E3 2009 Preview

game conference, the E three Conference in Los Angeles. They'll be taking place in the first week of June. That's over with. Nobody goes to E three. Oh no, no, no, no no. You're thinking of previous years where they started to tone it down and cut back and and everyone started to question whether or not it was even worth going to the conference. Well, they've decided to go back to uh, big flashy booths and skinnily women and uh lots of fog machines. Lots of fog machines. Yeah we're back,

baby awesome. So Los Angeles Convention Center, it's gonna be filled with gaming geeks, including yours truly. I'll be there covering the event and updating our blogs live while I'm there and hopefully not falling asleep on the floor from lack of sleep. Yeah, hopefully it will not be a repeat of my behavior at c E S. Well this uh, this E three thing we're talking about is the Electronics Entertainment Expo, Weight Electronic Entertainment Expo. Yes, sorry, and do

the same thing. Yeah, yeah, I added in s and. Um So every year is a gathering of the entertainment elite basically video games. Well there there's some other stuff, there's primarily video games, and and it's an opportunity for companies to make big announcements about what they're working on, what they're gonna unveil in the coming months, usually stuff that you're you're going to see, possibly as early as the holiday season. That's a big, big driver for a

lot of the companies. Um And you know, the summer months tend to be kind of slow in the video game industry, so it's one of those things that helps propel it through the summer months as well. We've got to generate your hype, you know, otherwise you don't get the sales come October, November and December. So you know,

you're these companies. These are marketing stuff essentially to store owners things like that, and just trying to to get some excitement behind the products that they've been working on. This is usually also when in the United States you'll hear announcements about new hardware coming out, new consoles, that

kind of thing, if there are any. If there are, and it's been a while since we've heard anything, well, we thought what we would do is make a few little predictions about what we think we'll go down at this year's E three. Yeah, and uh, I'd like to point out while doing research for this article that as soon as I wrote something down and went to a different site, the next site said, oh, that's never gonna happen. This is what's going to happen. And they all went

in a big circle. So you know, your mileage may very some restrictions apply. Well, that's the thing. These are predictions. They don't have to come true. It's just what you know. We're what we're looking at the state of how things are right now and making some best guesses at what these companies are gonna do when E three rolls around. So please no wagering, right, yeah, don't don't bet the farm based upon what peltin I say, because you'll be

searching for Col's for the next few years. Excellent. So where do you want to start? Nintendo? Alright, alright, so I don't think so, No, I do not think. I do not think there will be an announcement of a new console from Nintendo. They have not. I mean, first of all, the WE still going strong. It's still really hard to find, really much in demand, although it's much better than it had been. Oh yeah, no, it's not as bad as the first full year of the WE

being out now. Video game sales were slow the first part of the year January through March, so maybe that's helping out a little bit too with that availability. And uh, I think what we're gonna see is we're gonna see more games and devices take advantage of interoperability between the WE and the d s I. Oh yeah, the d S I speaking in new new consoles. It's a different version of the DS that has a couple of cameras

in it. Yeah, and the d S I, of course is one of the d S and d S I they they account for, like the I think that's the top selling console period. Yes, um, so we're talking about a handheld device. So yes, this, this is this is leaving every other console in the dust. And uh so it makes sense to tie that into the Wii, which is another very popular console. It's the the most popular console console. And why did you hook up to your TV? Yeah?

So I'm expecting to see a lot more interoperability between the two. Um, I I can give you. You want to guess which title I think is gonna be announced, It's one that Nintendo is famous for, not not Mario, not Zelda. Although I do think a new Zelda game is going to be announced. Um, but a differ on one and you have to catch them all. Oh no, not another Pokemon title? Are you kidding me? Of course

a Pokemon title. Those things sell like crazy. And the interoperability between the WE and the D s I, I guarantee it. I I am almost certain that we're gonna see a Pokemon game, and that it's going to be a D s I game. Um. Possibly also some other ones that that capitalize on other popular properties like Mario and Zelda. I do think we're gonna see an actual Zelda WI game, a new a new Zelda one. Um that got a lot of excitement when that when the we first came out. If you recall, so, I think

we're gonna see another one of those. Um motion plus you remember, have you heard of motion Plus the dongle that you plug into the bottom of the Wi mote so that it makes it more accurate. Please don't say dongle. I hate that word. The device you plug into the bottom of the Wi moat so it makes it more accurate. Yeah, there's a little plug in that goes in that the if you will the back end, the end that you hold in your hand, you stick the dongle in the

back end. Yeah, okay, So anyway, once you've done doangling your we mote, um it makes the increases the functionality, makes it more accurate, more precise. Um it's and so you can do a lot more cool motion things with your we mote than you could previously and lets you create even more deep games. Well, I think, um, you know we've seen seen as an action. I think they're going to announce Nintendo will announce that the motion plus technology will be built into we moats starting I'm gonna

say this holiday season. So yeah, I'm saying that's an upgrade to hardware. It will be a hardware upgrade where you can when you buy a we moat anytime after the holiday season and moving forward, it's gonna have the motion plus built in, or at least you can buy a version that has motion plus built in. They may offer both, because who knows, they might say that once the lower priced version. I've got a got a question will make you laugh, all right, You think they'll announce

a price drop. Yes, they don't need to know. I don't think so. Anyway. It would surprise me that there's no need to. The demand is still so high. I can't see why they would. Um, I mean they could. And but if you're already at the point where you still have people going into stores and say call me when you get one in, you don't need to drop the price. Um. And I think we're gonna see some more channels on the weed channels. You know, when you turn your way on you can look at the different

channels on there. I think we're gonna see some D s I stuff, maybe some stuff for kids. Um. I think it's just gonna be. You know, they're gonna add more functionality to that, because that's one of those things that helps set it apart. From the other consoles. So you don't think anything groundbreaking coming out of the Nintendo campus,

I don't think so. I don't think we're gonna see any you know, I definitely don't think we're gonna see another Um I tell you here's what I think we might see that not really groundbreaking, but will excite Nintendo fans. Kid Icarus. Really, I think we're gonna get a new kid Icarus game, all right, And Kid Chris was one of those titles from the old Nintendo systems that hardcore gamers will still you know, triumph to their dying breath.

It's one of I mean, it was a great game, and so I think, uh, I think we're going to see that. Okay, then, so that's what I have for Nintendo. You want to move on to Sony. Yes, I wanted to talk about Sony because if anybody needs a really

good E three, it's Sony. No joke, you know. I I am a we owner, but I do have a PlayStation two, which also just went through a price drop to uh do just under a hundred dollars um And a lot of people think that E three is when Sony has finally got a cave and dropped the price of the PlayStation three again. Um, I think that's probably a reasonably safe bet. The uh the big news that everybody else seems to be really hoping for is the

announce the new PlayStation portable. Yes, an update to PSP, so either either an upgrade or a brand new handheld device, maybe the PSP two or a PSP go. I've seen it call um yeah there. Apparently there was another device that they made called the Milo two. Maybe they're even still making it, but it didn't do very well. It's basically essentially like an iPod touch. It's got the functionality you know where it can It can get online and do things that way, but it can't go online via

a cell phone network or bluetooth. So it's really limited in its capacity. But it's about the size of a PlayStation portable and people are saying maybe some of that technology might be baked in to UH to help out its online capability. Um. But they say, if there is a new PlayStation portable, there won't be a u m D involved the Universal Media disc UH. So you wanted to deal with that atybity sliver of the electronics store that's stocking titles for U, M D S anymore. Um

So let's see what else can I say about that. Oh, they should have eight to sixteen gigabytes of memory if it if it actually is announced. Um and there's a possibility that Grand Turismo Mobile will finally be released for five years, if I'm not mistaken. Almost as long as as long as that less than half the r we'll

get to it. I know, I know. But this new PlayStation portable should slide open so that you can get to the controls, be very very cell phone like, and that might be, uh, you know, a nice sort of bridge between the gamer and you know, being able to text your friends and do all that kind of stuff. Um. And there are new titles coming out Rock Band and Soul Caliber and Little Big Planet, Soul Caliber, all those

for the PlayStation portal. Love that you know. There there's those things are while the PlayStation Portable, the new one is sort of if he some people really think it's gonna come out, and other people think it's gonna be you know, I had a few years. Um, you know, the the new games, they're definitely gonna be some hot new titles announced, and Sony says that they've got fifty percent or more of their catalog for the year that

they still haven't announced what it is yet. Cool, so they you know, they're hoping for the big, big news. I have a feeling that I'm going spending a lot of time with Sony while I'm up there. Um, what about Home? Do you think we're gonna see some new Home stuff? Home? I haven't heard anything about Home and so long it's in beta, the Nerd beta in December. Um. But Home goes in and it doesn't come out. Maybe it will be the Google of of the console world,

where everything Google puts out is in beta perpetually. I think we'll probably hear something or about Home, maybe some some new features that that they're going to incorporate into it or or expand homes usefulness. Um, which you could argue doesn't even exist yet since it's still in beta and you hardly hear anything about it. And this was, of course something that's been in development for years and years and um, and so you know, some people question

whether or not it'll ever really hit the public. Yeah, whether or not there will be a release candidate for Home, but I think we'll see something about that. UM and also Sony recently, I don't know if you know this has been showcasing some three D compatible games. That's true. I've heard that the there's a possibility that the first three D games are going to be announced to E three.

It wouldn't surprise that sort of seems like it's a middling that, like people aren't wouldn't be surprised, but they are really not counting on it either. I I actually, you know what, considering what I saw at CES this year, where I saw all that three D technology and the huge this this on three D, including within the Sony booth, I will go on record and say I will be shocked if I do not see at least ah a

sizeable three D presence there. I mean, I'm I'm thinking that now is the time when they're going to try and jump on that, because uh, you know, the buzz at c ES was so big about the three D stuff, but you know it's it's like one of those cool technologies you hear about, but you know, you you actually questioned, like, are we ever going to see this? They need to strike now before people forget about it entirely and just say, oh, well that was a cool idea, but nothing ever came

of it. Well, the uh, the PlayStation is a very advanced machine graphically speaking, and it really does work better on high definition sets than it does on standard definition, so it makes sense that they would try to grab that market. Um, so well, let's see what you know, We'll see what they do. Well. I also think we're gonna see some more stuff of God of War, that's one of the more popular titles, Ratchet and Clank. I think we're gonna see something about that Final Fantasy thirteen,

which I think we'll also see for Microsoft. But um, uh and uh, and grant Theresono five, which we've been waiting for for a while for PS three. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think we're going to see more about all of that. Um, do you have anything else about Sony? I don't have any more son You wanted to move on to the Xbox? Sure, Yeah, they've I've heard that Microsoft is has some big stuff planned and they really haven't said much more than that. Yeah. I know that Rare is going to announce a new game.

I'm not sure what it's going to be yet, but I do know also that Rare was behind the design for the avatars on the Xbox three. Sixty, but very much like Sony Home right or the Knees on the Wii. UM, So here's a guess. Since they're behind the avatar stuff, and because you know, the whole social net working thing is still huge, I'm guessing that the game they announced

is somehow going to relate back to the avatars. So it'll probably be I'm guessing some sort of party game, you know, maybe something that's family friendly, a lot of people can play all at once, and you can maybe even play against other people who are networked to you on the internet, and then UM uses your avatars as your character. I'm guessing that's just a wild guess. I mean, they could come out and have something totally different, has

nothing to do with avatars whatsoever. But based upon their involvement in the avatar project, I'm I'm going with that, you know what, I would agree with you, and I think that some of the information that I pulled up UM sort of suggests that that might be a direction that they might be actually thinking about Nintendo more than they are about Sony, because in my home is still not out well. But you know, the Xbox three sixty, in my opinion, is more of a hardcore gamer console

than it is a family friendly console. Not that there aren't family friendly titles out there, but I mean there are not lots of Eva Pinatas on their on their list. But I hear that they might just be coming out with a motion controller. Oh yeah, well, I mean there have been talks about Xbox and the motion controller because uh, they were already um accusations that they were essentially copying

Nintendo with the remote functionality. But yeah, I think, um yeah, if they if they're going to unveil it, it's going to be at this E three. Well the thing is they've they've actually licensed some of the technology already, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch. And rumor has it that, uh, you know, part of the reason that Bungee was unhappy with Microsoft is that they want Microsoft wanted Bungee to put in some um remote functionality for

Halo three, and they balked at that idea. Yeah, so they you know, it sounds like they're gonna do it. It's just a matter of when and how. So you know, that would add some serious functionality to the Xbox three sixty because you'd think, well, you know, there are plenty of them on store shelves. They haven't really changed in technology for a long time. You know, what else can they do with the machine? This would this would add something to it, maybe give people reason to buy the

console again. So do you since you mentioned Halo, yes, you think there's gonna be any word about the Halo four. Well, I don't know about Halo four, but there is an add on pack, understand um. And I'm not much of a Halo nut, but I you know, I was actually surprised to see that Bungee was working on it. Why are you sided with the Covenant? Um? Well, I think

I think any mention of Halo four. First of all, I think if there is mention of Halo four, it's first of all, you gotta understand it's not necessarily Bungee that would be doing it, because now they've parted ways with Bungee, Bungee can do other things, right, And and I think Microsoft bought the rights to the Halo stuff. I know that there are other developers who are creating Halo games. So there's still the chance that we'll see something about a Halo four. Um. I haven't heard any

rumors about that one way or the other. I would think that, um, if there is a project, we will hear about a D three because Halo is one of those big name titles that always gets lots and lots of attention, and of course that's the whole reason to attend E three in the first places. You want to get lots and lots of attention, right, So if they have anything, I guarantee you we'll see it at E three. I think if anybody's gonna stand out this year, uh, sorry, Sony,

it's gonna be Microsoft. Because I was reading a quote from Don Mattrick, who's the Microsoft Senior VP for Interactive Entertainment Business UM, and he said that they're gonna kick kick off E three with in blockbuster style. They actually had their their big announcements scheduled for June one instead of June two, And I think I think they're gonna lead. They're gonna take the lead then and just never look back,

because I think they're gonna have some big announcements. And they said that they're not even going to shy away from making some future prognostication, if you will. They're not just going to keep it the stuff that's coming out this year, which means I think that you may hear something about the next generation Xbox at this point. So you're thinking seven twenty, yeah, or possibly well, No, I don't think this is the year for that, you do. I think that they'll even say that they're going to

have something. No, I don't think so. So we'll see, well and uh, and I'll blog about it, and if it happens, I'll lie, And if it doesn't happen, I'll champion the fact that I got it right. No, No, I will come clean if if I am wrong, I will, I will definitely admit it. Um. I think we're gonna see some interesting titles from them. I think we'll we'll hear about a metal Gear Gear Solid title from Microsoft.

That's that's a biggie, you know. Any time you're going to talk about game titles that traditionally belong to a different system, Um, that's always gonna be a big thing. Which is why I think the Final Fantasy thirteen, I mean, Microsoft is gonna have to make a big deal of that too. I've heard have you heard about the game Alan Wake, I've heard a little bit about it to show it off. Yeah, I can't wait to see that action. I've seen the previews and it looks really interesting. It's

a psychological action thriller. And you play the part of a writer who goes to this little town and then things he's written a thriller novel that he has no memory of, and then he sees, uh, events unfold that happened in the novel. So it's as if he's somehow predicted what's happening right then and there, and yet he can't remember writing the book in the first place. And uh, it looks pretty intense. I'm looking forward to that, and I'm thinking there might be another splinter Cell uh game

shown off there. I'm a big splinter Cell fan. I haven't played the last one, but now I've always enjoyed those games. Um, I'm not I'm not terribly skilled, but uh, I do enjoy playing them. Um, let's see what else, Um, Gears of War three, maybe, I mean it's a little soon. Gears of War two has not been out that long. But then so you've got you know, you gotta weigh it, like does it steal any thunder to announce it early? Or will it coast on the popularity of the Gears

War two? And then just help them propel that forward, keep the momentum going. I don't know. Um, we'll probably see something, maybe a teaser. Uh. I think that's all I have for Microsoft. Do you have anything else for Microsoft? Not for Microsoft. There are some other companies, of course, going to be there, like Developers who had been shying away from E three for the last couple of years. Um. Its Software is going to be there, even though they're

no longer part of the association. They're going to be showing off Wolfenstein, which is kind of interesting one of my favorite games back in the old the old Wolfenstein three D game, the original one, not the remake they did. Yeah, and uh, but there's still some big names who aren't going to be there, like nc soft, the massively multiplayer online game Giant and uh. Sadly Midway had to pull out, also went bankrupt because they don't have the money to go,

I guess. And that's that's sad. You know, they've over the years had some awesome stuff. Well, but they can't show up. But I tell you who will show up. And I think this is a segue into our next point. Saga is going to be there. Oh man, I didn't even think about that. That's a good point. Yeah, okay, So we wanted to talk a little bit about things that may not happen, but we hope happen, not just these aren't really so much predictions as they are wishful thinking. Yep,

So go ahead drop one on me. I'm thinking that's the saga. One. Yeah, one. And you know what, the reason I hold out hope for this UM is in that other people talk about it all the time. Sega still has tons of fans who would like them to get back into the console business, and they've had some pretty successful games for the Wei UM, you know, in their partnership with Nintendo, and I would like them to come out with a brand new console and get back

into the competition. I mean, Sony's down, so you know they could they could possibly take a shot at their old rival. And uh, you know, I don't know if they would still be able to do that and create games with the other consoles UM, but you never know. I don't know that you could completely count it out. Of course, now may not be the best time with the financial market being right, but I'd like to see it. Let's say that, um, are we just gonna let ourselves

to one or do you have more? Um, I came up with another one as we were talking to go ahead. Speaking of the Wii, you know what I'd like to see, what's a wireless nunchuck. That's a good point, but I like the you know, the two handed games, but you have that tether in between them and it's kind of easy to get hung up on. So it would be nice to see a wireless time chock. I don't think they're gonna say anything about, at least not anytime soon. Well,

it would be nice for me. The one thing I would love to see that I know is not going to happen, but I would love to see it. Monkey Island five please, LucasArts please, or Grim Fandango to either one of those. Actually, both of the Grim Fandango game and the Monkey Island games were some of my favorite adventure games. No adventure games in general have really kind of tanked. They just don't really there aren't that many left. You don't see its coming out with tomb Rat Actually

there are. There's a new tomb Rater game being Yes, it's an adventure game, but it's an adventure it's not. It's it's an arcade adventure game, Monkey Island and the Fandango series are more you know, your point and click adventure games, so like your old King's Quest games and things like that, you know, kind of prettied up a little bit more and with a real funny some the humor. So I would love to see that. So that's that's my wish. Um I had another one like, I would

love to see more of the cotour uh stuff. That's Nights of the Old Republic. Um I. I loved both of those games, even with their flaws. That that was the Star Wars games set in the ancient ancient ancient period before even the prequels that never existed. Um, I have to deny it or else I go crazy. So I'm hoping to see something about that too. Um yeah, I noticed that you didn't mention the one title we said we were going to get back to. What was that? Oh?

Oh right, right, this is the Quintessential, maybe thirteen years in the making now. Yeah, I expect to see something about Duke Nukem Forever. Alright. So Duke Nukem Forever, which is been in development for more than a decade, hope to see something about it, all right, that's it. Alright and done. So, so you're not gonna say yes or no. Oh no, I'm I'm sure I'll see something about it because they have to keep that you know, that that that dead horse has not been beaten enough as it is.

All right, all done, good. I don't have any listener mail for this one. All right, so we're going to conclude this. I'm getting a lot of listener mail, and a lot of them are questions that are going to lead into other episodes, which is that's great. Um, I just don't have the time to read one out and go into the answers because most of them are you know, require maybe a five or six minute long answer in

the first place. But if you have a question, please send it in text stuff at how stuff works dot com will be glad to answer it. We were gathering up several small questions into larger episodes. We love to do that, so please keep sending the men. We're gonna

get to them eventually. And if you want to learn more about video games, there's some great content on how stuff works dot com and we will talk you again really soon for more on this and thousands of other topics it how stuff works dot Com and be sure to check out the New Tech Stuff blog now on the House Stuff Works homepage, brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you