E3: Protesters target Dante's Inferno game [Updated]

[Updated June 4, 12:15 p.m.: It turns out the protest wasn't a protest, but actually a publicity stunt. Read more about it here.]

It isn't all playing games and doing business at E3 this year.

A small group of 13 protesters had attendees gawking by one of the entrances to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The object of their ire? Electronic Arts' upcoming video game based on the literary classic "Dante's Inferno," which is on display at the show.

The protesters, who came from a church in Ventura County, held signs with slogans such as "trade in your playstation for a praystation" and "EA = anti-Christ" as they marched and handed out a homemade brochure that warns, "a video game hero does not have the authority to save and damn... ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE. and he will not judge the sinners who play this game kindly."

Matthew Francis, one of the protesters, said he and his fellow church members were particularly upset that Dante's Inferno features a character who fights his way out of Hell and uses a cross as a weapon against demons.

"We think this game should never come out," he said, before asking a reporter to convey his message to executives at Electronic Arts inside the show, where non-industry professionals are not allowed.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: Tony Pierce / Los Angeles Times

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E3: Sony's all about the games at Electronic Entertainment Expo

"2009 is going to be all about content on the PlayStation 3," Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton said at today's E3 press conference at the Shrine Auditorium. 

Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Sony's getting in the motion-sensing controller game and releasing the PSP Go, a download-only version of its hand-held console. But the big focus of its E3 news conference today was the huge lineup of exclusive games that it hopes will draw hard-core gamers and boost the last-place status of its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

"2009 is going to be all about content on the PlayStation 3," Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton said.

Sony's PlayStation 3 has sold 22 million units worldwide so far, compared with 30 million Microsoft Xbox 360s and 50 million Nintendo Wiis. The hand-held PSP is at close to 50 million units, while Nintendo's competing DS has sold over 100 million.

Gamers went into E3 this year knowing that Sony had a stronger menu of internally produced games in the works, including highly anticipated titles such as God of War III, Uncharted 2 and the 256-player online game MAG, all of which were shown at the event.

But there were also several surprising new partnerships with third-party publishers announced for games exclusive to the PlayStation 3. Exclusives for either the PS3 or Xbox 360, which have very similar capabilities, are increasingly rare in the industry and usually require a console maker to provide significant financial incentives, either directly or in the form of marketing support.

After abandoning a long history of PlayStation exclusivity by releasing Grand Theft Auto IV last year for XBox 360 as well as the PS3, Rockstar Games will release -- only on Sony's device -- a new espionage game set in the 1970s called Agent. The event's biggest surprise came from Japanese role-play game publisher Square Enix, which will launch Final Fantasy XIV next year only on PS3. The news drew audible gasps since Final Fantasy XII comes out next spring for Xbox 360 and PS3. Most gamers had concluded that the popular franchise's days of exclusivity to one console were over and ...

E3: Nintendo adds pulse sensor to Wii, tells players to relax

Nintendo, which has not been shy about telling players to lose weight, this morning unveiled a pulse sensor for its Wii console that would tell players to take it easy.

The Vitality Sensor can detect your pulse rate, possibly encouraging a new focus for video gaming. Credit: Nintendo

Called the Wii Vitality Sensor, the gizmo clips to your index finger and feeds your pulse into games. While Nintendo did not show games incorporating the sensor, the company's president, Satoru Iwata, said it could be used to encourage people to relax.

"With the sensor, we can tell whether you are breathing in or out. We can tell how nervous you are," Iwata said in an interview. "It can create an entirely new way to think about video games."

So instead of heart-pounding, adrenaline-fueled action games, there could be titles that could challenge players to keep their cool.

Nintendo triggered a revolt against the traditional game controller with its byzantine array of buttons and joysticks in 2006 when it launched the Wii console, which uses a simple, wireless candy-bar-sized remote controller that senses motion. A year later, it launched Wii Fit, a fitness game that came with a device resembling a bathroom scale called the Balance Board that senses weight.

Nintendo plans to release the Vitality Sensor next year, along with games to show off its capabilities, Iwata said.

The announcement is part of Nintendo's strategy to ...

E3: Microsoft shows off gesture control technology for Xbox 360

A video demonstrating how Microsoft's new technology, "Project Natal," emphasizes that it's a whole-body experience.  More from the Microsoft press conference. Credit: David Sprague / For The Times

 Microsoft kicked off the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this morning by giving the boot to the iconic video game controller.

Microsoft wants people to start using their full bodies to play video games. The Redmond, Wash., software giant showed off a sensor-based technology that recognizes faces, voices and body joints to affect the movements on screen. In a demo game called Ricochet, players can use their arms, legs, torso and head to block an onslaught of virtual projectiles. Another game called Paint Party lets users splash virtual paint onto an on-screen canvas. Players call out different colors to change the palette.

The effort aims to attract a broader audience to Microsoft's console. Most of the 30 million Xbox 360s sold since November 2005 have been snapped up by avid young males drawn to complex shooter or adventure games such as Halo and Gears of War.

To lure women and families to its console, Microsoft last year changed the look of its online service, Xbox Live, to make it more approachable. It also added Netflix's Instant Watch service for movies on demand and is adding high-definition streaming through its Zune video service. Many credit Netflix with the surge in Xbox Live subscribers, to 20 million today from 8 million a year ago. "We know there have been people who have bought the Xbox 360 just to be able to watch Netflix movies," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of strategy and business development for the Xbox business.

But playing games is another matter. The company's trademark green controller features 12 buttons and two joysticks, far too many ...

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

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 ...

E3 redux: 2009 game show will look more like 2006

Welcome back, booth babes models. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, is expected to return to its roaring roots in June after two years of flirting with the somber side.

The show has traditionally been the video game industry's most important convention, drawing as many as 70,000 attendees to Los Angeles to admire the displays, go temporarily deaf from the thundering sound systems and gawk at the scantily clothed models.

After game companies objected to the hassle and expense of putting on the glitzy show, the Entertainment Software Assn., the industry group that organizes E3, went the other way. It scaled down the attendee list to fewer than 5,000 journalists and analysts and toned down the show floor. That prompted observers to ask, "Why so serious?"

Today, the ESA announced it would be returning to the old format for next year's show, which will be held June 2-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Instead of doling out registrations based on the usual invitation-only list, it will throw open the doors to any professional related to the fast-growing game industry, which is expected to generate about $50 billion in global sales this year.

"It's going to be a much larger tent that will be more indicative of the large ecosystem of the industry today," said Michael Gallagher, chief executive of the ESA.

Gallagher estimates that next year's E3 will draw 40,000 people -- more than eight times more than this year's attendance but fewer than in the show's peak years, when it was a rite of passage for some teenagers to sneak their way into the raucous event.

The ESA also shifted the show to June, from July, to draw in retailers who tend to place their holiday orders earlier in the summer.

As for the booth babes, Gallagher said, "Exhibitors will have a much wider range of creativity in which to display their games and products. We expect models to be part of that."

-- Alex Pham

Photo: Dancer at E3 2006. Credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times