Web Exclusive: E3 updates
Tom Bennett, Electronic Features Editor, visits E3 in L.A.
Tom Bennett
Issue date: 5/5/06 Section: News
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Nintendo
Nintendo held its pre-E3 press conference early May 9. Although the hot topic was obviously the Wii, little light was shed on the system itself.
Although Nintendo said it still had a surprise for E3, nothing new was given, not even a price or date outside of the forth quarter of 2006.
A slew of titles for the Nintendo Wii were shown, including Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy, Fire Emblem, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. , Diaster: Day of Crisis, Excite Truck, Wii Sports, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
Most exciting is the news that instead of having one SKU for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that can run on both Gamecube and Wii, two versions will be offered that are each exclusive to a console. The Wii version will be a launch title.
Also officially announced was that the "nunchuk" attachment for the Wii controller will have a built-in speaker and its own motion sensor. One specific use for this is when shooting the bow in The Twilight Princess. Once the bow is pulled, the string will become audible on the controller while the arrow collision will be heard from the television.
New titles for the Nintedo DS include Diddy Kong Racing DS, Star Fox DS, Yoshi's Island 2, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue/Red Rescue Team, Pokémon Ranger, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2:March of the Minis.
Sony
Sony held its pre-E3 press conference May 8, during which it announced some items that many had expected. Of course, this also means that they announced some unexpected items as well.
Primarily, the Playstation 3 controller has reverted from a boomerang to the classic dual-shock style, albeit with a twist. The controller has six degrees of freedom, creating a weak Wii controller clone as it lacks the special freedom and intuitiveness the Wii controller also provides.
A few titles were announced, including Tekken 6, Virtua Fighter 5, a Naughty Dog game (the makers of Crash Bandicoot and Jax & Daxter), Medal of Honor: Airborne, Ridge Racer 7, Need for Speed: Carbon, and Final Fantasy XIII, which was also announced earlier at the Square press conference.
Most importantly, an official date and price were given. Expect the Playstation 3 to launch November 24 in the United States. Sony is planning a worldwide launch similar to Microsoft's with the Xbox 360.
Also similar to the Microsoft's approach, Sony will offer two versions of the system. Both systems will feature a built-in hard drive and Blue-Ray Disc support. The "cheap" (in the vaguest sense of the word) Playstation 3 will sell for $499 and includes a 20 GB HDD and apparently will not support memory cards nor include wireless. For a 60 GB HDD, memory card support and wireless 802.11 b/g support, consumers will need to spend $599.
Microsoft
Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference followed Nintendo's at noon May 9. Past bragging rights and sale figures, the show started off with the announcement of some new Xbox Arcade titles. The new tiles announced are Pac-Man, Galaga, Contra, Sonic the Hedgehog, Time Pilot, and Lumines Live. Also mentioned were previously announced titles Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting and Ultra Mortal Kombat 3.
Most of the additional Xbox 360 games mentioned at the conference were previously announced, such as Lost Planet and Superman Returns. New games announced included Fable 2 and Forza Motorsports 2, available for the holiday season this year.
The big surprise that Microsoft had was the announcement of Grand Theft Auto 4, set to be released in the U.S. Oct. 16, 2007. Rockstar has promised exclusive episodic content for the Xbox 360 version, which should add an entirely new dimension to the game's replay value.
New peripherals announced included a wireless headset, a force-feedback wireless steering wheel and a camera. The HD DVD player, dubbed the Xbox 360 player, was shown off and given a release frame of holiday 2006.
The conference ended with a trailer for Halo 3, which after fading to white, displayed the phrase, "This is the way the world ends." Look for Halo 3 in 2007.
Microsoft will make a large amount of content available through Xbox Live during E3 week, including demos and trailers. Yes, Halo 3 trailers are available on Xbox Live. Also, E3 week is a free Xbox Live gold week, so be sure to take advantage of the free features if you only have Xbox Live Silver.
Nintendo held its pre-E3 press conference early May 9. Although the hot topic was obviously the Wii, little light was shed on the system itself.
Although Nintendo said it still had a surprise for E3, nothing new was given, not even a price or date outside of the forth quarter of 2006.
A slew of titles for the Nintendo Wii were shown, including Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy, Fire Emblem, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. , Diaster: Day of Crisis, Excite Truck, Wii Sports, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
Most exciting is the news that instead of having one SKU for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that can run on both Gamecube and Wii, two versions will be offered that are each exclusive to a console. The Wii version will be a launch title.
Also officially announced was that the "nunchuk" attachment for the Wii controller will have a built-in speaker and its own motion sensor. One specific use for this is when shooting the bow in The Twilight Princess. Once the bow is pulled, the string will become audible on the controller while the arrow collision will be heard from the television.
New titles for the Nintedo DS include Diddy Kong Racing DS, Star Fox DS, Yoshi's Island 2, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue/Red Rescue Team, Pokémon Ranger, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2:March of the Minis.
Sony
Sony held its pre-E3 press conference May 8, during which it announced some items that many had expected. Of course, this also means that they announced some unexpected items as well.
Primarily, the Playstation 3 controller has reverted from a boomerang to the classic dual-shock style, albeit with a twist. The controller has six degrees of freedom, creating a weak Wii controller clone as it lacks the special freedom and intuitiveness the Wii controller also provides.
A few titles were announced, including Tekken 6, Virtua Fighter 5, a Naughty Dog game (the makers of Crash Bandicoot and Jax & Daxter), Medal of Honor: Airborne, Ridge Racer 7, Need for Speed: Carbon, and Final Fantasy XIII, which was also announced earlier at the Square press conference.
Most importantly, an official date and price were given. Expect the Playstation 3 to launch November 24 in the United States. Sony is planning a worldwide launch similar to Microsoft's with the Xbox 360.
Also similar to the Microsoft's approach, Sony will offer two versions of the system. Both systems will feature a built-in hard drive and Blue-Ray Disc support. The "cheap" (in the vaguest sense of the word) Playstation 3 will sell for $499 and includes a 20 GB HDD and apparently will not support memory cards nor include wireless. For a 60 GB HDD, memory card support and wireless 802.11 b/g support, consumers will need to spend $599.
Microsoft
Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference followed Nintendo's at noon May 9. Past bragging rights and sale figures, the show started off with the announcement of some new Xbox Arcade titles. The new tiles announced are Pac-Man, Galaga, Contra, Sonic the Hedgehog, Time Pilot, and Lumines Live. Also mentioned were previously announced titles Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting and Ultra Mortal Kombat 3.
Most of the additional Xbox 360 games mentioned at the conference were previously announced, such as Lost Planet and Superman Returns. New games announced included Fable 2 and Forza Motorsports 2, available for the holiday season this year.
The big surprise that Microsoft had was the announcement of Grand Theft Auto 4, set to be released in the U.S. Oct. 16, 2007. Rockstar has promised exclusive episodic content for the Xbox 360 version, which should add an entirely new dimension to the game's replay value.
New peripherals announced included a wireless headset, a force-feedback wireless steering wheel and a camera. The HD DVD player, dubbed the Xbox 360 player, was shown off and given a release frame of holiday 2006.
The conference ended with a trailer for Halo 3, which after fading to white, displayed the phrase, "This is the way the world ends." Look for Halo 3 in 2007.
Microsoft will make a large amount of content available through Xbox Live during E3 week, including demos and trailers. Yes, Halo 3 trailers are available on Xbox Live. Also, E3 week is a free Xbox Live gold week, so be sure to take advantage of the free features if you only have Xbox Live Silver.
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