Published May 31, 2011
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, at the Los Angeles Convention Center has long been the flash-and-dazzle, mega-multimedia, show-to-end-all-shows for the electronic games industry. After a few failed experiments with smaller shows, E3 returned to its roots a couple of years ago with all the craziness and coolness you expect from the game industry, including multi-million-dollar booths, models dressed as scantily clad video game characters (of both sexes) and booming audio dominating the show floor.
Don Mattrick unveils Project Natal at E3 2009.
Monday, June 6, kicks things off with the Xbox 360 Media briefing, a blockbuster 90-minute look at the biggest and best games and entertainment set for release in 2011 and beyond. Watch the event commercial-free on SPIKE TV at 12:30 P.M. ET/9:30 A.M. PT. Check your listings for "Xbox 360: The Future Revealed" and tune in for all the excitement. You can also view the Spike TV showing live online at www.xbox.com/e3.
Past E3 Announcements
Just to whet your news appetite, here's a quick rundown of the biggest Xbox-related announcements from past expos:
- 2001: Ship date and price of original Xbox revealed
- 2002: Xbox LIVE launched with MechAssault
- 2003: Halo 2 and Fable announced
- 2004: Halo 2 multiplayer hands-on, Forza Motorsport announced, EA comes to Xbox LIVE
- 2005: Xbox 360 unveiled
- 2006: Halo 3, GTA IV and Gears of War announced
- 2007: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, BioShock, Assassin's Creed and Rock Band unveiled
- 2008: New Xbox Experience (NXE), Xbox LIVE Avatars and Parties and Netflix support revealed
- 2009: Project Natal (the codename for Kinect) announced and demonstrated, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr onstage to launch The Beatles: Rock Band, Modern Warfare 2 unveiled
- 2010: A special Cirque du Soleil show unveils Kinect, Gears of War 3 announced
Those are just the highlights from the past decade. Tune in live on Spike TV to see what the 2011 press conference will bring!
Gears of War 3 was announced at last year's E3 show.
The main show floor opens up on Tuesday, June 7, with all the major software publishers showing their upcoming games. Attendees will see the latest progress on long-in-the-works titles, get a chance to get hands-on play with titles shipping this fall and witness the unveiling of dozens of completely new games.
Inside E3
If you're not on the E3 invite list, don't despair! Check Xbox.com throughout E3 for the full scoop on all the big announcements, and get updates at Facebook.com/xbox. Finally, tune in to the Spotlight and Inside Xbox channels on Xbox LIVE throughout the show for on-the-spot reports from Major Nelson and the rest of the Inside Xbox crew.
--Article by Denny Atkin