E3 2010 Day 1

It's a bit late, but here are some of the highlights from the first day of E3, which consisted of conferences from Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft. If you want a more detailed analysis, click here.

Microsoft: The Big Green focused was too much on Project Natal, which has now been named Kinect. Worse, it focused mainly on games that were for casual gamers, who usually don't tune in to E3 anyway. My personal favorite of the Kinect was an unnamed Star Wars title, which used Kinect in lightsabers, Force powers, and deflecting blasters. But the hardcore games are where it's at: Halo: Reach (space combat!), Gears of War 3 (lambent Beserkers!), and Call of Duty: Black Ops (Helicopter piloting!) were given the golden treatment, but the winner by far is Metal Gear Solid: Rising. The concept: Use Raiden's sword to cut through anything (buildings included) from any angle. The game looked fast-paced, strategic, and gory as all Hell. I can't wait for this one. Finally, a new, sleeker Xbox 360 was unveiled. The design is pretty wonky, but it apparently runs cooler, quieter, and faster, all for 299$, and it ships out this week.

EA: EA had a strong show, with revivals like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Medal of Honor, which resembles more of a faster-paced Battlefield than Modern Warfare. Plus sequels like Dead Space 2 and Crysis 2 were gorgeous to look at and anticpated to boot. The new FPS Bulletstorm was also shown off, and apart from being "gore-geous", it features a great premise: kill the bad guys in the most creative way possible, showing off a laser leash that can fling enemies, super kicks that send baddies flying, and environments dying for destruction. Finally, Bioware concluded the show with Star Wars: The Old Republic, and a trailer that blew everyone away. Ladies and gentleman, the WoW-Killer has arrived.

Ubisoft: Another strong show, Ubisoft employed MC Joel McHale to host again, and it turned out great; he was hilarious and entertaining. But the games are where it's at, remember? Child of Eden, a Kinect arcade-esque title that reminded me of Geometry Wars looks very cool and trippy. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood stole the show, showing off an awesome battle scene and setting up an anticipated sequel comparable to Uncharted 2. Shaun White's Skateboarding looks, dare I say it, "dope", showing off a more cartoony/arcade skateboarding game complete with zany abilities like in the similar Snowboarding game. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier looks much faster-paced and easier to control than previous versions I've seen, with awesome new weapons and gadgetry. A new Rayman game was shown off, and the first thing you notice is its beautiful design and "Castle Crashers" type humor. Finally, dancers from "Michael Jackson's: This is It" ended the show dancing to the "Beat It" music video, introducing a new Michael Jackson related game. Fingers crossed for an FPS! :D

That's all for today, check back tomorrow for more news. Be sure to comment and vote in the poll (on Tuesday!)!!!!