Late Night Consoling

A giant list of upcoming products to be featured at E3 2006 was sent out to media today by way of the expo's PR team. It consists of small blurbs about games and peripherals, both announced and unannounced, that will be shown publically for the first time at the upcoming event. Here are some of the previously unannounced ones:

- Hudson is currently working on a flight sim for Nintendo Revolution, currently referred to only by the ambiguous moniker "Flight Game." Flight Game will allow "total plane control as players pilot their planes through various acrobatic flight maneuvers ranging from sky artistry to bomb drops." It sounds somewhat similar to the Revolution flight sim tech demo that was presented to press at last year's Tokyo Game Show. Given Hudson's frequent collaborations with Nintendo, this may be a more full-bodied extension of that design.

- In other Hudson news, the company will be bringing its long dormant Dungeon Explorer franchise to Xbox 360 and PSP. Dungeon Explorer originally premiered on the TurboGrafx console, a joint venture between NEC and Hudson, and this new version will be a "revamped and re-envisioned game that captures all the action RPG glory of the original." The Xbox 360 version will feature randomly generated maps, a "new dark fantasy setting," customizable characters, and Xbox Live Support. The only detail about the PSP version of the game is that it will support multiplayer.

- A DreamCatcher Interactive blurb revealed that the PC and Xbox title Painkiller will be coming to PS2 and PSP. There were no details about new content coming to the game, but it did confirm that the game takes place "in a totally gothic setting," man.

Expo floor plans for the upcoming Electronic Gaming Expo 2006 have been revealed and geographically, the situation is largely identical to recent years. As usual Sony and Nintendo square off in the West Hall, positioned adjacently with the two biggest booths of E3. This year, the companies will of course be showing off their upcoming new consoles, PS3 and Revolution. Also as usual, Microsoft will be residing in the South Hall, where its booth is the largest in the room. Most large third party publishers, such as EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Sega, and so on, are also located in the South Hall.

Following recent reports of a delay, Rockstar Games today announced the official release date and price point for the upcoming PS2 version of Rockstar Leeds' Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, which debuted on PSP late last year. The game will hit shelves June 6, 2006 with a budget price of $19.99. It will follow in Europe three days later for 29.99 Euro (GBP 19.99 in the UK). Today's press release did not contain any further specific information on the game's content.

Keeping with general expectation, the latest industry sales data from tracking firm NPD shows that combined hardware and software sales dropped 16% this past March year over year. While software saw an 8% drop, hardware was down a significant 31%. The decline is the latest in a consistent trend over the last year showing similar lower sales. As usual, much of the blame is placed on consumer reluctance to buy current gen games and hardware in the face up further next generation console releases later this year. The situation is compounded by supply shortages of Xbox 360, though Microsoft has recently pledged that production of the machine is increasing.

Major publisher Square Enix has revised its earnings forecasts for fiscal year that ended March 31, 2006, lowering profit expectations a huge 43% from $149M (17.5 billion yen) to $85M (10 billion yen). Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) and Final Fantasy XII (PS2), the latest entries in two of the studio's most prized franchises, were released to strong sales as usual, but the games did not manage to live up to sales expectations. While Final Fantasy XI (PS2, X360, PC), the company's multiplatform MMO, saw steady subscriptions resulting in solid profits, other newer online ventures from the company not released in the West fell flat. Similarly, the publisher's increased activity in the mobile sector did not meet forecasts. Recent acquisition Taito also failed to perform up to its goals.

In more positive news, Square Enix's computer animated feature film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, was a success, meaning the company's publishing division will be exceeding its specific profit forecasts. This shows a marked change from the first Final Fantasy spinoff CG film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which failed to sufficiently impress either audiences or critics.

1UP has a two part video interview up with Microsoft's outspoken Peter Moore. There isn't any new information revealed, as Moore skirts around questions regarding Halo 3 and an alleged Xbox portable console, but it's interesting for those curious about Microsoft's upcoming plans.