e3

E3 2011: Where are the social games?

For a trade show all about the latest and greatest in interactive entertainment, it's somewhat shocking that many of the most popular video games being played right now are either underrepresented, or not represented at all. We are, of course, speaking about the social and casual games that have audiences larger than almost any traditional console game, and what's more, have managed to tap into the recurring revenue stream of microtransactions that seems to elude so many others.

This is no unintentional oversight. Many attendees of E3, the Game Developers Conference, and other industry events say that games such as Farmville and Cityville are not "real games," and that even mentioning them in the same breath as Halo or Gears of War would be to cheapen the entire medium.

At E3, these kinds of games are woefully underrepresented, despite having in many cases tens of millions of players (MAU, or monthly active users, is the standard metric for social games--the most popular game of this genre, Zynga's CityVille, currently has 90 million monthly active users). If you looks around artfully, however, you can still find a few examples. EA's social/casual subsidiary PlayFish, is here, and has scored with games such as Pet Society and Madden NFL Superstars. At E3, a portion of EA's giant floor space was devoted to The Sims Social, a Facebook version of the popular suburban life simulation game. … Read more

E3 after hours: Gadgets you won't see on expo floor

LOS ANGELES--At the ShowStoppers expo last night, some E3 presenters got the chance to show off their wares in a more peaceful, intimate environment than the bustling show floor. Reporters were invited to the LA Icon Ultra Lounge after the opening day of the expo wrapped for a gathering of game hardware and peripherals designers offering new products this summer.

About 100 reporters enjoyed food and drink while sampling new gadgets and high-end tech offerings from Alternativa, G5 Entertainment, Gioteck, Jakks Pacific, Mad Catz, Plantronics, Plextor, PNY Technologies, Reverb, Rude Gameware/Cyber Snipa, Samsung Consumer Memory and Storage and Samsung Mobile.

Some of the more popular items on display included the new, mobile-game-friendly Samsung Galaxy Tab and Samsung's 470 SSD internal drive to power more advanced PC gaming systems. Also, the sexy line of Gioteck peripherals offered gamers headsets and control pads with sleek stylings and swappable color and design schemes.

See images of other products from the under-the-radar event in the gallery above.… Read more

E3 2011: The Sims Social to offer Facebook flirting

Electronic Arts is hoping to convince folks to covet thy neighbor's wife. Or that co-worker you've always lunched with. Or your college sweetheart.

Virtually, of course.

At E3, a show that caters to hardcore gamers who stand in long lines to get the first chance to play soon-to-be-released action titles, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Assassins Creed: Revelations, EA's new title in The Sims franchise has gone a bit below the radar. But The Sims Social, which will launch this summer on Facebook in five languages, would seem to have all the prurient … Read more

Can touch, motion controls win over console gamers?

LOS ANGELES--People who prefer to play Wii Tennis and those drooling over the upcoming Madden 12 have traditionally been treated as two distinct audiences. But at E3 2011, hardware makers and game publishers alike seem to be trying to blend the two groups.

Microsoft spent a lot of its stage time on Monday talking about incorporating its motion control accessory Kinect into not only kid-oriented Disneyland Adventures, but its biggest titles this year and next, like Fable: The Journey, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, and Star Wars.

Sony is similarly pushing game makers toward PlayStation Move, as well as toward making use of not only traditional control sticks and buttons with its next-generation portable PlayStation Vita, but a touch screen as well.

At its press event Monday evening, Sony's senior vice president of Worldwide Studios North America, Scott Rohde, described the concept of using Vita's regular controllers and touch screen and the ability to switch back and forth between them in the same game, on titles like Uncharted Golden Abyss, ModNation Racer, and Little Big Planet as "playing however you want."

There's a distinct challenge in persuading those who've grown up playing shooter games… Read more

E3 2011: BioShock Infinite impressions

It takes a lot to excite three seasoned gaming writers independently at a single show, and it looks like Bioshock Infinite has pulled the trifecta. Big, bold, and highly hyped, Irrational and 2K Games' prequel to the Bioshock universe is undoubtedly one of the most exciting games at all of E3 2011. Here's why.

Scott: I'm rarely excited about E3 games. I hate genre repetition. I don't like the endless flow of shooters and racers and fighters, the summer-movie-cliche money-shot explosions, the tacky dialogue.

However, once in a long while, a game comes along that has a big imagination. So big that it seems to challenge the perceiver, and bend the mind. Consider my mind bent, because BioShock Infinite seems to get ever more bizarre, epic, and richly detailed every time I see it.

The E3 closed-door demo of the game is hard to describe. We couldn't play the game--we only watched a 20-minute controlled playthrough--but what we saw had the scope, drama, and surprise to rival most of Hollywood's output. Early 20th century floating isolationist city in an alternate steampunk universe. Psychic powers, mechanical robot birds, gangs of political deviants, roller-coaster rail systems--yes, check. There are also endless clever and creepy historical details akin to what filled the original BioShock, such as a decaying gift shop filled with presidential forefather marionettes, dangling their decaying limbs from the ceiling.… Read more

E3 2011: Nintendo Wii U First Take

LOS ANGELES--Though it won't be available in stores until at least 2012, Nintendo unveiled, and gave a name to, the hardware successor to the Wii, known at this point as Wii U.

True to many rumors and predictions, Nintendo unveiled at this year's E3 a new console with an attention-getting tabletlike controller, complete with its own 6.2-inch touch screen. This multifunctional tablet will form the centerpiece of what the Wii U will be about.

The tablet controller With a glossy … Read more

E3 2011: Skyrim and open game worlds are the last great frontier

LOS ANGELES--One of the most common questions you hear from nongamers as they watch someone playing a game is some variation on, "Hey, can you go over there?" Usually, that refers to being able to open a door in a building, get in a car on the street, or walk down a winding mountain path going off into infinity. For gamers familiar with the visual language of interactive entertainment, it's a silly question, there are simply places you're meant to go, and places you're not. For a casual observer not as familiar with the limitations of virtual game worlds, it seems like a matter of common sense; if there's a shop in the middle of the street, why can't I open the door and walk in? If there's a car next to me, why can't I drive away in it?

For example, the recent game L.A. Noire addresses the issue with a bit of visual shorthand that makes perfect sense to gamers, but is honestly ridiculous if you stop to think about it: only doors with golden doorknobs can be opened. Everything else is shut tight, essentially facades painted on wooden fronts, like a video game version of a Potemkin village.

Few games dare to deal with the demands of creating a truly open sandbox-style world, which surprises me in a way, as the few times it has been done, it has been done to great success and critical acclaim. The best example is Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series, the latest of which, Skyrim, is on display at E3 this week. Like its predecessors, Oblivion (2005) and Morrowind (2002), Skyrim takes on the considerable challenge of letting players inhabit a virtual world so complete that nearly every door can be opened and every computer-controlled character spoken with--a level of interaction many times greater than sandbox-lite games such as Grand Theft Auto (or the previously mentioned L.A. Noire). Perhaps the closest cousin is online games such as Second Life, where the basic rules and building blocks are laid out, and it's up to participants to decide how to use them. … Read more

The 404 835: Where we're watching digital paint dry (podcast)

After an extended vacation, The 404 is back sans one Jeff Bakalar who's reportedly having a miserable time in Hollywood, Calif., for the E3 gaming expo. We've got Joey Kaminski filling in for him today, and there's so much to talk about! From Monday's Apple iCloud, iOS 5, and OS X Lion to the Sony PlayStation Vita and Nintendo's Wii U, The 404 has all of this week's tech bases covered.

The 404 Digest for Episode 835

Apple unveils iCloud, shows off features of Lion, iOS 5 How to stay synced with iCloud Sony PlayStation Vita hands-on at E3 E3 2011: Hands-on with Wii U tablet and games iOS 5 beta jailbroken in less than 24 hours

Episode 835 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

E3 2011: Will Nintendo 3DS' new games be enough?

LOS ANGELES--While Nintendo created a splash with the Wii U, its 3DS handheld remains in an awkward state of affairs after being upstaged by the PlayStation Vita debut the day before.

The 3DS has only been on store shelves in the U.S. since March, but the system faces an uphill challenge against a competitor in the Vita that has the same price and arguably more-robust technical specs, along with an impressive assortment of games.

Good games are what the 3DS particularly lacks a strong supply of, but Nintendo's press conference focused largely on firing off big-ticket franchise names … Read more

E3 2011: John Carmack on Rage, PC graphics, iOS games, and OnLive

LOS ANGELES--John Carmack is known to PC gamers as the lead programmer behind classics such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. His latest project is Rage, a post-apocalyptic action game coming to PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 later this year. An iOS prequel, called Rage HD, was released last year, redefining what the iPad and iPhone were graphically capable of.

I spoke to Carmack during E3, and here's what he had to say about some of the most pressing current issues for game makers, including the state of PC hardware, the growth of mobile, casual, and social games, and … Read more