Video games just keep wowing

Video games aren't cheap, and a lot of people won't be able to afford the amazing games and hardware that Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and others unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last week.

But from another angle, you get a pretty amazing blend of art, software and hardware engineering for $60 per game, $200 to $400 for a console setup.

Every year the fidelity, variety and quality leap ahead, driven by advances in technology, creativity and intense competition among game platforms, publishers and studios.

It's no wonder 67 percent of homes in America are playing computer and video games and 41 percent plan to buy one or more games this year, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

Despite the economic crisis, Americans spent $15 billion on games last year, including $10.5 billion on packaged games and $4.5 billion to $4.75 billion on used games, services, rentals, downloads and add-on content, according to NPD Group estimates.

So what are we going to buy over the next year?

I'll bet people will buy millions of the new consoles and controllers that Microsoft and Sony revealed last week, unemployment be damned.

Console sales will benefit from a lull in the TV upgrade cycle. After buying high-def TVs over the past few years, most people aren't ready to replace them with $2,500 3-D sets. Consoles are an interim upgrade — a way to get more out of their setups, especially since consoles are an easy way to get more online video onto the screen. The industry has also successfully established games as mainstream entertainment.

Microsoft's redesigned Xbox 360 looks more like a fancy video player, and it's smaller and quieter than the original; I could hear only a faint hum. Its Kinect motion controller is intriguing, and ESPN's arrival on the Xbox Live network is a step toward long-awaited a la carte cable service.

Sony's Move controller will have more games at its September launch, including some for hard-core gamers who don't snicker at the controllers.

Nintendo's upcoming 3-D version of the DS — the 3DS — is probably going to be the first 3-D video-playback system in a lot of homes, but it's unclear whether it will be on sale by the holidays and for how much.

As for games, here's my personal list of E3 standouts — for those who have $1,000 to burn on all the discs, consoles and controllers:

"Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit," coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on Nov. 16, $60. Driving games are big this year, ranging from a motion-controlled Kinect kart game to Sony's ultrarealistic "Gran Turismo 5" in 3-D. But the one to beat is EA's breathtaking "Hot Pursuit," in which you choose to race through a California forest as a street racer or the police, with both sides driving Lamborghinis, Bugattis and other supercars. This could help Seattleites work out their recent angst over policing methods.

"Halo: Reach," coming to Xbox, Sept. 14, $60 to $150. For Kirkland studio Bungie, "Reach" is the grand finale of its "Halo" franchise, which established Microsoft's Xbox platform and grossed more than $1 billion. But "Reach" is cool all by itself, especially since it's getting new weapons and vehicles, including a flyable spacecraft. It's a prequel that tells the early "Halo" story through a squad of soldiers defending planet Reach from invading aliens. More than 2.7 million players tested its multiplayer system last month.

"Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos," coming to Xbox, PS3 and Wii, Nov. 9, $40 to $50. Games based on movies and TV shows often aren't worth the price, and the new "Deadliest Catch" game isn't exactly pushing the graphics or design envelope. It's a strategy game — you compete against other boat captains to catch the most crab in Alaska — that includes mini action games, such as hooking pot lines and sorting crab in a tray. The graphics should look better after a pregame pitcher or two at Fishermen's Terminal in Magnolia.

"Kung Fu Rider," coming to PS3 in September, $40. A showcase for Sony's Move controller that's evolved into a wacky game, "Kung Fu Rider" has you race down hilly Hong Kong streets on office chairs and other things with wheels, kicking and karate-chopping bad guys as you roll past. I could do without the silly storyline but love the chair racing.

"The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword," coming to Wii in 2011. Nintendo teased "Zelda" fans with a playable preview of its hit fantasy-adventure franchise. It feels like the culmination of Nintendo's work improving the Wii's controls, including the two-handed archery system that debuted last summer and the ability to wield a sword with one hand and a shield with the other.

"Epic Mickey," coming to Wii by the holidays, $50. A coup for Nintendo was landing this Disney adventure game, in which the mouse plays through a "cartoon wasteland" populated by Disney's retired and forgotten characters. Armed with paint and paint thinner, applied with flicks of the Wii controller, Mickey must defeat evil and save the realm.

"Dance Central," for Xbox Kinect by the holidays. Instead of requiring players to frantically tap on a plastic mat as in the popular "Dance, Dance Revolution," this game uses Kinect to track players' bodies and judge how well they execute moves and routines. A library of more than 600 moves and 90 routines is included in "Dance Central," and publisher Harmonix will no doubt sell more via download.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops," for Xbox, PS3 and Wii, Nov. 9, $60. The biggest rival to "Halo" this year is the latest installment of the intense and vivid military shooting game. "Black Ops" takes place in the Vietnam era with settings such as Laos, where you play as covert soldiers with access to cutting-edge weapons ranging from revolvers to a flyable attack chopper, rendered with meticulous, burnished detail.

Brier Dudley's column appears Mondays. Reach him at 206-515-5687 or bdudley@seattletimes.com.