E3 Expo

The time for all us damn videogame and computer geeks is upon us. That's right, the eden for us videogame marks is less than 7 days away. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then I don't really know why you're even reading this. But, in case you haven't been apart of the electronic entertainment expo for the 7 years of its existance...this is what I speak of.

This year is one of the most anticipated e3's of all time. One company has a trend to continue, while two other companies have new consoles to enter the videogamin market, and the last company gets to do what it should have been doing all along. Have no clue what I'm talking about? Then, lets take a look at what to expect from the now big 4 companies of the videogaming world.

screenshot Sony: Right now, no matter how you look at it, Sony has a strong hold on the videogaming market. The hold isn't as strong as their hold with the psx, but its still there. Sony managed to tick off a lot of people with the underwhelming amount of units it had at launch. But doing that, Sony created a great deman for the psx2. So, as soon as those units hit the shelves..they were swiped up. With this method, sony has managed to obtain a 1 million user base in 6 months. Something Sega couldn't do in 2 years.

But times are changing, and two more powerful units are supposed to be making their way to the market. Sony does not time to sit on their past accolades. They have to continue building their enormous advantage while they can. Sony has never been a strong first party developer, but with classic upgrades like "Twisted Metal Black" being unveiled along with Square unveling games like Final Fantasy X,Konami coming with Metal Gear Solid, and other 3rd party developers coming strong. Sony will definately appease their own fans, as well as turn the heads of quite a few of the others. But with two other gaming systems being unveiled this e3...Sony is going to have to have one ace up its sleeve. Perhaps some titles Sega has in development for them...or the ultimate bomb...a price drop!!

screenshot Nintendo: These guys are the most dangerous company going into the e3. They have a system that NO ONE has seen, but everyone wants. I mean, can you beat a inexpensive price tag with games that every videogamer has come to know and love. Nintendo has kept tight lipped about everything that they have to show at this upcoming shows, but there have already been talks of "Super Smash Bros.", "Donkey Kong", "Metroid", and you know their isn't going to be a new Nintendo system if there isn't a Mario game in attendance. Nintendo has something Microsoft doesn't have...followers. And the simple mentioning and showing of a new Mario game will overshadow just about any and everything any other company has to show. What makes this system even more dangerous is that the timetable of when it will be released is unknown. Nintendo says before X-mas, while most gamers in the world say more like March 2002. Unless this bad boy comes out in Oct. 2002, its date is going to spell trouble for the ps2 and the x-box, but also help the two units. When the Cube comes out, Nintendo will get their units shipped out regardless of what happens to Sony and Microsoft. Therefore, the videogaming market will be split into three different ways. Making a leader very hard, unless of course you already have a huge jump start like SOny. Microsoft needs Gamecube to be like their little sidekick to take some of the steam out of the Ps2's growing fan base. The Gamecube will certainly hold up their end of the bargain, and the e3 show will be there time to drop a bomb on the videogaming world.

Microsoft: The dark horse of the e3, the Microsoft X-box is going in to LA with the most hype. Of course, hype often times does not pan out. Microsoft has the most to prove during this e3. Unlike Sony and Nintendo, they don't have a built in fan base, so they will be getting the attention of people from pure curiosity. While they have the attention of the people, they are going to hit them with every beautiful visual there powerful HUGE ass box can muster up. Unfortunately for X-box, they are going to have to come with more than pretty movies and still shots at e3. They are going to have to show the world some substance...aka. GAMEPLAY. Gameplay is going to be the make or break item for the X-box, and LA is where they're going to have to show it. Throughout the last few months, people have been jupming on the X-box bandwagon because they had nice pictures. So did the 3DO people (another American based videogaming unit). The X-box has yet to show a single second of ACTUAL gameplay. Are the games going to look as good while playing them as they do when in cinematic mode? Are the games going to be more Pc-oriented (boring) or console based? Is there any 3rd party developers that people actually know? These are the questions that the X-box needs to answer, and do so now. With the rising lead the PS2 is getting, and the simple popularity of Nintendo...X-box's time is now.

Microsoft also has to do another very important thing. Pricing this sytem. It costs $400+ bucks to make one X-box unit, but we know the system is going to be that expensive or it won't even sell 500,000 units. They have to find a range where they don't seem like they are desperate to get these things off their hands, and they don't want to overprice it. That all comes down to when they decide to release their system. If the X-box comes through on all these points, they should have a very good showing.

Sega: Boy do these guys have it easy this year. They don't have the fear that the other three guys do in trying to push a new or relatively new system. They have finally realised that they weren't getting the credit they deserved in the market, and have turned into a software based company. This is probably the smartest thing they've ever done, and they have taken all the pressure off of them for this show. Sure they'll still have some games to create for the DC, but they've already put a date on the life of that system. There primary purpose is to create games for the other units, and this is where I think someone in the show will get their extra boost. Sega is going to show some games for the other units, and I think Sega (being the bitter losers they are) are going to put the majority of their new software on the X-box and the Gamecube, while giving Sony a few pieces here and there. Sega is going to be a major player in putting the icing on the cake for one of the other videogaming companies.

Well, those are the four challengers and some of their strengths and weaknesses. The show can be huge for any one of them, because each company has something going in there favor. Only time will tell how things will go, but shall know in a matter of 6 days. Check back here at gyeah.com for the hits and misses from this years e3.

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