Written by: TheLatentGeek on 4 June 2012 @ 11:07 pm

(This is the first post composed on my phone, and while I did edit it with an actual keyboard, I apologize in advance for any typos or weirdness)

RyBread had a nine-month checkup early Monday morning, and NinjaGnomes and I both magically got off of work, we had a long day of sitting around the apartment. Luckily many of the major E3 breifings were televised on Spike and G4 today! Squee!

Ahem – you’re at The Latent Geek. Did you expect us to recap the MTV movie awards?

If you’re new to the gaming world, E3, which is short for the Electronic Entertainment Expo,  is the big convention-like event where companies showcase their newest products – games, consoles, peripherals, and innovations – and sets the tone for the coming year in gaming. It also acts as a sort of reverse award show for gaming enthusiasts; the media picks “winners,” or superlatives of all the stuff released. All this sets the fiscal tone for the companies in the upcoming year since the whole event is advertising and the “winners” project what is going to make the most money.

I have to say, it felt really good to be able to geek out and watch some of these events live.  Now I understand how my mom feels when she watches the Oscars.
Did you catch any of E3? watch any recaps or read any announcements?  What are you looking forward to this gaming year? Let us know in the comments!

We watched the Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and PlayStation events, but since there was some overlap (and since I’m too slow to run this like a news site) we’ll stick to breaking down the Microsoft and PlayStation events.

Some notable Microsoft announcements were Halo 4, a new development called SmartGlass, and emphasis on the system’s value in non-game entertainment.

• I’m not really a Halo fan, but some friends of mine are, and they seemed mostly disappointed in what they saw.
• SmartGlass is a new system that allows you to use your smartphone or tablet in conjunction with your Xbox. Seems cool, but like the kind of thing I’d only use once or twice.
• Microsoft showed us how you will soon be able to use your Kinect as a voice activated controller for non game content like movies or TV. You’ll also be able to use this in conjunction with SmartGlass. They also emphasized the new partnerships with The NBA and NHL, ESPN, and UFC.

PlayStation’s biggest announcements were a huge new title, developments with the PlayStation Move, and cross-play with the PlayStation Vita.

• The big new title, a PlayStation exclusive, is called Beyond and features Ellen Page and real-time motion capture 3D as its stars.
• The developments for the Move were so-so, but definitely make strides to push the PlayStation into the family entertainment world. Working with J.K. Rowling and Pottermore helps.
•  Cross-play with the PlayStation Vita will allow players to play multi-player games using both the PS3 and Vita simultaneously, will allow players to use the Vital as a visual controller like the WiiU controller, and to save games on one device and continue them on the other. Titles with these features are limited now, but future titles are sure to cash in on this feature.

Also notable were Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs, both by Ubisoft.

So, I’m not going to argue over which console is better.  They both have their merits, and they cater to different demographics. We welcome all type of geek here, so whichever console you prefer, or if you’re a PC gamer, or if you only ever played a Wii, more power to you.

In my house though, we’re PlayStation people. I am stoked about Beyond, I think it looks awesome, and in a few years, when all the bugs are worked out, I may think about a Wonderbook for RyBread. But what I’m really excited about is Assassin’s Creed III.
I get to drive a ship! Cannon fights! American Revolution! So excited…
They also announced Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation for the PlayStation Vita and it features a female protagonist!

Tuesday we both had to work, so unfortunately we didn’t get to watch any of the events.  But since I’m playing Skyrim, I did peek in on the info released about the new Dawnguard DLC. I’m kind of meh about the whole vampire thing, mostly because I haven’t really done any vampire or werewolf stuff in Skyrim.  I seem to remember NinjaGnomes mentioning how he really wished he could join the Vigilents of Stendarr, and one of the factions in the new missions is similar in that you’re targeting vampires, so maybe he’ll be more into the Vampire stuff.  I am excited about the new dragonbone weapons, new shouts, and the new NPC in the Ratway that can change character appearance. Unfortunately for me, there is no release date yet for the PS3, but the release date for the 360 is only three weeks away!

Tags: E3, Gamer, Games, Geek, RyBread

Catogories: Gaming, Geek Mom, General Geekery