Video Game Heaven in Los Angeles

May 9, 2006 -- -- For three days each year in Los Angeles, the glitz and glam of the movie industry takes a backseat to the almost $10 billion a year interactive world of video games.

In 2005, about 70,000 industry insiders, journalists and various VIPs filled the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the biggest video game trade show in the world.

Stay with ABCNEWS.com for the latest news from E3 through May 12.

This year, with Nintendo showing off its soon-to-be-released Wii video game console, Sony displaying the new PlayStation 3, and both machines employing motion-sensitive controllers, it could be even bigger.

"The main thing is going to be the hardware that's on show," said Dennis McCauley, editor of GamePolitics.com and a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Some years it's the games, but this year's show has everyone completely wired up to hear about the new consoles."

Hardware That's Hot

E3 is known for big announcements from game companies, thanks in no small part to the intense worldwide media coverage.

This year is no different with rumors of a Microsoft handheld gaming system, a PlayStation 3 controller that reacts to player's movement, and what many are calling the darling of the show, Nintendo's Wii.

"We're definitely excited to see what Nintendo's Wii is all about," said Sam Kennedy, editor in chief of video game supersite 1Up.com. "They've been talking about changing the way we play games, and we want to see if they can actually deliver."

Nintendo hopes to open up gaming to a whole new audience with the help of Wii's controller, which is untraditionally shaped like a remote control.

It's a philosophy that seems to be catching on as Sony announced Monday that the controller for its PlayStation 3 console would also respond to player movements.

"The controller is the barrier," Kennedy said. "It's intimidating, so if you can use a controller that looks like a remote control -- which is familiar to everybody -- and then they can just wave it around to perform actions in the game, that's what's going to get new gamers."

It's also part of the larger industry trend of online, community gaming, one which Microsoft has successfully set the standard for with its Xbox Live service that both Sony and Nintendo are trying to duplicate.

A Game for All

While the hardware is what everyone's talking about before this year's show, there's at least one game that everyone seems excited about.

"If there's a game here at E3 that I want to see and that other people want to see, it's 'Spore,'" McCauley said.

"Spore" is the latest creation from Will Wright, the mind behind the smash-hit game franchise "The Sims."

The game will allow players to create a life form from the molecular level and drive that life form to evolve, establish a society, and continue to advance until it reaches a point where it can travel through space.

Once that happens the game really takes off, allowing players to visit some of the thousands of other planets that inhabit a vast galaxy and see how they're faring.

"'Spore' will bring in a new audience to gaming as well because it gives people not only the chance to experiment, but the chance to explore with almost scientific principles in a fun way," McCauley said.

People are also anticipating the "Metal Gear Solid" game from Sony and hope for some news about a third installment of the blockbuster "Halo" series.

Crisis in the Industry?

As much as this year's E3 is about games and the machines to play them on, it's also about tidying up the industry's image after a year that saw scandal when the latest "Grand Theft Auto" game was pulled from store shelves and re-rated after sexually explicit content was discovered hidden deep in the software. It's also a year in which many say the entertainment form itself seems under attack.

"There are at least two dozen states that have restrictive video game legislation bills going through their process," McCauley said. "There's one that's very close to passing and being signed by the governor in Oklahoma, and this Friday -- while E3 is going on -- in San Jose, Calif., a federal judge will be hearing final arguments from the video game industry to California's video game law."

The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the video game industry, is challenging a law that restricts the sale of M-rated games to minors, based on the First Amendment.

"The industry will probably win that challenge as they have won the other ones," he said.