The latest gizmos and gadgets were unveiled recently at E3 — what should gamers look forward to in 2008?

The Electronic Entertainment Exposition, or E3, was held recently July 10 to 13 in Los Angeles. and, while we, as East Coast video game fans, might have been far from the action of this year’s event, I’ve scoured the Internet to bring our readers a few highlights of this year’s show.
Information from this year’s E3 event is available all over the Internet at sites like IGN.com, Gamespot.com or even E3’s own Web site at E3expo.com. Also, TV network G4 covered the entire exposition during the week of July 10 through 13 and through all of the information released, I have to say it looks like gamers will have a wealth of games to play before the holidays this year.
E3 used to be a spectacle of lights, games, music and girls — everything that will attract the young male crowd that is so heavily involved in video games. But this year, after the circus that was E3 in 2006, the show’s organizers felt the games were getting swept away in all the spectacle. This year, there were no stage shows to promote games, there were no models (known as “booth babes”) hired to promote games at the show and there were many fewer attendees invited to visit E3 this year.
This all lead to a new exhibition where the games were the stars of the show, and now that the week-long event has wrapped up, here’s a few of the biggest announcements and upcoming games that were shown. I broke everything down by system.
Microsoft Xbox 360
Last year, Microsoft was the only company to have a next generation console on the market during E3. So, how did Bill Gates’ company do this year, now that the other big companies (Sony and Nintendo) also have next-generation systems on the market? Well, I believe they did pretty well.
The company had some big exclusive titles to show off, and I liked that it opened the press conference, shown live on G4, with a small band of “Halo” fans who played an impressive version of the “Halo” theme song.
“Halo 3,” of course, is Microsoft’s biggest game this year. It is due out in the fall and Microsoft showed some footage of the new game at E3. A big focus of Microsoft’s efforts this year, (that I didn’t see from the two other big companies,) was a focus on games that will be available before the end of the year, instead of showing games that players will not be able to get their hands on until 2008. That was an interesting idea.
The Xbox 360 does have some wonderful titles on the way. I personally am looking forward to “Bioshock” by 2k Games (an interesting looking underwater horror/shooter game), “Fable 2” by Blue Box Entertainment (the first one is one of my favorite all-time games), and the awe-inspiring “Mass Effect” by Bioware.
Sony Playstation 3
Sony was relatively quiet at this year’s E3. Prior to the event, Sony announced a price cut on its Playstation 3 (PS3). The move slashed the price of the PS3 with a 60 gigabyte hard drive by $100. However, this didn’t seem to surprise many video game analysts, as the PS3 is seen as overpriced, and the PS3 with a 60 gigabyte hard drive is being discontinued by Sony in favor of a PS3 with an 80 gigabyte hard drive. So, is this a true price cut or an attempt to clear the shelves of the PS3 with the smaller hard drive?
No matter — Sony showed some impressive titles at E3. The action/fighting game “Heavenly Sword” looks incredible, and “Killzone 2” is a follow up to an impressive Playstation 2 game from a number of years ago. But, as a gamer who doesn’t want to pay for a PS3 because it costs too much and, so far, has few good games, I really didn’t see anything in the E3 coverage that would make me want to buy a PS3.
Nintendo Wii
The last company at the show with a next-generation system seemed to show off more than anyone else this year.
Nintendo showed up at E3 with more than just games to show this year — it brought impressive hardware too. The company showed off a “zapper” that connects to the Nintendo Wii controller and makes it work as a gun. This could be used in many upcoming games, and if it’s handled right, it could bring some hardcore games to the system that some players seem to believe is too “casual.”
Also, Nintendo brought a new game and accessory to the table, or should I say to the floor, with the announcement of “Wii Fit” and the “Fit Mat.” The Wii has been known to help players lose weight, as many of the games require the players to get off the couch and move around in front of the TV. Nintendo is capitalizing on that by introducing a weight-sensitive “Fit Mat” that allows players to move their bodies to on-screen instructions in order to lose weight. This is one I’m going to have to try before I can give an accurate impression, but it looks like a lot of fun. Kudos to Nintendo for introducing something like this to make exercise more fun. Also, Nintendo will be introducing big games like “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” and the new “Super Mario Galaxy”
Keep an eye out for all these games and gadgets in local stores at the end of this year and early next year.