The "Big 3" at E3!

E3, the invitation-only trade show for computer and video games industry, is well underway, which started earlier this week! Thousands of journalists/bloggers are having the time of their lives at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles. (Not me, unfortunately) For those of you that don't know of this awesome convention, this is where video game developers show off their their upcoming games and other related products to the public. 

Many developers and publishers utilize the event to make ground-breaking announcements and get us gamers excited with anticipation. The "Big 3," or the top 3 gaming giants, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, have already had their press conferences earlier this week and here are the highlights:

Nintendo

After watching Nintendo's press conference, I was a little under impressed with what they had to offer compared to the other two power houses. They are definitely honing in on the "casual gamer" market, but what about the hardcore guys? Nothing groundbreaking, but they really don't need something to get the crowd excited because of the Wii's success, something Sony desperately needs. Even with the feeling of wanting more, there is some definite potential from the announcements. 

-Animal Crossing: City Folk will be released Holidays 2008. It will feature Wii Speak, which will allow players to speak with each other during game play.

-Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be released exclusively for Nintendo DS

-Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to Wii Sports, will come with Wii Motion Plus, which connects to the Wii remote for added motion sensitivity. Available next spring!

-Wii Music is officially announced! Much like Wii Sports, Wii Music will let players be able to play a variety of musical instruments like piano, drums, and string instruments.

Microsoft

What a press conference! Microsoft showed off many of its upcoming games for the next year to get many people excited and threw in a couple of surprises...

-NBC/Universal teams up with Microsoft to sell tv show/movie content on Xbox Live.

-Showed off demos of Fable 2, Gears of War 2, and Resident Evil 5.

-Resident Evil 5 is delayed until 2009 :(

-Microsoft announced a totally new interface for the Xbox Dashboard. This new interface will include "Avatars" which are Mii-like characters you can customize and take online.

-A new Geometry Wars game will be released exclusively to XBLA next month!

-New Banjo-Kazooie footage from Rare.

-Microsoft partners up with Netflix so you can rent and download movies through XBLA

-Guitar Hero World Tour announcements: more than 85 songs with many of them being master songs, exclusive songs from R.E.M., Van Halen, and Metallica.

-Rock Band 2: 84 master track songs, old Rock Band tracks will be able to play on Rock Band 2. Over 500 songs to be playable on Rock Band 2. Whoa.

-The biggest announcement: FINAL FANTASY XIII will be released for Xbox 360 alongside the no longer exclusive PS3 version. 

Sony

Sony has some hefty work cut out for them, with the success of the Wii and Microsoft's great press conference. While Nintendo and Microsoft's press conferences were littered with smiling faces having fun while playing video games, Sony's show had a totally different feel. Much more geared toward the hardcore gamer, featuring flashing screens, video shots of games like Metal Gear Solid 4 and The Force Unleashed, and the faint sounds of gunshots in the background. Overall, I was impressed but not sold that this year is the so-called "year of PS3."

-Preview of Resistance 2- the video was really impressive! According to the host, the scale of the game will be "huge."

-A new PS2 bundle for $149, including Lego Batman and the Justice League movie.

-Ps3 Greatest Hits games for $29.99: Resistance: Fall of Man, Assassin's Creed, Oblivion, and others.

-Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty will be released over the summer exclusively through the Playstation Network for only $14.99. It's a downloadable shorter game featuring the pace of a blockbuster movie.

-Downloadable movies and TV shows through the Playstation Network from Fox, MGM, Lionsgate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, and Turner.

-Playstation Home - the ultimate social experience for gamers, much like Xbox Live.

-Sony's news and weather service for the PS3, Life with Playstation, will be available at the end of the month.

-Resistance: Retribution for the PSP was announced and a trailer.

-God of War 3 officially announced and will be released this holiday season! Also with played a trailer for the game.

-80GB PS3 will be $399 beginning in September.

-MAG: Massive Action Game is announced. Developed by Zipper Interactive, this game with pack 256 players into eight-man squads in one map for an ultimate free-for-all. Hmm.. sounds very interesting and awesome.

E3 will be going on until tomorrow, check out G4tv.com for nonstop coverage of E3 2008. If there is any earth-shattering announcement, I'll be sure to blog at my best:)