A Midsummer Night's E3 Eve

So here I sit in the middle of the night (it's already 1AM on the East Coast) up late pondering that wonderful time of year we gamers have dubbed E3 week. Despite the show being scaled back they'll be plenty of memorable moments for all I'm sure. We'll have the big three hardware manufacture's all trying to put their best foot forward in their respective press conferences, plenty of larger 3rd party press conferences both inside and outside of E3 proper, and all the laughs, sorrows, highlights, and failures of the past. The question I pondered this afternoon while I made my top 10 most anticipated DS titles at E3 this year thread was just where will handhelds fit into the realm of E3 this year?

Traditionally handhelds have always tended to take a overall back seat in the minds of the press and the gamers despite maybe some focus by Nintendo or Sony in their press conferences. Despite the PSP picking up steam in Japan and the DS still selling like hotcakes around the world I doubt this to be any different this year. We do have the wildcard of the iPhone which just happened to coinicidentally on Thursday release it's 2.0 firmware update and the 3g model on Friday. Apple promises the new Apps store to have a descent gaming representation and many a media sight as well as Apple has hinted at a ton of games in developement which could be unveiled as soon as the new firmware hit the street. Wow that all happened a mere few days before E3. Coinicidence? I think not. This is Steve Jobs and Apple we are talking about here. Still I doubt even the ever popular iPhone will be able to push moble gaming to the forefront despite at least on the DS side a stong E3 lineup.

In the end though does this even matter that much? I mean despite handhelds not usually garnering the E3 spot light much like they don't on Magazine covers or gaming websites the hardware still sells extremely well and the games keep flowing. Plus even if they don't take center stage the games will still be there and they'll still get covered on major sites like IGN and 1up. Not to mention the fact that no matter how downplayed this can get the lineup is still strong. I mean who can't wait for more hands on with Chrono Trigger DS, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Super Monkey Ball iPhone edition, or Star Ocean: First Departure.

So moble gaming fans should have faith knowing they'll see some quality representation at E3 no matter what page the info is relegated too. Plus who said handheld gamers don't also like Consoles and their PCs as well. I mean you do have a PC right since you're reading my blog or are you just using your pesky iPhone instead?!