Video Game Heaven in Los Angeles

May 9, 2006 -- -- For three days each year in Los Angeles, the glitz and glam of the movie industry takes a backseat to the almost $10 billion a year interactive world of video games.

In 2005, about 70,000 industry insiders, journalists and various VIPs filled the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the biggest video game trade show in the world.

Stay with ABCNEWS.com for the latest news from E3 through May 12.

This year, with Nintendo showing off its soon-to-be-released Wii video game console, Sony displaying the new PlayStation 3, and both machines employing motion-sensitive controllers, it could be even bigger.

"The main thing is going to be the hardware that's on show," said Dennis McCauley, editor of GamePolitics.com and a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Some years it's the games, but this year's show has everyone completely wired up to hear about the new consoles."

E3 is known for big announcements from game companies, thanks in no small part to the intense worldwide media coverage.

This year is no different with rumors of a Microsoft handheld gaming system, a PlayStation 3 controller that reacts to player's movement, and what many are calling the darling of the show, Nintendo's Wii.

"We're definitely excited to see what Nintendo's Wii is all about," said Sam Kennedy, editor in chief of video game supersite 1Up.com. "They've been talking about changing the way we play games, and we want to see if they can actually deliver."

Nintendo hopes to open up gaming to a whole new audience with the help of Wii's controller, which is untraditionally shaped like a remote control.

It's a philosophy that seems to be catching on as Sony announced Monday that the controller for its PlayStation 3 console would also respond to player movements.

"The controller is the barrier," Kennedy said. "It's intimidating, so if you can use a controller that looks like a remote control -- which is familiar to everybody -- and then they can just wave it around to perform actions in the game, that's what's going to get new gamers."