E3 has come and gone once again and while typically the games are the highlight of the event; this year they were overshadowed by the next generation of systems. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all showcased their next generation systems and all 3 systems seemed to have their highs and their lows. Let’s run down each system and see which one was the clear winner.

Sony’s Playstation 3

Sony began E3 with their press conference and had little marketing campaigns to speak of before the event. It didn’t seem to matter though, as Sony by far had the best press conference for their system at E3. The hardware specs. for the playstation 3 were unbelievable and the addition of the new Blu-Ray technology for dvds and games will change the way that consumers buy movies just like the dvd helped to move technology away from vhs movies in the past. The playstation will also play all previous movie formats from dvd disks to cd roms as well as the complete playstation game library going all the way back to playstation 1 games.

Here’s a brief look at some of the hardware specs:

CPUCell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS (more…)

Share This

Every time May comes around there are many interesting things happening in the entertainment industry. Usually it’s May sweeps in tv land with shows finishing up for the year with special guests or cliffhanger season finales. It can also be a big occasion at the theaters as the big blockbuster movies begin to start showing. So it comes as a surprise when I mention to people that E3 is coming around in mid-May and they have a look of shock or awe on their faces as if they don’t understand what the heck I’m talking about. For those in the video game industry or gamers who enjoy video games, E3 is the biggest event on their calendars.

History:

During the mid 90s the electronic industry was really beginning to flourish. You had the VCR, larger televisions coming out, CDs and walkmen all making huge strides in how we use technology for entertainment purposes. Another huge success was the larger fanbase for video games in North America with such successful companies as Nintendo and Sega leading the way. Video games were generally shown at the Consumer Electronic Show(CES) every year but soon they became too popular for their own good and unfortunately there wasn’t enough room for them at CES anymore.

With the success of video games constantly growing the need for a major standalone American video game convention was becoming ever more apparent.The Interactive Software Developers Association (ISDA) realized this success and in 1995 the video game industry had their first official Electronic Entertainment Expo.Formed in 1994, the IDSA is a trade association that represents companies that publish video games and computer games.

It also represents the game industry’s interest in Washington with policy issues, intellectual property rights, and content regulation. In addition, the organization runs an anti-piracy program on a worldwide basis and protects software copyrights on the Internet. The IDSA is also credited for creating the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) in 1994.

What is E3?(Simplified)

Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is an annual video game trade show event that is viewed my thousands every year and is the showcase for new product releases or unveilings. In other words, it’s the one place to see the newest video game systems or software releases in the upcoming year before they hit the market.It is considered by many to be the single most important international event for the marketing of video and computer games.

Who attends E3?

E3 is a “trade show,” meaning it is open only to members of the video game and entertainment industry. Distributors, developers, publishers, media, job hopefuls, and celebrities all file into huge caverns to see the latest in video game entertainment. What this means is that unless you’re a member of the media or ‘know somebody’ that ‘knows somebody’ you’re unfortunately out of luck.

Where is E3 held?

E3 is held every year sometime in the month of May at the Los Angeles Convention Center where it has a contract with the convention center until 2012. One of the other reasons for it being in LA at this particular convention center is due to it being one of the very few convention centers that can actually hold the amount of people and equipment of the magnitude that is E3.

If you want to see how big it is check out this aerial map and see for yourself.

What is so interesting about this trade show anyways?

Aside from the fact that you will see the latest and greatest in the world of video games for the foreseeable future, there is also the fun in watching major companies try to compete with each other or one-up each other every year. Video game companies and manufacturers are very ruthless and in recent years with such big companies such as (more…)

Share This

The PSP has finally hit North America a few months after its Japanese launch. Was the wait worth it? I would certainly say yes if you’re willing to shell out the money to buy one. The PSP certainly does everything that you would want from a media player/portable gaming machine. Perhaps not the best in all 3 components but it certainly does a good job at everything it intends to do. ‘The Sony PSP features a large 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD TFT screen with a 480×272 resolution, button layout similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, circle, square, triangle, x, and 2 shoulder buttons, USB 2.0 connectivity (via mini-USB), a Memory Stick Duo media slot, and 802.11b WiFi support.It uses Sony’s proprietary Universal Media Disc, which stores up to 1.8GB in a format reminiscent of MiniDiscs.’ If you’re one of the lucky 1 000 000 people who first buys this thingy, you also get a free UMD copy of Spiderman-2. Since I’m no Gizmodo or Engadget, I’ll quickly run through some pros and cons of this machine.

PROS: Beautiful LCD ScreenExcellent GamesThe ability to watch movies/listen to music/watch photosSnazzy Hip DesignUSB 2.0 SupportWi-Fi EnabledUMD Disk offers 1.8 GB of space

SO-SO: Relatively LightweightDecent Battery PowerMarketing campaign revolving teens

Cons: Some Dead Pixel IssuesSmudges or scratches easilyButton Configurations in weird placesThe PriceEject button a little shaky (more…)

Share This

As the next generation of video game systems is currently being developed by all 3 companies, (Microsoft,Nintendo,Sony) I can’t help but imagine what might be included in these machines to separate one another from their competitor. So I started to think of what would be the ideal gaming machine on the horizon and what would be included in this machine. Here are some ideas of what I would like to see in the next generation of video game consoles….

1. Standard wireless Controller.

The last time we saw a wireless controller, it was the wave bird on the Nintendo Gamecube and it was a huge hit with consumers. The other two companies followed with their versions of a wireless controller, but nothing could compare to Nintendo’s model. Unfortunately, the Nintendo controller wasn’t originally designed to be apart of the system and was more like a neat addition to the system as Nintendo still had the typical wired controller as their mainstay for all of their systems. It has come to the point where technology is making huge strides in wireless technology and we shouldn’t have to deal with wires anymore. So with that being said, I hope for the next generation of consoles, we dump the wired concept completely and have all video game controllers to be made wireless when you buy a system.

2. Increased Controller Ports.

This may seem odd but only 2 of the 4 systems have 4 controller ports. Sony’s Playstation 2 opted for only 2 controller ports and the option of buying a multi-tap accessory to add additional controllers for game play purposes. This was merely a way of Sony being able to get consumers to shell out more money out of their pockets and hopefully the ps3 will include 4 controller ports when it comes out.

3. The DVD Aspect

One of the major influences of 2 of the systems was that they included DVD playback in their systems. While the DVD player may have not been the greatest piece of hardware manufactured on the planet, it offered consumers an additional reason to buy the game console and gave the consumer a cheap way to be able to watch DVD movies who otherwise couldn’t afford it. The rumours around the internet insist that companies like Microsoft will create different versions of their console that include both DVD support and lighter versions of the system that only include the game console itself. (more…)

Share This

For some strange reason, people seem to ask me how to get into the gaming industry. Maybe it’s because I play lots of video games and they think I’m in the gaming industry or know somebody in the industry. Well to set the record straight; I have no clue how to get into the gaming industry. But that won’t stop me from finding out about the industry and with that being said, I introduce to you my research on what it takes to get into the gaming industry. I will compile a list of facts from various reputable people in the industry and we will come up with some sort of a standard on what it takes to get into this prestigious business. Hopefully you the reader will learn as much about the subject as I did researching it.

Let’s start with some basics. In order to get into the gaming industry, you need to have some kind of love for video games in general. There isn’t a single company that will hire you if you don’t have some kind of level of respect or love for what you plan on creating. This also helps in an interview environment because if you plan on being interviewed by a gaming company, you should at least have some knowledge of the company and what games that they have created in the past. Another tip is to know somebody in the industry. The industry is a very tight knit group and usually employees rely on the word of a colleague instead of having to go out and interview somebody new. This saves time and doesn’t require any interview process and is much more of the case in the gaming industry as opposed to other jobs like accounting firms. Age and location are other factors as younger is usually better and the closer that you’re located to a gaming company will increase your chances at getting the job as opposed to someone who must relocate or move to get the job.

Other factors are less obvious and rely on many different answers to certain questions. Lots of people ask whether their amazing portfolios or 4 year computer school results will help them in getting the job-The answer is NO. Most employers certainly take these things into account but it most certainly doesn’t mean that you’ll get the job. For a job such as a Graphics Artist, a person who does doodles in the back seat of a classroom has as much of a chance to be hired as someone who spent 4 years at M.I.T. The employer looks at the person’s drawings and if they’re good enough for the job, then they’ll be chosen to work for that particular company. If you also have an impressive resume but haven’t done anything related to game work then your chances of getting the job are pretty slim.

(more…)

Share This