Games and Glitz at E3

Jun 4, 2009 by Jessica Kosinski

The E3 gaming convention kicked off with a bang last week, on Monday night, June 1, 2009.  The 2009 incarnation of the yearly event was packed full of cool new games, systems and celebrity plugs.  Any gamer would’ve been proud and thrilled to be there.  For those that missed it, though, let me bring you in on the party details.

First of all, there was a VIP party Monday night that started things off.  There was an elite crowd in attendance, including Matthew McConaughey.

The party was in honor of the new Guitar Hero spin off, DJ Hero.  So, as you might expect, there was plenty of live music.  The headliners of the show, in fact, were none other than Eminem and Jay-Z.  While their style may not be everyone’s cup of tea, there was no denying the party atmosphere.  Even celeb guests like Kim Kardashian and Leo Dicaprio were enjoying it.
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The star appearances didn’t end at kickoff night, either.  In fact, tons of them were on hand to talk about new gaming experiences, including some seriously incredible concepts that should be awesome, once the kinks are worked out.

Namely, I’m talking about Project Natal, which is Steven Spielberg’s new pet project.  He was on hand to tell everyone all about it, too.

According to Steven, Project Natal is designed to recognize people’s voices, faces and movements.  Meaning that players will be able to play a game without using any sort of controller, just their body and their voice.  Imagine that!  It’ll be like the video game has come alive and responds directly to you, according to Spielberg.

Of course, his speech wouldn’t have been complete without a demo.  He definitely got his point across with that.  It was a boy’s face on a screen that followed people with its eyes, as they worked their way around the room.  Although some people found it a bit scary, the concept is still incredible and it should be awesome when it’s ready!

The event even included a Beatles reunion.  The two live Beatles, Ringo and Paul, showed up and so did Yoko Ono and the son of George Harrison, Dhani.   What was the occasion?  Celebration The Beatles: Rock Band, of course!  The all expressed their love of the game, which features 45 classic Beatles songs.

Another hit was Daisy Fuentes with her new pilates game for Nintendo Wii.  As you probably know, Wii is big on the fitness factor.  Daisy’s pilates game can be used with the Wii Fit system or a regular Wii remote, for added adaptability.

Another notable appearance was James Cameron.  He was there to talk about his movie, Avatar, which is also being tied in to a video game.  The game is from Ubisoft and it’s set in a forest world.  It’s in 2-D, though, so you can get fully involved in the game.  As you deal with enemies and animals in this third-person shooter, you’re likely to forget you aren’t actually in the forest.

All of that and more, including talk of the latest Mario game and the Hannah Montana PSP, took place at this year’s E3.  So, it’s easy to see that they’re coming out with some great gaming advances.