SAN FRANCISCO, CA; MAY 18, 2009; The expert editorial staff at IGN.com (www.ign.com), the leading online videogames media outlet, today published its 2009 E3 Expo Predictions to offer the gaming industry and consumers alike insight into what they expect to be the big news at the industry's premier trade show. Returning to its original large-scale format following a two year hiatus, the 2009 E3 Expo will take place June 2-4, 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"With more than 150 collective years of covering the videogames space, the IGN.com editorial team has incredible chops to make predictions about what will happen at E3," said Peer Schneider, Senior Vice President of Content for IGN Entertainment. "Pulling from past company announcements, rumors and their own inside knowledge, our editors are going on the record for the first time to predict the most significant news and trends from this year's show."

Some of the most impactful predictions from IGN.com's Editorial team include:

-Sony: Chris Roper, Editor-in-Chief, IGN PlayStation Team, predicts that Sony will announce a new version of the PlayStation Portable. The announcement of a price drop for the Sony PS3 console is also expected.

-Microsoft: IGN Xbox Team Editor-in-Chief Hilary Goldstein predicts that Microsoft will finally pull back the curtain and reveal the long-awaited blockbuster, Alan Wake, while also unveiling a new motion sensor camera that will revolutionize the way videogame cameras are used.

-Nintendo: Matt Casamassina, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Nintendo Team, expects the success of the Wii to be an overriding theme and predicts announcements of classic game downloads for the DSi, as well as new Mario, Pikmin and Zelda adventures.

In addition, several key themes are expected to drive the conversation at this year's show, including:

-Social Gaming on the Rise: The overwhelming success of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band has led to the emergence of gaming as a social platform. Games that offer multiple forms of cooperative gameplay will likely be a major theme as videogames move away from the ultra-competitive, hardcore mindset of the past towards a friendlier, group-oriented design that encourages hanging out and having fun over achieving the highest score.

-Digital Download Overload: With the economy causing many gamers to tighten their belt straps and game reselling becoming a growing issue for publishers, the rise of downloadable content will be a hot topic.

-Peripheral Focus: Peripheral devices are predicted to take center stage, with the expected debut of a new skateboard controller, music devices, a one-handed LED controller and many more.

For the full list of predictions, visit ign.com/e3predictions/.

For those unable to attend the 2009 E3 Expo this year, IGN.com will be onsite and will be providing the most comprehensive live coverage of the event.

IGN.com E3 Coverage will include:

-Live-streaming of press conferences in HD-quality format.

-IGN E3 Live Show from the show floor, hosted by Jessica Chobot. Coverage will feature clips of today's top game developers, publishers and sneak peeks at the games that they are working on. Games featured will include: Madden 2010, Rock Band: Beatles, Star Wars: Old Republic and many more.

-Dedicated IGN.com E3 site with up-to-the-minute, live updates and daily wrap-ups, including hands-on reports, interviews, previews, and tons of screenshots and videos from the show's most exciting games (http://e3.ign.com)

-Live Twitter updates (http://www.twitter.com/igncom) and IGN@E3 YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/ign) coverage throughout the show.

-IGN's "Best of E3" awards: Follow us as we select nominees at the show and pick the winners who will take home the trophies after the show.

For more information about IGN Entertainment, visit http://www.ign.com.

About IGN Entertainment
IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc., is a leading Internet media and services provider focused on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reached more than 34 million unique users worldwide in the month of March 2009, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore Media Metrix. IGN's network of videogame-related properties (IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, Direct2Drive and others), is one of the Web's leading videogame information destinations and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. IGN also owns and operates the popular movie-related website, Rotten Tomatoes and one of the leading male lifestyle Websites, AskMen.com. In addition, IGN provides technology for online game play in videogames. IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices throughout the U.S. and in Montreal.


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Contacts:

Kris Sharbaugh
IGN.com
ksharbaugh@ign.com
646-483-8446

Jacqueline Tanzella
Sparkpr for IGN.com
jacqueline@sparkpr.com
415-321-1889