E3: Gamasutra's Top Headlines From E3 2007

Following the close of the 2007 E3 Media & Business Summit, we present a run down of Gamasutra's exclusive news and reporting from the floor, including Sony's Peter Dille on the 'unsustainable' Xbox 360, and new from games Blizzard, Midway's Harvey Smith, and Wideload. Senior VP of marketing for PlayStation Peter Dille said that a direct download movie service for PSP and PS3 will be coming 'really soon,' and that the company is actively working on the service. Dille also and that HD-DVD would be "dead within months" -- and Microsoft's Peter Moore was quick to respond. Blizzard's Frank Pearce revealed that the company has a third team at work on a new title, apart from the ones working on World of Warcraft or Starcraft II. Harvey Smith, studio creative director at Midway Studios Austin (Blacksite: Area 51)his company has expanded, and is working on a title for Xbox Live Arcade digital download. Steve Nix, director of business development for id Software told Gamasutra that the company is considering licensing the John Carmack co-created mobile and DS engine from Orcs & Elves and Doom RPG. Games for Windows’ general manager Chris Early and global director Kevin Unangst explained the platform's accomplishments and future expectations, as well its need for a common dashboard for launching games, and how Games for Windows is helping to improve the PC gaming experience. During a behind closed doors meeting at E3 with Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon producer Hironobu Sakaguchi, the famed creator of the Final Fantasy franchise commented on Square Enix’s iconic series , the importance of emotional involvement in games, and development benefits of modern console technology. Gamecock held a 'funeral procession' for the much-changed E3 on the event's last day, featuring drums, a horn section, a Chinese dragon, and masked performers on stilts; Gamasutra spoke to Mike Wilson about the somber rite. Amid some PR back-and-forth on whether the 60GB Playstation 3 would be phased out in America, an SCEE spokesman confirmed what Kaz Hirai verified in an interview with Norwegian site VG media-- that the 80GB will soon be the only model available in the U.S. EA’s new executive vice president and general manager of North American publishing, Frank Gibeau, when asked whether the company would ever partner to make a hardware platform again as it did with 3DO, answered with a surprisingly positive “never say never.” Gamasutra will be bringing you features on a number of the interviews from which some of this news was excerpted over the following weeks.