This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Beginning Tuesday, the annual trade show for the $18 billion video game industry will turn the Los Angeles Convention Center into a heavenly conclave for gamers.
The three-day Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is the epicenter for the noisiest, glitziest, most gaudy convention this side of Vegas, with video games blaring over loudspeakers and "booth babes" hired to lure conventioneers to the games they're peddling.
But for video game developers, E3 is also a nervous time. It's when many of them introduce their newest games to industry journalists and retailers, becoming the jumping-off point for a game's potential success — where the buzz can make or break an upcoming title.
"If the Las Vegas strip was designed by a 12-year-old boy, it would be E3. It's about the big marketing message," said Clark Stacey, executive vice president of Smart Bomb Interactive in Salt Lake City, which makes casual, browser-based games.
Five of Utah's biggest game developers will be attending the show beginning Tuesday, including EA Salt Lake, NinjaBee, Avalanche, Eat Sleep Play and Smart Bomb. And all have new titles to show off in an attempt to woo news media and retailers.
After 2½ years working on "Cars 2," based on the upcoming Pixar movie, Avalanche Software is "just excited to show it off," said John Day, the game's producer at the Salt Lake City division of Disney Interactive. "We worked really hard, and we made a really great game." The driving game is scheduled for release June 21.
NinjaBee, of Orem, will be showing off its latest strategy game, an exclusive for the PlayStation 3 and Sony's PlayStation Network. The game, "Akimi Village," is similar to NinjaBee's earlier hit, "A World of Keflings," in which you build a virtual city.
While not a splashy title like many of the other triple-A games that will be presenting at the show, NinjaBee's president, Steve Taylor, is still hoping E3 visitors can see "Akimi Village" in between the bigger first-person-shooting games and sports games.
"If they have a chance to see something different, then I think this is perfect and something they will be looking for," he said. "There is nothing like this on the PlayStation."
Meanwhile, Smart Bomb is expected to announce its newest Web browser-based game, "Sky Legends," a massively multiplayer online flight combat simulator. The free game is expected to be released in the fall.
A big trend Smart Bomb's Stacey expects to see at this year's E3 is more social-network games aimed at people who traditionally don't play on consoles like the Xbox 360.
"The interesting thing is a lot of people who don't consider themselves gamers are playing games every day on Facebook or chat systems like ICQ. They are women or traditionally older people," he said. "I'm going to see how businesses will adapt to the new reality of playing games. Fewer people are willing to pay $60 to play a [console] game they can blow through in a couple of nights."
Perhaps the biggest game from Utah to appear next week is Eat Sleep Play's "Twisted Metal," the latest in the popular car-combat franchise in which players drive vehicles outfitted with weapons.
Sony, which is publishing the game for the PlayStation 3, is expected to make a big splash for "Twisted Metal's" showing, devoting a large portion of its massive booth for the title, said Eat Sleep Play co-founder Scott Campbell.
EA Salt Lake, which makes family-focused games for consoles, also expects to present at the show, according to studio executive producer Jon Dean, though he did not reveal the titles.
The most anticipated reveal at this year's show will be the first look at Nintendo's successor to the Wii, currently codenamed Project Cafe. The new console is believed to display games in high definition and may include a controller that has a built-in touchscreen. Sony will also be showing off its new hand-held portable, the successor to the PlayStation Portable.
For Eat Sleep Play's Campbell, the show also is an important way to get feedback from enthusiasts on how his current game is coming along. "Twisted Metal," which is not being released until October, will be on the show floor for conventioneers to have hands-on demonstrations.
"What I find the most helpful is to just watch people play, see what they're having fun with and what they're struggling with," he said. "I want to see how our game performs. But I'm also excited to see what the other hardware companies have. Hopefully, I will have time to walk the floor and just watch the games."
Twitter: @ohmytech —
About the trade show
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which video game trade show that is closed to the public, runs from Tuesday through Thursday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Press conferences from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will be held Monday.