E3 2005: The Show Preview

Kikizo heads Downtown to cover everything you need from the biggest games show ever. Mini-preview with predictions/hints inside!

It's that time of year again - when gaming sites across the globe desperately attempt to steer clear of the same old clichés when talking about how HUGE the Electronic Entertainment Expo is going to be! But, huge it is - and once again, Kikizo is here in Los Angeles every step of the way to bring you all the coverage that matters.

As you will no doubt know, this year's show is all about the unveiling of three new, next-generation consoles: Xbox 360, which will see a full unveiling with playable software on the showfloor following its official May 12 MTV debut; PlayStation 3, which will be demonstrated at Sony's pre-show conference with new tech demos and the possibility of learning the machine's final name and design; and Revolution, the enigmatic GameCube successor whose E3 expose will fall short of many fans' expectations - although we still expect to learn about specs, and we certainly expect to see early software demos, like Mario 128 for example which could wind up on the new machine after all.

But as exciting as it is to have three all-new consoles show up (in some form) together for the first time ever, there's a whole lot more to get excited about at E3 2005.

For starters, Kikizo believes unequivocally that Nintendo will unveil its brand new Game Boy handheld. Following the superb performance of the company's "third pillar" dual-screened Nintendo DS, this is the show where the GBA2 (as the media is calling it, despite it carrying a different, top-secret internal development name), will make its debut for the first time. And as unbelievable as that sounds, naysayers may be forced to climb-down as they see that as far as new hardware launches go, it's not, well... only Xbox's year.

Then there's the small matter of hugely anticipated current-generation software such as The Legend of Zelda for GameCube and Shadow of the Colossus for PlayStation 2 - both of which will be playable on the showfloor - plusa wealth of new software for both PSP and DS.

Kikizo will be bringing you full show coverage including the usual mix of detailed conference reportage, hands-on impressions and immense follow-up coverage including the only post-show video coverage you'll ever need, quality interviews with some of the industry's top people, and more besides.

Kikizo Staff
Annual anxiety aplenty.