As some of you may know, the largest gaming conference in the world is taking place right now in LA, The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or just E3.  I’m just going to try to hit the high points of what’s been going on as best I can, although I haven’t been as plugged in as I have been in the past.

The biggest things that people have been looking forward to in the whole expo have been the new hardware from the ‘Big 3,’ Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.  Last year, Nintendo announced a new console system called the ‘Wii U,’ and this year they’ve given us more of the details of the system.  Microsoft has shown a new addition the X-Box 360 that will probably add some serious life to the system, called Smart Glass.  Sony is yet to have their day at the convention, but the buzz is that they will be introducing a new console, although I haven’t heard anything more.  (Edit) Sony’s press conference was last night, they debuted God of War Ascension, a few secenes from The Last of Us and a new project from the maker’s of Heavy Rain.  I hadn’t heard anything about this from any of the sources I’ve been reading or watching and had to actively look for any of this with the exception of God of War, and that didn’t seem to be drawing a lot of buzz.

Check out the rest after the jump

Nintendo’s new Wii U will be a system that’s on par with the existing competitors, although it’s really a question of whether or not that’s all it can do.  Just bringing processing power up to match the other two is a bit of a letdown as far as power goes, but many in the industry don’t seem too keen on making more updates to the graphics systems.  The real heart of the console is that it has a tablet-like controller that Nintendo is calling the GamePad.  This controller will give you the standard controller options but the more important bit is the touchscreen that is integrated into it.

There are lots of things that industry leaders have been talking about concerning this tablet.  For instance, it could work just as simply as a second screen for a map, but one of my favorites so far has been the idea for Aliens: Colonial Marines, using the GamePad integrated into a zapper-like system, paired with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk into the zapper, and the GamePad acting as a motion sensor.  Yes, the new console will still be compatible with the standard Wii controls.

In another example, Ubisoft has been trying to build a game from the ground up to take advantage of the hardware.  Zombi U is a survival horror game that is objective based but has a particular twist.  You’re playing as a lone survivor, but you’re no Frank Castle, here.  Instead, you’re a sole survivor in the same way that a sole survivor in Left 4 Dead, that is to say, screwed.  Players will die, and it will likely happen a lot.  Here’s the twist, though.  There are no game overs, but there are no extra lives, either.  Every time that you die, you take control of a new survivor but you don’t have much gear at all, you have to hunt down the zombie you were just playing to get your bug-out bag.  The GamePad integration comes from things like rummaging through a real time inventory, you open your bag and access it through the GamePad.  This is the video from the press conference, but it is NSFW, extreme violence ensues.

For those of us that may not be so take by the idea of this kind of controller or more of the Wii Remote, a more traditional, very X-Box like controller.  To a lot of people, that will be a huge plus, it means you won’t have to play hardcore or more traditional games with motion controls.

Additionally, one of the things that really interests me concerning this GamePad is that it can operate without having the television even tuned to the system.  It can operate independently of the television so that your wife can watch NCIS and you can distract yourself so that she doesn’t yell at you for picking it apart…  Apparently I’m occasionally difficult to live with.  As a small other bit, the GamePad can be used as a remote for your television with a touch of the screen.

Microsoft’s new Smart Glass is a very different kind of idea.  In the past year, MS has been working to make the 360 more than just a game console, they want to make it the center of your entertainment experience.  Just to go ahead and say this up front, the new system is fully compatible with your computer no matter what OS you’re running.  Essentially, Smart Glass is being developed to allow the user to pair nearly any other device with your 360 for your entertainment.  Currently, with a properly set up network, you can stream media from your PC to your 360, Smart Glass will allow you to do the same with mobile devices, phones or tablets.  Not just Windows phones either, Iphones or Android, too.

Not only will it allow you to stream media, it will integrate your mobile devices into gameplay.  For instance, in much the same way that the Nintendo GamePad might let you call plays on Madden.  I’ve got a whole other reason to be interested in this thing, though.  No, this system isn’t just limited to gaming, it is also designed to add content to things you’re watching on television.  In their presentation, MS showed us what watching Game of Thrones would be like with Smart Glass.  The example had a man watching the show while steaming a map of Westeros onto a tablet.  Maybe that’s not groundbreaking by itself, but if it supplies information pertinent to a scene and the viewer won’t have to look it up themselves, that could be interesting (Edit: it does).

Now, aside from console content, you also got to see the new Star Wars game, 1313.  I know Brian already posted concerning that game and showed us some gameplay from it, but I’ve been keeping my eye on it on Gametrailers.com.  I heard the three words concerning this game that will make Brian less than happy.  In an interview with the game’s developer, GT was told that they were trying to make the kind of game that the players wanted,

Dark and Gritty.

Because apparently that needed to happen.  The bit about this that bothers me is that this is a Star Wars game that, aside from the setting, the lower levels of Coruscant, there’s no real ties to Star Wars.  Off the top of my head, I can’t think of another SW game that actually didn’t have any connection to characters from the movies.  I’m not saying the game won’t be good, honestly it looks gorgeous, but I don’t know how well it’s going to sell without a movie tie-in.

Another game that I’m interested in is a new title from DC Comics, WB Games and Netherrealm Studios, Injustice: Gods Among Us.  The developers of Mortal Kombat have given us a totally new comic based fighting game and unlike the last time they did this, there will be no MK characters in it.  The concept of the game is the heroes of the DC universe seem to have lost there marbles and they are fighting for some reason.  There won’t be any of the MK fatalities, either, but Ed Boon, the head developer, is saying that the idea is to level the playing field among characters so that Batman can pose a threat to Superman in a standup fight, but to also amp the game up to eleven.

I simply can’t wait to play a game in which I, as Superman, can punch Solomon Grundy through six buildings and then continue the fight.  Or, my favorite, the same characters, getting punched into space.  The environments are also supposed to play a much bigger role in this game, as well.  How that is going to be integrated isn’t yet clear.

Sadly, the roster so far is really small, only six confirmed right now.  Those characters are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Solomon Grundy and Harley Quinn.  They’ll all play differently, but I’m still a little disappointed in the size of this grouping.  I still want Green Lantern or Sinestro, the Martian Manhunter, the Joker, Mongul, Darkseid, Bane, Green Arrow. Adding skins to alter the characters into someone with a similar or identical power set would also work okay for me, changing Batman to Nightwing, Flash to Professor Zoom, Wonder Woman to Troia.

There’s still a full day of the convention coming, so there may still be more to come.  If you want to find more on E3 and to see interviews, I’d recommend heading over to Gametrailers.com. or if you just want the really condensed version, try Kotaku.