We have more pictures in our E3 2006 gallery and a quick update. We will be updating the album constantly. I just got word from Inform8n that he had a quick meet and greet with Will Wright, the creator of the Sims, and got a few pictures. Click "Read More" to get the whole story.
The show hasn't started yet but it's already a sight to see. Right now the sights are mostly boxes - and I mean lots of boxes, crates, pallets, pelican cases and every conceivable sort of container you can imagine all over the place. We arrived at around 11AM and they were just getting a lot of the exhibits set up. It's almost 8:00 PST and they still aren't finished in a lot of areas - the construction workers are going to be going all night to be ready.
If you haven't heard already Sony named November 17th as the official PS3 release date, with debut prices of $499 and $599 for 20 gig and 60 gig hard drive models, respectively. Sony also announced that the controller for the PS3 will have the same shape as the Dualshock controllers for the PS1 and PS2 but will also have tilt sensors not unlike those already promised by Nintendo's Wii.
Nintendo showed off a number of games for the Wii including Super Mario Galaxy and a Koei action game by the name of Sengoku. No word as to price but the release date is expected to be Q4 of this year. Sword fighting with the Wii controller will also be a part of the Wii version of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Other promised titles include the latest installment of the DragonQuest series from Square Enix - Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors. Third party developers will include Atari, Buena Vista Games, Eidos, Konami Digital Entertainment, Majesco, Mastiff, Midway Games, NAMCO BANDAI Games, Atlus and SNK.
More details on the Wii Virtual Console were released. Users will have downloadable access to the NES and SNES libraries as well as the Nintendo 64. Wii owners will also have access to a "Best Of" selection of games from the Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx 16 , a console developed jointly by NEC and Hudson. A "classic" controller is available for use with Virtual Console games.
Microsoft also unveiled a trailer for Halo 3.
Also: DDR Supernova, one of the latest titles in the DDR franchise, will have compatibility between arcade machines and home machines. This likely means that there will be a PS2 memory card port on arcade machines to allow sharing of data between arcade and home DDR sessions.
Blizzard has teamed up with Legendary Pictures, the production company behind Batman Begins, to produce a move based on the Warcraft universe. View the entire press release here.
We've got a wakeup call at 0530 PST (0830 EST) to be here at 7am when the press room opens. I'm going in at 8AM for the press's first access to the showroom floor so look for updates around noon PST. I think I speak for every member of the 4th estate here when I say I'm glad IHOP is right across the street and open 24/7.
Take a look at our updated photo album here!