E3 06: World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer - All In Impressions

LOS ANGELES--These days, it's difficult to throw up your arms after losing on the river without hitting some kind of new poker game; since the explosion in popularity of televised poker and the proliferation of online poker sites, we've seen roughly one trillion console and PC adaptations of the game, ranging from the budget titles that only feature Texas Hold 'Em to the more full-fledged varieties that offer better artificial intelligence and multiple game types.

One of the best of this latter variety has been World Championship Poker, which is about to appear in its third iteration under the laborious title World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer - All In. Like the previous games in the series, All In attempts to make its mark with better AI than its competitors and an array of endorsements from various poker pros, such as the titular Howard Lederer and his sister Annie Duke. The PS2 version of the game is currently slated to have nine real-world poker pros represented, while the Xbox 360 version, puzzlingly, will only feature six. All In will feature 18 different varieties of poker, up from the 14 varieties in the last version of the game.

The PS2 version of the game is making its mark by attempting to inject a bit more humor into the proceedings, with a more cartoony look to its renditions of the characters. While the AI is as serious as ever, the look of the game is less so; six of the new venues added to the title are decidedly of the "wacky" variety, with tables that can be found underwater or on the surface of the moon. In addition, the create-a-player look has been updated with more oddball varieties of uniforms, from pumpkinheads to luchadora masks to complete sets of facial tattoos, or even mascot heads.

Besides the new look, though, the PS2 version of the game sports online tournaments for up to 32 players, with up to eight players per table. What's more, players on the PS2 will be able to take on PSP players directly, although we didn't get specifics on precisely how this works. Players on the PSP will be able to go online with up to eight players in ad hoc multiplayer.

Despite the emphasis on goofy features this time around, World Championship Poker has generally been regarded as one of the best poker games available today, so stay tuned to GameSpot for more information on All In as it gets closer to release.