that has taken hold of the E3 conference increasingly over the past several years, by introducing their own "Anti-Booth Babes" - trying to make the point that it should all be about the games, and not about the babes. You can check that out at www.antiboothbabes.com. As Mark Johnson, Vice President of Agetec, Inc. said, "E3 used to be all about the new titles for the year, but now it seems like a competition between which company employs the hottest booth babes. Sure, we all love beautiful models, but we thought it was time to remember that E3 is about the games, and applaud real people, real games and serious fun!"

And real games and serious fun were easy to find at the Agetec booth - especially for tweakers.

For Playstation 2, Agetec was showing RPG Maker 3, WILD ARMS Alter code: F, and Armored Core: Nine Breaker. For the PSP, Agetec was showing Armored Core: Formula Front and PoPoLoCrois, a 2D adventure game based on the animated series.

The first game Agetec was showing, RPG Maker 3 for the PS2, is being touted as "The Easiest Way to Make a Game. Period." RPG Maker is part of Agetec's Designer Series. RPG Maker 3 provides an easy to use tool set of ready made items, from buildings to characters, that can be dropped in with very little effort. Then, you can go back, if you desire, and customize the buildings or characters to give them the feel you desire. The goal of RPG Maker 3 was to reduce the amount of overhead required to create a game and allow gamers to concentrate on creating content. I managed to get a preview build of RPG Maker, so I'll be giving a in-depth hands-on report soon after the show.

Another game I got previewable code for is Armored Core: Nine Breaker, also for the PS2. Nine Breaker focuses more on battles, and doesn't have the missions that the recent Armored Core games have had. Armored Core: Nine Breaker is intended to be a bit more approachable than the recent hardcore Armored Core titles have been and will offer multiplayer for up to 4 players, over 400 parts to use to modify your Armored Core, 150 skill-boosting scenarios and over 20 arenas. The graphics are improved, and the speed is faster than in previous Armored Core games. I'll start working on a hands-on preview of this as well as soon as I get back from E3, so watch for that as well.

Geck0 aka Robert Perkins

GameVortex PSIllustrated TeamPS2