E3 06: E3 offers peek at exhibitor lineups

The Electronic Entertainment Expo today released a list of "first look" products that will be debuting at the show May 10 to 12, and while most of the list reads like a who's who (or a "what's that?") of Kentia Hall, some notable items found their way into the list.

While the released list was nearly devoid of next-generation console games, Hudson Entertainment confirmed that it is working on a pair of next-gen console projects. First up is the tentatively titled Flight Game for the Revolution. As one might expect, the game will make use of the Revolution's controller to let players control their craft with gestures, letting them perform aerial acrobatics and drop bombs.

Another Hudson property of note is Dungeon Explorer for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable. The original Dungeon Explorer was a top-down action role-playing game on the TurboGrafx-16 released in 1989. Now, some 17 years later, Hudson is bringing the brand back, "completely revamped and reenvisioned," with expanded multiplayer gameplay, customizable characters, and randomly generated maps. The Xbox 360 version of the game will support Xbox Live, while the PSP edition will let for four players go adventuring together. TG-16 fans might also be interested in one of the company's new mobile titles, Bonk's Return.

DreamCatcher Interactive also announced a few titles gamers might be interested in. First of all, the company is bringing its first-person shooter Painkiller series to the PlayStation 2 and PSP (along with the Havok 2.0 physics engine). It will also show a number of other titles at E3, including the PC mystery game Evidence. Putting the player on the trail of a notorious serial killer, Evidence will combine traditional gameplay with real-world e-mails and Web sites to attempt to immerse gamers more deeply in the story.

While the N-Gage hasn't set the gaming world on fire, Nokia's not done with the industry yet, as the company is promising to unveil its Nokia Next Generation platform. While a release date and details on the platform are nebulous at best so far, Nokia did confirm that "in 2007 Nokia multimedia computers will enable users to play N-Gage quality games and connect to anyone, anywhere to play, chat, and share."

Finally, it wouldn't be E3 without a few offerings out of left field, and it seems that this year's event won't disappoint in that aspect. French company XKPad is taking a crack at the long-attempted arena of motion-controlled fighting games with Bodypad for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

The Bodypad is a system of sensors players wear that correspond to button presses, and it works with any game that doesn't require the use of analog sticks. XKPad is promising that players can still perform 99 percent of the combos they could with a regular game pad. For videos of the system in action, check out the company's Web site.

In other unusual peripheral news, dreamGEAR is answering the call (however quiet it may have been) for a liquid-filled PS2 controller. The Lava Glow wireless controller will provide "Extreme Glow Effects" and feature liquid-filled hand grips. Sadly, the company has not yet released photos of the Lava Glow.