E3 2006

I just got back from four crazy days representing Harmonix at the annual E3 games convention in LA. Dominating proceedings were Nintendo and Sony. Each showed off their shiny new next-gen hardware, and both game consoles were available to play for the first time.


No trick photography or dwarf actors were used in this shot...
...the PlayStation3 really is that big and bulky.


Nintendo Wii – a weird name for a console...

...but Nintendo’s trump card is the innovative controller. Once I’d waited patiently in line for an hour and a half (!) I finally got to try it out. The highlight was the tennis mode of their ‘Wii Sports’ title - controlled by swinging the remote control just like you would a tennis racquet. Want to play a back hand shot? Then hold the controller backhand and swing. Want to slice it? Then slice it! It’s totally intuitive, instant fun!


Guitar Hero II at the Sony booth

Also revealed for the first time was our latest game Guitar Hero II, due to hit US stores in November. It’ll land in Europe too at some point, but there’s no release date just yet.


Judy Nails signing stuff for fans

We had a great presence at both the Red Octane and Sony booths, with people in line to play the whole time. Naoko, an Associate Producer at Harmonix, made a star appearance as Guitar Hero’s Pandora, while our motion capture actress appeared as Judy Nails – the character she inspired.

I wasn’t around to see it, but I was told Stephen Spielberg showed up at the booth, with his son in tow. Apparently they’re big Guitar Hero fans!

Here’s some less famous attendees letting loose in the new co-op multiplayer mode…






As well as the videogames magazines and websites, there were newspapers and TV stations showing up too. All part of an impressively diverse collection of media apparently clamoring for another slice of the Guitar Hero action.


Gibson loaned us this tour bus, which was the perfect location for press demos.

Dealing with the bulk of interview duties was Daniel, who killed every question leveled at him and still had the energy to party on into the night. Good man!


Daniel & Naoko hit the show floor…


…decide to steal Link’s lunch money…


… and then take each other down in a liquor fueled rage.

The New York Times describe E3 as “a bit like New Year's Eve in Times Square inside a football game inside a Metallica concert." And that pretty much sums the whole thing up. It was a blast.