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E3 - Electronic Entertinment Expo 2000 May 15, 2000 Los Angeles, CA "All you need, anytime, anywhere" is the future of computing, says Bob Pittman, President and COO of America Online and keynote speaker at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) last week. Pittman predicts our communication, information, entertainment and more will soon come via the Internet, mostly from hand-held wireless devices. We saw signs of his predictions everywhere at this annual trade show that fills Los Angeles Convention Center and attracts exhibitors and attendees from around the world. There were new cellular phones from Nokia that, in addition to standard cellular phone service, access wireless services for weather, stocks, shopping, games and e-mail. Similar wireless devices from CyBiko connect to the Internet via your existing ISP (internet service provider) and provide e-mail, games, chat and even a personal planner. In the entertainment sector, on-line gaming via the Internet allows you to play golf, race cars, fish for bass, carry out Star Trek missions (to name a few) with people anywhere in the world. Needless to say, there was much focus on games, the up-coming PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s proposed X-Box. But there was also plenty for those interested primarily in educational, lifestyle and productivity software. Here’s a look at some of what we saw: Graphics and sound quality were impressive: bright, crisp colors and images, smooth animations and unbelievable sound were everywhere--in PC-based products and in the new generation of video game consoles, which now play movie DVDs and audio CDs. Gaming developers are pushing the limits of graphics and sound technology, and all computer users, gamers or not, benefit from these advances in displays and sound. New this year are hand held educational Game Boys to teach math, spelling and reading in the guise of an arcade game. Also new are color Game Boys, with both traditional shoot-em-up games and games geared to the younger set too, often tied to familiar characters such as Tweety. Many educational titles incorporate familiar characters from the Saturday TV cartoon line-up, such as Blues Clues, book characters such as Franklyn the Turtle or stars such as Christina Aguilera. A new concept by Knowledge Adventure introduces programs with virtual Classrooms via the Internet. There are more software titles for girls: Barbie titles, including Barbie Pet Rescue, focusing on caring for pets, and a fantasy/adventure, Barbie Magic Genie Bottle. For women, there’s an interactive romance novel from Women-Wise, The Legend of Lotus Spring; the program is based on a true historical romance and allows players to roam the beautiful story settings and interact in the tale. New versions of lifestyle titles include Broderbund’s Generations Family Tree, a genealogy logging and research program with much improved printing options, and Master Chef, an comprehensive program that includes several cookbooks. Lego Studio from Lego Media includes a Lego movie set, camera and video editing software, priced at $149 that lets you record multiple video clips and sequence them into story lines with narration, music and sound effects. Mattel Hot Wheels introduced a wild off-track version of Stunt Track Driver and also showcased programs that include keyboard overlay devices for very young children. One such program is CAT Controller, which includes an overlay that has a steering wheel, speed, and dump controls for their Matchbox Caterpillar construction games. Great news for consumers: prices are lower for many software and high-tech items. Encore introduced its Blast! Line of titles, all priced at only $4.49 each; the line includes educational, productivity, lifestyle and entertainment titles. The JamCam 3.0 digital camera from KB Gear sells for less than $100. Glass lens, expandable memory, advanced color and sharpness processing, produce excellent 4 x 6 inch prints. The camera ships with Corel’s Magic Print House, so you can use those photos in many cool projects. KB Gear also has the JamP3 MP3 player for less than $100. Built-in memory lets you play up to an hour of music, downloaded from your computer; or with expandable memory, several hours of music. Another hoot of a device is a hand-held digital recorder capable of up to four minutes’ digital recording. The Jam-It! from KB Gear lets you put recorded voices or whatever into various animations, such as talking cows. Voices can be morphed, changed in speed or key and have background rhythm added. All for $49.99. Most of the titles and devices we saw will be available soon or before Christmas at the latest. Many of the adventure and gaming titles are out in PC, Game Boy and video console platforms. More good news: many programs will be available in stores such as Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart and others, in addition to the traditional computer stores. It’s going to be a great season. |
