Continuing Coverage of the 2005 E3 Expo!

E3 Bound!
We’re pleased to announce that StrategyZone Online and Armchair General will be attending the E3 Expo 2005 convention in Los Angeles, California. Brian King and Don Maddox will be there to represent the crew along with several other key members of the staff. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), "Where Business Gets Fun," is the world’s leading trade event exclusively dedicated to showcasing interactive entertainment and educational software and related products. E3 2005, kicks off at the Los Angeles Convention Center May 18 - 20. Conferences are held May 17 - 19 and the show floor is open May 18 - 20.

The industry’s annual focal point, E3 draws tens of thousands of industry professionals to experience the future of interactive entertainment. The industry’s most influential people leading the most innovative companies come to this event to showcase groundbreaking new technologies and never-before-seen products for computers, video game consoles, handheld systems and the Internet.

Show attendees also have the opportunity to participate in a variety of learning workshops and conferences focused on the specific interests and educational needs of professionals in the interactive entertainment business.

In 2005, about 400 exhibiting companies representing 80 countries will converge on the Los Angeles Convention Center. During E3 2004, exhibitors debuted more than 1,000 never-before-seen computer and video games and related products.

Tens of thousands of industry professionals from around the world attended E3 2004, including software developers, buyers and retailers, programmers, distributors, entertainment industry representatives, financiers and venture capitalists, importers and exporters, manufacturers, resellers, researchers, educators, financial and industry analysts and worldwide electronic and print media.

Games We’re Looking Forward to Seeing
There is so much new and interesting material that debutes at E3 every year that it would be hard–okay that’s an understatement–to pick a handful of titles that we want to see the most. That being said–that’s exactly what we did! Here is a short list of some of our most anticipated games for E3 2005.

Age of Empires III
Real-time strategy games have come a long way since the original Age of Empires was released, and it’s easy for people to become jaded and dismissive of the genre and its limitations. Nevertheless, this game has all the markings of a classic and we’re eager to see it with our own eyes. Microsoft Games and Ensemble Studies intend to create a game that picks up where Age of Empires II: Age of Kings left off. Details released so far indicate that the developers are putting some serious effort into this release, starting with the breathtaking visuals.

Battlefield 2
Quality titles dealing with modern tactical combat have never been in great supply, and several recent releases have left us somewhat underwhelmed. We have high hopes that Electronic Arts can reverse this trend when Battlefield 2 arrives on the scene. The other titles in the series have been solid hits and this one looks to be the best of the bunch.

Dawn of War: Winter Assault
Dawn of War was just a damn fun game. Whether your loyalties lie with the Space Marines and their Emperor, or with the Boyz, Dawn of War was a blast to play. This sequel looks poised to bring it on with even bigger tanks, bigger guns, and better battles. In short, it looks to be "more blastier" than the original…

There are plenty of other games that we’re looking forward to seeing beyond these few. Hopefully, we’ll get to see some juicy stuff that we’ve never even heard of as well. Unfortunately, as usual, many of the more hardcore wargames that are in development won’t be shown at E3. We will be bringing you coverage of the war and strategy games that we do see though. Stay tuned!