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E3 and the video game bubble

Even though it's supposedly an industry-only trade show, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is an event of epic proportions for video game aficionados, as evidenced by the legions of fans who follow the show's daily announcements online, through blogs, news outlets, and (a more recent development) video feeds.

But despite its decade-plus place in the public consciousness (I've been attending since 1999), the E3 show has been to the brink of extinction more than once, and while it has pulled off a remarkable recovery over the past couple of years, there's still a chance history may repeat itself.

Related links • Rockstar Games debuts 'Pass' with L.A. Noire DLC • Nintendo DS Lite drops to $99 • E3 2011: Complete coverage

In brief, what happened was the trade show equivalent of a boom and bust cycle. Throughout the 2000s, game companies competed to outdo each other, with excessive budgets and outlandish displays, creating literal mini cities inside the Los Angeles Convention Center that easily trumped anything seen at the larger Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in Las Vegas every January.

The trend peaked in 2006, after which the participants collectively realized that entirely too much money was being spent on the show, which had long since stopped being a place for retail buyers to make deals with publishers, and had become essentially a weeklong press conference. Simply put, the week's worth of media hits was judged to be simply not worth the investment.

At the time, the Entertainment Software Association, a trade organization that runs the event, agreed to retrench, scaling down the 2007 version into what then-Entertainment Software Association President Douglas Lowenstein called a "more personal, efficient, and focused" show. E3 went from 60,000 attendees the previous year to about 4,000, and from 400 exhibiting companies to fewer than 40. E3 2008 was a similarly small affair, returning to the Los Angeles Convention Center, but keeping the small, low-cost format.… Read more

preGame 53: Call of Duty Elite; E3 2011 preview

On today's episode of preGame we'll be previewing the biggest gaming event of the year, E3! Join us along with special guest Scott Stein as we dive deep into E3 2011 predictions, anticipated games, and more previews than you can handle; from the Wii 2 to the NGP, and everything in between.

We'll also have an in-depth conversation about today's announcement from Activision regarding Call of Duty Elite. This brand-new premium service will enhance the online multiplayer experience by leaps and bounds. But is it worth a premium price?

All this and much more on this … Read more

Rockstar Games debuts 'Pass' with L.A. Noire DLC

In keeping with today's trend of gaming pay services, Rockstar Games has announced L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass, a one-time DLC preorder that will lock in all the game's current and upcoming DLC.

L.A. Noire is a massive 17-hour or more undertaking, but players will now have the option to take on additional cases, challenges, and unlock new suits today and throughout the summer.

Until June 14, the L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass will be discounted ($10) on both the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. Afterwards, items return to their normal individual prices.

Click through for a breakdown of each DLC item's release date and price.… Read more

Hands-on with the iCade, a vintage arcade cabinet for your iPad

It started life as an April Fool's prank on ThinkGeek.com, but overwhelming consumer interest prodded the company to bring the iCade to life (much like the Tauntaun sleeping bag, another ThinkGeek mockup that became a real product). For the uninitiated, the iCade is a pint-size arcade cabinet/stand for Apple's iPad. Slide an iPad in, and it acts as a wireless Bluetooth controller for the Atari iPad app, which offers 100 classic arcade and home console games for $15 (or individual game packs for 99 cents).

Our iCade just arrived this morning, so we quickly assembled it … Read more

Most-anticipated games from E3 2010

E3 is finished, wacky motion controllers and all, but the summer is just starting. In a few months, the holiday season will begin--and with it, companies will release an avalanche of games. While E3 presents a heck of a lot of glitz, promises, and hype, a handful of games always manage to emerge that excite us and give us hope for the gaming year ahead.

Could we have done with a lot fewer sequels? Most definitely. Do we wish Microsoft and Sony hadn't spent so much time hawking motion technology at the show? Undoubtedly. But we still found ourselves … Read more

Analyst: Nintendo 'stole the show' at E3

Each year, after E3 comes to a close and financial analysts have a chance to sift through all the news from the gaming industry show, those analysts share their opinions on which companies did well and which left something to be desired. This year, a few analysts, speaking to Gamasutra in an interview, contend that it was Nintendo that did the best job of building hype for its products.

"Nintendo 3DS stole the show," Panoptic Management Consultants analyst Adam H. Kraus told Gamasutra.

His sentiments were echoed by another Panoptic analyst, Asif A. Khan, who told the gaming … Read more

preGAME 19: Halo: Reach

This week on preGAME we're getting an exclusive First Look at Halo: Reach, almost two months before the game hits stores! In the studio today is Bungie Community Director Brian Jarrard, who will show us some of the single-player campaign as well as the revamped four-player co-op mode Firefight.

But first, we'll take a few moments to finally put E3 2010 to rest and go over a few things we thought were missing from the show. We'll also chat about the new Xbox 360 slim and figure out why the new console can't red-ring even if it wanted to. … Read more

E3 predictions scorecard: How'd we do?

That's a wrap, folks--the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo is in the books.

The show produced a decent amount of hardware- and accessory-centric news--though you could be forgiven for thinking it was a rehash of the previous year's show, when nearly everything was first shown off (albeit under different code names).

Just before the show started, CNET editors Dan Ackerman, Jeff Bakalar, and Scott Stein took a stab at predicting the key announcements. How'd they do? Let's take a look:

"Sure bet, take it to the bank!" This category was aptly named--the boys nearly had a sweep here.

Microsoft's Project Natal named/priced/bundled: We got the new name ( Kinect), the release date (Novmeber 4), and plenty of demos and details. But still no confirmation on the price (though it's looking more and more like $149). Score this one a half point. PlayStation Move price, date, launch titles announced: Sony delivered full pricing, bundling, and launch date details, along with a full slate of launch titles. Full point. Rock Band 3 focuses on its new "keyboard" instrument: Behold the keytar. Full point. Additional premium video partners for Xbox Live/PSN: Xbox Live Gold subscribers will get full access to ESPN3's online content--if they're using a supported ISP. However, Sony's PlayStation Plus paid subscription service lacked the same sort of "killer app" video content--so I'm scoring this as a half point. PS3 3D firmware confirmed/dated, with Killzone 3D demo: A pre-E3 firmware update and some newly 3D-ified games meant that the PS3 was firmly in the third dimension by the time E3 started. Sony sealed the deal with an impressive 3D Killzone 3 demo. Full point. New "3D" version of the Nintendo DS: Nintendo's glasses-free 3DS was, indeed, one of the show's big highlights. Full point.

Score: 5/6… Read more

How Ubisoft scored the Michael Jackson dancing game

LOS ANGELES--When it comes to making a video game based on the life and performances of Michael Jackson, you can bet that the project didn't just happen by accident.

After all, the rights to the music and the likeness of the king of pop are still some of the most valuable in show business. So it was no small feat for game publisher Ubisoft to pull together not just a game based on and named after Jackson, but to be able to guarantee that the game--scheduled for a holiday 2010 release--will feature, at a minimum, mega-hits "Billie Jean" and "Beat it."

Ubisoft announced the forthcoming game at the mammoth E3 convention here on Monday, just shy of a year since the superstar died last summer. The company said that the game will have Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo Wii and DS versions, and will be compatible with both Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's Move motion control systems. It's not known if it will be one of the 15 launch titles that will be available for Kinect when that system goes on sale on November 4.

The game will "provide an interactive experience that enables players to step into the shoes of Michael Jackson himself and re-live his most iconic performances through their own singing and dancing," Ubisoft said in a release announcing the upcoming title. It "will include the most famous tracks from Michael Jackson's extensive catalog...as well as an array of his awe-inspiring dance moves for players to learn and emulate within the game." … Read more

Costumes, creatures, and more from the E3 2010 show floor

Nothing makes an E3 show stand out like the collection of costumed characters, full-size monster sculptures, and movielike props that fill the halls, booths, and even the lobbies of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

It's closer at times to a comic book convention than an industry-only trade show, and a pretty good barometer of how the companies involved feel about the overall health of the expo (a frequent topic on conversation over the past few years).

If this last look at E3 2010 has you nostalgic for some of my hands-on hardware testing, trend-spotting, and photo galleries from earlier this week, click past the break for a handy roundup of all my E3 coverage from this year.

… Read more