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Games on wheels: Eclectic cars roll into E3

LOS ANGELES--A varied collection of new and custom cars rolled into this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo to promote car-friendly games and hype 2011 models appealing to younger drivers with a little money to burn.

Automakers know they have a captive E3 audience in the much-beloved "young adults with disposable income" demographic as the game mega convention invites only professionals connected to the industry. So car companies put their new, tech-enhanced midrange models on display in hopes that attendees will head their way with their game industry paychecks.

This year's E3 featured an interesting cross-marketing scheme enabling players of EA games such as Sims 3 and Monopoly to download cars on display--like the 2011 Prius or the 2011 Ford Fiesta Platinum--directly into the games as playable options.

Last year's E3 served up more extreme super cars on the floor as EA's Need for Speed line rolled out new titles for consoles and mobile devices, opening the door for the appearance of the rare Pagani Zonda F and Mercedes Benz AMG SLK. But this year saw THQ choose a beat-up, aging Honda Civic owned by Enrique Trinidad of Henderson, Nev., for a complete overhaul to promote its Saints Row 3 game.

For a look at the cars of E3 2011, see our gallery below.

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E3 after hours: Gadgets you won't see on expo floor

LOS ANGELES--At the ShowStoppers expo last night, some E3 presenters got the chance to show off their wares in a more peaceful, intimate environment than the bustling show floor. Reporters were invited to the LA Icon Ultra Lounge after the opening day of the expo wrapped for a gathering of game hardware and peripherals designers offering new products this summer.

About 100 reporters enjoyed food and drink while sampling new gadgets and high-end tech offerings from Alternativa, G5 Entertainment, Gioteck, Jakks Pacific, Mad Catz, Plantronics, Plextor, PNY Technologies, Reverb, Rude Gameware/Cyber Snipa, Samsung Consumer Memory and Storage and Samsung Mobile.

Some of the more popular items on display included the new, mobile-game-friendly Samsung Galaxy Tab and Samsung's 470 SSD internal drive to power more advanced PC gaming systems. Also, the sexy line of Gioteck peripherals offered gamers headsets and control pads with sleek stylings and swappable color and design schemes.

See images of other products from the under-the-radar event in the gallery above.… Read more

E3 2011: A photographic history of the Electronic Entertainment Expo

Looking back at previous coverage of the annual Electronic Entertainment Exposition, I found several photo galleries of images cobbled together from as far back as 1999.

For the past few years I've largely left the photographic duties to our able staff photographers, who have done an excellent job of chronicling the show, but I thought it might be fun to round up some of the slideshows of personal pics that we've run previously.

Related links • E3 and the video game bubble • Dust-bunny ratings of E3 2010's high-profile game hardware • E3 2011: Our predictions • E3 2011: Complete coverageRead more