Some Joystiq readers will no doubt be jealous when we remind them of how Joystiq special correspondent Randall Bennett got to play Spore behind closed doors at E3. And again when he got to see Robin Williams crack jokes while making his own creature at that Wired party.

Well, our jealousy was rekindled when, after some months, Randall's friendly neighborhood UPS guy rang his bell to deliver a Spore figurine identical to the character he had designed at E3. They should definitely have a service so consumers can order their own custom figurine. More pics after the break.

Kyle over at Video Game Media Watch turns the spotlight back on the media's presence at E3 with an in-depth review of the big media booths that were dotted around the show floor. Here's the quick and dirty from Kyle's write-up:

• 1UP/Ziff Davis' booth wasn't very crowded, although the free copies of EGM were popular.
• BradyGames, the strategy guide publisher, stuck a couple of Guitar Hero 2 booths in their stall and let the crowds grow exponentially.
• GameSpot's booth was very inaccessible. So either they were working hard, or they were playing a massive LAN game.
• UGO couldn't hide their Geometry Wars addiction. Oh, and they stole chairs from neighboring booths.
• G4 let people browse the web for free: free internet FTW!
  

Kyle goes into a lot more detail, so make sure to check out his full article.

This summer is shaping up to be great one, at least in terms of the number of UK gaming trade shows and conferences coming up soon. The great gaming fiasco of 2004 resulted in both of the major gaming trade shows in the UK (Game Stars Live and ECTS) being canceled when they decided to take place at exactly the same time, so it's great to finally see that the industry has picked itself up.

Click continue to see a round-up of some future gaming events within the United Kingdom. Joystiq's UK contingent (consisting of Jennie and I) hopes to be able to attend as many of these events as possible so if you're also planning on attending make sure to leave us a comment. If we've missed a show or conference, let us know and I'll add your tip to the table.

An elite band of ninja game critics were chosen for their uncanny (and often deadly) speculative accuracy to determine the winners of the Game Critic Award's Best of E3 2006. Their choice for top honors, "Best of Show"? Nintendo's newest console: the Wii. Other big winners included Spore, nabbing three awards, and Gears of War with two.

While the desire to see a victor emerge from the rubble-strewn LA Convention Center is great, the distinction hasn't always been accurate. Take for example, 2001's E3 champion: the Gamecube. 2002's best of show: Doom III. We could keep going, but you get the point.

Regardless, Gamespot's Greg Kasavin wrote of the Wii, "It's a good thing Nintendo got the name change of its next console out of the way before E3. With the shock of that announcement mostly over, the company proceeded to become the talk of the show ... by inviting audiences to get their hands on an impressive lineup of fun and interesting software for the Wii...not to mention that wild controller." Insert insightful sprint versus marathon metaphor here and reflect.

Check out some fun stats on the all the winners.

Remember back in January when we asked you about your preferred console combo plan? We were operating under two assumptions then: that Nintendo's strategy involved being the second console of choice; and that the PS3 and Xbox 360 would be evenly priced. While we may have our worries about Sony's price, we almost forgot the impact this might have on Nintendo's diminutive Wii.

While there's the Wii60 console combo, will PlayStation 3 owners pony up the extra cash for a Wii? With a finite amount of entertainment dollars going to next-gen consoles, it could be argued that every extra dollar spent on a PS3 is one less being spent on another console like the Wii. So, what's it gonna be ...

Pick your (reevaluated) console combo:
	PS3 and Wii
	Xbox 360 and Wii
	PS3 and Xbox 360
	Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii
	Wii
	PS3
	Xbox 360

Lore Sjöberg of Wired took a look at the games from his imagination this year's E3 that no-one wanted to play. In his own words, all these games contained the best mini game of all "not standing in line." So did he find any gems in his mind at E3? Here's a selection of what he imagined saw:

• Sandbox -- playing off the popularity of open-ended GTA style games comes Sandbox, a game that's 100% true to its genre. Sandbox exposes children to the delights of a real life sandbox, sans the real life sand. The developers told Sjöberg that they'd like to include a shovel and bucket in the final game, "but that may not be a realistic goal."
• Mission: Marketplace --  this game progresses the demand for downloadable content and episodic games to its climax. Mission: Marketplace's innovation is that it requires players to purchase all the content separately -- alternatively you can just plunk down $200 and watch the credits roll. We can't wait for this one.

That's not all: he also discovered Pac-Man Boulevard, a game that demonstrates the continued advantages of sequels over original franchises and Casual Game: The Game, a game so casual that engaging your brain (or even possessing one) reduces your overall enjoyment. We're like, totally hyped about these completely revolutionary games, so get your arse over to Wired and read all about 'em.

[Image credit: art.com]

Fellow Joystiq blogger Chris Grant forwarded the following quote to me and asked, "Why does this sound like something you'd say?"

Washington Post blogger Mike Musgrove overheard one member of a cluster of bloggers behind him caution his fellow bloggers just prior to the beginning of the Nintendo's E3 press conference: "Remember, no fanboyism -- if something happens, polite clapping is enough."

Hilarious!

... but only for a moment. Editorialising follows after the post break.

You  already know what we thought of CliffyB's space marine action shooter, Gears of War (in case you don't, it's awesome!). Now listen to what CliffyB has to say about it. Gears of War Realm (that's right, a GoW specific fansite is already up and running) has posted a video of CliffyB's part in an E3 panel with a troika of console-specific gaming luminaries including Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid 4 on PS3), Xavier Poixwho (Red Steel on Wii), and Cliff Bleszinski (Gears of War on Xbox 360, duh).

Cliffy talks a bit about his design of the game -- "it's almost like a platform game but instead of jumping up, you're jumping forward and around the world" -- before walking us through the first level with running director's commentary. I always love the juxtaposition of thoughtful CliffyB (see Smartbomb) and pimp-suit CliffyB. Thoughtful CliffyB is on display here.

[Thanks, Luke]

(Update: I've embedded a higher-quality video after the break. Thanks for the link, James!)

We saw what Sony's PlayStation 3 EyeToy can do in terms of motion technology (as well as its upgraded PS3 remote), and we know Nintendo's primary console feature is its motion-sensored remote, but what about the Xbox 360? Aaron Stanton of About.com visited the GestureTek booth in Kentia Hall at last week's E3 to learn about a new development kit to use with the Xbox 360 camera. Not only can it map your face to a character model, but with GestureTek's technology the Xbox 360 camera can accurately track a player's movement, including specific finger usage.

To further impress, GestureTek demonstrated for Stanton how the technology can emulate each Nintendo Wii game on the show floor. The technology is impressive, of course, but as Stanton points out not likely to surpass the Wii. Simply put, the GestureTek demo is just that -- a demo. And on top of that, technology for a peripheral, which can be easily ignored by developers. It'll be interesting to see if Microsoft and Sony use their respective cameras to match Nintendo's features, but if Sony's press conference is any indication (Sony just glazed over its EyeToy demo), we doubt it.

[Thanks, Eric Stoben]

Surprisingly fun. Re-Mission is a third-person shooter from Hope Labs where you play Roxxi, a cancer-killing nanobot, as she moves through the human body hunting down and destroying cancer cells. In the one level we played, we were informed that we must kill all the lymph node cells. However, the catch is that we must spare all the white blood cells, so one must be careful to aim precisely.  The control scheme hearkens back to Descent, which works well -- the mouse aims, the keyboard moves through 3D space. There are multiple weapons, the voice acting and tongue-in-cheek dialogue works, and the visuals are pretty. We found ourselves enjoying this game, despite its academic value.

While playing the title at the Games for Health booth, we also learned of the research done around this game. Among cancer patients who played Re-Mission (as opposed to those who just played other games):

• Their cancer knowledge increased.
• Their reported quality of life increased.
• Their self-efficacy (how well they come to terms with their situation) increased.
• Their antibiotic usage increased.
• Their consumption of oral chemotherapy stayed consistent, whereas the control group declined in taking their medication.

The facts are impressive and praise-worthy, but what sets this game apart is its general entertainment value and mass appeal. Take away its connection to cancer research, and you still have a fun title. You can view a trailer and order the game through the game's website.

See Also:
Games for Health: the industry's unsung heroes

If you haven't already watched the video, now you can read the transcription of our interview with Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios. On Wednesday (in the middle of E3), Vlad Cole and I got some time to sit down and ask him about some of the biggest questions facing Microsoft's early entrant into the next-gen console wars, like whether there are any more developer acquisitions lined up, which Xbox Live Arcade titles will show up on Vista with Live Anywhere, what are the plans for ad-supported gaming, and just how many paid subscribers does Xbox Live has.

We're corroborating with several sources: is Peter Moore's [Grand Theft Auto 4] tattoo real?

You know, I wasn't there when it was put on there, it's a very personal thing so I can neither confirm nor deny.

Okay... so it's real. Prior to E3, people were really looking forward to actual demonstrations of the Wii controller. That was the big buzz coming into the show and, after they unveiled it, I think people were more or less satisfied with it. So how do you think you fared versus that intense excitement towards that controller?

I think we fared extremely well.  One of the big things we talked about yesterday was all the momentum we're going to have this next generation. We're going to have 10 million units in consumers' hands before the competitor even ships unit one. We're well on our way to 6 million connected members on Xbox Live and we're going to have 160 games in the market by the end of the year. We've got great momentum. We had Bill Gates attend E3 for the first time ever to announce the vision of Live anywhere. Again, demonstrating leadership in the online space isn't just about what we've achieved to date, but also about how we're going to take that forward across multiple platforms and devices. And finally, first and foremost, it's about the games and the content. Yesterday we started with Gears of War and ended with Halo 3, and we sprinkled in a little bit of Fable 2, Forza 2, Alan Wake, and, oh by the way, the Grand Theft Auto 4 announcement as well. So I think from the content standpoint we're definitely doing great there. So, better online, better content, and better pricing than some of the competition; we feel good about where we're at.
Do you think it's important to win E3?  I think most people say you have, at least in terms of the keynotes. 

I think it's always great to be recognized for what you're doing, whether it's at E3 or any other point. Sometimes I worry there's too much importance placed on that but since people are saying we won this year, I'll say it's a great thing we won E3.

Quite overwhelmingly, Tim Buckley's stab at Sony was voted as the top webcomic of the week -- we can't help but be reminded of Penny Arcade's comic from last year's E3 regarding Will Wright's new game. The other winners were Extra Life and Dueling Analogs in second and third, respectively.

Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!

Speaking with GameSpy during E3, Will Wright confirmed that Spore will be available "on all platforms," including cell phones - and presumably Wii. While Wright did not specifically name-drop "Wii," we must assume that "all platforms" includes Wii. In addition, Wright, by his own admission, is a bit of a Nintendo fanboy: "I'm rooting for Nintendo," he told GameSpy. Despite this statement, Wright was critical of the Wiimote, observing "the way the Wii controller works depends a lot on how close you are to your TV."

Interestingly enough, Wright currently favors the DS as his platform of choice. Any chance Spore will end up on Nintendo's handheld? [Update: Spore has been confirmed for the DS. Thanks, Sense.]

Spore is tentatively set to debut on the PC early next year (April/March 2007).

[Thanks, Vik]

Those of us heavily invested in massively multiplayer games are part of a community, just as FPS clans have a brotherhood borne out of hours of playing together. Events like BlizzCon provide an opportunity for MMO guilds and players to meet up -- for the unknown to meet the infamous.

E3 may have been over, but that didn't stop NCsoft arranging a player get-together last Saturday. Over 400 players signed up, some travelling from as far as Arizona for this one evening. While NCsoft had rented out a LAN centre for the event, players spent just as much time talking as they did playing, with a sizeable contingent of developers and community managers on hand to help the event along. NCsoft celebrities including Richard Garriott and Matt "Positron" Miller attended the event, showing a pleasing commitment to the player base.

It's hard to imagine that Sony, a company that continues to actively block unlicensed applications on the PSP, will welcome the homebrew community with open arms when it ushers in the PlayStation 3. But, according SCE network system development manager Izumi Kawanishi, the console will ship with a built-in Linux OS, complete with compilers and other tools. It would seem that Sony is indeed inviting homebrew enthusiasts to develop basic applications and game content. Just don't expect Sony to provide technical support or access to SDK libraries, as these privileges are reserved for licensed developers.

While Linux support on the PS3 has been known for some time, this latest revelation implies an added value to the console, which in turn could justify the exorbitant price tag for some. The question is, will mainstream consumers ignore this key feature?

[Thanks, Fan]