Like you, I'm too poor to attend E3, but I'm not too poor to attend my iMac's presentation, which uses a variety of "tubes" to "see" E3 through the eyes of others. Yes, it's a wonderful world. So in order to keep you satiated, here are some highlights with links to help you navigate this year's E3.
Nintendo
Legend of Zelda – "The Skyward Sword" is coming to Nintendo's Wii, but another game will come to the new console, and the demo looks pretty nifty to say the least. Cool graphicscould be better, though, but what do you expect from Nintendo?
Nintendo Wii U – yup, Nintendo's new console is looking good all right. It even sports slightly better graphics, thank god. From the information we're getting, it's looking more likely that this is going to be the first serious console with a touch-screen controller. Does it look heavy? Yes. Does it look bulky? Yes. Do I want to touch it? Yes. Yes, I do.
Xbox
Halo 4 – It's coming, and it's going to start a new trilogy. If you're a big fan of multiplayer, you're very excited right now. If you spend more time on story-based campaigns, you're probably saying to yourself "Well, I'll check it out. If I've got time."
Gears of War 3 – Get some info about the campaign storyline, as well as some new details about the game's new "tower defense" option that improves on the last sequel's popular "horde" mini game. Can't wait for this bad boy.
Mass Effect 3 – Seriously, we have to wait another year for this game? I can't stand it. I can't wait. This is absolutely ridiculous. I need it now, I don't care if it's finished. Also, the rumors are true: it's going to feature some voice controls via the Kinect, which sounds cool but I'm still not dishing out a hundred bucks for the stupid thing.
Sony
Sony Vita – the new handheld that will compete very weakly with whatever Nintendo cooks up next. Still, it has some interesting features and sounds like it's going to be an impressive little thing. It'll run with AT&T and will have wi-fi capabilities.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 – The sequel to one of Final Fantasy's best-reviewed let some new screenshots be made available, but still not a lot of new information.
Bioshock Infinite – Man, what would one of these Bioshock games look like with really, really good graphics? I shudder to think. Until it happens, you'll have to be content with the same "mostly decent" graphics from the previous Bioshock in this sequel, which is set in a floating city. Still looks awesome, though.
Multi-Platform
Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Ezio is back but so is Alistair. Does that sound confusing to you, too? Right. Well, at least the story is moving forward, although at this point it feels like it may take a decade before we actually know what the heck's going on. Better keep it fresh until then ...
Aliens: Colonial Marines – I remember playing the new Aliens vs. Predator game a while back and thinking to myself, holy crap the first part of this game is awesome. That part involved the colonial marines, and so I'm glad to see this coming out.
Ninja Gaiden 3 Trailer – Blood and guts and ninjas. Finally, this game is coming out. Even though some people were turned off by the repetitive hacking and slashing of part 2, I had fun from start to finish and can't wait to do it all over again.
Until next week!