Skip to main content

From next-gen powerhouses to VR headsets, this year’s E3 is all about hardware

E3-Tech-Preview-header
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Toys! Most of the attention each year at E3 is on the latest games and hardware, but new technology is always there, lurking in the shadowy corners of the Los Angeles Convention Center, waiting to snatch up some unsuspecting reporter. New consoles promise to steal much of the excitement at this year’s show, but those who overlook lightning rods like Oculus Rift do so at their folly. Mobile devices and experimentally immersive tech are evolving rapidly and gathering a lot of interest in the process, so let’s take a look at what you can expect to be hearing about next week.

Recommended Videos

Trojan Horse into your living room

E3-Tech-Preview-Xbox-OneThe big hardware guns of E3 2013 are, of course, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The competing consoles from Sony and Microsoft aren’t really all that different when you look closely. Both are essentially extremely specialized gaming PCs fitted with custom operating systems and security protocols that create gaming’s equivalent of a gated community. Both are also tricked out as self-contained media machines, capable of spitting out everything from Netflix to Blu-ray video to streaming music.

Expect E3 to bring new insights not just on the launch libraries for the two consoles, but also on the way each of them works. We’ll hear more about their systems and functions, see the front-end interfaces in action, and get a sense of how multimedia and gaming tie together with all-important social features. With the PlayStation 4 specifically, you’ll also get to see the console itself for the first time.

Spoiler alert: it’s a black box.

Lawnmower Man isn’t just a beautiful fantasy anymore

Oculus-Rift-EVR-playRemember when Sony called rumble a “last generation feature” in the pre-PlayStation 3 release run-up? Lesson learned there: gamers want more immersiveness, not less. The runaway success of the not-technically-released Oculus Rift is a testament to that. Oculus VR will be on hand at E3 2013 with its unique gaming headpiece that looks like something out of a science fiction movie. There’s still no word on when consumer models will be available, but could we get our first look at the final design at E3? It’s certainly possible.

Elsewhere in the VR-o-sphere, ViviTouch brings its haptic technology to the E3 show floor. Haptic feedback is nothing in game controllers. You think of it as rumble. The Xbox One controller takes things a step further with independent motors in each trigger, allowing developers to code discrete rumble moments for each finger. ViviTouch will have its stacked actuators on the show floor at E3. We’re not sure yet what they’ll be fitted into, but there’s always that newly announced partnership with Mad Catz….

E3-Tech-Preview-Omni-KickstarterThen there’s what’s not on the show floor: the Omni. This treadmill-like apparatus is designed to work with existing gaming peripherals and VR technologies like Oculus as an additive component that gives you a new degree of control over your game. The device reached its Kickstarter goal of $150,000 in record time on its first day, and the funding total continues to rise even now, with more than 40 days remaining. We’ll be sitting down to chat with the Omni folks and get a sense of how they intend to carve their way into the gaming market with this large and elaborate mega-peripheral.

Androids and upstarts

ouya console explodedOuya. Where the heck did that come from? The little console doesn’t really fit into any one category, though its runaway success on Kickstarter kinda sorta led to the creation of an entirely new beast: the mini-console. Ouya will be at E3, sort of. The booth location is actually outside in the convention center parking lot. It isn’t the only Android toy, however.

Nvidia will have its handheld Shield in attendance as well. In addition to offering portable Android gaming, the Shield also accepts streaming gameplay locally from Kepler GPU-equipped PCs. Both devices hit retail in late-June.

Android-powered anything is hardly a threat to the big-ticket console player, even something like the Shield with its game streaming. Microsoft and Sony should have plenty to watch for in the PC realm, however. Alienware continues to horn in on living room space with its console-sized (and freshly upgraded) X51 gaming PC. Razer’s Edge tablet is also noteworthy, aiming to straddle the line between high-end gaming and extreme portability.

pistonThe real unknown, however, is Valve’s Steam Box, a gaming PC that at once threatens to challenge both the living room and the industry titan that is Microsoft Windows. Little is known of Valve’s gaming PC plans and much of the information we do have has been pieced together and nurtured by speculation.

The Steam Box is expected to be a dedicated Steam machine that ships with a pre-installed Linux operating system. Support for Windows is expected, but Valve boss Gabe Newell hasn’t had the kindest things to say about Microsoft’s OS in recent times. There is hope that Valve will have new insights to share about its Steam Box plans at or around E3. We’ll know soon enough; E3 2013 kicks off next week, on June 11.

Adam Rosenberg
Former Gaming/Movies Editor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
Topics
Ubisoft will not attend E3 2023, but it will still host a summer live stream
Basim showing off his hidden blade in front of the Bagdad cityscape.

Ubisoft will no longer be attending E3 2023, even though it said it would participate in February. Instead, the game publisher behind Assassin's Creed and Far Cry plans to hold its own Ubisoft Forward Live event in Los Angeles this June.
Ubisoft confirmed its change in plans to Video Games Chronicle today, with a spokesperson saying that while Ubisoft "initially intended to have an official E3 presence, we've made the subsequent decision to move in a different direction." This is a change in messaging from just over a month ago when Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said, "If E3 happens, we will be there, and we will have a lot of things to show."
What caused this change of heart in Ubisoft is unclear. However, it seems like the company found that it could still successfully promote its game lineup without being attached to the Entertainment Software Association's event. We don't know much about the Ubisoft Forward Live event other than it'll take place on June 12 in Los Angeles, but Ubisoft tells VGC that "we look forward to sharing more details with our players very soon."
This puts E3 2023 in a weird overall spot, as we currently know more about the companies that won't be at the event -- like Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Nintendo -- than we do about the publishers that will actually be there. After being canceled in 2020 and 2022 and being digital-only in 2021, E3 2023 was supposed to be the annual gaming trade show's grand return. Right now, though, the relevance and viability of E3 2023 are questionable.
ReedPop has not yet commented on the fact that Ubisoft is no longer attending E3 2023. 

Read more
Nintendo confirms that it won’t be part of E3 2023
Pikmin and Bulborb in Pikmin 4.

Nintendo has confirmed reports that it won't be participating in E3 2023, meaning the gaming trade show will be missing one of its key vendors when it returns in-person this June.
"We approach our involvement in any event on a case-by-case basis and are always considering various ways to engage with our fans," a Nintendo spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. "Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have made the decision to not participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA [Entertainment Software Association] and E3."
After taking 2020 and 2022 off and being digital-only in 2021, this year was supposed to mark the grand return of E3, which was once a dominant game industry trade show that attracted every big video game company. Although Sony hasn't participated since 2019, it still came as a shock in January when IGN reported that both Nintendo and Microsoft would not be attending E3 this year as well. It appears that the report is true, as Microsoft has not confirmed any E3-related events outside of its independently run Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.
Nintendo skipping E3 2023 not only takes away a vendor that dominated the show floor in previous years, but also raises questions about whether or not the company will hold an exciting Nintendo Direct around then. While Nintendo typically holds a big showcase with lots of first-party game announcements around June every year, in 2022 it only held a third-party driven Partner Showcase in June. Now that we know it won't be at E3 2023, we're left to wonder when exactly then next big Nintendo Direct will be. 
E3 2023 will take place between June 13 and June 16, but don't expect Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft to have a big presence there.

Read more
Here’s what E3 2023 could look like without Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft
Playstation character wall at E3 2018

Let's start with the good news: E3 2023 will be held in its in-person format once again after three long years of digital events necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this time with ReedPop at the helm. The bad news is that Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo -- gaming's "Big 3" -- may not show up at the industry’s biggest convention this summer.

This is according to a report from IGN citing multiple sources, who claimed the companies won’t be a part of the show or make appearances on the floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center in any way. Their absence from this year’s E3, especially Nintendo’s, may come as a shock to the gaming community, but it's not such a surprise when looking at the past few iterations of E3. Even before the pandemic locked everyone down in 2020, Sony and Xbox had been hosting their own E3-style livestreams, so it was more likely they would do it again this year anyway. Nintendo, on the other hand, managed to show off its upcoming games via Nintendo Direct streams and at its booth, console kiosks and all.

Read more