THE WORLD’S leading gaming hardware makers, hoping to reignite the slumping €50 billion industry, will unveil at E3 next week futuristic gadgets designed to pull in a new generation of players.
Microsoft is expected to announce a name and launch date for its “Project Natal” controller-free system at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Sony will show off its competing Move motion-sensor, and Nintendo will give the first glimpse of its 3D handheld device.
“This is the biggest hardware show we’ve had for years,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. “We haven’t ever had hardware announcements from all three console guys at the same time.”
The rush of new technology comes just as the video game industry, which dwarfs the $10 billion (€8.3 billion) US movie box office, needs it. Total US industry sales – hardware, software and accessories – are down more than 10 per cent to $4.7 billion in the year to April, according to retail research firm NPD Group.
Analysts are betting on Microsoft and Nintendo to generate the most buzz, the former with a free-form motion-sensing game platform, the latter with a 3D system that requires no glasses.
Microsoft’s long-gestating Natal kicks off the festivities with what will almost certainly be a splashy, celebrity-sprinkled demonstration on Sunday.
The company unveiled the peripheral device at last year’s E3. This year attendees will be keen to learn its actual name, what games Microsoft has lined up for it and how much it will cost. – (Reuters)
