Yes I know Palantas made a somewhat similar blog, but It's always good to have a second opinion and I watched the EA conference aswell so I have more to share. Lets begin..

Microsoft Conference

I don't want to tell you about the various dashboard updates or w/e because no-one really knows how they're going to work out  and I'm sure most of you have heard what's coming. In summary:

- Facebook, Twitter and last.fm integration

- Some new "zune" video thing

- Natal

So now lets move onto the games:

• Beatles - Paul and Ringo made an interesting, said very little about the game, then left after 5 seconds and a few akward gaming jokes (something about androids?) The game itself was classic Rockband, but a shameless cash-in; most of the classic songs must be bought and downloaded.. 360 gets one exclusive track.
• Splinter Cell Conviction - Not been a fan of previous titles, but this demo amazed me. The action and themeing seemed to be a cross between MGS and the Bourne series, borrowing a lot from classic action movies. Fischer had a few new moves, the stealth was implented with innovation and the story seemed to be compelling even within the few minutes shown. One ot watch
• Alan Wake - In short; deep narrative, gameplay like resi but perhaps more refined.
• Halo Games - I hate this series, you don't want to hear my opinion on these games. Check Palantas' blog for his opinion.
• MGS:R - The guy revealed nothing, but shook the gaming world. If the central protagonist is indeed Raiden then expect DMC style Ninja fighting, with Kojima's classic sense of originality and story telling.
• L4D2 - If the trailer is to be believed, then expect new weapons and new daylight environments.
• Forza - More of the old..
• Modern Warfare 2 - Has come under a lot of criticism lately, but it will be good. Infinity Ward don't make bad games.

EA Conference

When I tuned in they were playing a trailer for Dante's Inferno, which looked good but once again showed now real gameplay. This can be said for a lot of games shown by EA, gameplay was hard to find. There was a few akward moments whilst they had their "EA for girls" team on stage. We had to sit by whilst some 8 year old girls played the most generic, sell-out game I had ever seen, "Charm Girls". I know there's a market for this sort of game, buts lets be honest, they wont be watching E3. Next up was better. EA sports showed off some great gameplay from some of their usual games, like fight night, aswell as announcing 2 new franchises. EA MMA, same thing as UFC, and EA Tennis for the wii.

After EA sports, on came EA "partner" programme, where other developers who worked with EA made presentations. There was a brief gameplay demo from saboteur, which is looking very nice in all departments. There was also the announcement of Crysis 2 on all platforms, except wii, but no trailer weirdly. The guys from Bioware and lucasarts showed a stunning trailer for Old Republic and talked about how story will play a big part in the game and every character will be individually voiced.

That's it for now. I'll bring more infor after the Nintendo and Sony conference today.

--Tony999Montana--