E3 2006 News and Games Thread

[Power and Glory]

It's that time again for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). It is held yearly in Los Angeles. This year is expected to be the most anticipated E3 in quite awhile.

The big stuff this year is of course the official unveiling of the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. Generally the push of next generation gaming is the theme to this years E3.

Before I go on in case people are wondering why I am doing this. I consider this a hobby. I enjoy keeping up with the news and behind the scene stuff in the gaming world. As a consumer I feel this is beneficial when deciding how to spend my money on what game. When putting down 50 or 60 plus dollars on something I want to feel good about that decision. I like following the industry in general.

Anyway on to the good stuff. The 2 top gaming sites to watch are Gamespot and IGN. I prefer Gamespot due to how well they coverered the show last year aswell as their offering of HD content. Plus their editors feel more personable in my opinion. The 2 links to keep bookmarked are
http://www.gamespot.com/e3/index.html and http://www.ign.com/e3/2006/.

E3 runs from May 10th through the 12th, but the biggest news happens at the Pre-E3 Press Conferences. Those will be on Monday and Tuesday. Gamespot will be showing Sony's and Nintendo's Live to anybody not just to paid subscribers (like myself). Microsoft has denied showing their conference live this year. Gamespot has said they will put all 3 conferences up on demand after they are over in case anybody misses them or wants to download them. Paid subcribers get a 700k feed while everyone else gets a 150k or 300k option. For downloading purposes I will be able to get a HD 720p version. So if anybody wants it just let me know.

The times for the Press Conferences are labeled for Pacific Time since the event is in LA. So adjust accordingly to your timezone.

Sony- Monday May 8th, 4PM PT
Nintendo- Tuesday May 9th, 9:30AM PT
Microsoft- Tuesday May 9th, 12PM PT

Also Gamespot will be running 25 hours of Live coverage from the E3 show floor starting on the 10th. On the E3 link I gave you click on the E3 Live tab. You can then click through the day tabs to see their schedule. While the timeslots are not complete you can see some of the stuff they will be demoing on stage. Again same as with the conferances I can download any of these shows for people if they spot a game they might be interested in. I'm sure anybody can watch this stuff for free, but as with the other stuff as a paid subscriber I get a higher quality live fees and a HD quality download. I don't want to make it sound like the only way to see the stuff is to pay. Its all free. Just that I have some benefits that I am willing to share if anybody wants anything.

One of those things like I briefly mentioned above was HD Movies. If you click on the Video tab you will see all of the video they have. Right now its small since E3 has not started. There will be litterally hundreds of movies by the end of E3 on that page. I think you may have to sign up as a free basic subscriber to have access to their downloads. On that page you will see Hi-Res Movies. That is for paid subscribers. Like I have said. I have access to all HD quality stuff so if anybody wants a HD movie let me know. Reply in this thread, PM, IRC, or Xfire and we can work out how to get you wantever content you want.

Once the show starts on the 10th the floodgates will open and you will get tons upon tons of new game news, pics, and movies for all games coming out this year and part of next year. So much it is mind numbing.

I will try to update this thread as much as possible. Due to my work schedule you will not see me post till after 5PM ET. I will do my best though to keep people up to date in case they do not want to go digging through links to find stuff.

Only rule to this thread. Do not turn it into a debate about how one platform is better than the other or how PC's are better. This thread is about the event itself, hardware talk, and the games.

Again not to beat the dead horse. If anybody wants anything download between today and all of next week let me know and we will work something out. You know where to find me.

Above all have fun:thumb:

[GRITS]

This is really nice. I like to keep up on all the information but it is really overwhelming for someone like me. while I know a lot more than I did 4 years ago I still can't seem to grasp very much when I am bombarded with a steady stream of information. I look forward to the reports, thanks PnG:wub:.....ummm I mean :thumb:

[Power and Glory]

Thanks. Now here are some numbers so you can get a sense of how big E3 is this year.

ESA releases E3 factoids
Industry trade group runs down the numbers associated with next week's big show.
By Staff, GameSpot
Posted May 4, 2006 4:40 pm PT
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today issued a fact sheet that puts the size of its Electronic Entertainment Expo into perspective. The show takes place next week, running May 9 to 12 in Los Angeles, California.

This year the ESA reports it has more than 400 companies from 90 countries signed up to show their wares, 540,000 square feet of exhibitor space for visitors to canvas, and more than 175 industry leaders presenting over the course of its conference and workshop program. Some other facts released by the ESA today included:

--Exhibitors will display nearly 1,000 never-before-seen games and products.

--Almost half of exhibitors (49 percent) will launch one or more titles for the latest handheld platforms.

--Almost two-thirds of E3 exhibitors (60 percent) will showcase games scheduled to hit store shelves by the 2006 holiday season.

--11 percent of companies will exhibit one or more games featuring celebrities or other "Hollywood" talent, including directors, screenwriters, and musicians.

--One-tenth of exhibitors (10 percent) will present one or more games or products that include a health or fitness element.

--More than 5,800 flat-screen computer and television monitors will be seen on the show floor and in public areas.

--More than 850,000 pounds of equipment will run along the convention ceiling.

--Approximately 79,000 square yards of carpet and other flooring will cover the Los Angeles Convention Center.

--110,000 square feet of banners will hang within the convention center during the show.

[Power and Glory]

Pics of the LA Convention Center where E3 is held. Seems like Sony bought alot of advertising space.:lol:

http://www.jeux-france.com/news15630_e3-20...res-photos.html

It is a french site, but it's not like you have to read anything they are pictures.:PYou can click on each one to make them bigger.

[Power and Glory]

If you read my post with all of the statistics of this years event here are some pics of the crates sitting outside the convention center waiting to be opened and placed inside. To say there are alot would be a understament. This should give you a semi feel of the amount of stuff that is used to put on a show like this.

These are taken from a blog on Gamespot site. Their people have been regularly reporting since leaving San Francisco to make their way down to LA yesterday.

I think the second pic from the left really shows the size of this stuff. That guy looks like the size of an ant compared to those crates.

[Power and Glory]

Gamespot has had a few updates today on games along with news. On that E3 link I gave out in my first post go down the right side of the page. You will see a box that says "Recent E3 2006 Updates" that has some good stuff in it movies amd news wise.

One big news piece is of the new Time magazine coming out that unveils some stuff about Nintendo new consoles functionality. Here is a part of the article from Gamespot:

"Today, though, some of Nintendo's press-conference thunder was stolen when the first copies of Time arrived on newsstands. The May 15 issue of the magazine has a lengthy article on the Wii, titled "A Game For All Ages," by technology correspondent Lev Grossman.

Grossman traveled to Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, and was shown the Wii by legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The reporter was especially impressed with the Wii's controller. "It's part laser pointer and part motion sensor, so it knows where you're aiming it, when and how fast you move it and how far it is from the TV screen," he said. "There's a strong whiff of voodoo about it."

More importantly for Nintendo fans, the Time article revealed several key pieces of information about Wii games. First, Grossman described using the Wii playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. "Now I'm Errol Flynn, sword fighting with the controller, then aiming a bow and arrow, then using it as a fishing rod, reeling in a stubborn virtual fish," he said. While Nintendo confirmed the much-anticipated GameCube title would have some Wii functionality, this is the first official description of what said functionality is."


Also gameplay movies of the newest Mortal Kombat for all you fighting game fans. This latest one is going to be the last on current generation consoles. It will close up the story and will include all of the characters from every previos MK game. That is over 60 according to the game's creator. It will also include a create a character mode aswell as a create a fatality for your character. These 4 movies don't really show alot of the game. They are more of a tease if anything. I'm sure alot more movies will be shown during the week that include some better fighting action.

Again all of these movies are free to stream or download. If you want the higher quality versions of anything during this coming week let me know and I can get them for you.

[GRITS]

I don't see the link to the movies, or am I misunderstanding?

[Power and Glory]

I don't see the link to the movies, or am I misunderstanding?

I didn't give a link. I just gave direction where to go since there will be tons of stuff being posted on their site during the week. The place where they keep all of their E3 movies will be on the videos tab on Gamespots main E3 page.

Now on to some news that is currently breaking.

BREAKING NEWS

E3 06: Final Fantasy XIII announced at Square Enix press conference

Japanese RPG magnate begins a week of E3 festivities with its lavish press conference, bearing the promise of electrifying next-generation development details.
By Brad Shoemaker, GameSpot
Posted May 8, 2006 1:02 pm PT


LOS ANGELES--Kicking off a week of potentially explosive gaming announcements is Square Enix's annual pre-E3 press conference, being held this morning at LA's Palladium event venue. With new consoles due out this fall from Sony and Nintendo (and the Xbox 360 already plowing ahead at full steam), excitement here is understandably high about new products the titanic Japanese publisher may announce for next-generation platforms.

A throng of eager journalists assembled outside the Palladium prior to the event. Surprisingly, Metal Gear Solid designer Hideo Kojima made an appearance, eschewing the spotlight and sitting among the regular audience.


Following a brief delay, the audience was herded into a fashionably decorated auditorium where the company's most closely held secrets will be revealed. Banners displaying existing properties--from Final Fantasy XII to Dirge of Cerberus--draped the walls, display cases full of statuettes bearing familiar likenesses greeted attendees at the entrance, and a rousing score from many of the company's most popular games.

But even minutes before the show began, no hint of Square Enix's new, next-generation games was yet in evidence.

1:02 pm The conference is starting with a cavalcade of announced products on video--Dawn of Mana, Final Fantasy V and VI for GBA, Rocket Slime (!), some mobile stuff. President Yoichi Wada's now taking the stage, wasting no time talking about the promise of next-gen and telling us they've got some hot secrets for us today. So let's have 'em already!

1:06 COO Daishiro Okada is now on stage discussing the upcoming lineup. Final Fantasy XII will be out October of this year. Finally. Also some mobile stuff. Space Invaders? Elevator Action? Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episodes also on mobile this summer.

1:10 Now we're getting into the meat with a long trailer for Final Fantasy XII, all in English. Sounds like they're sparing no expense on the voice acting for this one--it's all appropriately haughty, in line with the tone of the story.

1:18 More trailers for announced, current-gen stuff like Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth and the latest FFXI expansion. Now it's Final Fantasy on mobile--I knew my nerd sense was tingling for a reason.

1:24 Looks like their mobile strategy rages unabated--Dirge is the standout since it's all in 3D. Now we've got Final Fantasy III for DS, billed as "the only Final Fantasy never to reach Western shores." They're urging us to "complete the fantasy" with this 3D remake--fine by me since it looks like the best DS RPG yet.

1:28 Final Fantasies V and VI for GBA--not the biggest news, but near and dear to many hearts for sure. Promised to have new surprises. Now it's Mana time, starting off with the sorta middling Children of. But what's this? Ten years before Children of Mana, a 3D game: Dawn of Mana, of course. More CG than gameplay, but it looks pretty good.

1:32 Once upon a slime! It's Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, which is the most bafflingly adorable name I've ever heard. Apparently, "it's payback slime." So cute, I'm sold. Now Shinji Hashimoto is taking the stage to talk about the utterly unsurprising massive success of the many Final Fantasy VII projects, from Advent Children to Dirge and the mobile games. Hey, and a US date for Dirge: August 22, with new features included.

1:43 Still showing off the Compilation of FFVII stuff, all of which is out here or in Japan. Bring on the next-gen games!

1:49 I spoke too soon: Here's our first real footage of FFVII Crisis Core for the PSP. Stars Zack of Soldier fame, apparently, and there's a ton of Sephiroth in here (down, boys 'n girls). No gameplay footage, only real-time cutscenes, but it looks amazing for a PSP game.

1:51 Here we go--Dragon Quest is coming to the Wii. Some dude is fighting a stone golem in a forest. Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors. Launch title for the Wii! No real footage of the game, but still, big news.

1:54 The hits keep on coming--now we have Akitoshi Kawazu, exec. producer of Crystal Chronicles. Two new games from that series: one DS, one Wii. DS game is Ring of Fates, and will have wi-fi multiplayer (duh). Looks a bit more whimsical than the Cube version, same basic sense of style though. They're showing four players at once, like you'd expect. Yay DS!

1:58 And here comes the Wii title. That Final Fantasy theme still makes me all misty-eyed. Wow, these visuals are nice--random shots of CC-style little dudes fighting bombs and other monsters. If any of that was real-time footage of the game, the Wii graphics ought to do us just fine. Hard to say if it was just CG, though. Code name: Chrystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. No major details on the game available yet though.

2:02 Final announcement! For PS3! E3 is so damn exciting sometimes. What is it?!

FINAL FANTASY XIII. FINAL FANTASY XIII. They pulled a serious bait-and-switch on us. Sword-and-gun-wielding heroine who looks like Yuna, flipping her way around a high-tech, futuristic world. No idea what it was until the end when that NAME popped up. Yoshinori Kitase directing! This is the guy behind all the best ones--VI, VIII, VIII, X. Be still my heart.

2:08 Sorry, I jumped the gun--Mr. Kitase was merely presenting. Motomu Toriyama will direct the game. And apparently FFXIII isn't the only game coming out of this universe--there's a, uh, mobile game too. Oh. It's Final Fantasy Agito XIII.

Now it's Fabula Nova Crystallis--"the new tale of the crystal" in Latin. They're big on the Latin today. Whoa, wait, another new game? Another PS3 game?! Final Fantasy Versus XIII? They're emphasizing that in Latin, versus means "to change direction." This is a Tetsuya Nomura game, and he's taking the stage now.

2:17 Nomura is providing more details. The CG movie we just saw, featuring a spiky-haired character (natch) squaring off against machine gun-wielding soldiers, was created by the Advent Children team, but the game itself will be made by the Kingdom Hearts team, and will feature "extreme action elements." He says "bonding" will be the primary theme of the game.

2:20 The conference draws to a close with a comment from Hashimoto that this should demonstrate Square Enix's commitment to next-generation gaming, but that it's "only the beginning." A final movie showcases the name Final Fantasy XIII, as if each new installment in this mega-enormous series is now a franchise unto itself.

Finally, Mr. Wada has retaken the stage. "How did that grab you?" Laughter and applause. Some more commentary on SE's commitment to supporting the next gen. Speaks more about the "synergy between products" being a proven formula with Compilation of FFVII. Looks like they're taking the same tack with FFXIII.

Some more info on FFXIII (can't type fast enough!): The game was begun by the FFX team for PS2, but the team was then derailed to make last year's FFVIII PS3 tech demo. They were so happy with the hardware, they decided to then shift development to the new platform. Apparently the game will run on the "White Engine" and will feature the most technologically advanced civilization ever featured in a Final Fantasy. The storyline will center on "those who resist the world." Yeah, okay.

2:27 The conference is officially over, but E3 (and GameSpot) is just getting started. Stay tuned for screens of all this FFXIII madness, and a lot more. And to think, the actual show is still two days away.

[Power and Glory]

Sony Press Conference News. New technology is always expensive, but its still hard to swallow seeing this. Be very interesting to see how Sony hold on to the worldwide lead after this year.

PS3 $499, $599, November 17 release
Dates and prices finally revealed for Sony's next-gen console. Two SKUs will be available, one with 20GB HD, one with 60GB HD.
By Tim Surette, GameSpot
Posted May 8, 2006 6:51 pm PT

At today's pre-E3 conference held at Sony Pictures Studios, two questions that have been on gamers minds were answered. Sony president Kaz Hirai revealed the PlayStation 3's price and launch date.

The PS3 will be released in Japan on November 11, and the United States on November 17, 2006. Like the Xbox 360, the PS3 will come in two configurations, one with a 20GB hard drive and one with a 60GB hard drive.

The 20GB will retail for $499 in the US (59800 yen in Japan, 499 euros in Europe), and the 60GB model will retail for $599 (open price in Japan, 599 euros in Europe).

Sony expects to ship two million units in its first month of launch, four million by the end of the year, and six million by the end of its fiscal year, which ends in March 31.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS3 controller motion sensitive
Batarang joystick absent from Sony's pre-E3 press conference; replacement is silver, wireless controller in vein of Wii's.
By Tim Surette, GameSpot
Posted May 8, 2006 7:05 pm PT

LOS ANGELES--When it was revealed at last year's E3, one of the biggest complaints about the PlayStation 3 was its controller. Shaped eerily like Batman's Batarang weapon, the controller's crescent-shaped design was not well-received by gamers.

At today's pre-E3 press conference, Sony demoed games on PS3 dev kits with a new controller--a wired, silver joystick that looked very similar to the PlayStation's DualShock controller.

Later in the press conference, Ken Kutaragi pulled a similar looking controller out of his jacket--this one without wires.

Phil Harrison joined Kutaragi on stage to show what it can do, saying that its "secret" couldn't wait any longer. The controller is motion sensitive. Harrison said it has "six degrees of freedom" with no external sensor required. The controller will come standard with the PS3.

The president of Incognito Games used the controller to demonstrate its capabilities with Warhawk, a PS3 title that was announced last year.

[Power and Glory]

Here is a description of everything that went on at Sony's press conference.


http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3story.html?si...9470&pid=928399

[Quickening]

Sony is kidding themselves asking a price like that for a console. Everyone felt the 360 was pushing the limit. And then Sony asks for $200 more? Even the "cheaper" version is more expensive than the 360 premium. And a 40GB version constitutes $200 more?? I can only imagine each game costing $70 bucks or more. Ouch. Sony has decided to go select to the rich kids I guess.

[Power and Glory]

Thats Blu-Ray for ya. They are still selling the console at a loss even at those prices.

[Power and Glory]

Here are some highlights from Nintendo's and Microsoft Conferences today.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6149663.html

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6149851.html

Here are some impressions on Nintendo's new controller for their new system.

E3 06: Nintendo Wii Controller Hands-On
We try out the latest iteration of Nintendo's unique controller.
By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot
Posted May 9, 2006 12:07 pm PT

LOS ANGELES--With Nintendo's Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference and the show itself looming, we had the opportunity to pop by the company's booth and try out the Wii. During our brief time, we tried out a variety of first-party titles to get a practical feel for just how the unique controller is going to work. Though you'll find our impressions of the five titles we played, Wii Sports: Tennis, Excite Truck, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess elsewhere, we wanted to offer a quick run through of just how the controller feels and how it's changed since we last saw it.

Before we start, we should note that during our play session Nintendo reps noted that the controller we were playing was still considered a prototype, as the possibility for some fine-tuning still existed. That said, the controller we got our hands on wasn't too radically different from what we tried last year at the Tokyo Game Show, though there have been some noticeable tweaks to the design. The most radical is the addition of a speaker that rests just below the three buttons that divide the controller in half. The small speaker came into play during the Legend of Zelda fishing sequence we played and complemented its built-in rumble during the parts of the demo where we reeled in our catch, as it emitted the sound of a reel turning. This addition has resulted in the controller being a bit longer to accommodate the new feature.

The other more subtle differences revolve around the names for the buttons. The main button on the face of the unit is still named A, and the trigger button on the underside is still named B. The vertical row of buttons has seen some tweaks that differ from the official controller images Nintendo released during TGS, though. The first button, seen in photos to be named "select," now has the image of an arrow on it that's curved counterclockwise, similar to those seen in the refresh icon on a web browser. The second button, labeled "home" in official images, now has the image of a house on it, similar to one you'd see in a Web browser. The third button, originally labeled "start," now has two horizontal bars on it that look like the "pause" icon on a music or movie player. Nintendo displayed an image of the controller with different button icons during its E3 2006 press conference, with a minus sign on the left button, the same house icon on the middle button, and a plus sign on the right button. Below these three buttons and past the speaker are the two buttons that have been alternately labeled lowercase a and b or 1 and 2 on the controller variants we've seen in the past. The controller we tried at E3 had the 1 and 2 buttons.

The second part of the controller, the analog attachment that goes by the "nunchaku" moniker, had a more streamlined shape and featured a tweaked button design. The two shoulder buttons, named Z1 and Z2 respectively, have also been reshaped and renamed since we last saw them at the Game Developers Conference a few months ago. The top shoulder button, now called C, is a good deal smaller than the lower shoulder button, now called Z. The C button was oval shaped, while the Z button was a more traditional square.

Though Nintendo still considered the units we were using to be prototypes, we reckon they gave a pretty good sense of the unit's heft. The controllers we had in our hands at the Tokyo Game Show were wired and weighed almost nothing. The wireless prototypes have a decent heft to them now, though. They use AA batteries, which will further add to the weight. At the moment, the main controller feels about as heavy as a Nintendo DS. The nunchaku weighs about as much as a cell phone. Holding both units in either hand feels fine, and the buttons are easy to reach.

We expect it will take time before our fingers get used to the controller's unique landscape and feel totally comfortable sliding around hitting buttons, but so far the controller feels good. The only thing we noticed was that you may find yourself gripping the main controller a little too tightly at first while playing. We reckon this will be an unconscious thing in much the same way most people playing a racing game will lean into turns without thinking or grip their controllers in a vicelike grip when walking around the sky stage in a Mario game. We have to hand it to Nintendo: despite the Wii controller's unorthodox appearance, the thing is dead easy to pick up and play.

So there you have it. Though we'll again note that Nintendo reps stated the controllers we played were prototypes, we expect that the final units will be pretty close to what we tried. Though we expect there will be tweaking, much like the DS underwent following our first look at E3 two years ago, we have to say that Nintendo has managed to create a controller that's poised to revolutionize how games are played.

[Power and Glory]

The past 2 days takes care of most of the big news. Now its all about the games for these new consoles plus the PC starting tomarrow when E3 officially opens. Movies are going up now for a ton of stuff that was announced and starting tomarrow 100 times that amount will be going up. There will be a bunch of HD quality vids to go alongside. As I said before if anybody sees something that interests you then let me know and I can snag the HD version for ya.

Tomarrow I will start listing game names of major and semi major games that will be released later this year.

Also Gamespot will start doing their live demos from the show floor. That goes on all day starting tomarrow. So keep tuned to their schedule if you spot something you might like. I will be able to d/l those shows aswell.

[Ichigo]

without lookin at the links PnG posted i don't know if the videos are up there but... i have the nintendo and sony conferences that i can upload for people if they want them - also i'm in the middle of downloading the microsoft conference.
(The Wii looks IMMENSE. The whole idea of their controller is... well - it's Nintendo in a nutshell. They've gone for the completely out there design and idea and it looks like it's gonna be supremely cool. Watching Shigeiro Miyamoto and some other goons playin Tennis virtually is kinda funny too:P)

[Power and Glory]

The videos have been posted since shortly after the press conferences ended. I have the high res ones from Gamespot. Sony was the only one to offer HD of their conference, but I did not grab the HD version.

[Power and Glory]

Sorry for the lack of updates the last couple days. There has just been been so much to see. Alot of interesting stuff. E3 officially closed yesterday evening.

I think i heard Spore being pushed back to early next year which is dissapointing. I was really looking forward to that this year.

Just go to the video tab on Gamespots E3 page for all of their video and their news pages for their hands-on impressions on alot of the games. They currently have 683 videos up from E3, 9,982 screenshots, 732 news and previews, and 1,024 games listed in general. That alot to choose from to see what may interest anybody.

I will no longer update this thread since the show is over, but will try to keep this active anybody has questions or just wants to talk about the show or games. I am also still available for any requests for downloads.

[GRITS]

thanks PnG your update actually kept me in the loop in a conversation on WoW one day