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Amazon e3? Is that something like the bastard son of EC2 and S3?
I'm sure you don't mean this E3.

Connecting piping to their mothers' basements would be horribly inefficient. You'd have to lure them out and consolidate them into a single location. Luckilly, we have this, this, and these among others.

"E3 has not always been open to the public, either. Only in the past couple years have they started selling general admission tickets, though it was never hard to get a press pass if you had even a moderately popular web site."

So, either they are basically saying that certain companies are pulling out or it's just a big rumor. If you go here http://www.e3expo.com/default.aspx you'll see that E3 2007 is already underway.

The PC section was relegated to a tiny hallway in the basement.
Um, no. I was at E3 and, although there were only a couple PC games that really stood out to me, there was definitely more than a tiny hallway in the basement. Booth 1068(PDF) in South Hall as well as the booth in the basement (Kentia Hall) were dedicated to "Games for Windows." That's just Microsoft's name for their group that pushes Windows games, it most definitely does not mean that those are all the Windows games. There were plenty of PCs in the ATI and Nvidia displays as well as scattered around other booths.

I'm not saying that the consoles didn't outshine the PC games at E3, this was a year of big console announcements. Last year though, I remember seeing a whole lot more MMORPGS which are almost exclusively PC based. That and the big title last year was Doom 3, which was a PC only release.

The E3 expo homepage has all of the details. Looks like it runs May 17 - 20.

For anyone who still doesn't understand, its not "ate 3 2005", its "at e3 2005". E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (see?, the initials are EEE, so its just called E3 for short). It is where vendors of interactive products (i.e. video game companies like Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, second and third party developers, and anyone else into interactive entertainment products) show off their new stuff like new consoles and games and usually make big announcements. The show is in Los Angeles every May, and you usually have to be either in the industry or a journalist to get in the door. Try http://www.e3expo.com/ for more information.

It's basically a big show for trade and consumer people to see the latest video game stuff. There's some other stuff there too, but it's 99% video games. It's what all the poor games devs have to bust a gut to get their demo ready for, hence the phrase "E3 Demo", which you usually will hear if you ever read about games development.

E3 is like CES or MWSF - but just for gaming. They are really fun. And, back the two years E3 was in Atlanta, I got to meet Rhona Mitra when she was "playing" the part of Lara Croft... ;) And I got to meet Brett Favre, Wayne Gretsky, Keith Katchuk, Gillian Anderson, and the whole cast of "Mortal Kombat".

Oh yeah, and there are a bunch of games...

A little cold of Microsoft to dump DoubleFine RIGHT before E3 . They could have at least given them one terminal to setup in. Microsoft took up as much space as EA, Activision, and another small publisher combined. Sickening.

There are reasons why a game publisher might not want a website to post its screenshots with others, but I wonder if there might just be an error in the linked article.

In independent games, the question of quality-by-association comes up when a company approaches a developer with a request to include its game in a CD compilation. One side of the argument is that the presence of a title on a shovelware compilation can detract from its perceived quality -- your game might appear among a hundred Sokoban clones, or in an extreme case, you might see children's software next to more adult software. So, it is conceivable that publishers might have considered association with this website (archived here) a bad thing.

But I don't buy it. Entire conferences are devoted to publicity, and as they say, no publicity is bad publicity. (To wit, I'd talk up my postman about my software if I thought it'd help. He's a nice guy; we talk about other things.) The only tidbit that screams copyright violation as I understand it is this: Of this collection, several hundred were allegedly found to have been taken from magazines and overseas game sites...

However, I do not understand the end of that sentence: ...without the permission of the game publisher, a violation of Japanese copyright law.

To my knowledge, it is not illegal in the States to take and post a screenshot of a movie or game to the Web; my understanding Japanese intellectual property laws is limited, but given the number of Japanese film/gaming sites that do this, I don't believe that game publishers have any say over what screenshots are presented. I think 1Up may have meant this, instead:

without the permission of the website's publisher, a violation of Japanese copyright law.
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I long for the day when Google stops asking me, "Did you mean: inigo rage"

E3 for classic games.

Yep, with the Electronic Entertainment Expo happening following the concert, I can't think of a better way to spend some time in LA...if you have to do time in LA, that is.

They said there were at E3 but they do not appear in the exhibitors list

On their "events" page, they list E3 and the Game Developer's Conference... yet they are not registered for either

Or consider E3. I've seen people lie, cheat, and steal to get into that conference because it's where companies debut cool new games and let you try them out. Back when Comdex and E3 were both in Atlanta, I went to Comdex because I had to for work, but I went to E3 because I wanted to (even worked as a booth bunny once to gain entrance). The atmosphere of each show is totally different: Comdex is business occasionally masquerading as fun, E3 is fun occasionally masquerading as business.

According to the E3 web site, 60,000 people attended in 2002.

Or consider E3. I've seen people lie, cheat, and steal to get into that conference because it's where companies debut cool new games and let you try them out. Back when Comdex and E3 were both in Atlanta, I went to Comdex because I had to for work, but I went to E3 because I wanted to (even worked as a booth bunny once to gain entrance). The atmosphere of each show is totally different: Comdex is business occasionally masquerading as fun, E3 is fun occasionally masquerading as business.

According to the E3 web site, 60,000 people attended in 2002.

As reported on The Register, which was really a repost of an article from Compuwire, AOL has announced that in its next upgrade to their AOL client for Apple's OS X, it will use Netscape by default. (And just for those who want another link, Spider-Man is cool).

Most people (well, me) assume this means that AOL is using the Macintosh crowd as a testing base, then will make the same move on the Windows side of things by changing their PC client's default from IE to Netscape. The move won't really hurt Microsoft - it will still own 80% of the browser market, and since both Netscape and Internet Explorer are free, neither company will start having shifts of money.

But this isn't so much about money, as it is about control. AOL knows that their are two reasons Microsoft pushes Internet Explorer. Control of standards, and control of eyeballs. With every Windows computer that ships, it has Internet Explorer on it. And it's home page is MSN, Microsoft's media system.

Control the Eyeballs!

Netscape, by comparison, points to Netscape.com - which contains the collective linked knowledge to all things AOL/Time Warner. Links to news articles on CNN, Cartoon Network, and all else.

It's about the eyeballs. AOL wants you to see Time/Warner stuff, Microsoft wants those eyeballs to check out MSN. Both companies have a lot to gain by keeping your attention. AOL/Time Warner wants you to know all about their movies (like the upcoming Power Puff Girls movie, or their cable channels, or their electronic entertainment partnerships, or, just as important, keeping you signed up with AOL.

MSN has its wants, with its line of cable shows, plus all of the other Microsoft goodies, like Gamezone, Hotmail, Expedia and other services - which keep you plugged into the Microsoft system, and keeps those dollars coming in.

Control the browser, control the world

Just as important as the eyeballs is the technology that drives what they see. At last year's E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), AOl and Sony demonstrated using AOL on the Playstation 2 system, at the same time that Sony talked about running Linux on the Playstation 2. Now, almost a year later, Sony is getting ready to start shipping their hard drive/Ethernet/modem combo unit for $150. And AOL sees a large market place - one where there are more TV's than computers, and a $200 Playstation 2 in plenty of homes.

Odds are, Microsoft isn't going to make Internet Explorer for the Playstation system (not with their own Xbox on the market) - let alone for Linux. But since AOL has been sponsoring the creation of Mozilla, the Open Source browser Netscape is based on. Mozilla has been ported to nearly every operating system in existence - Linux, Macintosh, Solaris, and, of course, Windows. And across all operating systems, it provides the same look and feel - so now it doesn't matter what operating system you're using to surf the web/check your mail/chat with your friends on - Netscape looks the same. And you can bet it will be easy enough to develop and port to the Playstation 2 as well.

The implications could drive a shift of development. Suppose you're a web developer at this second, and you want to make sure people visiting your web page see all the whiz bang stuff. Right now, you spend most of your time making sure that Internet Explorer sees the page perfectly - then concentrate on the other browsers out there. Microsoft is happy, because to make sure IE looks the best, odds are you'll use Microsoft technology, which means you're spending Microsoft money (note: not Microsoft Money - different thing).

Netscape, being built on Mozilla, is HTML 4.0 standards compliant. That means that anything written for Netscape is certain to work with every other browser out there - including Internet Explorer (as long as Microsoft codes IE to be fully HTML compliant).

So now the web developer, in a post AOL-switching-to-Netscape time, has a new choice. Program your web site for IE, then for all the others - or make your web site HTML 4.0 standards compliant, and know that all browsers will render it correct the first time. There will still be questions about plug-ins (like those who like to use Flash enabled web sites, but by changing that over to Java, which runs on as many operating systems as Mozilla, developers can code around that hurdle. HTML 4.0 standards mean that anyone's tools can be used - Open Source, proprietary, or otherwise. Which means less money to Microsoft, and more power everyone else.

Maybe the move to Netscape won't change the world overnight, or drive subscribers to AOL. But it keeps the competition between the two companies alive.

And for most of us, competition is a good thing.

As always, I'm John "Dark Paladin" Hummel. And that's my opinion.

Right... here. A bit bulkier than a GameBoy Advance, but imagine the looks you could get at next week's E3 convention!!!

Hello... This unit is real it is basically the gamecube w/ a DVD player on top. This is meant to compete w/ the buyers who want a PS2 or Xbox for DVD playing needs. I got to see this unit at e3 this year and it is what I plan on buying next year. Gamecube all the way ;)

Take a look at this online book.

Their advice is similar to advice given to writers (that I've seen attributed to Stephen King): you learn to be a writer by writing. Lots.

Most of the people I know in the game industry who went the CS route built a portfolio of code, engines, and demos that they could show to folks that alreaady are in the game industry. Coders that want to be in the industry are legion, coders who are willing to put together a decent portfolio aren't as common.

If you're serious about it, you should probably attend industry events like the GDC, E3, and the various GDC roadtrips to network. And if I'm not mistaken, the GDC even allows you to be a volunteer to get a discounted admission fee.

Not quite. I went to E3 in 1997. The programmer/techie guy there frequently referred to Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans as "Warcraft III". The official E3 press releases didn't use the triple-I designation, but the Blizzard frontline people definitely were (and none too happy about the change in direction away from RTS).

hymie