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E3 exposes video game industry's sequel problem

LOS ANGELES--If there's one story we seem to write at least every other year at E3, its how the gaming industry is overly reliant on sequels and spin-offs, rarely creating anything truly new. This year, the issue seems bigger than ever, with seemingly few original ideas in a sea of IIs, IIIs, and more.

Case in point: The games big publishers are depending on to carry them through the all-important holiday shopping season are for the most part all retreads of existing games. They include Gears of War 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Fallout: New Vegas, Halo Reach, Dead Space 2, Crysis 2, Civilization V, and new installments in the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises (a separate-but-related issue is the "rebooting" of vintage games, such as Kid Icarus or GoldenEye).

Its overly simplistic to blame a conceptual lack of originality for the deficit of new ideas, stories, and characters. Video games generally don't function under the auteur theory that many of the best films do, crafted by a singular creative vision (with a few high-profile exceptions); instead they more often are the ultimate example of art by committee. Game developers essentially create "work for hire" on behalf of publishers, which in turn resemble nothing so much as the classic 1940's Hollywood studio system, where studio bosses pulled the strings and set the agenda. … Read more

preGAME 18: E3 2010 press conference wrap-up

This week on preGAME we take an in-depth look at all three major E3 2010 press conferences. If you didn't get to catch those shows live, make sure to tune in here as we run through each conference, picking apart every announcement, game, and hardware debut.

We've got dozens of videos to show, displaying the latest and greatest from the world of gaming, including Nintendo 3DS hands-on, Microsoft Kinect, and PlayStation Move gameplay. Also, we'll be checking out game trailers for blockbuster titles like Portal 2, Twisted Metal, Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Gears of War 3.

So … Read more

Sony shows off Move, PlayStation Plus at E3 (video roundup)

Here's a collection of short video highlights from Sony's press briefing at the E3 gaming conference Tuesday.

Sony 3D and Move Sony shows off some big-name game titles that are now in 3D, plus games and pricing for the new Move controller. Also: scary clowns drop in for a preview of Twisted Metal.

Gran Turismo 5 in 3D Sony teases the November release of the Gran Turismo 5 in 3D for the PS3.

Click here for our complete coverage from E3 2010.

Sights and scenes from E3 2010

LOS ANGELES--The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is a very visually oriented experience, with game companies spending heavily to create compelling show floor experiences to lure in attendees. You'll typically find plenty of costumed characters, giant physical structures that can hardy be called booths, and more flatscreen TVs per square inch than at your average Costco.

We captured some of the most notable sights from the show floor, as well as from the Sony and Nintendo press conferences. Highlights include some caged zombies from Capcom's Dead Rising, Nintendo godfather Shigeru Miyamoto demoing his latest Zelda game, and the most … Read more

E3 2010--deja vu all over again

LOS ANGELES--Can someone please tell me why we've spent the last two days rehashing the highlights of E3 2009?

If you were here for last year's video game mega-convention, you will recall that the big news from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo was the true dawn of the motion control wars. Microsoft unveiled Project Natal, Sony showed off its prototype system, and Nintendo pulled back the wraps on some new improvements to the Wii Motion Plus.

All told, these innovations were going to take us to the next level of video game play, where it's all about gesture-based control and traditional button-based controllers became a thing of the past.

Flash forward to this week, though, and the highlights of the press conferences, at least Sony's and Microsoft's, seem someone familiar. Let's recap. At Microsoft's event on Monday, the biggest news was the formal unveiling of Kinect. This, of course, used to be known as Project Natal.

Microsoft announced that the device would be available November 4 and was able for the first time to name some actual games that will be Kinect-enabled. There will be 15 launch titles, including Ubisoft's Michael Jackson game, as well as six that were featured during the press event, Dance Central, a dancing game from Rock Band developer Harmonix; Kinect Sports, a game that offers soccer, bowling, track, and more; Kinect Joy Ride, a racing game; Kinect Adventures, a game for navigating down rivers and railroad tracks while trying to hit targets; Your Shape, an exercise game; and Kinectimals. However, the demo was very much like the one from a year earlier. … Read more

The case of the missing Xbox 360 Blu-ray player

When Microsoft unveiled its new Xbox 360 at E3 on Monday, not many people were expecting the company to include a Blu-ray player, and we didn't get it. However, when you look at the specs and $299 pricing for both consoles, the most obvious omission--and the thing that seems to separate the two systems--is that Blu-ray player.

Yes, you can nitpick about things like the PS3's free online play vs. the Xbox 360's $50 yearly fee for Xbox Live Gold (360 fans like to say you get what you pay for) and which industrial design is superior (… Read more

Sony's E3 event focuses on 3D gaming

LOS ANGELES--And then it was Sony's turn.

After Microsoft grabbed the spotlight with its Monday morning press conference, and Nintendo was the star earlier today, Sony got everyone's attention Tuesday afternoon with its own set of announcements.

Topping the bill for Sony and its PlayStation group was its plans to enable 3D gaming right away. Kaz Hirai, the president of Sony's Networked Products and Services group, touted the company's "end-to-end" 3D offerings, from its Bravia 3D TVs to its new roster of 3D-enabled games for the PlayStation 3.

Immediately, Hirai said, games like Super Stardust, Pain and Wipeout will be available in 3D from the PlayStation Store, and more than 20 additional titles will be added to the roster by the end of 2010. And even more titles will be coming in 3D next year, including Killzone 3, which was given a big, loud demo at the press conference. As well, PS3 users--all of whom will be able to play in 3D--can look forward to titles like Mortal Kombat, Tron: Evolution, NBA 2K11, Motorzone Apocalypse and Gran Turismo 5.

After 3D gaming, the second major piece of the puzzle for Sony Tuesday was PlayStation Move, its motion-controller system, which it first unveiled at E3 a year ago and talked about in more detail in March at the Game Developers Conference. But on Tuesday, Sony was able to talk in much more detail about specific games that will be Move-enabled. … Read more

Sony's E3 games: A few surprises

A lot of the time was spent at Sony's E3 2010 press conference talking about 3D gaming and PlayStation Move, but the company also made room for a few surprises. We learned about a few titles we expected to see at the big show, but we were also a bit disappointed that Sony didn't use the opportunity to showcase titles teased last year, most notably The Last Guardian.

Among the games on display was a mix of multiplatform and exclusive titles, though mostly everything had some sort of PS3-only element to boast. Here's a rundown of what we saw:

Killzone 3: Sony led with a 3D demo of Killzone 3, showing off impressive graphics and scenes of intense action and carnage. Plenty of gameplay scenarios and environments were on display, and we really enjoyed the addition of a jet pack. Killzone 3 will ship in February 2011.

Gran Turismo 5: No gameplay was shown for Gran Tursimo 5, but Sony announced the title will be available in 3D when it ships on November 2.

Portal 2: A surprise here,… Read more

Sony to launch PlayStation Plus subscription service later this month

After years of offering a totally free online experience, Sony has announced an add-on subscription service to the PlayStation Network called PlayStation Plus.

All the current features of a standard PlayStation Network membership will continue uninterrupted; PlayStation Plus will work as a premium service, allowing PS3 owners early access to certain game demos, discounts, digital content, automatic updates, and other perks like the PlayStation lifestyle series Qore.

PlayStation Plus will cost $50 a year or $18 for three months. All content from PlayStation Plus is only usable during the length of the subscription, so users won't have access to … Read more

OnLive service to launch with 23 titles

LOS ANGELES--Streaming video game service OnLive, which will launch June 17 on Tuesday announced its initial lineup of 23 games here at E3.

Among those titles--from publishers including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two, THQ, and Square Enix--but not Activision, notably--are hit games like Assassin's Creed, NBA 2K10, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, and others.

The initial list of publisher partners also includes Sega, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and 2K Sports.

OnLive promises its users console-like speeds over broadband, as long as they have a fast enough Internet connection and are within a limited distance from a hub. The … Read more