What to expect at E3 2010

It's the most anticipated date on any gamer's diary, year in year out - even more anticipated than Mario's birthday (October 11th, says Nintendo Power).

E3, a gaming expo held annually in America since 1995, features hands on impressions of every upcoming release, brand new games and consoles, and extravagant press conferences from the three console leaders.

That's right. The words extravagant and press conferences in the same sentence.

With Microsoft's Project Natal, Sony's Move controller, and hints at a new Zelda for Wii or the reveal of Half Life 2: Episode 3, the console and PC crowds have a lot to buzz about.

But it won't be a washout for us stalwart pocket gamers, with plenty of games, at least one new console, and maybe some surprises up the gaming industry's collective sleeve.

So let's take a look at what we can expect to see from the main handheld champions on this fateful day. It all kicks off June 15th.

There's only one thing we want Nintendo president Satoru Iwata to pack in his LA-bound carry on suitcase: the Nintendo 3DS. We know very little about this thing, but the promise of a handheld spitting out 3D graphics without those silly cinema specs is a pretty interesting prospect.

It probably won't be the final name for the new device, but we do know that it's intended as Nintendo's next primary handheld, and the official successor to the DS. Its coming out party should be rather gigantic.

We've got at least two editors at the convention hall, who'll give their expert opinion on whether or not the device actually lives unto its incredibly bold claims, but for those of us stuck at home, constantly refreshing Pocket Gamer for the tiniest morsel of new info, the big thing will be the brand new games.

What 3D treats does Nintendo have up its sleeves? Can the Big N roll out yet another version of Mario, Zelda, and Metroid, with bonus dimensions to boot? Which third party developers will get behind the device, and what games will they bring?

At risk of sounding like a bunch of misinformed dummies, we're completely in the dark about this upcoming device. But that doesn't stop us throwing together some rather new editorial on Nintendo's promises.

We picked out some Nintendo franchises we'd like to see with a third dimension tacked on, a round up of what we do know, and asked some of our favourite DS designers what they think. Any of that take your fancy?

The show won't be all about the 3DS of course. The traditional old boringly two-dimensional DS still has some vigour left in it and, with games like Pokemon Black and White, it still has the rest off the year to fill. Maybe Golden Sun 3? Or perhaps the fateful 2D side-scroller Metroid Dread? Well have to wait and see.

Some stuff has already been announced, to avoid the imminent E3 rush. It's rather hard to get people excited about Lufia 2, a DS remake of an ancient SNES game, underneath the din of Call of Duty and Halo. Or whatever the cool kids are playing these days.

The rumours are getting pretty strong that Sony will debut a brand new handheld at E3. It has so many different stories and legends that it's getting closer to being a mythical beast than a new games console.

What does Sid Shuman, Sony's senior social media specialist (read: 'head PlayStation blogger') have to say about about all these rumours? Writing on the PlayStation Blog, he replies to a comment about the PSP 2, "you’ll find out for yourself at E3".

Some say it packs a touchscreen and two cameras, others say it's entirely digital download like the PSPgo, some say it can gobble a man whole in the blink of an eye.

Our recent news piece on the rumours seemed rather positive that the new device is in full force, but we had this rather sobering comment to pass on. "Sources suggest that the handheld console won't be on display at next month's E3, but may be available for viewing at Gamescom in the summer." Boo. There's still hope, though.

Anyway, Sony pretty much has to release a new platform to stay relevant in the handheld arena. After the last massive influx of PSP games late last year, including MotorStorm and LittleBigPlanet, Sony doesn't have much else to show on this space (although, whatever happened to Resident Evil PSP?)

Apple isn't going to show up, I'll give you that one for free. Busy with its conferences and developer seminars and brand new iPhone releases, the company's June calendar is a little full this year.

But that's not going to stop developers heading to the show floor with iPhones and iPads under their arms. Big booth holders like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft could throw some Apple products out alongside their fleet of 360s and Wiis and what not. It just depends what they have in the pipeline.

Sega, at the very least, will be dragging along a few Apple devices. Both versions of upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog 4, on iPhone and iPad that is, will be appearing at its booth.

And some of the smaller guys will be there too. Luke Ryan from Jet Car Stunts developer True Axis told us, "We will have Space Tripper, as well as some unannounced projects to look at." He probably didn't mean that to go public, but what the heck.

Telltale will be there, presumably with its iPhone and iPad head scratcher Puzzle Agent. As will mobile wizards Bulkypix (known for games like Saving Private Sheep and Twin Blades), LucasArts (hopefully with a firm release date of Monkey Island 2: Special Edition) and Venan Entertainment (Space Miner and Ninjatown developers).

Oh, and everyone's favourite Zeemote maker, Zeemote, will be there. What else do you need, honestly?