Here, we’ve picked out some likely highlights among the newly revealed games and products from major names at the show.
Sony: Hardware
Sony hasn’t gone so far as to fully confirm it, but the appearance of PSP Go! is all but certain. With the fundamental decision to drop the UMD drive and giving it 16gb of on-board memory, along with a sliding screen to cover the existing control configuration, it’s the biggest adaptation of PSP’s original design yet, and could do much to reinvigorate the platform. But is the world ready for a download-only console? And how do we get our previously purchased UMD games onto it? All eyes on Sony’s press conference, June 2, 11am PST, then.
And can we expect the reinvigoration of PS3’s design, too? Sony has distanced itself from alleged shots from a Chinese manufacturer of plastic casing and a printed box that’s been dubbed ‘PS3 Slim’, but previous attempts to market cheaper-to-build iterations of the console have met with significant success, and a sub-£200/US$300 retail price to at least halfway compete with 360 would surely help it further. The likelihood of PS3 Slim itself being real, however, seems low.
Nintendo: Mascots
With the memory of last year’s E3 conference still tender, Nintendo will need to do much to live up to its constant reminders that it still cares about the ‘insatiable’ hardcore. The result is the likely announcement of Wii-based Mario and Zelda games, plus, for everyone else, Wii Fit Plus (a name that’s currently down to trademark registration sleuthing).
E3 will also be an ideal place for Nintendo to reveal further plans to develop its support for DSi, probably with SNES and GBA game downloads. Nintendo’s conference takes place June 2 at 9am PST.
Microsoft: Peripherals
The subject of a recent leak and a last-minute removal from last year’s show, it seems likely that the centrepiece of this year’s E3 conference June 1, 10.30am PST, is a motion sensing controller. It can only be backed up with software, though, and who knows what form that will take? Certainly, Microsoft has been trying hard to broaden 360’s appeal for the last couple of years – though it has struggled to hit quite the same nerve that Sony has with the likes of SingStar and Buzz.
E3 also comes amid various announcements of Xbox partnerships – with Zune’s video Marketplace and one that it will announce in the UK today. Partnerships are one thing Microsoft does extremely well, so developing Xbox Live’s appeal with content deals could well be another cornerstone of its presentation.