Joystiq

AGDC: The Bruce Sterling keynote - The Future of Entertainment

Kevin Kelly — 2008-09-17T20:00:00+00:00

Bruce Sterling is a science fiction author, a futurist, and one of the founders of cyberpunk. He provided the tent-pole keynote for the Austin Game Developers Conference, although in all honesty it seemed more like a run through of a new short story draft. Several developers were walking out, scratching their heads and going "Wha... huh?" afterward.

The topic was "Computer Entertainment 35 Years from Today," and Sterling came out not as Sterling, but as a time traveler from 35 years in the future and a graduate student of Dr. Sterling's. He provided visual demonstrations of nanotech networks and fiber-based computers, much to the amusement of the audience, and told us how the future might seem surprising to us at first, but it's old hat to someone like him. He bastardized a quote from Sir Arthur Clarke and said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from garbage." Words to live by.

Read the full text of the keynote after the break. It'll be interesting if web surfers in the future look back on this post and laugh.

Computer Entertainment 35 Years from Today
Hello, thanks for having me into your event today, and thanks for that intro. Though there is a problem with that, I am not Bruce Sterling. He couldn't make it, he sent me instead

The reason he couldn't make it is that in 2043, Bruce is 89. Dr. Sterling is too frail to get into a time machine to talk to game devs, so he called on me to do it. I am one of his grad students. I volunteered, sort of, to journey back in time using some of our new technical methods. It wasn't exactly easy, and I am here and fully briefed

Before I get started about computer entertainment 35 years from today, even though that is a very interesting topic and I am writing my thesis about it, I think I should level with you. I should tell you a few things first confidentially.

Me, you don't know much about. You don't even know my name. All you need to know is that I am a time traveler. Bruce Sterling, he's a contemporary of yours, you might be disappointed he's not here. But you wouldn't really want this 90 year old guy making public appearances, you see. He used to write a lot of SF about biotech and life extension techniques, and in the 2040s we have some that stuff, not the lame crap he made up, not science fiction, but stuff that is real, real like Rogaine and Viagra. And Bruce was an early adopter of that stuff.

Bruce Sterling was one of the first guys to jump on that untested radical stuff. So he is kind of the bug-ridden alpha rollout guy, which is why he is 89 though he never took care of himself. So our life extension stuff is high end tech, and it does work, especially skin and hair which turned out to be the easy parts.

"[Future Bruce] is kind of deaf and half blind, and uses a walker, and a Segway, and a personal robot."

So Bruce has the fresh dewy skin of a 10 year old, and lots of hair, scary black spiky amount of hair. But he's kind of deaf and half blind, and uses a walker, and a Segway, and a personal robot. And he's not senile, but since he was a cyberpunk historically speaking, he chose to do stuff to his neurons, not plugins since he's not crazy, but if you had to pick one word to describe how he looks and acts in 2043, that word would be post-human.

Now, I know Austin has a lot of weird looking people, And in 2043, Austin is still very weird because they kept it that way. But if Bruce Sterling from 2043 was here in public, he'd get arrested, tasers and nets, it's that weird, really.

And compared to the rest of you in this room, the ones among you who survived until then, he looks pretty good, respectable and well groomed compared to you guys, all literary, my professor.

So that is why he didn't come. But he had good advice. He said "it's all completely real but they won't believe any of it. They are a technically literate crowd, but they have never heard of quantum greeble technology. They will not believe you are from the future. Unless you use technical demos, hands-on in public, they will think it is all vaporware, SF hype. They are computer folks, skeptics, that is how they survive. So show them your personal computer."

"Why would that be exciting?" I said. But I did bring some tech.

[gets stuff out of a bag]

So my PC is like a towel. Cheap and old and the dullest thing in the world, I have always had one. "2008, computer pioneers, they still think computers are exciting!" They don't get that computers in 2043 are like brick, forks, toothbrushes, towels. I researched that subject, and yeah for an old fashioned audience, a mid 21st computer is cool. So here it is [dishtowel] General Electric personal mediators, very stable, five years old. No full functionality in 2008 because we don't have the cloud here yet. It tapped into something called Window Vista when it got here and gave up, gone all limp, nothing left on here but this frozen screensaver pattern. So I will have to walk you through it instead.

"Moore's Law states that computer power doubles every 18 months, that means 23 doublings in 35 years. So my towel is about 8,388,608 of your best laptops."

Moore's Law states that computer power doubles every 18 months, that means 23 doublings in 35 years. So my towel is about 8,388,608 of your best laptops. But this is a cheap student's model. So it's feeble. No more than 32,768 times your computers. So it is a network, literally, because all its components are woven. It is fabric - charges with quantum solar nanodots, shapechanging piezo threads, it can expand, contract, fold, even flap and fly across the room when I call it.

I have speakers in here, just stiffen the fabric. And cameras, and a telephone, get news on it, run old-fashioned virtual reality apps... [puts over head]

And I can get a keyboard... nobody gets rid of qwerty.

It ate all media, there isn't any other kind left. Nobody gets rid of qwerty or General Electric. Did you know Thomas Edison founded General Electric? It was never a fancy tech company with a ridiculous name like Google or Microsoft or Yahooooooo! What on earth where they thinking? General Electric is ageless, and that is why they are still around in 2043 making commodity computers and fridges and ovens and towels.

So do people make games for this platform? Sure. Not the sort that were built for flat glass screens. We don't do those anymore, cumbersome, like a covered wagon. We don't pretend a glass screen is a window into another virtual worlds. The idea sounds silly, it's all the same world. It's always been the same world, it just changes. What we do is hang the towel up in midair and gaze through it. And all the light that hits the far side passes through it except that the image is tagged and altered. We don't call it augmented reality, because we think reality is real, but you can still have fun with a game interface is that is everything you see.

Of course reality scales, so we have body games, room games, neighborhood games, city games, world games, even space games for romantic geeks. And 70 years of games, a huge heritage we got from you. Dead platforms and dead IPs, dead stuff always gets revived. You've never heard of Tetris, ahead of your time, incredibly elegant. Pieces fall down on my mediator, and I have to jam them into holes at the bottom. Incredibly popular. I can't keep my hands off it.

"Dr. Sterling was eager I show you Tetris, he knew you would be impressed, sophisticated design. A pity my mediator is down."

Dr. Sterling was eager I show you Tetris, he knew you would be impressed, sophisticated design. A pity my mediator is down.

He also said I had to show truly advanced computing, not the stuff with the mediator, the stuff we ourselves think is impressive. So I brought you some, borrowed from the lab.

I didn't actually steal it, I just kind of traveled back in time with it. I know that is complicated, but Sterling is an SF writer, he gets it about paradox issues, everything is under control.

Let me remove the quantum shield here...

This is nanotechnology. We don't call it that, it's old-fashioned. Each of these tiny computational crystals... you see transistors? These are what we call greebles. You know what a Higgs Boson is? But you don't have a domesticated Higgs Boson industry which we do, greebles do not have bits, they have Q-bits. Nan quantum transitioning. Greebles can be in several different spaces in the same time. Atoms are mostly empty space. If you put quantum uncertainty into the position of an atom you can pack several thousand qbits into the space occupied by one bit.

"No bandwidth problem. Just created a network here, the size of the internet in 2004. Can't believe it is working here."

Watch me do this, it will blow your mind. Let me take one of these crystals, it has the power of a server farm. Let me give you tech details [spouts gobbledegook]. It does radically sensory emergent ad hoc ubiquity apps.

Demo; Just shake these extra crystal shards from the cryocore here, distribute them in a local cloud. It's up, working great! Assembling an autonomous cloud, all spread spectrum. No bandwidth problem. Just created a network here, the size of the internet in 2004. Can't believe it is working here.

Man! Can you believe the toxic load in this building? Cancer causing agents in the carpet! And who ate mexican food? How do you survive? Aren't you dying of cancer? Oh wait, you are dying of cancer. The bacteria counts...! Is that your skin. These are freaking me out, I am shutting this down.

Whoops. It has a cloud-based shutdown sequence, but there is no cloud in here. But I have a vector field. Soon as I wrap the core in this container field, I think this will cut back on the zero point radiation. Only done this twice... ow! It's getting hot.

Tricky part isn't assembling it.... zero oiint energy you know. OK, stay there. You don't see any smoke. Cooling off.

I wanted to pass this through the audience, but it isn't steady and we want it to transition back quietly, so we don't feel anything, we hope. I guess I shouldn't do this, but [squashes it]

OK, we're safe now, the hack worked.

"I wish I could stop my speech and take questions, but i already know your questions... I am from the future!"

Like Clarke said oh 100 years ago, any sufficiently advanced tech is indistinguishable from magic. Of course, that was technology, not magic. Of course, now it is garbage. Any truly sufficiently advanced tech is indistinguishable from garbage. We should tell Clarke. He still alive? We still read him, we think he's great.,

So I hope these demos proved my bona fides. I wish I could stop my speech and take questions, but i already know your questions... I am from the future! It's odd, you meet a time traveler and ask him to predict so you can get rich, which is very predictable. So you ask what is the part of game development that will really make lots of money? Web apps, massively multiplayer online role playing games? I don't know why you people can't invent a better word.

We just call them crowd games. The crowd on the cloud. So simple, easy. I don't get why you don't use it the easy way.

So in 2043 in computer entertainment? I can tell you that. lt's the bankers. And the financiers. Entertainers can make a lot of money but they don't keep that money, they are not money management people. Money management people make and keep a lot of money. And some games have internal economies and loans and markets and real estate holdings. So guys who make a lot of money go into those areas of money and they are not players, they are bankers.

So let me read you part of one of these games, from the game FAQ.

"Our game bank services allow online retailers to access a hosted commerce app.... our avatar checkout has a much longer list of commerce features than our main rival. It can preferentially identify fellow guild members and offer preferential one click from distant game environments on other shards, supports merchants and RFID tracking and packing slips. Our in game credit default swap with 2.9% for orders of 10k plat or more, [etc etc]."

OK, direct quote from your future. Does that sound like fun gameplay to you? No. Exactly as much fun as investment banking. Slightly better than investment banking that you have now, because financial services with graphical front ends to make it so that some people will save for retirement, not like you guys.

But basically, financial services are deadly boring, always are, not cool in games. Thrifty rich guys do not consider their work cool fun, they consider it something that gives you ulcers that you want to stop so you can have a yacht.

For some this is a torture game. But the banker guys are hella rich, much richer than your richest people. As rich as normal bankers? The gaming bankers ARE the normal bankers. The old guys are extinct. So you are a creative, will you be as rich as these guys who play on your platforms in your games? No, because they are money managers rich enough to buy you and maintain your adventure game as a front end the way old banks had marble pillars in the front.

So that is financial reality in tomorrow's entertainment industry.

[pulls out a cigarette]

Oh I know this a smoke free zone in Austin, but this is not a cigarette, we're required to smoke these to repair the lung damage from the climate change...

So other questions... can I have one of your future cigarettes? No, this is mine.

So a common question, what blindsided me, the future development, the black swan wild card. I can tell you but it will be hard to wrap your head around, but I will try.

What is computer entertainment., it has computers and entertainment. That is not in fact what you do. Two old fashioned words you still use. First, forget the computers, that word in the future holds you back, some of you get this sort of... that it means handhelds or consoles or phones, etc... so you almost have escaped from that bottle. But you hid in other bottles, when it is not about bottles. See, I have a towel, you should think about other phenomena. Traffic systems, billboards, satellites, street lights, credit cards, debit cards, drones, street based video... doorknobs. You know how many embedded chip there are in hotel doorknobs? And how many there are around you now... and then stop thinking about chips, because you must transcend that.

You must think about a Zen hippie paradigm, like paint or smoke and...clouds.

and ambient pervasive ubiquitous...

And then put your hands together like this... and say "ommm..."

Why? Because it makes you look stupid. See how gullible you all look? Well, that is how stupid everyone looks in historical years. Gosh Mr. Bushnell why would anyone want to play ping-pong on a TV?

And in 35 years you are almost that kind of stupid. No quite, because you have Google, but in that ballpark.

And that brings me to the other half. Entertainment is fun, right? If not fun, not entertainment. One of those phony game educational apps that kids have to be tortured to use. You want users to have fun.

Except for three kinds of people who do not obey your rules. Gold farmers, ripoff artists, excluded gray brown black market, the pirates. All the same guys, same crowd, invisible to you. You don't want to see them because they are ugly to you, but always there, since the very first day. They are not accidents, they are something important you do not let yourself see.

Second the griefers. They have a game, entertainment, but not your game - their game of hate, vandalism, the thrill of real conflict. And there are armies of them.

And third, the convergence culture people, the weird ones. They play while they are using 6 or 7 other sorts of media. they make no distinctions, they use the networks as a metamedium. They don't play the roles. People play the roles in D&D, which like little theater for the home. You don't see D&D people passing each other text messages and looking for cheats on wikis. Convergence guys are metamedia people looking for their metafun. You are outside the game and they want to be there too, super-knowledgeable game fanatics from whom you recruit your talent.

And these 3 kinds of people are not fun. Greed as fun, grief fun, metafun. They ambush you and beat on you. Not enemies, but deeply alien to your paradigm. So they have control over your destiny that you don't have.

And the only way to have control is to redefine computer entertainment because their fun is not computers and not entertainment, because they are cultural, more cultural than you, and they kick your ass.

So how do you make them go away? You don't. They beat you like bullies beat kids good at math. And you had to grow up and understand them better. living well is your best revenge.

I wish I could give you firm clear answers for your challenging problems. But I can't, because we have our own problems. We don't know everything about you, we forgot about you. We have deep serious mature problems, like greebles. And not just greebles and wiggets and nernies. Wiggets are kind of OK, but nernies, man, those are terrible. I wish I could explain them, but we just invented them, and we don't understand them. They are disruptive. If we really got it about greebles we wouldn't need to make up ridiculous terms like greebles.

But we made our peace with you, our respected ancestors, and we have our on problems because we are humans.

The best way to understand the future is to study the past because the future is history that hasn't happened yet. Your past involved a dark and painful prophecy from 35 years ago: towel designers. And it started 35 years go. Atari was the fastest growing company in American history so Warner bought them. And the geeks there went to confront their new boss after Nolan Bushnell got kicked out and went to sell pizza with robots.

And the geeks said "cut us in on those millions from our games!" And their new boss told them "No! You don't control the computer entertainment business! You are our towel designers.!"

What did he mean by that? That an Atari was a factory, a little factory, and he owned it, and the geeks were his factory hands who could decide what color stripes the towels had. That was the extent of their add to the value process. Everything else, marketing, etc, was in the hands of others. So they should go back to the factory and make towels!

So the geeks left and made Activision. And Atari isn't dead and Warner isn't either, but neither is as well off a General Electric who really gets it about housewares and towels.

You see, the prophet said the industry would be big and stodgy enough to employ towels designers, nameless creative guys who create... towels. Not reforming culture and visionaries. Functionaries. And I mean no disrespect to towels. Craftsmanship, I appreciate it in towels. But the future has a problem with towels. [holds up a paper towel]

Radical innovations, genuine tech change, is the problem with towel factories. They have smokestack and they suck. So what game developer is going to do a rude thing like that?

We don't even fully understand the past, what designer would make the paper towel? When the designer looks in the mirror, he does not see a towel functionary. His head is not a towel factory, he has seen them come and go.

And that is your heritage, your great struggle, what you face. And your behavior is what you owe to your predecessors and your future. You have your hours on the earth and your place in the great parade, ad live every hour.

Thank you for one hour, ladies and gentlemen, I'll be seeing you.
[Transcription courtesy of Raph Koster]

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PAX 2008: Ken Levine keyote talks sex, comics and growing up

Ross Miller — 2008-08-29T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Retro

Let's destroy your dreams now: Our friend KennyL did not talk about BioShock 2. Instead, Ken Levine kicked off Penny Arcade Expo by talking about his journey from from sex-intrigued comic nerd to Hollywood scribe and back to geekdom (which may in fact be the future plot of BioShock 2, but that is as of now unconfirmed). Regardless, Levine's keynote was a hysterical, vulgar and self-deprecating tribute to puberty and gaming.

Levine broke up into three acts, each different parts of his life. In part one, Levine described how he discoverd the adult with science fiction, from his dream to sleep with The Scarlet Witch to his dream to sleep with Jessica-5 from Logan's Run (both the comic book character and the film version's actress). "I wanted to smoke cigarettes and listen to Deep Purple," he said. "I didn't want to go to bed [thinking about Battlestar Galactica], but I did."

Act 2 was on the discovery of tribes, and how how his Dungeons & Dragons group moved onto girls. "The truth is, my tribal brothers were simply ahead of me in the game." In Act 3, in which our friend is a failed movie scribe, Levine ends up at Looking Glass Studios (System Shock). The rest, as you know, is history.

In his near-final last words, Levine offers a thanks to Tycho and Gabe, "We are united by a common element. Its not the color of our skin or our ideology or where we come from. No it's that we're a giant bunch of fucking nerds," he said to a roaring applause. Listen to it yourself:

Gallery: Penny Arcade Expo 2008

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Iwata 'sorry' for Nintendo E3 briefing; Wii supplies may still be tight this holiday

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-07-23T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Business

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has apologized for the approach the company took at this year's E3 press conference and the perception that it has abandoned the "core gamers." He tells Forbes that the feelings of neglect Nintendo fans might be feeling is a "misunderstanding" and the company wants to "get rid of that misunderstanding by any means." Iwata explains "big titles" require time and Nintendo didn't think this was the year to announce any.

The other thing Iwata's conversation with Forbes covers is the continuing Wii supply shortage in the US. The CEO expresses that Nintendo is 100% committed to having Wii be available this holiday, but can't make any guarantee. He believes the best he can do right now is say the company is doing its best to supply the States with consoles.

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Sci-fi author Bruce Sterling to keynote, predict future at Austin GDC

Randy Nelson — 2008-07-23T03:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Business

Famous for groundbreaking science fiction novels such as Schizmatrix and Heavy Weather, author Bruce Sterling is also regarded as one of the world's leading futurists. That is, he's really good at predicting where everything from media to industry to consumer technology will be at in the near future. Now he's going to do the same with video games ... and what they will be like in the year 2043.

Sterling will deliver his keynote address, "Computer Entertainment 35 Years from Today," at the upcoming Austin Game Developers Conference being held September 15-17. It will certainly be intriguing to hear what one of the founders of the cyberpunk movement has to say about the future of our shared hobby, especially given the recent introduction of technology such as Wii MotionPlus. We also have to wonder if he's seen Sony's famous "PS9" commercial.

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Oveheard@E3: On the cover of the Rolling Stone

Kyle Orland — 2008-07-16T20:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Business

"I do not think Pong, bless its little square boxes, was ever featured in Rolling Stone."
- ESA CEO Mike Gallagher highlights the growing public acceptance of games at his E3 "State of the Industry" keynote. While he might be right, the venerable pop culture magazine did do a story about SpaceWar way back in 1972.

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ESA CEO Mike Gallagher: 'Now is the time' for game industry

Kyle Orland — 2008-07-16T20:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Business, Politics, Casual

"We're in a new era of acceptance for video and computer games."

So did ESA CEO Mike Gallagher kick off his "State of the Industry" E3 keynote speech this afternoon. "When we look back, we'll see now is the time that our industry became an accepted part of our cultural landscape," he added.

The signs of this change are all around us, according to Gallagher, such as the prominent participation of Texas Governor Rick Perry in another keynote speech this morning. "In my predecessor's time, we were fighting government officials, not working with them," he said. While there are still problems with the game industry's image, he said, projects like Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's planned civics education game show that "those who write about the industry in narrow demographic terms are behind the times."

Games are about much more than just entertainment these days, Gallagher stressed. "Who would have imagined a couple of years ago that nursing home residents would be more excited about video games than Bingo or Bridge," he said. Gallagher also pointed out games like Re-Mission, Virtual Iraq and Food Force that educate as they entertain, and projects like Folding@Home that use the power of game systems to aid public health research.

After highlighting the latest statistics on the industry's massive growth, Gallagher challenged the audience and the industry with five concepts to employ going forward (as paraphrased below):

Remember our base: Avid gamers have been with us from the start, and we must continue making engaging and compelling games for them. We must also look for new ways to use technology to keep them engaged.
Welcome new gamers by continuing to expand game content and offer new and more appealing game choices.
Broaden use: The operative word remains "play," but games are increasingly not just recreational, but also involved in other pursuits.
Help parents: Already, 80% of children can't purchase M-rated games, according to the FTC, a 43% jump since 2000. We need to increase parental awareness and usage of parental controls and ratings systems.
Unite behind public policy: Already, states like Texas, Georgia and Wisconsin are seeing our industry's transformation and encouraging growth with financial incentives. "Of course ... not all elected officials are so enlightened." In Cyprus, Australia and Germany, game censorship is all too common. Some American legislators, no doubt, will continue to try to enact unconstitutional restrictions on the industry. So far, the ESA has fought such laws, and "when we haven't won in legislatures, we've won in the courts, every time." Over 150,000 gamers have joined the Video Game Voters Network ... we'd like that to be 200,000 by next E3.

"The industry has come a long way in a very short time, and we're finally garnering the respect we deserve," Gallagher concluded. "I challenge you to name another industry that has a more passionate consumer base than ours."

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry: For developers, everything's better in Texas

Kyle Orland — 2008-07-16T15:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, E3

If we had to summarize thismorning's E keynote speech by Texas Governor Rick Perry in three words, it would be "Texas is awesome." If we had a few more words, we'd say "Texas is awesome, and so is the game industry."

After a short introductory video featuring a few Texan developers (including Warren Spector), Perry launched into a laundry list of the business virtues for the Lone Star state, including a legal system low on frivolous lawsuits, an income-tax free revenue structure that "lets workers keep their wages" and a "sensible regulatory environment," whatever that means. Texas also has more Fortune 500 companies than any other state, making it an economic powerhouse.

"The weather is hot, the barbecue is hot, the music is hot, and we want to see the game industry even hotter," Perry said, gushing about the 2,800 new jobs created by 22 Texas game development companies (the third highest concentration in America, but Perry is "gunning for No. 1"). The governor lost us a bit when he said the industry average salary of $63,000 a year "may seem like pocket change to those of you here from California or Washington," Personally, we'd love to make that kind of scratch.

Perry also cited the game industry as a potential cure for the negative trends in the economy. "You all get it when it comes to the issue of competitiveness," he said. "You harness the creative power of nearly 80,000 people and connect to consumers at the heart level, building a community based on shared interest and creating jobs faster than just about any other industry out there."

Since this is an ESA keynote, it was perhaps not too surprising when Perry went to great lengths to dispel negative stereotypes about gamers. "Those who think gamers are just a bunch of pale teenagers sitting in a basement casting spells and indulging in adolescent fantasies don't really know this industry," he said. "They'd be stunned to hear the average age for gamers is approaching 35 and that best selling games are rated E." While acknowledging the influence of violent first-person shooters, Perry also exhorted the industry for including "families taking up Wii Tennis, children mocking their parents score on Brain Age" and games that help soldiers recover from injuries and doctors practice their craft.

But most of all, Perry was effusive about the artistic merits of the medium. "Virtual reality resembles actual reality more every day [and] your ability to influence the world increases at the same pace," he said. Perry went on to call games "a medium whose potential I think is only beginning to be tapped. ... Games convey a view of the distant future, your industry has a work ethic, business model, and embrace of new ideas that the rest of our nation would be wise to consider. I congratulate you on your success and applaud your creativity."

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Engadget & Joystiq live from Sony's E3 2008 keynote

Christopher Grant — 2008-07-15T16:07:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, E3

10:23 am PT: We're en route to Sony now, stay tuned! In the meantime, have you prepped your bingo card? We haven't won yet this week.

11:11: We're waiting outside the entrance. Tons of people in front of the entrance to the show. Veronica Belmont is getting tons of fan response for Qore. People are taking pictures with her.

11:25: We've just taken our seats at Sony's conference in front of what could only be described as a wall of screens: 7 main screens and roughly 64 smaller screens. OMG, Vaio LCD's everywhere. You'd think this was a Sony event.

Estranged Big Three execs Phil Harrison and Peter Moore spotted in the wild.

There's a couple players up front playing, from left to right: MGS4, PixelJunjk Eden, GT5: Prologue, SOCOM, Echochrome, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Number of smiling old people: 0. The players are most definitely not smiling.

11:29: SOCOM is looking fun. Lots of players on screen. Of course, the dude playing MGS4 has been staring at a cutscene since the moment we walked in.

11:32: Just chatted with Xbox's Aaron Greenberg - he's been following our liveblogs from his phone, so now he's totally reading this and thinking, "Whoa, meta."

11:37: Triangles, squares, and circles galore. We're at the right place apparently. FYIL It's 68 panels, not 64. Shots os last year's games: Uncharted, Haze... A video montage of some of PS3's biggest games - already out and upcoming. We're seeing Uncharted, Resident Evil 5, Little Big Planet, Buzz, MGS4, SOCOM, Resistance, Killzone 2. Not all PS3 games either - PSP and PS2 are making an appearance. It's the PlayStation "family" of products afterall, remember? They just showed off a shot of Bioshock, too!

11:39: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Jack Tretton. "Thanks for coming out everybody. I can't tell you how much fun we've had over the past several months putting together this press conference. The truth is: this is the most stressful event you can imagine. It's taken two years off of my life."

11:40: He's recounting all the famous events that happened on this stage. Tretton isn't bad as a stand-up comedy act. He recounts Jack Palance's one handed push-up: "And thanks to my job and my bi-annual workout regiment, you're not likely to see that here. But Jack Pallance is dead and I'm still here ..." -- *groans* -- "2008 is the year of the PS3, but as great as 2008 is, we're just getting started."

11:41: Says PlayStation is hitting its stride, finally. Just getting started. Just begun. Sounds like a bit of an excuse for the past couple years, eh? The seeds of the PlayStation brand were laid nearly 15 years ago this week

11:43: Says Tretton: "From the very beginning our customers came to expect something very different from us. What really made SCE different from the very beginning is we took a longer look ahead. When most companies were looking at a 3 to 5 year lifecycle, we were on a 10 year. Really hitting hard on the long product lifecycle thing, saying their consoles have at least a 10-year lifecycle. In other words: "Thanks for waiting."

11:44: GTA: SA came along in year 4. Shadow of the colossus in year 5, God of War 2 in year 7. Interesting that they mentioned Ico along with FFX and GTA. Not exactly a big seller (although it's one of our favorite games ever). IBM is actually using the CEll processor to power its newest supercomputer. He's mentioning FOlding@home numbers.

11:46: "If we stopped to ask consumers if they needed all this horsepower, they may have said no." He recalls Henry Ford's quote, "If I asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse. Games like MGS4 aren't just exclusive to the PlayStation 3, they're only possible on the PlayStation 3"

11:47: Games like MGS4 on PS3 is a good reminder of what it means to have exclusive content. He says PS3 has more exclusives than any other platform. Wonder if he'll be avoiding Final Fantasy XIII today? Hey, we resemble this remark: Singstar brought about a lot of really bad singing to the PSN!

11:48: "I agree with what CNET and so many others have said in recent months: 2008 is the year of the PS3." Big-ass subwoofers in here at the beginning of Resistance 2. "Here's a look at the third-generation title from Insomniac games on the PlayStation 3: Resistance 2." Wow. Okay, yeah, that's one big boss. Seriously, this thing makes the Collossi in SotC look like puppy dogs

11:52: Demo end. *applause* Ted price from Insomniac on stage. "In 1951 we lost Chicago, millions never made it out. ... now Chicago is enemy territory." 350ft tall Chimera called Leviathan. "resistance 2 is a story of a country under siege, broken by a superior foe."

11:53: Okay, he's essentially reading us the game box back, but that's cool because he just told us about 8-player online co-op. "resistance 2 also breaks new ground with it's 8-player online co-op and 60 player online multiplayer ... While many games talk about scale, resistance 2 truly delivers." Scale, scale scale: This game is big, epic, etc. "resistance 2 offers more than any shooter in 2008 ... I'm Ted Price, president and CEO of insomniac games, and this is resistance 2." *cue the trailer*

11:54: The game is definitely more colorful than its predecessor. Less gray, more bright colors. Think 1950's America.

11:56: It has a definitely arc-deco feel. A bit like Bioshock but less...wet. Jack's back! "It's set to redefine the online experience" Ah here comes little big planet!

11:57: littlebig planet isn't just a new game, it's a whole new experience. It's the first time User Generated Content and social networking and gaming have come together. It's uniquely PlayStation. The motto "play, create, share" is all about user-generated content, social networking, and gaming. He's going after the non-gamer here, saying you can play it with your six year-old daughter.

11:58: Alex Evans, Media Molecule on stage. "Just think, if LBP can help me make E3 more "interesting, just think of what" it can do for gamers. Oh man, Sack Boy is taunting LA with his Celtics uniform! This is cute: they created their sales presentation as a LBP level! (Rather than a powerpoint)

12:00: Best. Presentation. Ever. Okay this is disgustingly cute. Perhaps some distraction from the stats, but we're digging it. He's breaking down the sales numbers - it's still pretty dry, but we can't fault him for the presentation. "Starting in 2008, we'll engage in distribution in Latin America as well" PS3s and red peppers falling into a train on its way to Latin America!

12:01: "Since 1995, PlayStation has generated more than $50b at retail" best SP3 games will be available at $29.99 retail Resistance, MotorStorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, NFS: Carbon, RSV, and Assassin's Creed; Oblivion: Elder Scrolls, and Ninja Gaiden

12:02: "So Alex, what is the target consumer for LBP?" Sack boy gets into a truck that says "Little Big Planet" coming October 2008. Too cute. We're barfing in cute juice here. Alex: "I think it appeals to a wide range of people."

12:03: Jack: "Absolutely unlimited potential" "Great way to expand our PS3 user base beyond males and core gamers" Let's talk about PlayStation 2. (okay, let's!) "In many ways the success of PS2 has allowed us to be more aggressive" with PS3. In 2008 we're introducing more than 130 titles to PlayStation 2. Interesting that Sony is the only company here still talking about last-gen hardware, though.

12:05: Here's a sample of those titles: Yakuza 2, Force Unleashed, NCAA Football, Tiger Woods, Warriors Orochi 2, Singstar Pop vol. 2, Madden, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. "The PS2, at $129, is a great entry into the phenomena of social gaming - ideal for playing with family and friends. "

12:06: The PS2 will not only come with Lego Batman the video game but animated movie Justice League for $149. So looks like Sony is all about "being connected". Talking about PSN now.

12:09: Starting this Fall, all PlayStation users will have a single sign-on. He's talking PC, PS3, etc. "They want us to work to make PSN the best gaming experience in the industry." Sweet - all PSN members will have a single sign-on (SSO), but we gotta wonder if those aliases will carry into games -- do we still need a separate name for MGS4? Resistance? Separate friends lists? Do tell!

12:11: Tretton's PSN name is DoctorGrip120? Add him! He's talking PlayStation Store update. "Just last month we had more than 20m pieces of content download, now at 180m pieces downloaded (since Nov. 2006) I'd like to introduce you all to Ratchet and Clank Future, Quest for Booty. QFB is a new concept -- it's a shorter game at a lower price." Shorter, cheaper... just an expansion, in other words?

12:13: "Quest for Booty is a continuation of R&C Future" Ah, we get to find out what happened to Clank after he was taken away from us at the end of Future. Light and dark gameplay, answers about Clank's mysterious disappearance. "Great introduction into what R&C is all about" Wait... is this the Insomniac briefing or Sony briefing? This summer, for $14.99 You don't always have to choose between quality and quantity, you can have both (re: PSN games) ZING!

12:14: "I'd like to show you what I mean" FAT Princess looks like a funny PSN downloadable game. Titles: R&C: QFB, Crash Commando, Fat Princess (this looks like Castle Crashers!), PixelJunk Eden (of course), Pain: Amusement Park, Flower, Siren: Blood Curse (ZOMBIES!), RagDoll KungFu: Fists of Plastic (Media Molecule!) (some breakouts on some of those)

12:17: "Great entertainment for about the cost of a movie ticket." Depends on where you live, we guess. Polyphony Digital and GTTV. 'pay-per-view distribution" of automotive shows "footage from racing events around the world" So GT's producer is basically doing a TV show now for PSN. Which, if you're into cars, is cool. Watch Yamamachi (spelling?) go around the world and check out dope cars

12:20: We can't help but think he should be working on GT on PSP, no? Content will be available starting August 1
"just one more example of original programming on PlayStation Network. gamers today are in it for the community experience" Here come trophies... "This brings us to PlayStation Home"

12:22: I absolutely assure you that when Home is available through out Public Beta," absolutely worth it He's thanking us for being patient. Game-specific spaces, like Uncharted and Warhawk, available to check out here. Non-gaming partners like Nike. Resistance space has Chimera in tanks -- gross! Looks like game-themed rooms are coming to Home - we just saw a Resistance-themed room with Chimera on display in tubes.

12:23: Very pleased to unveil the movie/tv download service "This isn't just about Sony content" "PSN's video delivery service is open for business for all studios" Sony, Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, Funimation.

Standard and High-def rental and sell-through TV starts at $1.99. offering both rental and sales. 9.99-14.99 for purchases, 2.99 to 3.99 for rentals, "this content is portable" download on PS3, bring on PSP "put on multiple devices at the same time" Eric Lempel is taking the stage to walk us through it.

12:26: He's got his hotmail address on the screen -- we're totally going to email him later. New tab in the PlayStation store that says video. it should be familiar to anyone using the PlayStation store today. There's a lot more room for movie studios, wink wink. "also, screen changes to give you a nice branded experience for that" studio. SD rental is $2.99 100 minute = 1565 MBs. preview pops-up, and you can full-screen it

12:28: No subtitles, at least for the movie being shown. incorporated progressive downloads so a user can watch a minute after starting the download. You can sort by genre. Cloverfield, HD rental is $5.99. SD purchase is $14.99 (which is the limit -- no HD purchases?) You can get all the same content on the PC PlayStation Store, and sync to PSP

12:30: "You can also use video-out feature to share with others. The interface is very slick, a definite improvement over the Xbox Live Marketplace." Whoah, movies coming tonight! Party in our room, bring the popcorn! "The video store will be available tonight!"

12:31: Let's talk a little bit more about PSP Last year we introduced the PSP Slim and sales shot through the roof. This fall we'll be introducing a new entertainment pack -- starting in October they're offering R&C Size Matters with a silver PSP, 1GB Memory Stick, National Treasure 2, and a voucher for Echochrome all for $199

12:33: Here to introduce a new title for PSP. Resistance Retribution. Nathan Hale coming to PSP, OMGWTFBBQ. Third person shooter. Spring 2009 release. "we've had great success with games for PSP and we're only going to improve on that trend."

12:36: Highlights for PSP over the next year: Star Wars, Madden, LocoRoco, NBA, a new Lego franchise, Patapon 2, Buzz quiz game with ad-hoc play

12:38: We've always felt the PSP is the key to Sony owning the living room. This is every bit the hybrid device that we've always imagined. People continue to move from their office to their living room, and now that people can download movies through the PS3, this is the reality that we're building between the PSP and the PSN. With titles everyone wants to watch and play, we're proud to be leading the charge to the living room. Now let's get back to the PS3.

12:41: Developers like working with us because we've embraced multiplatform. For instance, Google likes working with us. If you hit a homerun in MLB The Show, you can save that video to Google and have it voted on by the community. As Kaz Hirae announced in Tokyo, we're geared up to allow people to see live news, weather, and webcam feeds via Life with PlayStation, which will be available by the end of the month.

12:43: Last April we announced that Sony Online joined us, and we welcome them today. Today for the first time ever, we'll show DC Universe online. Proud to introduce Jim Lee, director of DC Universe Online.
He gets on the floor and does a one-handed pushup!! Yeah, big deal, Lee ... we could totally do that too if we wanted to. We've been building this world up from scratch, and I'm actually a bit winded and anxious.

12:44: It's total gang warfare: Microsoft couldn't get Marvel Universe Online out the door, but here's Sony and DC Universe Online. "This is really a dream project for me. When I was a kid, my parents wanted me to become a doctor and follow in my father's footsteps. Meanwhile, I wanted to read comic books, and even started my own comic book like. As far as my other obsession? I remain an avid gamer today -- hooked on MMOs and even started playing Everquest on launch day. I was the first Paladdin to get fire avenger." (People laughing) "No, it sounded cool at the time!" (Laughing turning to applause) Switching back

12:45: Imagine being able to create your own superhero or supervillain in the DV universe and fight alongside help batman take on the joker . Imagine being a villain and helping all the inmates at Arkham Aslyum espace and attack the batcave. (We're hearing "imagine" a lot. We're imagining lunch. But this game looks cool so we'll wait.)

12:46: It's certainly a project that would have made my 12-year old brain explode. This game seriously has every DC star. Craziness Could this be the first good game involving Superman? Tretton is back: Jack: "Great content and one-handed pushups. I've seen it all now ... we continue to work hard to increase the value proposition for consumers"

12:48: Starting in September, the 80GB will have the current functionality of the 40GB PS3, for $399. Whoah. 80GB for $399. So $50 more than the 60GB 360. Interesting. Add an XBL membership to your 360 and they're the same price. (What happens to the 1/2 backwards compatible 80GB now?)

12:49: Montage of folks talking PS3. Thinking about lunch again. We're watching videos of developers being interviewed. Treyarch dev, Tiburon dev, Ubisoft Far Cry 2 dev, Bethesda (Fallout dev), Prince of Persia dev. Fallout 3 developer was saying that the SPUs "eat everything alive" Amazing -- everyone is just talking about how it used to be much tougher, but they're all getting used to it now.

12:52: Ben Mattes says the Blu-ray is way better than the competition. Long term PlayStation 3 development: This all sounds similar to the PS2 development cycle. Dev's hated it and then learned to love the pain. Ironically, though, these are mostly cross-platform games that won't really take advantage of the Cell structure. Jack: "as you can see there's a tremendous amount of support from our development partners" SCE worldwide studios makes a competitive advantage - 23 exclusives, 10 on Blu-ray and 13 on PSN

12:53: They're pumping smoke in here, either to confuse us or make this all seem like a dream. First mention of Killzone 2, which has been suspiciously absent so far. LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, MGS4, Guns of the Patriots, Quantum of Solace, SOCOM Confrontation, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Soul Calibur IV, Resistance 2, The Agency, Naruto Storm, Mirror's Edge, Resident Evil 5, Singstar, Guitar Hero World Tour, NBA09: The Inside, Buzz Quiz TV, Killzone 2

12:56: I'd like to spend the next few moments to show you what's to come after this holiday season. God of War 3 is coming to PlayStation 3 (SURPRISE!) (Applause for GOW3) Really nice graphics, but a total CGI trailer. No gameplay, all cinematics. Cool?

12:58: We're about to see what Sucker Punch has been up to this whole time with Infamous. With infamous, you roam an open world as a superhero, putting you in a position to ... save or destroy an entire city.

1:00: He can climb, jump, throw dudes, and shoot electricity out of his mitts. So infamous is coming in Spring 2009. This is gonna be a long winter. "You've all seen multiplayer online games, you've all played massively multiplayer games" Jack says even this will push the PS3 hardware.

Andy Beaudoin from Zipper interactive. MAG = Massive Action Game. Zipper building on their experience from SOCOM. Buh. 256-player battles. We certainly hope this handles voice chat well. "MAG will deliver a sweeping battle experience using only real players" 8-player squads. lead by people who are "proven" to be good leaders, character advancement tree to fine-tune your character.

Groundbreaking large scale combat, intimacy of 8-player squad combat, and character growth

1:02: First glimpse video, here we come! This game will either be complete chaos or completely amazing.

1:05: So far just a FMV trailer... Looks like a giant SOCOM, which makes sense... Vehicles? Looks like there may be. Air combat with air drops of reinforcements? (? = we're not sure, but trailer alludes to it) "It's hard to imagine that all of this could have come out of a meeting in a Sony Computer conference room fifteen years ago."

1:06: (Jack is back, touting the 10-year development cycle, wrapping up) "If this is what year 2 of the PS3 lifecycle looks like, imagine what years 3 and beyond will look like."

And..... lights up. Thanks to the people behind us for not shutting up the entire presentation, by the way!

Additional reporting by Joshua Fruhlinger.

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Engadget & Joystiq live from Nintendo's E3 2008 keynote

Justin McElroy — 2008-07-15T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Features, Nintendo Wii, E3

7:55 am PT: We're just outside the Kodak Theater waiting to get in! In the meantime, have you prepped your bingo card? We were so close yesterday.

8:12: We're inside the Kodak Theater, waiting to be let in - a Nintendo representative encouraged us to grab some food and, after a brief period spent searching, we informed her that there was in fact no food. None. Anywhere. Do they expect us to resort to cannibalism!?

8:40: And we're in!

8:43: Right now, techno music is being pumped into the hall while we watch pictures of extremely happy people projected on screen.

8:47: Nintendo's presentation is a lot less flashy presentation than Microsoft's, pics seem a lot more community-focused than game-focused.

8:50: People seem to smell a bit less than at the Microsoft event. However, they promised us donuts and there isn't a single one in sight.

8:52: Side note: The very first image we were bombarded with upon entry was that of totally old people playing Wii. Confidence ... failing.

8:56: Notably absent from the slideshow: Anyone who looks anything at all like the bloggers and reporters in the audience.

8:59: From what we can see the stage behind the scrim is pretty spartan. A couple of stools and not to much else. Although there's a tall cylindrical booth on the left. Nintendo transporter? WiiTranslocate.

9:06: Here we go! Happy music, happy people, healthy people. The lights have dimmed and we're off. Is that the ending music from Top Chef? No, Project Runway.

9:07: More images of non-traditional gamers gaming, children, elderly, social gaming. We promise to keep the world smiling it says. Cammie Dunaway: Good morning! As you can see my name is not Reggie. I do have a lot in common with my boss - we both have a lot of fun. Just like the people you saw in the video, I can't stop smiling. As a mom, it helps to work for Nintendo.

9:08: Cammie Dunaway is enthusiastically smiling and has already starting regaling us with stories about her children. Says my son - Mom, I love you more than anything, and not just because you being me videogames. I can say that playing videogames is a safer way to impress your kids than some other things I've tried. Shows off snowboarding with her son. But on the last day, the fates pushed my right off my board and I landed right on my left wrist. The ground won, my wrist lost. It's one long ride when you're being pulled by the ski patrol.

9:10: I don't like a smile taken off my face for anything, and I really don't like giving up. So I decided as a snowboarder -- All I really needed was a little help from a friend. A talented friend. And today I found the perfect answer. Reveal on left, Shaun White. On a Wii Balance board. To the tune of Social Distortion. Ring of Fire.

9:11: Shaun White Snowboarding. Graphics pretty jaggy but have kind of a fun look. Ladies and gentlemen, the gold metalist in the men's halfpipe at Tourino, Mr. Shaun White.

9:13: I understand from the guys at Ubi that they designed this game from the ground up for the Balance Board.
Shaun: I had input on the game, how the mountain should look. Cammie: I heard anyone can just jump on the board. Says that board enhances the gameplay. He leans forward to go faster and that really works in the game. Shaun has apparently just grasped the balance board concept. She gets on a board next to Shaun.

Said Shaun: Let's do the halfpipe. "Just because you being me videogames." Cammie's now awkwardly calibrating her board as everyone in the audience pretends not to be extremely uncomfortable. Shaun: I should get some lessons from you! Cammie: Yeah, I didn't hurt my wrist! Shaun exits left. This game arrives exclusively for Wii by year-end.

9:14: Please welcome Nintendo's Global President, Staoru Iwata.

9:15: But a different non-balance board version is coming to other systems. But they didn't tell us that. I think everyone is recognizing that a true paradigm shift has taken place in the global game market. Five years ago in May 2003. I addressed E3 for the first time as President of Nintendo. I still recall that day. Because I knew that everyone attending held a pessimistic view about Nintendo's future.

9:16: That year was not enjoyable, but I knew that people were just using a common sense view of the game market. Even Nintendo employees could not have imagined that five years later the market would respond so fast that we could be selling millions of bathroom scales around the world. Iwata is rocking the Fils-Amie semi turtleneck, we hope he cleared that look with Reggie, or things are about to get weird. Common sense doesn't seem to make much sense anymore. What has changed in the new paradigm? First, we are not selling game which can stay for a long period of time. In the past it was impossible to expect a game to sell for two or three years. But titles like Nintendogs and Brain age are doing that.

9:17: Also Super Mario Bros and Mariokart DS. These products are evergreen. This, I think is a big change. (Oh, so that's where all the BoomBlox sales went.) Second I believe it is no longer common that players only seek new titles with more good looking graphics and more sophisticated content. I am aware that great numbers of players around the world do demand increasingly gorgeous games, and we challenge ourselves to meet these needs. Our internal team which makes Mario and Zelda games are both hard at work -- they will bring new titles to Wii.

9:18: On the other hand it is also true that games with new concepts like Wii Sports and Wii Fits have received support from customers for entirely different reasons. Small teams with small budgets can capture wide audiences if they have a great idea. This is the challenge and opportunity of WiiWare. Mario and Zelda teams will bring new titles to Wii, which isn't particularly surprising. Although it would be a surprise if the system gets two headliners in the generation. Suddenly the user base has expanded. Look at this picture.

9:19: Iwata's extremely proud of a girl playing a game. We have learned that intuitive interfaces can help attract those who would never traditionally consider videogames. It has changed how gamers see themselves. Today game systems are more likely purchased for themselves at any time of the year.

9:20: So far, this feels suspiciously like the same back-patting we've been subjected to for the past few Nintendo pressers. Yes, you've expanded the market, we get it. People are buying 200K Wii a week as if every week was a holiday.

9:21: Here in American peopel have bought an avg of 700K Wii systems a month, numbers not normally seen outside of November and December. Last year I said we would like to destroy the barriers between gamers and non-gamers. Wii Sports and Wii Play made this possible, but weren't enough to prove this trend. Mario Kart and WiiFit continued this conversation. But the Wii version of Guitar Hero is outselling all others! Isn't it possible that the Wii version is outselling the others because ... well, the others had Rock Band?

9:22: At Nintendo we believe progress is being made to destroy this psychological barrier (between gamer and non-gamer). Sooner or later people will become tired of new forms of change. This happens when other people try to speed this up. For all of us in the videogame industry, there is danger in standing still. Common sense is not enough, but there are answers.

9:23: Personally, I believe we must find new ways for players to feel engaged. Ooh, a mega burn on other companies aping Nintendo's changes. Hint hint, MS Avatars, hint hint. To feel engaged, enriched, even in interactions we wouldn't normally call games. The overall experience must be improved via enthusiasm. This is of course easier to say than do. We at Nintendo always change ourselves to change paradigms.

9:24: We seek fresh surprises, and I hope you will enjoy the ones we have for you today. The first one fits with a larger social trend of consumers acting as creators. We believe Nintendo can add something to engage players in new ways. Please consider this key Holiday release. Katsuya Eguchi is talking on the screen about Animal Crossing. Talking about how he came up with the idea. I wanted people to feel like they were playing together, even if at different times.

9:25: Animal Crossing City Folk coming to wii in 2008. The town is where you live and do the things you like. There are no required goals, and people are free to do things their own way. Graphics look a lot like GC version. The town is where you live and do the things you like. There are no required goals, and people are free to do things their own way. People feel like things are happening in real time. You could really feel like you are visiting a realistic world with a 24-hour clock year-round.

9:26: The city is a brand-new place to explore in the Wii version of Animal Crossing. You can put items up for sale. City is a more 3D environment. An academy to keep tabs on other player There is an academy, fashion designers, stores, beauty salon. You can put on a mask to look like your Mii.

9:27: You can write letters to other players and attach pictures and even send to the Wii message board and cell phones. Aww, he's sending a letter to Reggie. I hope he has time to read it. New microphone option: Wii Speak. Featuring a community microphone. You can speak to other players in any other room in the world.

People doing fishing competition, talking trash. It allows rooms of people to talk to other rooms of people, a much more community focused app than an insular headset.

9:28: You can get a sense of the personality of a player. See how they decorate their room, if it is neat or messy. It is also fun to see how they set up their town, as it tells you what kind of person they are, and I think that's really fun. Most of the options are the one's you're used to. Seeing how people set up their towns, etc. Looking ahead, I want players to continue to be able to create their own worlds, to continue to communicate with others in a variety of ways, and to have a place where players can connect with each other.

9:30: Introducing President and COO: Reggie Fils Amie. Looks like writing letters with WiiMote is going to be a lot easier than with controller. Says Reggie: "Good morning. When I last talked to you from an E3 stage, I said we were pleased, but not close to being satisfied. With Animal Crossing by end of this year with WiiSpeak option, of course we're pleased." My god he's an imposing figure of a man.

9:32: We're even more pleased with our marketplace momentum. After all, in May, according to NPD, Wii sales hit 10 million systems. DS hit 20 million systems. He's looking fit. No, you know what, he's lookin' WiiFit. This combines to more than $5b at retail. But we're not satisfied. That's because there are tens of millions of people still not on, and millions of gamers who are hungry for what's next. We want to fulfil both those needs. Uh oh, we've got a bar graph. Shows lifetime global hardware unit sales chart.

9:33: Largest bar belongs to Nintendo DS. We expect that total DS worldwide sales will grow to almost 100M systems. Now some people still claim 2007 was the peak year for DS. Still 12% ahead of last year's record! Of course, these sales are led by key franchises, and this year that franchise was Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
This grossed all Pokemon Sales for handhelds to over $180M. Pokemon is driving DS sales. That's right, that Pikachu is yellow because he's COVERED IN GOLD. DS software sales are 29% ahead of last year.

9:34: We believe the next NPD numbers will show a shift back to DS. Of course, that's because of those evergreen titles Mr. Iwata mentioned. Reggie is pitting DS and Wii against eachother as bitter rivals fighting for the top slot. It's funny. There seems to be an unlimited number of people looking for a way to get into our game. For Wii the sales trajectory is climbing even steeper. (Shows chart) First year vs. second 19 months - "Our historic sales pace is actually increasing." When those NPD numbers are released on Thursday, we will not be surprised if it shows that Wii is the best selling console of this generation in America as it is in the world. We're convinced Nintendo's highest paid employee is the guy that makes charts to look as embarrassing as possible for PS3 and 360.

9:35: No system has ever sold more games in its first 19 months of availability. Joshua F.The sales advantage after year one continues to grow. Wii's biggest software sales competitor? Why, the PS2 of course. One one hand, we make sure we leveraged our stable of stars early in the generation to satisfy gamers. And now with new titles like Wii Sports and Wii Play, we confirmed that non-gamers took notice. But now a new dynamic is emerging:
Our creative third-party partners are finding success with Wii.

9:36: 19 Third Party games have exceeded sales of 400K units in America alone. Those titles come from 11 different publishers. Acti, Ubi, LucasArts, Sega, Midway, Disney, EA, Take Two, Konami, Capcom, Majesco have all had 400,000+ sellers on the console. Is this the platform that will be dominated by casual games, or where people can freshed up legendary IP, or a place for new franchises? Well, the correct answer is all of the above.

9:37: The Wii console library continues to grow faster than other consoles. There's no way we could give you even a quick glimpse at what's on its way. That's why we're only looking at 3 games that take advantage of the interface options available on Wii. Wii's library size is crushing others, we decide not to remind him that the bulk of those are awful. Star Wars The Clone Wars: First game focused on is The Close Wars. Trailer being shown. Gameplay looks a bit like Wii Boxing. Comes Holiday 2008. Yeah, there's lightsaber dueling, but ... wow, we would have shown these graphics on a slightly smaller screen, if you know what we mean.

9:38: Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party. Uses balance board to "surf the skies" Uses balance board along with controllers to simulate snow rides. As if to illustrate the point, R3: TVP looks markedly better.You've gotta know how to use the Wii.

9:39: Call of Duty World At War. FPS. Using Zapper. Co-op Mode confirmed for COD. "Coming Soon"

9:40: Cammie comes back on stage. As you can see, Wii creativity is mushrooming, but that's only half our story. We're seeing World of War. While is looks a little less impressive than others, there's a solid draw distance and a lot going on the screen. PS, watching people play it with the blaster is downright disturbing. But what about games that travel with you? Portable games taker a bigger bite of the software pie -- what's driving this? New players. Here's a giant clue as to why: In 2005 30 percent of portable recipients were female. By 2006, that jumped to 46%.

9:41: Last year, that has reached parity with males. The DS is universal appeal. It's weird. You've got a 16 percent jump in female usage from 05 to 06, but that dropped to 02 next year. Activision reports that Guitar Hero: On Tour sold more than 350K copies. On Tour Decades is on the way to DS. On Tour Decades allows for song sharing. Share your decades songs with someone with regular On Tour. They mention the microsphone, making us think decades will feature some of that functionality.

9:42: The DS is also the only dedicated platform where you will find Will Wright's Spore this year. Now DS trailers being shown. Next up will be Spore, CC, ready a post.Spore Creatures. It's all about evolving your creature. With the DS, it's focused on the creature creator. Player creativity and sharing.

9:43: Takes advantage of stylus to add to creature, and the ability to share creations. (end of trailers) Cammie: Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia will hit on November 10. It's hard to say, but it looks like graphics seem a bit less stylized than what we originally saw on DS. Perhaps trying to cash in on the PC version's success?

9:44: The appeal of DS also extends to the core: GTA: Chinatown Wars arrives on DS this winter! (applause) new game engine, characters, and the same free-range gameplay people have come to expect. Cammie mentions free-ranging gameplay in GTA: CTW. We think she may be a little confused. People have been using the DS to redefine gaming.

9:45: That spirit of invention and reinvention applies to the DS. Here's what I mean: I'm sure many of you spend too much time in airports. So what if DS and air travel came together in a different way: Why can't my DS provide info on where I can get my luggage, or my gate? What about the nearest ATM or Mexican Restaurant?
this is all being tested. Showing a DS app that will tell you information about your flight, luggage, but it's just being tested ATM.

9:46: Sports: People at Safeco field are already using their DS to look up box scores and ordering the Ichi-roll! Could the DS earn a spot in your kitchen? Cooking Nanny in Japan has turned it into an electronic cookbook, and an English version is coming in November. (cracks joke about being as bad at cooking as she is at snowboarding)
Reggie is back on stage.

9:47: Let me build on the DS idea. You all know what this is: The Wii Remote. Shows off a little accessory that plugs in and turns Wii Remote into a more responsive and intense controller. He's showing off the Wii MotionPlus

9:48: We're going to show you how this worthy successor to the remote comes to life. Wii Sports Resort
literally "a day at the beach." combines fun in the sun with a variety of activities. Cammie and Bill Trinnen come out to display. One Motion Plus packaged with every Wii Sports Resort. There's also going to be an extended jacket packed in. Showing frisbee, Cammie moving wrist, being reflected on screen. Okay Cammie, just swing your arm to throw the disc.

9:50: It's hard to say without actually playing it but it does look really good, even though Cammie totally borks her toss. Cammie: It's so precise it's picking up my bad wrist action. Reggie points out that her wrist may still be janked up. Bill: Is that the bad wrist or the good wrist? Reggie: I want to show something that's a little more my speed.

9:51: Jet skiing. We had hope the Reg was about to show off an ass kicking game. (Using wii remote and nunchuck to simulated jet skiing handlebars)

9:52: Bill jokes that the game really is more Reggie's speed. They move on to a sword dueling game, which is definitely what we think of when we think of beach sports. Maybe the sword-fighting in the next Red Steel won't suck as much? Reggie takes on Cammie and Cammie goes down!

9:55: (Reggie knocks Cammie off the platform) Reggie: That's why they call me the Reginator! Cammie: Bring it on, baby. (Cammie takes out Reggie ... They high-five) Reggie: Looks like with one match each we have a draw. We may have just seen the birth of the Caminator! We totally think Reggie let her win. Oh, and the games are going to be available on the show floor. (Mild laughter) Reggie back on alone. When you think of Summer Vacation, some things come to mind, and Wii Sports Resort covers those. Right, like sword fighting. But with Wii MotionPlus, many developers are already contemplated what they can do with it. We started with similing faces, and believe there will be more when we release Wii Sports Resort next Spring. But before we go

9:56: We'd like to introduce one new thing that uses the controller and is sure to create a lot of smiles. New smiles, in fact. (Smoke, bright lights, mysterious music) Stage is darkened as lights strobe. Virtual drumming going on There's a faux-hawked dude playing drums, using balance board and Remote / nunchuck to simulate drumming, using bare feet on balance booard (looks like air dumming). This cat looks like a pro, but the drumming itself sounds a bit of a mess to us.

9:57: (Keith Moon moment of chaos) Shigeru Miyamoto on stage The guy keeps stopping for applause breaks like he's not just a dude waving his arms around. "Blowing" on wii remote to simulate a sax, drummer guy is joining is (Playing jazz with the drummer) Oh, this is WiiMusic by the way. Miis on screen in a groovy jazz atmosphere (Shiggy is grooving)

9:58: (Shiggy getting jiggy? Sorry...) The music they're making is really, really awful. But we're hoping they're just nervous. It's not baby-making music, lets put it that way. (Warm applause). Are they for real with this? Shigeru: I would like to introduce you to Wii Music. (speaking in Japanese with translator) This game is one that we began designing along with Wii Play when we were first finalizing plans for Wii.

10:00: If you want something that everyone in the family can enjoy regardless of age or gender, music is a must. But Wii Music is a slightly different play experience than you've seen with other music games. Now most music games require you to press buttons with precise timing to symbols on screen. But we've designed Wii Music to allow everyone, inclusing those who can't read music to enjoy the experience of playing music. The experience is going to be less "rhythm based" we get the sense Now there's no need to closely follow any notes to play these songs. All that you have to do is hold the Wii Remote and moves your hands and body like you would a real instrument, and Wii Music recognizes that and plays the song.

10:01: So iI was just holding the Wii Remote pretending I was playing the sax. Shiggy is explaining that he wasn't actually playing, but rather was PRETENDING to play. For those of you who are familiar, this song is from an F-Zero song. We're grateful to him for clearing that up. In Wii music, you'll be able to play over 50 different instruments. Just like that. For example, the piano. The violin is a slightly more unique instrument. Wow, 50 instruments? Is Nintendo going to beat everyone to the Keytar punch? You hold the strings with left and, and motion of your right hand adjusts the volume. Just like this. Of course guitar you play like you would a real guitar.

10:02: There's a variety of percussion instruments. And of course behind me we have a professional drummer. His name is Robbie Drums. What he's playing a separate mode that uses the Balance Board to create a complete drum simulator. You know those digital pianos that you can program so that whatever note you hit it plays the next correct note in the song, and all you have to do is worry about the timing? That's what we're being reminded of.

10:03: Oh, it actually features drum lessons that can teach you to play "in just a couple of weeks." In fact, Robbie only started practicing yesterday and as you can see he's already gotten quite good. "As some of you in the audience will remember, I conducted an orchestra. Many of you on the Internet said I was quite bad. So we included in Wii Music this orchestra game and some note-matching games as well. And like I said earlier, Wii Music won't really evaluate your performance, but will record video of your performance. Each player can create their own unique video. But since we have everyone here today, I thought it might be nice if we play a song for you."

10:05: For our special presentation this morning, Robbie will join us on the drums. Joining us on Marimba is Denise Keigler, along with our all-star horn section. (Five people on stage getting ready to play a song) Looks like all that's left for me is the cowbell! Alright. Bring the house down, guys!

10:07: They're doing the mario theme. They're all pretending to have so much fun as they create their off-beat racket that the chills have literally elevated off out skin, grown wings and flown to heaven. off our skin. (Mild applause) Tone down chills. Reggie and Cammie back on stage. Reggie; What we've tried to do today is look for a place where gamers are more engaged, more enriched, and more enthused. We'd like to suggest an alternate title: "If You Kids Don't Stop Playing that Game I'm Going to Move Out"

10:09: Cammie: Consider snowboarding where you don't hurt yourself. Using WiiSpeak to talk to your friends in Animal Crossing. Even using the new Wii MotionPlus as a sword to help your boss feel better about himself. There is no question that games can make us feel better in new and compelling games. And there is only one place all these games (lists all games shown) right along side unique franchises like Pokemon, WiiSportsResort, and WiiMusic. Nintendo simply brings more smiles to more faces.

10:10: As it wraps, we have to say that Nintendo did a pretty good job of trying to show that they still care about non-grandma players. What was surprising was the lack of real fan service. To whit: No real Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus, etc.

10:11: Reggie: To conclude, form the moment Wii went on sale, we all heard the same word; 'Fad.' I'm here to tell you today that 'fad' is no longer operable. The paradigm shift is right around the corner. The only way to keep the advantage is to create new advantages. Consumers are saying "yeah, i like that!" The fact is that Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto have created a company that looks for the next thing. Not just the evolution in look, but the revolution in feel. Nintendo will create the next advantage to keep you smiling. Thank you for coming, and we look forward to seeing you in the next couple days. (Lights up!) Oh, the final presentation is a bunch of pics of the audience (More smiles on screen from Cammie!) Now we can't leave until we see if we're in it. Curses.

And that's it! Thanks for joining us, stay tuned for the Sony liveblog next.

Additional reporting by Justin McElroy.

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Highlights from Microsoft's E3 press conference

Barb Dybwad — 2008-07-14T17:41:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, E3

If you're looking for the unabridged version in all its glory, look no further than our liveblog with our fine friends at Engadget. If you're afflicted with crippling bouts of ADHD like we are and just want the meaty (beating, bloody) heart of the announcement highlights, please direct your eyeballs further down this post and after the break:

Fallout 3: will feature exclusive DLC on Xbox 360, Games for Windows.
Resident Evil 5: they showed the world's first playable demo; online co-op mode was confirmed; the release date for North America and Europe will be March 13th 2009.
Fable II is finished and will be out in October.
Gears of War 2: A new mode was announced called "Horde," a five-player co-op mode taking on waves and waves of locust. GOW2 release date will be November 7, 2008.

NBC/Universal will be providing content on Xbox Live Marketplace starting today.
Xbox LIVE gets a Mii-like avatar system and a new dashboard design that adds a community channel allowing you to send messages to friends, share your photos, and invite them to a "live party" or private groups of up to 8 people.
UNO Rush and Geometry Wars 2 announced.
The original N64 classic, Banjo Kazooie, will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade this Holiday season.
Portal gets a sequel in Portal: Still Alive which will continue the single player story found in the original Orange Box collection, and will add new challenges.
Xbox 360 will be getting Netflix's on-demand programming later this year. Xbox Live subscribers that already have Netflix memberships can enjoy Netflix on their TV at no additional cost.
You're in the Movies was announced; will come with an Xbox Live Vision camera, and will place animations and backgrounds around actual video recorded from the camera.
Microsoft's Lips karaoke game was announced as featuring motion-sensitive wireless microphones. Expected to hit Xbox 360 this holiday season, "Lips breaks new ground by being the first game to let you sing from your own music collection," says Keiichi Yano.
Rock Band 2 track list announced; you'll be able to upgrade your Rock Band tracks to use with RB2 for a "nominal" fee.
Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to the Xbox 360... but not in Japan.
System improvements: you'll be able to install your Xbox 360 games to the hard drive, access XBLM on the web, and a new Xbox LIVE Primetime "whole new category of games" that offer real prizes and are broadcast simultaneously, some with live host.

Brain hurting from the immense volume of E3 news? Check out all of our E3 highlights including a rundown of the biggest news from each of the Big 3's E3 2008 press conferences!

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