E3 Blog 2005

Panoramic View

2005-05-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some panoramic shots I made. You will actually have to click on the links to see them because the width of this blog doesn't do them justice. Take a gander at them since they took me quite a while to make and of corse they look cool as well.

Panoramic 1
Panoramic 2
Panoramic 3

Show Room Floor

2005-05-22T01:05:00.000-07:00

So as promised here are some photos from the show room floors.

The view from the Pelican booth.

Yes, EA really did have a 360 degree screen that was larger than life.

Seating provided at the PSP booth (left) and the Microsoft booth (right).

The PSP had its own booth in addition to the Sony booth (left). Some gamers decide to get it on at Fatlity's rather large booth (right).

Some demo set ups created by Microsoft.

Of corse what would a racing game be without a car to show it off (left). Some of the demo station set ups underneath the bridge that Microsoft built.

NCSoft

2005-05-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

A lot of booths at E3 use all kinds of gimmicks to draw crowds in which range from handing out free stuff to having booth babes. Ncsoft, did some thing a little more unique, however.

Ncsoft hired a group called The Mutaytor to do performances on a stage they had built. The group preformed regularly several times a day throughout the three days of the convention. The group was quite impressive and used 50 drums to create music for fire dances and tribal hoop performances. It may sound odd and that’s because it was. It seemed that Ncsoft somehow recruited every burnout kid from the area to perform. The group defiantly put on some spectacular shows.

Outside the Show Rooms

2005-05-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

Here Ill post a few photos of the convention center outside of the show room floors. Don't worry Ill post photos from the show room floor in a few minutes.

The outside of the convention center as seen from the street.

A view of one of the many grand entrances to E3.

The were huge banner advertisments lining the walls and halls of the convention center. Sony had the most advertisments by far. Not only did they have ads all over the convention center, but they also had ads throughout the city. We even found a sony ad stuck to the TV in our hotel room.

A few more entrance shoots as well as a shot of Lucas Art's floor screen which they seemed to be pretty proud of.

On the left Spike TV laid out yellow carpets to the entrances to E3. Not quite the red carpet I was looking for, but still pretty cool.
On the left you can see only the very begining of morning line forming outside one of the showcase floors. I never thought I would see the day when nerds got up early for something, but here it is.

Blizzard

2005-05-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

Starcraft was the first computer game I bought and played religiously. Ever since then I've always had a soft spot for Blizzard and I looked forward to checking out their booth this year. Ever since the Brood War expansion, I've been desperately waiting for Blizzard to come out with Starcraft 2, but Blizzard seems to remain focused on their Warcraft series. When I heard about Starcraft Ghost a few years ago I was excited until I found out what it was. Starcraft Ghost is a game for console only, which is a first person shooter. I was even more disappointed when I found out that Blizzard contracted the game out and really had very little to do with it. None the less, Starcraft Ghost made up the bulk of the Blizzard booth. I was happy to see that the cut sceens remained of the highest quality and in the spirit of the original Starcraft. When I started watching people play Ghost, I thought it was really cool to see someone fight a Hydralisk, but it really was no replacement for Starcraft.

Blizzard didn't have any booth babes but they did have a pretty cool looking model of a Ghost.

Anti Booth Babe Champaign

2005-05-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

As we were crossing the street to go watch the Amry parachutte down to earth we were meet by men wearing bad wigs and womens underwear outside their pants. They were running an anti-booth babes champaign claiming that "It should be all about the games." It seems that there are more than just a few strangly dressed men who were attempting to cut down on the number of booth babes at E3. The video game industry is attempting to make games more arrtactive to females and thus the presence of booth babes is not always looked upon favorably. I must admit though, any booth which had a booth babe standing next to it definatly had a larger crowd.

The strange part is that one of the strangely dressed men whom I mentioned above, recognized the name of our paper. Apparently, the man was a 2002 UIUC graduate student. Who knew we would meet more UIUC people at E3? Small world.

Jonathan Kite a 2002 University of Illinois graduate who majored in acting hands out stickers protesting the use of booth babes at E3.

America's Army

2005-05-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

We got a request to do some more America's Army coverage, but unfortunatly we didn't quite get the request soon enough. I have a few extra photos that I'll post here, however, and I'll give a brief over view in case you haven't picked up what went on from Yoshi's writings yet.

Booths for America's Army were laid out in three different locations at E3. One location was in a parking lot across the street from the convention center. They used this empy parking lot to parachutte into and they used the building adjacent to the parking lot to repel down. Directly infront of the convention center the Army put up a tent with the Hum V simulator which Yoshi talked about earlier. The final America's Army booth was inside the convention center itself. The army built a mock house containing an obstacle course which you could run through with a laser equipted M16. You started the training simulation by kicking in the door wearing armor and a helmet. Neither Yoshi or I went completed this simulation due to time constraints and a long line. I do have a photo of someone gettting equipted for the simulation below however. The other half of the indoor booth consisted mainly of PCs running America's Army. The army held a tournament on these with the winner getting a flat screen TV. And of course recruitment officers were abound.

A soilder parachutes into an empy parking lot across the street from the convention center.

Andrew Scott of Freslao, CA goes over the basics of using a laser equipted air feed back M16 with US solider Ontiveros before attempting the combat simulator created by the army.

Soliders repel off of a building as part of a promotion for the America's Army videogame.

A US soilder stands guard as his fellow soilders repel off of a building in a mock exercise used to promote the America's Amry videogame.

Ubisoft demos Prince of Persia 3 at E3

2005-05-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

Ubisoft demoed a level of their upcoming sequel, Prince of Persia 3 at E3.

Ubisoft employee Remi Lacoste plays the demo of Prince of Persia 3.

The game features elements from both prior titles as well as new game play additions. One such addition is the one attack kill with a chain. The character can sneak up behind and wrap a chain around the neck of an enemy. Additionally, the chain can be used as a tool to swing across polls and over ledges.

Also added are chariots and horses, which the prince can ride through the streets of Babylon. As enemies attack and try to board the chariot, the price can fight them off.

Prince of Persia 3 will debut on all three consoles.

EyeToy Kinetic adds physical activity to gaming

2005-05-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

EyeToy previewed their upcoming EyeToy Kinetic software and hardware package for the PlayStation 2, which allows users to get an aerobic exercise while gaming.

Jason Jung of North Hollywood demonstrates the EyeToy Kinetic for the PlayStation 2 with a double jump-kick. Jason practices both hapkido and tae kwon do martial arts.

EyeToy Kinetic includes a wide-angle lens to go on the current EyeToy device, which tracks a gamer's movement and displays it on screen. Gamers dodge on-screen red orbs and strike to hit them when they turn yellow, gaining points and a significant physical workout.

Kimberly Fox of L.A. (left) and Jason Jung demonstrate the EyeToy Kinetic at E3.

The wide-angle lens is included to allow the television screen to display the entire full body of the user, instead of just the upper torso, which EyeToy products use already. This allows for movement of both the upper and lower body to register and greater gamer interaction.

EyeToy Kinetic will be available this fall.

Call of Duty 2 demos two levels at E3

2005-05-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

Activision's Call of Duty 2 was demoed at E3 with an exclusive look at landing in D-Day with the 2nd Ranger Battalion and a level through Africa with British troops.

The D-Day demonstration was a long wait in line, despite the line being extremely short. Activision employees kept bringing in VIPs at the last second to be seated first and then only three to five people in line could watch the 20 minute demo. Not very "fan friendly" at all.

Despite the wait, the demo was very good. The game was played on a PC, so the graphics were really turned up and looked just as crisp, if not better, than the original.

The sequel to the original hit has entirely new engine built from the ground up and features beautiful cinematic gameplay with scripted scenarios with surrounding A.I. characters that interact well with each other.

Hitting the beach, other transports explode, bodies get peppered with bullets and then you're hit with an explosion that knocks you out. Another soldier carries you to cover and you get back in the fight, grabbing a sniper rifle from a fellow dead comrade.

An iron jawed MP guards the Activision Call of Duty 2 booth.

Then it's a climb up the side of the cliff, on grappling hooks that were fired from the transports. Going up the hill, you're vulnerable, watching as other members of the 2nd Rangers fall to their deaths.

On the top of the hill, you get in the fight, shooting Nazis as they appear. This is better than a movie.

Call of Duty 2 comes out this fall.

PS3 versus XBOX 360 at E3

2005-05-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Both Microsoft and Sony displayed demos of their systems at E3, each with their own positive and negative aspects.

Visiting the Sony booth first, it was a mad dash as soon as the doors opened to the convention center to the Sony line. While exhibitors looked on at the rushing crowd, attendees scrambled to line up.

The PlayStation 3 line, despite a long length, moved very quickly. While starting around the corner of the booth, within twenty minutes we were at the front of the line.

There were three separate stages to the demonstration. The first was a simple over head screen in addition to eight flat-panel televisions, four on each side. Sony pushed the new movement into high definition by demonstrating the difference with trailers and scenes from their movies, such as Spider-man.

Then, the audience was led into a second room where a theatre had benches to sit on and an even larger screen. It was here that the PS3 was given more attention. Cut scenes and in-game scenes were shown from multiple upcoming titles. Examples of arena-style FPS, large scale samurai warfare and soldiers attacking in a battlefield terrain.

The Sony PlayStation 3.

Sony placed a large emphasis on their cell processor, but gave very little details and had no working game boxes to demo on. This could be because it is not slated to be released until spring of 2006.

The PS3 itself looks to be about the same size as the PS2 before it went to the current miniature size. Even the shape is similar, but it has sleeker lines and now will come in three colors: silver, white and black.

The Sony PlayStation 3 concept game controller.

The controller looks like a small Batman boomerang and is smaller than the current controllers. The button layout is similar, but the analog sticks are smaller in diameter than a dime.

The XBOX 360 demonstration required attendees to get a ticket to a showtime in the XBOX theatre. Avoiding the idea of a massive line, XBOX decided to have attendees just show up at the right time for a demo.

Inside the XBOX 360 theatre a crowd waits for the ticket only screening.

Once inside, attendees were given wireless Pioneer headphones to wear. The theatre was completely flat and had a green padded mat floor to sit down on. As XBOX went through their demos, the floor shook with subwoofers while games were on display.

The Microsoft XBOX 360 console.

Their demo was incredibly redundant. All game trailers could have been scene elsewhere at E3 at other booths. The only original content was a series of commercials where actors talked about the exciting new features they use on the XBOX 360.

The XBOX 360 controller.

The focus Microsoft seems to be taking with the XBOX 360 is that you can personalize it with your own profile and use it to network and connect to your friends “around the world” even better. Think of MySpace, but on an XBOX 360 Live network.

The idea is based on customizing your XBOX 360 with swappable faceplates and networking with your home media devices, such as digital cameras, PDAs, mp3 players and home PCs.

XBOX 360 custom faceplate variations on display.

In contrast to Sony, Microsoft had playable demo stations for XBOX 360, which releases this fall, for media to play.

The XBOX 360 remote control, because you don't have enough remotes already.

So, who wins in the XBOX 360 versus PlayStation 3 showdown? I’m going to give it to Sony. Their games looked better, their demo was better. The line, while long, moved very quickly. While it would have been nice to play on the PS3, their launch is basically a whole year away, whereas the XBOX 360 is a mere few months away. Both demos were OK to attend, but neither were the best booths by far at E3.

Tony Hawk

2005-05-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

We were on our way back to our car after a long day at E3 when we saw some people skate boarding in a half pipe. We figured we had some time to kill until traffic cleared up so we went over to check it out. As it turned out, the skating event was being held as part of a promotion for the new Tony Hawk game and Tony Hawk himself came to promote the game and show off a few of his skateboarding skills. It was pretty cool to see Tony Hawk in person not to mention of course being able to watch what he could do.

Sorry about the netting. Apparently, they were more concerned about the public's saftey rather than my photos.

On a final note:
Since Yoshi and I only have one computer between us and it takes me just as long, if not longer, to edit photos as it does for him to write articles, the photos accompying the articles are often posted with the articles after they have been written. In other words, be sure to check through the archives as there have been new photos posted with nearly every artcile now. Also I am editing these photos on Yoshi's laptop which doesnt exactly have a color calibrated monitor or very good contrast so if the photos look weird I apologize and all I can say is you should look at them on Yoshi's laptop.

Now that I am close to being caught up, I may try to post some general photos of the show room floors tomorrow while we are waiting in line to see the XBox or Playstation booths. If you have any requests of things you would like to see drop us a comment and Ill try to get photos of it tomorrow.

Pelican

2005-05-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a gander at the Pelican booth since I am a fan of their work and their booth was conveniently located directly across from the media center. The booth didn't really have much to it let alone much to display, but what they did display was definatly characteristic of the Pelican quality. The primary attraction consisted of wireless controllers they made for both XBox and PSP. Upon using some I was impressed. The controllers were very confortable and the feel of the buttons was better than that of the actual controllers in my opinion. The best part was, however, how lightweight the controllers were. Typically wireless controllers are heavy as a result of the batteries they have to carry. These, however, were no heavier than a regular controller. I dont know how they did it. There were, of corse, a variety of color options including camoflauge.

They also had some interesting looking cases for portables on display.

Arcade classics remembered by older generation of gamers

2005-05-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

In the lower level of E3, there's a booth where you'll find several time machines. Relics of the long past arcade age are being played by those who grew up with them.

Bill Watson, who travelled from Singapore to be at E3, remembers the old days of college and the video game arcade era. Even after walking around the convention all day, he find himself in the kiosk of a Star Wars X-Wing game.

Bill Watson from Singapore came to E3 and found himself playing an old favorite of his, the Star Wars X-Wing game despite all of the new technology and games on display.

"We came back to the one we played 20 years ago," Watson said.

As bright, neon colored vector lines race across the screen, a steering wheel moves the targeting cursor to cut down TIE fighters and attack the Death Star. The graphics look less advanced than the CGI in the movie Tron, but that doesn't stop the excitement and joy of playing this arcade classic.

(Left) From left to right Carl Hughes of Sunnyvile, CA and Miguel Cisneros of St. Louis, MO play some old Atari games at the Classic Gaming Expo Booth

"This was really high tech at the time," Watson said.

While many younger games will remember their first video games to be Half Life or even Doom, Watson's generation remembers the days when the current classic titles were first introduced.

"The first game I remember in college was Pac-Man," said Watson, who went to college in North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Watson worked in an video game arcade during college as a way to get him and his friends to play video games for free.

"We didn't have enough money to play the games a lot," he said. "I would let my friends in after we closed up."

Yoshi models a retro piece of gaming hardware called the Power Glove which was part of the Classic Gaming Expo booth.

Mythic demos Imperator MMORPG

2005-05-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

The video game industry Mythic demonstrated their upcoming science fiction massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) Imperator. Mythic had the first ten levels available for attendees to play on and experience the game for themselves.

Jin Seop So tries his hand at Mythic's new MMORPG titled "Imperator."

Imperator's history comes as a "what if" scenario, where the Roman Empire never ended and has advanced far into the future. The enemy of the Romans is the Mayans, who have unleashed a plague across Earth and abandoned it.

Booth babes at the Mythic booth model the garbe of the characters from Mythic's new MMORPG "Imperator"

While the gameplay is typical MMORPG, the makers of Dark Age of Camelot have created a game that even I wouldn't mind trying out. Typically, I'm not a MMORPG gamer (I find them tedious) but the storyline was very intriguing.

Imperator is slated to be released in summer of 2006, with an open beta during early 2006. It will feature 100 levels of gameplay.

SEGA all swag, lacks substance

2005-05-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Despite waiting in line for over an hour to attend a screening (no cameras or video allowed) at the SEGA booth, there was surprisingly little to be impressed by.

SEGA featured several of their upcoming titles. Some looked as if they could perhaps be promising, but many were underwhelming and had been rehashed before. A game where you hunt down a serial killer. Another fighting game demo. Another Mech Warrior style demo. Another Sonic the Hedgehog clip.

The SEGA theatre.

Purhaps the only thing that made the wait in line worthwhile was the cushioned chairs and the air conditioned room as well as the free swag: A Monkeyball monkey and a navy blue t-shirt that says "GAMER" in SEGA lettering.

Me and my monkey.

Penny Arcade as big as XBOX?

2005-05-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins had a free comic book give away and signing at the Ubisoft booth where fans lined up to see the two creators of the Web comic Penny Arcade.

Attendees waited in line for hours to see the duo, some wearing PA merchandise, others holding posters. Gabe and Tycho gave away 250 exclusive comic books featuring their Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 and Splinter Cell commissioned comics today.

Jerry "Tycho" Holkins (left) and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik (right) sign autographs for fans at the Ubisoft booth. They gave out 250 free comic books featuring their work with the Splinter Cell and Brothers in Arms titles.

Nick Hall, a moderator for the PA forums (user name Dely Apple), stood in line to see the two who are his boss.

"I've been waiting in line for an hour," he said.

Hall is from Fresno, Calif. and has been reading PA since their fifth comic.

The line stretched around the Ubisoft booth and back toward other booths, rivaling the lengths of lines at the XBOX at some points.

NAMCO goes nuts

2005-05-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

You can't actually ignore the NAMCO booth, with its giant screen, loud speaker music pulsing through your ears and the obligatory "booth babes" throwing away goodies to the adoring fans around their stage.

I don't know what games they wanted me to buy, but that didn't stop anyone from trying to grab free swag out of the air.

A booth babe for NAMCO pumps up the crowd.

To attendees next to me both grabbed a t-shirt at the same time. How to decide who gets it? Simple: a game of rock, paper, scissors. Sorry, no best out of three.

THQ shows off Evil Dead: Regeneration

2005-05-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

Based on the popular cult horror comedy movies from director Sam Raimi, THQ showed off kiosks with playable versions of Evil Dead: Regeneration.

The game play is a basic shooter/slasher with some slick moves stolen straight from the films. Over the shoulder shotgun blows, chainsawing of limbs and the necessary decapitations all are featured and can be chained in combos.

Lawrence Doyle claimed to be a big fan of the Army of Darkness movie and consequently enjoyed played the Army of Darkness video game.

In addition, a half-deadite sidekick has been introduced, Sam, that can be kicked around and used to fight enemies.

The voice over of Bruce Campbell is a nice touch (especially after his tips and hints in Spider-man 2). The game is relatively simple, with unlimited ammunition you can just go nuts.

Harlem Globetrotters bigger thrill than booth babes

2005-05-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

At the Superscape booth, Harlem Globetrotters Anthony Blakes and Wun Versher took the attention of both cameras and E3 attendees away from the booth babes, who were only ten feet away.

Harlem Globetrotter Wun Versher.

Superscape, a 3D mobile games publisher, hosted the Globetrotters and booth babes, but the attention swarmed around adoring fans of the famed New York team.

Doing tricks with basketballs, spinning them around their backs in blue jumpsuits, Blakes and Versher proved to be popular despite the lack of an actual basketball hoop or wooden playing floor.

Harlem Globetrotter Anthony Blakes signs a basketball for a fan at the Superscape booth.

So, a lesson learned: booth babes aren't always the answer for getting attention. Sometimes, all you need to have is "game."

Parking at E3

2005-05-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

Parking at E3 is terrible. The minimum you have to pay is $10, and that's for the convention center parking garage. The rest of the lots outside of the center are privately owned, and extremely expensive.

The lot we managed to park in was $20, but we saw lots today that were charging $60! Lesson learned, get up early (even if you saw "Revenge of the Sith" at midnight) and get to the convention center ASAP. Mainly to avoid both traffic and the hassle of driving around for 45 minutes looking for a lot to park in.

We won't be making this mistake tomorrow.

Star Wars: Midnight in L.A.

2005-05-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

The AMC Century City 14 theatre in Los Angeles had several screens showing the latest (and hopefully final) installment of "Star Wars." Getting there proved ... difficult.

After nearly 45 minutes of determining which way was North or East or the right way, we finally arrived at the outdoor shopping center. Mapquest provided less than helpful directions (actually, the wrong directions.

We arrived in the theatre about a hour early, expecting to perhaps see lines and people dressed up. Little did we know they had let the eager Star Wars fans into the theatre almost three hours prior. Oh well.

Jamey also got lost trying to put his camera back in the car and we finally got in the theatre at around 11:30 p.m. to wait another 45 minutes until 12:15.

Before the show started, the theatre manager came in with a microphone and asked us how we were doing and it was a really nice display of understanding toward the fans who came out to make this their night.

But what about the movie itself? We both liked it. It's not the original trilogy, but it's not the terrible train wrecks of the previous prequel movies. Check it out, it's worth the ticket.

Hollywood and Audioslave

2005-05-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

Driving back from E3, we noticed a large gathering around downtown Hollywood around Hollywood Blvd, which was blocked off. Intrigued, we parked our car back at the hotel and walked down to check it out.

As it turned out, it was a free, in the street, Audioslave concert for the Jimmy Kimmel Show. It seemed like every teenager and mid-20 something was in the area for the event. As we approached, a street vendor was selling pizza slices and a girl was selling cigarettes for $3 a pack.

The marquee just outside of the Jimmy Kimmel Show doors.

Audioslave, in my opinion, is a lousy band. Their frontman lacked energy, their lyrics lacked depth and meaning. The concert, while free, was less than spectacular. The only noteworthy part about it was the crowd.

It didn't take long before the crowd got restless and decided to push their way through the makeshift gates that separated the front of the El Captain building. Unable to see, some climbed on top of the photographer/press stage and started pushing the photographers, who were less than amused.

The crowd gets restless and rushes the sectioned off photographer's area. The local police rush in to try and push the crowd back to no avail.

Soon, the police came and pushed the crowd off of the press stage, but more and more people kept climbing back. I waited patiently for it to escalate into violence. Unfortunately, it never got to that point.

Police lie in wait of an incident at the Audio Slave concert with riot helmets ready.

"Smells like weed," a Mexican guy says next to me.

Sure enough, he's right. Three guys had rolled a joint in front of me and began to toke up, not caring that officers were less than 20 feet away. White puffs form and disappear into the cool breeze of the night.

A member of the Audio Slave concert lights a joint a few feet from local police officers who are preoccupied with crowd control.

The ground is sticky and slippery with slime from a mixture of and spilled bottle of Wild Turkey whiskey, a frozen drink and who knows what else. All of it covering Celine Dion's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Then it heats up, a second surge of energy within the crowd as Audioslave covers the Rage Against the Machine song "Testify." Moshing begins, spinning, jumping, pushing. It's maddness for a few seconds and no authority is to be found. But it dies down, eventually, when the song ends. People form back up together instead of standing in conflict.

The producer's tower looms over a dispersing crowd after the Audio Slave concert.

Being all I can be with America's Army

2005-05-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Another event was held outside the convention center with America’s Army. (Heck of a bunch of recruiters, but sorry, I prefer not to join up.) This time the U.S. Army rappelled down the side of a building. The original plan was to drop in from a twin blade Chinook helicopter, but that was cancelled because the helicopter would have to get too close to the ground and would (supposedly) destroy the tents of the vendors below.

U.S. Army soldiers rapell down the side of a building to promote America's Army.

Also outside in a tent was a training simulator where you can man the SAW on top of a Humvee. This demo tent used the frame of Humvee which was equipped with the Military Skills Engagement Trainer (MSET 5000). The guns have recoil feedback for each pull of the trigger provided by compressed air. All the guns are of accurate weight and lasers are used to track the user’s shots.

Me taking out insurgents in the MSET 5000 simulator.

Getting in the turret of the Humvee, it was a heck of a time. The mission was a simulation of a convoy ambush. Insurgents in the urban environment would attack and you’d shoot them down. And not one person could stop the rocket propelled grenade attack.

While the simulator was fun to use, and no doubt assists new soldiers in training, it’s not the real thing. Even with a large screen and feel feedback, you know you can’t die. Then again, maybe that’s the point of these simulators and their use of recruitment tools.

Interview with GamePro Asst. Editor Jane Pinckard

2005-05-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is GamePro Asst. Editor Jane Pinckard's fifth E3 and she's been with GamePro for nearly three months. During her time attending E3, she has noticed changes.

"There are fewer booth babes and more booth dudes," said Pinckard. She noticed the trend when America's Army started bringing in military men to promote their video game.

"America's Army brought all Army guys," she said. "To see them dressed up to promote a game was really new."

Also, wrestling games used male "booth dudes" to promote their games. Pinckard remembers two or three years ago a seven-foot man was dressed in nothing but a Speedo.

The E3 Expo over the past few years has toned down according to Pinckard. The atmosphere of E3 has changed away from "juvenile and silly" to a more mature event.

“It was seen as if it’s a serious, why do we have things that cater to 17 year-old fans, who can’t even get into the convention in the first place,” said Pinckard. Coupling that mentality with an increasing focus on bringing women into the industry, booth babes are no longer as necessary.

“It seems like oversell,” she said. “If I like a game, I’m going to like it.”

Other changes have been an increase in E3 attendance and also companies spending more money on their booths and displays. However, Pinckard says that E3 has become “not really for the fans” and it’s getting elaborate and expensive, plus the addition of long waits in lines.

GamePro Asst. Editor Jane Pinckard.

Within the video game industry, Pinckard has seen two trends emerge. The first is the “sequel and using old licenses,” such as the upcoming “Godfather” and “Legend of Zelda” games. The other trend she sees are “quirky and indie games” that go against the conventional trend of big budget productions.

“They’re making something odd and eccentric and really cool, instead of mushing a different format into [video games] like film.”

In response to video games coming under attack from politicians and family focused advocacy groups, Pinckard says that the industry has not dealt with the concerns too well.

“The gaming industry has been pretty bad at responding to this fear. It’s a real fear, there is something about it,” she said and the video game industry needs to say “OK, this is a problem, so let’s test it out. Something is happening. It’s not this passive thing.”

And her favorite game of all time?

“The Legend of Zelda: Ring of Time for the N64,” Pinckard said. “It’s a simple game in many ways. It had such a feel. The world felt expandable and the character detail was very well done. I felt there was a lot of emotion in that. You could tell they cared.”

Battlefield 2: almost halfway

2005-05-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was a fan of the original Battlefield 1942 video game and now the PS2 and XBOX sequel, Battlefield 2 could shape up to be something worthwhile.

While only in the early stages - 40 percent complete – the game offers some nice updates to the modern battlefield. With current era weapons and vehicles, the gameplay is similar to the original but within a “today” warfare.

Khalid Warren (right) plays Battlefield 2 on an XBOX demonstration station alongside other curious fans on Wednesday May 19 at E3.

The artificial intelligence was, to be frank, stupid. Hopefully, this will improve, but it’s doubtful given the previous A.I. in previous titles.

The biggest advantage could be the multiplayer aspect for online. Also, new features will include health, ammunition and other upgrades as you get more kills.

The game will be released sometime in October/November.

Fatal1ty pwn3s n00bs

2005-05-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

He plays with a focused stare, only his eyes move. His body remains motionless, except for his wrist and fingers. With a headset on, he’s in the zone. And, literally, not a single person can touch him.

Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, the world’s most noted and successful professional video gamer, accepted challengers to fight in win Unreal Tournament 2004 in a 1v1 battle at his E3 booth. Defeating the noted gamer could result in a $2,500 prize, but don’t get your hopes up.

Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel plays Unreal Tournament 2004 against challengers. Anyone who could defeat him would win a $2,500 cash prize.

Sam Archer, from Orange County, played against Fatal1ty for a round and was defeated 11-0, which was the best score of the day thus far.

“I was hoping for one lucky kill,” said Archer. Getting a kill on Fatal1ty wins the gamer a free Creative gamer’s headset.

Archer admitted he was a bit unprepared to go against Fatal1ty.

“I played a lot … a year ago.”

America's Army drops in

2005-05-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Army’s video game, “American’s Army,” promoted their game and also recruitment today with a six-person parachute drop from a helicopter into a lot across the street from the convention center at E3.

The five male, one female Golden Knights dropped in, some with a rough landing, others a gentle hop. Parachuting down, they performed aerial stunts, spiraling through the air.

A U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutes and lands down as part of a promotion of the video game America's Army.

On the ground, several Army recruiters stood around watching, while Los Angeles emergency medical technicians stood by in blue jumps suits.

“That’s for Los Angeles legal purposes,” said a recruiter who did not wish to be identified. “Even though we’ve got combat medics with them.”

The recruiter said he often spent his downtime playing Halo and Half Life, despite how advanced the American’s Army video game was.

“I’d just rather shoot and play,” he said.

U.S. Army soldier Derric Coleman rolls up to pack away his parachute after jumping. Coleman is a member of the U.S. Army Golden Knights.

Sergeant First Class Darrin Grim was one of the Golden Knights and has been parachuting for over 17 years.

“I started as a teenager in high school, with a parachuting club,” said SFC Grim. As an Army dependant, whose father was in the Army.

“I saw the Golden Knights when I was seven years old,” said SFC Grim. “I knew that’s what I wanted to be and I’ve fulfilled a lifelong dream.”

The jump lasted about two and a half minutes and doesn’t get old for SFC Grim who works 280 days a year to promote America’s Army.

“It’s still a thrill every single time.”

E3 2005 media briefing

2005-05-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Despite all attempts to get to E3 early, arriving early ended up being futile, as the entire South Wing was mostly out of power, including the Media Center. The cause of the black out was from city power lines that actually went down, not on the end of the convention center, according to the media briefing speaker, Douglas Lowenstein.

Jamey was out shooting the outer building and couldn’t get into the Media Briefing for photographs, but the briefing was actually decent. Lowenstein, the only speaker, lectured on several trends and the status of the gaming industry.

An interesting fact: the video gaming industry has not surpassed Hollywood in terms of revenue. Hollywood is about a $45 billion industry, where as video games are $28 billion.

Lowenstein said that the video game industry needed to take a cultural shift to accommodate more markets that are virtually untapped. Citing examples that a third of console gamers are females, he urged for more emphasis to change the approach to “male only gaming.” Mentioning “gamer shame” often felt by females for admitting in public they do enjoy gaming, Lowenstein challenged the industry to branch out and welcome the non-traditional gamers.

Further, Lowenstein stated that the industry should avoid the “M rated trap” of developing only Mature rated titles. While acknowledging the success of “Halo” and “Grand Theft Auto,” he made sure to emphasize that games could also be used to convey emotions and invoke feelings of moral dilemmas about choices made in interactive environments.

“We need games with better stories … that keep you up at night whether you made the right and moral choices,” said Lowenstein. “Great entertainment must engage us at some social level that draws the consumer in and keeps them engaged.”

He also encouraged developers to produce titles that were more appealing to the new gamer, not the seasoned veterans.

“We need to make games that are limited, simple and shallow,” said Lowenstein, acknowledging critics who have strayed away from such genres.

Also discussed was the ability for video games to fully penetrate and control the online marketplace. In comparison, the film industry has worked to dominate theatres and DVDs, they have been reluctant to take advantage of online, which Lowenstein sees as the video game industry’s big advantage.

Finally, Lowenstein pointed out that the video game industry must work to “overcome cultural resistance and fear,” where the video game industry has become the new entertainment for societal criticism. He spoke that the video game industry has at times disrespected the concerns of parents, and instead should move to work together with parents who want to control what their children spend their time doing.

“Video games need cultural ‘cred,’” said Lowenstein, to develop a better response with politicians and advocates.

While Lowenstein agreed that it would be easier for the entertainment industry to just allow government to regulate the sales of “mature” rated titles to minors, there’s a larger issue at stake for the video game industry, a constitutional issue and a dangerous “slippery slope” toward censorship.

Interestingly, Lowenstein said that even allowing for legislation to restrict sales of games to minors would be pointless and would not impact sales.

“It’s the principle we’re defending and it’s worth fighting for,” said Lowenstein.

First Day Inside

2005-05-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

When we first walked into the convention center I was awestruck by both its size and architecture. The place is easily the size of a few malls combined and is one of the more elegant buildings I’ve seen in my days. To my delight the place had tons of windows which allowed for an unusual amount of light into the building, meaning that I could get away without using a flash in a few areas.

We walked around aimlessly for quite a while until we stumbled upon the media check in and picked up our badges.

One of the first things that caught my eye was a large replica of the new Bat Car seen below. The model looked awesome and I can imagine it was quite expensive to make. There was a police officer guarding it constantly for good measure. The display was made to draw attention to the new Batman Begins Videogame. It sure got my attention and it made for my first indoor picture.

The extent of the ads created for this event were mind boggling. Ill try and get some shots of these things tomorrow to show you, but take these for example for now: They turned entire stair cases into huge posters to advertise Zelda. I also included a quick photo of some of the building's support structure so you can pretend to be amazed with me.

Next we went to listen to some conferences on educational videogames/technology. The first speaker we heard was amazing. Or at least what he showed us was. That is the FLY pen which Yoshi described for you previously. I took photos of course and you can see them imbedded in Yoshi’s article below.

Well that’s all for now. I’m sure Ill have tons to show you tomorrow after the exhibitions open up and when we actually will have a full day at the event. That is of course if I don’t get kicked out for trying to steal the bat mobile.

Traveling hard to E3

2005-05-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Getting up at 3 a.m. is never my idea. Staying up until 3 a.m. is more my style personally. The idea was to get to the airport with 2-3 hours lead time before our 6:22 a.m. flight as per advice of my grandpa.

"It'll take at least 2-3 hours to get through security," he told me. In this post-Sept. 11 world, I can understand that. And having never flown on an airplane before, I wasn't prepared to miss my first flight.

As we pulled in to the American Airlines terminal at O'Hare Airport, we were a bit confused. Where's the security people? Where do we check in at?

Turns out, we even beat the employees to the terminal. It took them about a half-hour to get set up for the morning. Needless to say, we'd beaten the rush and were second in line to check-in our luggage.

Just as we got our ticket checked at the gate and walked toward security, we actually saw a person in handcuffs being escorted by two officers. That was kind of odd but cool to see.

Then it was "through the StarGate" at security. Just as I thought, my laptop is not explosive material.

We had about two hours to kill having gotten though bag check and security so quickly. After mulling around the terminal, admiring the incredible architecture. I had no idea there could be so many Starbucks and McDonalds in one location, but there was at least half a dozen yuppie coffee stands and 3-4 McDonalds.

I wanted something that resembled a breakfast, but the donuts from Dunkin' Donuts tasted like they were a day old, yet they charged me "fresh" prices.

Taking off for the first time, that was awesome. Just feeling the raw engine power and swallowing like hell to pressurize my ears provided an entertaining experience. Jamey offered me the window seat and it was rather neat to sit next to the port wing.

While being able to see the ground beneath me was great (who knew there were so many baseball fields near O'Hare?), Jamey kept interrupting my beauty sleep for me to take pictures. I think he can have the window next time.

Arriving in L.A., I noticed, again, the huge amount of Starbucks, but the McDonald's were replaced with Burger Kings. Fortunately, our baggage claim went smoothly and we saw lots of people hanging around that were also on their way to E3 (NC Soft, Sony).

Things really went our way and we were able to rent a car without a hitch. I thought I'd be getting a POS Ford Focus or Dodge Neon, but they gave me a PT Cruiser instead at the same rate of an "economy" class car. While I'm not a fan of the PT Cruiser's design, it does have a nice kick to it and drives well.

Too bad L.A. drivers are absolutely insane. Just driving up to Hollywood from the airport I had a few near misses that were strictly the result of people being overly aggressive in their driving.

And now we're in the hotel chilling out. Ah, this is the life.

FLYing with LeapFrog

2005-05-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

At the MIT Educational Arcade Conference, Vice President of LeapFrog, Jim Marggraft introduced a new technology and a new approach to your typical pen and paper.

The idea surrounds "paper based multimedia" which started at LeapFrog in 1999 with their introduction through combining both paper materials and audio. Soon, this branched out into over 300 titles and included all subject matter. The limitation for education was not kept to just children, but also expanded to include adults who were learning another language or had learning disabilities.

But now LeapFrog has taken another step further by introducing the FLY(tm) pen. The pen reads, listens, speaks and writes to make the most common method of communication more practical.

Jim Marggraft holds a the LeapFrog FLY(tm) pen.

Marggraft said that almost everyone uses paper because it's the lowest cost-display technology in the world today and is the easiest way for people to engage in dialogues with themselves and others.

The FLY pen weighs 70 grams, has a speaker, integrated full computer software and can be updated. It's USB interface makes it standardized and it operates on a AAA battery. The pen will retail for $99 in September/October and be available in most retail stores.

What sets this pen apart from others? It has handwriting recognition software that makes it attuned to each and every user. It knows what you write. When combined with special paper (essentially paper with with black dots that the pen reads through its optical sensors) it can perform a variety of tasks.

Users can access an entire PDA's worth of functions, such as a calculator, scheduler and even games. Simply draw a rectangle, write numbers and +,-,/,*,= inside it and just tap the handwritten numbers on the paper as you would a normal calculator. Maybe you'd rather play a game, like a musical keyboard. Draw a keyboard (with sharps and flats too) and tap the keys to play music.

A volunteer tests his knowledge on U.S. geography with the FLY(tm) pen.

And while users can draw their own workstations, pre-printed papers and worksheets are also being developed by LeapFrog for educational purposes. While mainly focusing on the consumer "tween" market, Marggraft introduced the potential for so much more.

By programming in a few pages from an ordinary History textbook, the user could get a summary of the Civil War that was taugh throughout the chapter by simply touching title headings, clicking on graphs and even individual words the user can learn summaries, facts and definitions.

Overall, I was initially prepared to be bored by the topic of "educational software," but the presentation and the FLY pen really impressed me. I sort of wished that there was more "adult" applications initially for the pen that I could use for myself. While I prefer to type things, carrying a laptop will never be as practical as pen and paper and the FLY pen could be something lots of people could end up using if the right applications were available.

Hopefully, we'll see LeapFrog branch out toward the 18-35 demographic soon, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Airplanes and Waiting

2005-05-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

Today we made it all the way from Chicago to E3 in LA. It was a long day to say the least and as such a lot went on. This post may look long, but its mostly photos so don't worry too much. Ill keep them much shorter from here on out.

Around 3 A.M. we left Yoshi's house for O'Hare International Airport and arrived around 4 A.M. We were amoung the first people there and even beat some of the employees there. As such, we made it through all of the security checks within minutes and were then left with tons of time to squander until our flight boarded. Naturally, I started taking photos figuring that I would never again see what O'Hare looks like at 4 A.M.

So above is the airport at 4 A.M. including some planes and a little more artsy window reflection shot showing a wake Yoshi and sleeping planes.

We waited for nearly two hours until we could board our plane and in the process we explored every nook of O'Hare.

Yoshi piciked up a lot of sleep on the plane since we didn't sleep at all last night, but I stupidly decided to take in the landscape. The updrafts on the west side of the mountians made for a very interesting few minutes of flight.

After waiting around LAX for a good hour, at least, we made it to the car rental and picked up our hot rod. Finally, we pushed our way through Hollywood and found the convention. I'll post some photos I took inside later tonight since I haven't really slept since yesterday. But, just so you know, it was awsome.

The eagle has landed

2005-05-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

We're at E3. Car rented. Badge holder picked up. Got a bit lost in Hollywood.

They are still constructing displays and decorating rooms, nothing like the last minute rush.

The media room is nice. Free Wi-fi, computers and power strips. Everything has been relatively painless.

Pictures of the flight later tonight. Right now it's off to an MIT Education Arcade Conference, 411 West Hall.

Under 21 car rentals at LAX

2005-05-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

Let me just say it's damned near impossible to rent a car anywhere in the United States if you're under the age of 21. And if you're under the age of 25, you can also expect to pay extra because you're still "not responsible enough" as a driver (even though you could have been driving for the past decade since you were 15 years old).

Jamey was supposed to get the car rental, being 21, but a "situation" came up where he "lost" his credit card. This lack of plastic makes things increasingly difficult. After calling half a dozen car rental places, Google once again pulled through.

ACE Car Rental rents to "underaged" drivers from ages 18-20, which means I (a 20 year old) can rent from them. Well ... maybe.

Upon closer inspection, I'm charged an additional $20 a day on top of the regular rate (looks like I'm going Economy class this time) and you have to be able to show proof of insurance. After several calls to my parent's insurance agent and to the rental agency, my records were faxed over.

This, however, was still not the end of my problems. I was told they had all the records, but the manager still needed to approve my rental. Huh? They were supposed to call me back. I've yet to get a call, but I've called them three times. Still, it apprears nothing is set in stone.

The original plan, months ago, was for me an Jamey to drive ourselves out to L.A. This would have worked, had our parents allowed up to borrow a car. Oh well, I guess they don't trust my ever reliable '94 Corolla to make the trip across the country.

We'll see tomorrow if we have a car. Hopefully, I'll have brought enough papers to identify who I am so we won't have any problems.

So, be warned fellow E3 thrill seekers. Arrange your trips well in advance and beware the perils of renting a car.

Chuck Palahniuk: just out of range

2005-05-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors. His latest book, which just came out this month, "Haunted," is a great read for those who are fans of post-modern and minimalist fiction.

He'll be touring the California area during E3, but sadly will not be in L.A. until the 23rd, which will be two days after I travel home. While I'd love to take a trip to Berkeley, that's just out of my way (about five and a half hours drive).

Common Chuck, visit the Windy City!

E3 survival guide

2005-05-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

Check out this helpful E3 survival guide.

That's crazy, $6 for a hamburger!

E3 Checklist

2005-05-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

Less than 9 hours until we leave for the airport (6 a.m. flight, yikes!) and the packing has begun. Here's a quick list of items I'm carrying with me:

-Averatec laptop
-Samsonite laptop bag
-2 Pilot G2 blue ink pens
-1 Bic mechanical penci
-2 reporter's notebooks
-1 9.5" x 6.5" notebook
-Map of Los Angeles
-MapQuest directions around L.A.
-Confirmation papers/e-mails
-Cinnamon Altoids tin
-Olympus Pearlcorder J3000
-Chuck Palahniuk's "Haunted"
-E3 credentials
-Daily Illini press pass
-SanDisk CompactFlash reader
-Cell phone
-EarPlanes ear plugs
-Sudafed tablets
-Box of Chicago Frango Mints
-Chapstik

Now, I just know I'm going to forget something...

E3 Blog 2005: Our mission

2005-05-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our E3 Blog 2005. We are Jamey Fenske (photographer) and Kiyoshi Martinez (writer), two college students who obtained press passes from our college newspaper, The Daily Illini, to attend E3. While this blog is not officially affiliated with The Daily Illini, we hope to provide a "live blog" account of the event for those who are not able to attend the world's largest video gaming expo.

This is our first time going to E3 and we know virtually nothing outside of people who've stated "E3 is freakin' awesome!" and other similar statements. So, we'll be doing what any sensible pair of journalists would do at such an event: have fun and document it for the masses.

If you're at E3 and want to meet up, by all means, e-mail us and we'll do something fun. (Hint: we like parties.)

Look forward to more updates throughout the entire convention and posts as often as we can get to the media center to type/upload them.