Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
E3: A Recap
()
E3 has once again left the City of Angels, leaving in it's wake a trail of litter advertising the newest, hottest games, tons of Starbucks cups, the swag no one wanted, and booth babes sporting a bit more money in their wallets. Everyone that exhibited during the week of videogames is still probably recuperating, we can only imagine. Best thing overheard at E3 this year? "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid."
Our thoughts?
As predicted, Nintendo dominated with their new Wii console. The thing is simply amazing and revolutionary. We noticed that when everyone stepped up to hold the wand-like controller for the Tennis game, they automatically got down into a Tennis stance, bent knees, Andre Agassi-like focus, and Steffi Graf-like grunting. This system actually makes you get off the couch and have fun. It was hands-down the hit of the show, leaving everyone behind in their wake. They also had the "raviest" booth which was massive, and done up in a sort of dreamy zen-line white gauzy substance. They pumped songs like the Chemical Brothers "Galvanize", and every demo station was packed with folks. They had the longest line at E3, but they also had interactive plasma screen displays where you could speak with someone via a video camera and microphone.
Support for LAist comes from
Will Wright(father of Sim City, The Sims and more) showed off his new game, Spore, on Wednesday night at the Wired Magazine shindig, and it also stand poised to change the face of gaming. It allows you to build a species, see them evolve, develop technology, and eventually go off-world to spread across the universe. The online component runs seamlessly in the background, and you start encountering the creations of other people playing the game, resulting in endless combinations. Robin Williams got up to demo it, and showed how entertaining the game can be.
Other highlights of the show?
Paris Hilton's megaflub. She shows up an hour late to promote a game bearing her name, then promptly forgets the name of it. Ouch.
Xbox 360: They had a massive booth showing off a ton of games on the horizon, and behind closed doors we got a sneak of Gear of War, which is an incredible game. It may make people finally forget that Halo 3 is coming sometime soon.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. While we are sometime a bit chagrined to admit that we are WoW addicts, this new expansion has us drooling.
N-Gage: Their booth was massive, featuring fog waterfalls, couches, and game areas. But...isn't this company practically dead in the water? They also told us that we won a "backpack", which turned out to be a nylon sack with strings.
LucasArts: They were sort of the snobs of the show, not opening up their booth to the public until late on Friday, at which point, we didn't care much anymore.
Support for LAist comes from
Brady Games: They featured videogame pianist (now there's a profession) Martin Leung playing tunes from every game you can imagine. The highlight was seeing him play the Super Mario theme while blindfolded. The kid has talent.
Food: Paying 10 bucks for a chicken ceasar wrap wasn't the highlight of our trip, and every booth's press area seemed to hold Krispy Kremes, dense muffins, and/or cookies. Making it very difficult to eat healthy. Although you balanced it out by walking for about 250 miles each day. Our dogs are still barking.
Schwag: People will go nuts for anything that's free. And we mean anything. Some booths were giving out free mints. People went nuts for them. We began to fear for the arms and limbs of anyone offering free stuff, afraid that someone would run off with those too.
And now begins the long wait for E3: 2007. GAME ON!
In the meanwhile, check out our E3 photoset on the LAist group at Flickr!
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist