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The world\u2019s premier video game trade show, E3, kicked off online Saturday, celebrating play that \u201ckept us sane\u201d during the pandemic, celebrating fantasy worlds with Ubisoft\u2019s new offering \u201cAvatar,\u201d and promising a real-world gathering next year.<\/p>\n
The Electronic Entertainment Expo that each year turned the Los Angeles Convention Center into a players\u2019 paradise was cancelled in 2020 because of Covid-19, and went virtual this year with a streamed event.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the pandemic that prevented us from being with so many family, friends and colleagues, video games connected us, entertained us and brought us together,\u201d said Entertainment Software Association chief executive Stanley Pierre-Louis.<\/p>\n
\u201cGames kept us sane,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The association has hosted E3 annually since 1995, most of those years in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to convene and celebrate as a community,\u201d Pierre-Louis said during an opening presentation.<\/p>\n
Video game play has surged during the pandemic, as people turned more than ever to the internet for entertainment.<\/p>\n
Overall consumer spending on gaming in the United States totaled just shy of $15 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 30 percent from the same period in 2020, according to industry tracker NPD Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been amazed by the role games have played in our everyday lives,\u201d Pierre-Louis said.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti joined the pre-recorded presentation to reveal E3 will return to the city next year, and that he is eager to see it back in action.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to seeing you in person, here in the City of Angels in 2022,\u201d Garcetti said.<\/p>\n
What had long been an industry-only event has opened to fans in recent years, as the world of gaming has expanded beyond consoles to smartphones and play hosted in the internet cloud.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Amazing journey\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s virtual event is spread over four days, and features presentations by major game studios along with console titans Microsoft and Nintendo.<\/p>\n
French video game powerhouse Ubisoft opened the show with a look at fresh additions to its diverse line-up, including a new game based on the blockbuster film \u201cAvatar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora\u201d is a first-person, action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft in collaboration with Disney, according to the company.<\/p>\n
A trailer for the game, set for release next year, showed an open world in which players take on the role of the tall, blue Na\u2019vi characters from the film that won an array of Academy Awards in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a glimpse of the amazing journey that awaits you in one of the most beautiful but dangerous places of all,\u201d Ubisoft chief executive Yves Guillemot said of the Avatar game teaser.<\/p>\n
Ubisoft also showed off its latest collaboration with Nintendo combining the beloved Mario character with its impish Raving Rabbids.<\/p>\n
Keenly awaited Ubisoft games spotlighted included additions to the popular Assassin\u2019s Creed and Far Cry franchises as well as Rainbow Six.<\/p>\n
E3 continues on Sunday with an event by Microsoft\u2019s game unit Xbox and recently-acquired Bethesda Softworks, the maker of hits including \u201cFallout\u201d and \u201cElder Scrolls.\u201d<\/p>\n
US telecom operator Verizon will hold its first E3 media event on Monday, focusing on how superfast 5G networks will influence gaming.<\/p>\n
Many are expected to tune in on Tuesday for a Nintendo streamed event at which it may reveal a new version of its coveted Switch consoles along with showing off new games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The world\u2019s premier video game trade show, E3, kicked off online Saturday, celebrating play that \u201ckept us sane\u201d during the pandemic, celebrating fantasy worlds with Ubisoft\u2019s new offering \u201cAvatar,\u201d and promising a real-world gathering next year. The Electronic Entertainment Expo that each year turned the Los Angeles Convention Center into a players\u2019 paradise was cancelled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n