Thanks to Gamebunny for its interview with Ryan Seabury of Auto Assault developers NetDevil, regarding the PC MMO "set in a post-apocalyptic future" which "combines vehicular combat with role-playing elements." Seabury discusses what the E3 audience enjoyed the most about the game (apparently, "everyone loved the Biomech 'Hazard Mode' (transforming into a hulking Mech and laying waste to the immediate vicinity)"), and also deflects comparisons to EA's already defunct vehicular MMO, Motor City Online: "From what I understand, we're about as different to MCO as, say... Grand Theft Auto is to Gran Turismo. Auto Assault is by no means a simulator. Our focus is squarely on over-the-top vehicular combat and mayhem... and action-oriented play style, with character development behind the vehicles."

Thanks to Kikizo for its newly posted mammoth collection of freely downloadable E3 Expo-related game videos, recapping (if a little late) games and press events from "this year's massive Los Angeles event." Especially notable is Xbox press conference spoof 'The Novice' (58mb WMV) [there's a much better-quality 8MB WMV version at TeamXbox], which 1UP.com described at the time as "a send-up of reality show The Apprentice... portraying [J.] Allard, fellow vice president Peter Moore, and chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach trying to curry favor [regarding online gaming] with the real-life Donald Trump." Somewhat lost in the E3 rush, the spoof is worth re-visiting, not least for the ending, where the losing Sony team (with "actors portraying Sony vice-president Ken Kutaragi, SCEA head Kaz Hirai and SCEA vice president Andrew House") collectively get fired, at which point "none other than Bill Gates himself ducks under them and steals the cab before they can get in."

Thanks to GameSpy for its 'Sole Food' column discussing why certain Xbox games were missing from Microsoft's line-up at last month's E3 show in Los Angeles. Titles mentioned, with included late-breaking Microsoft response, include "part action, part collectible-card game" Phantom Dust ("Microsoft Game Studios has decided to not publish Phantom Dust for North America"), action title and "everyone's favorite goggle-wearing, vacuum-wielding, time-shifting cat" Blinx 2 (We plan to make an official announcement after E3"), and "console massively multiplayer online RPG" True Fantasy Live Online ("The Level 5 team is focusing on developing and polishing the game for the Japanese release this winter, and as a result the timing of the U.S. release of the game is still undetermined.")

Thanks to Way of the Rodent for its feature providing printable plans for making your own mini classic videogame arcade using paper cut-outs. The accompanying text explains: "Finally - relive those early-to-mid '80s arcade glory days without the hassle of paying for stuff or having to learn how the machines work so you can keep fixing them or negotiating with strange, staring men at frightening auctions", before linking to printable color templates for games including Gauntlet, Defender, Robotron, and Tempest and asking: "Send pictures [of your completed mini-arcade], too. We'd love to see how you interpret and arrange all of this", in a move reminiscent of Konami's Metal Gear Rex paper model kit handed out at E3 2003.

Thanks to Kikizo for its interview with Tecmo's Tomonobu Itagaki regarding "Ninja Gaiden 2, Code Chronus, Dead or Alive Ultimate, DOA4 and PSP, [and] Nintendo DS development", conducted at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. Itagaki addresses the complaints of some about Ninja Gaiden's extreme difficulty, posturing: "It was done intentionally of course. The testers who tested this game went nuts. At first it was easier, but when the testers said 'this is too difficult', I made it even more difficult", before mentioning that a Ninja Gaiden 2 is planned, and "the concept will not change", but "it will be after [development of] Dead or Alive 4", which in turn will be produced after the nearly completed Dead Or Alive Ultimate, the Xbox Live online-enabled title which "takes the first two Dead or Alive titles, adds all new environments, a novel online setup, a higher degree of interactivity in its levels, new movies, new costumes, and more."

An anonymous reader writes "According to Reuters, Nintendo has indicated it will debut its next-generation console at next May's E3, as part of financial results in which the company showed net profit of 70 billion yen ($625 million) - this figure still 'fell by half in the past business year, hurt by disappointing sales of its GameCube console and currency losses, but [Nintendo] predicted earnings would bounce back this year.' The company also indicated 'target shipments of 3.5 million 'DS' machines', with Nintendo's Yoshihiro Mori saying: 'In order to have the DS out by Christmas, we plan to start production late summer or early fall and boost production every month.'"

SteelGator writes "You're playing a relaxing game of Grand Theft Auto with a friend's child. You're also on the phone with a co-worker who's at a restaurant. As a warning to the child, you say "There's a bomb in the building. Everyone needs to get out!" Your co-worker thinks it's a real bomb threat. Uh oh!" While awaiting trial, perhaps this guy could check out a new screenshot from GTA: San Andreas, showing lead character Carl Johnson (extravagant rumors claim to be voiced by 50 Cent?) "outside the Los Santos convention center, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the home of E3."

An anonymous reader writes "Most of the major game sites have put up 'Best of E3' sections, including those from Gamespot, from IGN, from GameSpy, and from 1UP . Everyone gave a different Best of Show this year, and agreed that the competition was fierce. I was happy to see mention of Yoot Saito's Odama and Namco's Katamari Damashii. Notable absences, in my opinion, included Tim Schafer's chronically late Psychonauts for Xbox. What games caught your eye? Who was the big winner this year?" T adds: Danno writes "The gang over here at GameGal.com have just put up our 2004 edition of the E3 Hall of Shame. Each year we chronicle the best of the worst in booth babes and half-naked female video game characters. We're not really offended by most of this, but it is amusing to see the lengths companies will go to catch the attention of jaded E3 attendees."

Thanks to GameSpot for its short piece noting Namco is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary as a company, after it "started out small, building two wooden-horse rides on the rooftop of a department store in Yokohama", before it "released the arcade title Pac-Man [in 1980], which established a dominant position for the company in the gaming industry." IGN PS2 also has Namco's 2003 financial results, which were "higher than those of previous years", with a 8,500,000,000 yen (USD$75 million) profit, after "Soul Calibur 2 performed well worldwide, with the Taiko no Tatsujin drumming game crossing the two million mark across its four PS2 titles." The company's official E3 site has been showcasing its recently announced titles, including the newly unveiled Tekken 5, as well as the quietly shown U.S.-localized Taiko Drum Master, which 1UP notes "may be a hard sell to American gamers whose definition of 'rhythm action' begins and ends with the frenetic aerobics of Dance Dance Revolution", even notwithstanding increased American interest [free reg. req.] in taiko drumming.

Lord_Dweomer writes "The Hollywood Reporter brings us the next trick up marketers' sleeves. A new t-shirt with an 11" display and 4 stereo speakers was unveiled at E3 last week playing a trailer of the new I, Robot movie soon to be released. Unfortunately the company behind them, San Francisco based Brand Marketers, has announced that they will not be for individual sale. When will I be able to watch a movie on my sleeve?!" Update: 05/20 15:38 GMT by M : i4u writes "We just reported about Irish Adwalker which uses Xybernaut equipment for a more high-end Video T-shirt. Also we saw the brandmarketers Video T-Shirt at the Wired Nextfest 2004."

Thanks to Firaxis for its press release announcing that Eagle Games are making a board game version of forthcoming PC remake Sid Meier's Pirates!, following Eagle's earlier release of a Sid Meier's Civilization board game, as well a previously mentioned Age Of Mythology tabletop title. The official Eagle Games site hints at "Other [Boardgame] Projects in the Works", including "A Railroad Game" - possibly Railroad Tycoon, another Sid Meier-created videogame classic? Elsewhere, there was GameSpy coverage and a GameSpot preview of the Pirates! videogame itself at E3, with GameSpy noting: "It's an easy game to jump right into: heavy on action and big on pirate", and the Firaxis site also mentions another Meier-related story, the announcement of Civilization for the Nokia N-Gage.

Thanks to Insert Credit for its interview with SNK USA's Ben Herman, conducted at E3 last week, in which he "addressed the rumor that Sony had forced the company into making [multiple games in one compilation] pack-ins for their 2D [PlayStation 2] titles." Herman noted that, apparently, "pack-ins were indeed his plan all along... but acknowledged that Sony was definitely more receptive to the pack-in idea than the single package. SvC Chaos and Metal Slug 3 stand alone discs were not approved, for instance." Thus, "The Xbox exclusives in the US market (the aforementioned SvC Chaos and Metal Slug 3) only came about because of Sony's rejection", and Xbox exclusivity won't be repeated in the near future. There's also a longer interview with Ben Herman posted at the MMCafe forums in which he confirms that "Samurai Shodown V and Samurai Shodown V: Special... [are] approved for the PS2."

Thanks to Watch Impress for its news story covering the novel Korean Xbox game, XTango [Japanese-language link], shown at the Kentia Hall during last week's E3. The official English-language XTango webpage has more information, explaining the "new-concepted sports dance game in which there's fantastic ballroom [dancing], music, and handsome and beautiful characters." The gameplay is also sketched out: "Collaborating 1 or 2 Players fight against computer couples. 1P is the leader in couple dance, he or she inputs next 'step command' for dance motions, like as command input system of fighting games. [The] follower, 2P presses the same 'step command' right after."

Thanks to The Next Level for its two-part hands-on impressions of Halo 2's multiplayer modes, as shown at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles last week, including many videos of the action, and discussing "the changes to the heads up display", also noting gleefully: "Is carrying two guns worth sacrificing your ability to throw grenades? In a word: Hell Yeah!", before finally concluding of the Xbox title, due out this November: "It was by far the most fun and intense playing experience I had with any game at this year's E3."

Thanks to Eurogamer for its article revealing many new details about Rockstar North's ravenously-awaited PlayStation 2 title, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which had first screenshots revealed during last week's E3 show. Hitherto unavailable information includes the setting ("comprising Los Santos (Los Angeles) where you start out, San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturra (Las Vegas), it's an epic environment allegedly six times the size of Vice City") and unorthodox new features ("through dozens of accurately modelled restaurants and other eateries, the criminal wannabe will be able to top up his stamina meter, and actually visibly gain weight"), with Eurogamer concluding happily: "We fancy that Rockstar North's dark and satirical sense of humour, and passionate obsession with minutely detailed gameplay will see us through many a lonely night in San Andreas."

mindless4210 writes "The new Nokia N-Gage, shown at E3, looks promising, but Nokia better be prepared to compete with Sony and Nintendo. Nokia is betting the N-Gage's wireless communication abilities will set it apart and allow multiplayer gaming to move away from computers and living-room consoles and into consumers' pockets." Reader harikiri writes "According to the BBC, the much-maligned Infinium Labs has showcased their Phantom console at E3. Apparently Infinium have made agreements with AMD and Nvidia to provide the processor and graphics controller. The specs seem very respectable: a 2.5GHz AMD processor, 256MB RAM and a 40GB HDD." Reader Ipingforpong writes "E3, probably the most well known video game trade show was assaulted by the U.S. Army in a promotion for America's Army. Soldiers rappelled out of a real Blackhawk helicopter with real rifles and rushed the show."

scishop writes "While most of the gaming world has been focused on the dazzling smoke and mirrors special effects of E3, Gamasutra has published an interesting article on a different game convention: Indie Game Jam '04 where two dozen game developers spent four days creating a variety of games built around the same engine in an effort to encourage innovation. The results included apps centered around boxing, yoga and flaming hamsters." Our earlier story over at Slashdot Games has more links and information.

Thanks to Forbes/Reuters for its article mentioning Sony expects to lose money on its PlayStation Portable hardware, with Sony's Kaz Hirai saying: "So if you're saying 'Day one, are you going to be profitable on the hardware?' then probably not... Hopefully, this will have a 10-year lifecycle, at which point I'll look back and say 'Yes, definitely profitable'." Elsewhere, on the final day of the E3 show, 1UP has a preview of Nintendo's unique-looking Odama, described as "the fast action of pinball mixed with the ancient art of Japanese warfare", GameSpot has more information on Pandemic/THQ's Destroy All Humans!, where you'll "get to probe farmers, slaughter cows, and do all the awesome little things that aliens do", and other sites go hands-on with Star Fox 2, confirm a Disgaea pseudo-sequel for PSP, give some more information on Devil May Cry 3, and show impressions of Treasure's take on the Gradius series.

Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for its article discussing an interview with Square Enix president Yoichi Wada, as he discusses a perceived "evolution in the thinking" at Microsoft, and "said that his company... would consider working on Xbox 2." The analysis, which uses as its base a GameSpot interview conducted during E3, has Wada mentioning of Microsoft's Xbox Live service: "The attempt was to create a closed network in a closed environment. That is completely contrary to our concept of networked business", and ends by suggesting: "Reading between the lines of Wada's comments, it seems likely that [more 'open' online] concessions could be integrated into the standard terms of the online service on Xbox 2... making the Xbox into a much more attractive platform for companies such as EA and Square Enix."

Ant writes "GamesRadar.com is reporting that a Metal Gear Solid 3 demo was stolen from the E3 videogames expo by nefarious exhibition attendees, as, allegedly: 'L.A. Convention Center security staff were left flat-footed and red-faced yesterday as two unknown perps had it away with a copy of the MGS3: Snake Eater demo... The code snatchers were able to gain access to the PS2 demoing Snake's hotly anticipated jungle rumble by cracking the perspex case on one of the pods on the Sony stand."