E3: What to expect at this week’s video game show

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Residents and workers in downtown L.A. (like those of us at The Times) had better be ready for the assault of the gaming geeks.

E3 is back, and it’s no longer downsized. After two years of just a few thousand attendees (once in Santa Monica and last year in downtown L.A.), the annual video-game-industry conference is scaling back up to around 40,000 folks. That means pretty much anyone who works for a video-game publisher, developer or your local GameStop will be at the Los Angeles Convention Center to check out the massive displays, nonstop game demos and, yes, booth babes that defined the show from 1995 through 2006.

As always, E3 is the place where the major industry players, particularly the three console makers, announce their big news for the year. Here’s what to look for from them:

-- Microsoft holds the first press conference today at 10:30 a.m. If industry rumors are right, expect the big news to be some kind of device that lets users control games with a camera. There also probably will be more entertainment options along the lines of last year’s Netflix integration as part of the company’s efforts to make the Xbox 360 the device at the center of the digital living room. And in an effort to satisfy hard-core gamers who still make up most of Microsoft’s key audience, there might be a new announcement or two of exclusive games to bulk up what’s right now a somewhat paltry lineup for the rest of 2009.

-- Nintendo goes first on Tuesday at 9 a.m. Despite a recent slowdown in sales, particularly in Japan, the Wii and DS remain in a dominant first-place position, and Nintendo executives are likely to spend much of their presentation touting their success. In terms of new games, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper is reporting that there will be a follow-up to last year’s ultra-successful Wii Fit, as well as a new game starring Mario. You can be sure there will be at least one announcement of ...

... a game starring one of the company’s iconic characters aimed right at the longtime fans who felt that Nintendo shunned them at E3 last year.

-- Perhaps appropriately given its third-place status in the console wars, Sony goes last, Thursday at 11 a.m. One of its expected big announcements, a new version of the PSP called PSP Go that plays only downloaded games, has already been leaked online. In addition, people who have seen the accessory have confirmed Sony’s plans to introduce a new motion-sensing controller that’s significantly more responsive than the one that has helped make the Wii so popular. Overall, expect Sony to focus on its strong lineup of exclusive titles aimed at hard-core young male gamers, like God of War 3, in an effort to boost the struggling Playstation 3.

Of course, E3 isn’t just for the console makers. All of the big publishers will be there showing off their most anticipated titles for the next year. Among the ones everyone will be checking out: Electronic Arts’ Brutal Legend and Dante’s Inferno; Activision’s DJ Hero, Modern Warfare 2 and Tony Hawk: Ride; MTV’s Rock Band: Beatles Edition; 2K’s Bioshock 2; Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 2 and Avatar; LucasArts’ Star Wars: The Old Republic; Eidos and Warner Bros.’ Batman: Arkham Asylum and many, many more.

Be sure to follow the L.A. Times’ Tech blog all week for breaking news, executive interviews and peeks at the most interesting games from E3. Also check out The Times’ Company Town blog for some E3 news with a Hollywood angle, including our new interview with Gore Verbinski about his plans to develop video games and the status of the “Bioshock” movie. For the freshest updates, you can also follow the Twitter feeds of the Tech Blog (@latimestech) and Times reporters Alex Pham (@alexpham) and Ben Fritz (@benfritz).

E3 also brings several feature stories in the papers on interesting trends in the industry. In today’s L.A. Times: The new breed of video game moguls in Hollywood, including Verbinski, Jerry Bruckheimer, Zack Snyder and Thomas Tull.

-- Ben Fritz

More E3 photos