Turn out the lights, the party’s over; in a flurry of trailers, demos, and promotional announcements another E3 has come and gone. Amidst the sheer flood of new juicy details on some of our favorite franchises, E3 has also become the annual B.O.T.B.T. (Battle Of The Big Three). Each year, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft take the stage for a 60-minute boast fest and show off several new games and features in an effort to get the gaming community salivating for what’s on the horizon.

This year, Microsoft stepped up to the podium first to set the bar for their big competitors. With Kinect outselling Playstation Move and the Wii sales beginning to show habitual decline over the past several months, Microsoft knew this was their time to shine

but left a lot to be desired when all was said and done. Here’s the highlights:

 

1. Gears of War 3: A no-brainer here, I cannot be more excited to take on the Horde one more time. We already knew Marcus and his crew were in dire straits, but the campaign footage they were showing off looked gorgeous

   you know, in a gory, chainsaw-on-a-machine-gun kind of way. The introduction of Mech Suits brings destruction to an all new high, and the scale of the battles is beyond madness. I used to think M.A.G. was chaotic, but the videos alone are enough evidence to prove that Marcus’ final chapter is going to be a doozie.

2. Halo 4: I can’t honestly say I was surprised to see this one. I knew Master Chief’s franchise would continue in some form (hell, MC just built an in-house studio solely for Halo), but another sequel? And not only that — but according to them, a beginning to another trilogy? The teasers certainly made the game look stunning in all of Halo’s sci-fi glory, but one can’t help but feel a twinge of regret. The Halo trilogy told a fantastic story and ended about as poetically as you could ask for. Can’t we just leave well enough alone?
   

3. Halo: Combat Evolved HD Remastered Edition: Apparently not. Not only are they working on a 4th Halo, but they’re also giving the original Xbox game a significant facelift for the 360. I suppose if Nintendo is allowed to milk all of their franchises, MC has the same honor. Huzzah for remakes?
4. Ryse: Now this is interesting. Set in Roman times, Ryse is touted to be a game built entirely for the Kinect and built for the hardcore community. Not much can be gathered from the trailer, but if we can take MC’s word, Ryse will be getting all of us out of our chairs and kicking someone’s ass — literally.
5. Fable: The Journey: Not much was said regarding Lionhead’s new adventure in the Fable series, but they’re also jumping on the Kinect bandwagon and incorporating motion features to their franchise. The idea is certainly intriguing in theory, but I hope for their sake they don’t half-ass it and shove in there like most games on the Wii.

 

These were certainly not the only items touched upon during the conference. IGN did a solid job covering almost every angle of E3, so feel free to jump on over to their website to find out about Minecraft coming to the 360, Live TV streaming, Kinect Star Wars, Mass Effect 3, Modern Warfare 3, and plenty others.

 

Next up, Sony takes the stage!

 

Gray