Sammy Studios
www.sammy-zone.com

Sammy Studios are the geniuses behind the Guilty Gear series of fighting games. Their booth at E3 was one of the most artistically minded with monitor stations set up around white canvas spires and PS2’s hidden in bowls covered with black stones. Above the whole thing they had a projection screen looking like the top down view on a sine wave. Very cool looking. This however was one of the coldest receptions that I received the whole show. The PR flack was all but rude in showing me around, acting like she would rather be bursting pustules on a leper than show me around the booth, though I will admit I was a little less than effusive about the games she showed me.

Lethal Skies II (PS2)
This was a rather unremarkable aerial combat game. If you’ve played any Ace Combat game then you’ve pretty much played this one. Lethal Skies II blends science-fiction and real-world themes, with a premise that has planet Earth coping with the devastating effects of global warming and ensuing wars resulting from massive loss of resources. The game has 20+ missions, including unlockable “play as the enemy” campaigns, pitting players against an array of conventional and futuristic air, land and sea-based combat vehicles.

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Seven Samurai 20XX (PS2/Xbox)
This is unfortunately nothing more than a vague approximation to Akira Korusawa’s classic. The demo I played was still in the development stages so nothing was really finalized, but it was an interesting futuristic hack and slash title with plenty of snap and two weapon fighting to give you that extra little bit of depth and, as Tim Allen would grunt, more power. Unfortunately while Seven Samurai sported a great supporting cast there was, as of the show, only one playable character in the game. Despite that, the demo was fun with good visuals and sound (what you could hear in a thundering show hall).

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