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Blockbuster sequels, slick technology and duels
between the big three console makers are expected in Los Angeles
next week as video game industry players reveal their newest
creations.
The annual Electronic
Entertainment Expo, referred to as E3, is an invitation-only event
at which makers of videog ame hardware and software mingle, make
deals and vie to trump each other's innovations.
Nintendo will be defending Wii's
crown as the world's most popular video game console and has
remained secretive about what it will unveil when E3 officially gets
under way Tuesday.
Microsoft is expected to announce
a 50 dollar cut in the price of its Xbox 360 consoles as part of an
ongoing battle with Sony's PlayStation 3 for second place in the
market.
Sony is likely to stand firm on
pricing but try to wow gamers with new titles and improved features
such as online movie downloads and game play.
"One of the big trends is
each platform trying to establish itself," said Jeremy Dunham,
editorial manager of videogame news website IGN.com.
"Wii is top in terms of
sales. Microsoft is Number One with hardcore gamers and Sony is
trying to prove it has good games."
Dunham expects a close battle
between Xbox 360 and PlayStation games at E3.
Eagerly-awaited new installments
to "Gears of War," "Resident Evil," "Street
Fighter," "Call of Duty," "Resistance: Fall of
Man," and "Rock Band" will be previewed.
"I think you are going to
see a lot of polished titles," said Joseph Olin, president of
the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
"You will see refinement on
anything considered a breakthrough, like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
Music has been popular with teens since before we were teens. There
are legs there."
Enticing new titles include
"Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" from the LucasArts game
studio of filmmaker George Lucas and "Prince of Persia" by
French game-making star Ubisoft.
World leading game firm
Electronic Arts will premier a host of offerings, including an
innovative "Spore" computer game and "Mirror's
Edge," an action title in which couriers evade a totalitarian
regime in a dystopian future.
Game makers will continue to veer
from traditional push-button control in a trend start by
motion-sensing controllers made popular by Wii.
Ubisoft, which has worked closely
with Nintendo on Wii games from the console's inception, will be
showing off an entirely voice-commanded computer battle game.
Ubisoft's "End War"
based on the military espionage novels of author Tom Clancy is
"creating a lot of buzz," Dunham said.
"Barking orders at you TV
really has something powerful about it," Ubisoft North America
president Laurent Detoc told AFP while providing a chance to try the
new game.
"Accessibility has driven
the market. With 'End War' you just talk to the game. It is so
universal, anyone could use it."
Ubisoft will be among game makers
courting a growing gaming demographic: young girls.
It is estimated that about half
of the people younger than 15 years old that own Nintendo DS
handheld game devices are girls.
"It is an underserved
market," Dutoc said of young girl players. "We think we
are onto something."
New games at E3 will take
advantage of beefed-up processing power resulting from advances in
computer chips.
As opposed to games in which
characters follow pre-assigned paths, developers are creating
"open world" games such as "Far Cry" that let
characters roam.
"The industry as a whole is
trying to find new and unique ways to tell a story," Dunham
said.
"E3 has always been about
surprises. I definitely think there will be some."
The US video game market is
expected to be in the range of 14 to 17 billion dollars this year,
with global sales of game software and hardware tallying tripling
that.
"The only numbers that rival
that are the number of times I've been fragged playing 'Call of Duty
4'," Olin joked.
--AFP
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