E3 2011, Day 1 Pre-post!

Today is the first day of the main Electronics Expo events for 2011. This is my first year being able to talk about it on something like my blog, so this is really exciting. Of course, I live on the east coast, and the streaming doesn't begin until 1PM for me, so what we're going to talk about is what we expect out of today's panels.

12:00 - E3 "Kickoff"
12:30 - Microsoft conference
2:00 - Stream special. Modern Warfare 3, SKYRIM, Batman, Bioshock.
3:30 - Electronic Arts
4:30 - Stream special. Twisted Metal, Mass Effect 3.
5:30 - Ubisoft
6:45 - More EA, Hitman, Darkness 2.
8:00 - Sony

Of course, there are other streams that are showing other games too. Dead Island, HD collections, and tons of others that are being covered that I hope to be able to talk about as quickly as I can.

The Microsoft conferences are always huge because their games and system have some of the most media coverage out of anyone else. The news that Microsoft brings each year are supposed to be the kind of information that would excite any kind of gamer, Xbox fan or not. This year is no different with blockbuster hits like Gears of War 3 and Forza 4 getting press releases today. The other confirmed news points are probably not as exciting: Star Wars for the Kinect, X-COM, and a few others. After Gears and Forza, the surprises are going to be what makes or breaks this conference.

Video: IGN

Gears, imo, is the big Xbox exclusive. Halo of course may be even bigger, but that is falling into the abyss of over-saturation. What does that mean? When a good game comes out, Publishers love to make many iterations of the game to milk as much profit as possible, without giving any significant gameplay improvements. If a game does not have many improvements to make that aren't story, character, or social enhancements, then its next iteration may possibly be a lot of the same core content. Gears is only up to its 3rd game since 2006, which is a decent stretch of time to still create a ton of hype. Gears has everything you could want out of a game for your Xbox - big enemies, co-op action, BRUTAL attacks, and of course, a big burly bad-ass main character. As more information comes out, we'll be able to talk all about the new gameplay mechanics, the dedicated online servers, and all the great things Gears has to offer.

Over the next 3 days, there will be lots of different posts, so be on the look out!