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Our E3 2009 Predictions

With the new and supposedly improved Electronic Entertainment Expo just around the corner, we decided to run down some quick predictions for what the overarching themes of the show will be.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Jeff Bakalar Editor at Large
Jeff is CNET Editor at Large and a host for CNET video. He's regularly featured on CBS and CBSN. He founded the site's longest-running podcast, The 404 Show, which ran for 10 years. He's currently featured on Giant Bomb's Giant Beastcast podcast and has an unhealthy obsession with ice hockey and pinball.
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Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
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Dan Ackerman
Jeff Bakalar
Scott Stein
2 min read
Dan Ackerman

With the new and supposedly improved Electronic Entertainment Expo just around the corner (here are some of last year's highlights), we decided to run down some quick predictions for what the overarching themes of the show will be.

Dan Ackerman:

  • God of War IIIand Rock Band: Beatleswill be the big mainstream games and public (and retail buyers) care about.
  • Variable price points, which are easy to do on DLC, help gamemakers target recession-addled audiences.
  • Booth babes return, but in a subtle, post-wretched-excess kind of way.
  • New hardware/accessory pushes from Nintendo and Sony hope to boost flagging software sales.
  • Chances of getting a decent Wi-Fi or 3G signal in a convention center full of game nerds -- slim to none.

Jeff Bakalar:

  • PS3 and/or 360 will introduce some sort of social networking functionality. Whether it be tie-ins with Facebook or Twitter, or something proprietary, there will be ways to update status, etc.
  • Sony will make Netflix on PS3 official.
  • Nintendo will announce a new Mario game in development.
  • A new Wii remote with MotionPlus built in will be available soon.
  • Microsoft will unveil a motion-based controller for use with specific Xbox Live Arcade games.

Scott Stein:

  • DLC and downloadable games steal the show almost as much as disc-based games.
  • Nintendo pimps the Wii Motion Plus hard, with a handful of games that get "updates."
  • The PSP Go will cost as much as a DSi, and not be quite as useful.
  • There will be more "free" games in a weak economy, in the style of SOE's surprise hit Free Realms.
  • Halo 3: ODST will emerge as a better all-around game than anyone expected...and it will support an unfortunately huge number of DLC "extras."

Additonally, our colleague David Carnoy is following a rumor about Hulu streaming on the Xbox 360. Next week, we'll be live at the E3 show, covering all the new hardware, software, and trends. Keep track of all our E3 coverage here, and follow Dan's show floor updates at twitter.com/danackerman.