Now, let's talk for a second about
some of what we're scheduled to see at this year's show:
Flight
Sims: Microsoft will be meeting with us to discuss
Flight Simulator 10 (FSX). Oleg Maddox and the 1C team will
be chatting with us about their upcoming projects. IENT
will be discussing their "Road To The Thunderbirds"
title being produced in cooperation with the USAF,
Race
Sims: Last year, racing titles like GTL and rFactor
were the most exciting new sims we saw at the show. This
year, the only new title we expect to see is SimBin's upcoming
GTR2, but ISI will be at the show, and they have a few surprises
for us (see below).
Tactical
Sims: Ubisoft is here with Ghost Recon: Advanced
Warfighter. The US Army is here with the latest iteration
of America's Army. And most exciting of all, Bohemia Interactive
of Operation Flashpoint fame is meeting with us to discuss
their newest titles.
Part of the display
for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter.
Naval
Sims: Akelia is here with their WW II PT Boat sim.
We'll be talking to them later in the week.
Hardware:
We're meeting with Ageia to get the low-down on Phys-X
and it's implementation in GRAW, and what promise it might
hold for other physics-intensive titles. AMD will be talking
to us about what's on their roadmap. But the real excitement
is in the field of simulation controllers: Saitek and CH
Products were both eager to talk to us about their new controllers,
and we'll be strolling over to Logitech to see their new
force feedback racing wheel.
Consoles:
Yes, consoles. As SimHQ predicted last year, the first true
simulations that successfully make the crossover from PC
to console may be in the form of racing titles. SimBin is
working on a version of GTR for the Xbox 360, and there's
a lot of buzz about Test Drive and MotoGP 2006 that we'll
take a look at as well. We're still skeptical about true
sims making it to consoles, but the proof will be in what
we see here at E3.
Surprises:
In the West Hall lobby there's a really interesting banner
hanging from the wall. What makes it interesting is the
combination of images and trademark titles gathered on it:
Intel, rFactor, and the Sauber Formula 1 team. Over at Logitech,
there's a press release about a new racing wheel that offers
a gated 6-speed shifter and three pedals. At ISI's rFactor
web site, they've announced a partnership with US exotic
and race car manufacturer Panoz. And Ubisoft plans to unveil
their latest flight sim title at the end of the week.
Interesting poster for
the Intel booth. Note upper left corner.
