Let’s recap.

Microsoft showed off pretty much the games we expected, Splinter Cell Conviction, Alan Wake, Forza 3 along with third party games MW2, Tony Hawk, The Beatles Rock Band, Halo 3: ODST. There were a few surprises, such as Epic Games’ Shadow Complex, a Castlvania / Contra feeling game, and the announcement of Halo: Reach (beta to be bundled with ODST).

Then we got the stuff that should appeal to current 360 owners, Facebook integration, last.fm, Twitter, better Netflix, and a pretty bold promise of Full 1080p HD video streamed instantly over XBOX Live.

Finally, it came time for the motion camera reveal. We expected it to be a pretty gimmicky, half-hearted Mii too type deal.

I don’t know if it was the mini games using full motion capture (no, it wasn’t) or the Milo interactive AI "doll" or the controller-less control of the console that Project Natal promised, but something about all of the camera stuff really hit people. We "walked out of there," just as Microsoft had predicted, with our minds blown. It was going to be an uphill battle for Nintendo and Sony.

Nintendo, it seems, likes the bottom of the hill. They talked shop, sales, casual games, games that’ll appeal to other audiences. All in all, a new Mario was introduced, but that was pretty much it.

Until the revealation that they’d been working with Team Ninja to bring to market the next Metroid, Metroid: Other M had the flair of Ninja Gaiden, the graphics of a next-gen game, everything you could want from a union of those two parties.

How does it play? No one knows yet, but we’re sure to see more before it comes out in 2010.

Will Sony have the good to take the E309 crown as so many have predicted? The ball is in their court.

Hey, good morning, sleep well? Ready for another day of non stop announcements and trailers? I’m not too sure about it myself, but I’m ready to go. Nintendo kicks the day off at 9am PT, so in about 30 minutes, we’ll finally get to see that new Mario game people are talking about.

Here we go!

• Off to Sony!
• Metroid: Other M!!!! A Metroid game from Team Ninja!! It looks like a 3D action game. Very exciting. The graphics in the cutscenes look amazing. Not sure what parts are in game, what parts are not. Coming 2010!
• Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, Dead Space Extraction Trailers Shown.
• The Conduit. We’re moving on to third parties. High Voltage’s The Conduit’s trailer is showing. It’s almost out.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2. Wow, a sequel.
• New Mario Galaxy. It’s more Mario Galaxy, but with Yoshi, as you’d expect him.
• Come on. We need something here.
• Wii Vitality Sensor. Stick your finger it it, it measures your pulse (in the Chinese sense, not just your heart rate). Makes it possible to “see” what is “unseeable". They feel that this can be used to help people live more relaxing lifestyles.
• Satoru Iwata. He’s talking about market expansion. We get some numbers. Apparently, only 2/3 of potential gamers actually play games, so Nintendo sees a large opportunity for expansion.
• Zelda Spirit Tracks. Just a mention. Nothing shown.
• DSi Facebook Integration. Photos taken and manipulated with the DSi camera can now be uploaded to Facebook.
• Warioware DIY. More Warioware, but you make the mini games and share them.
• Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again. DSi only, downloadable title. User generated levels is the highlight. Otherwise, it’s classic Mario vs Donkey Kong gameplay.
• Flipbook Studio Coming to DSi this Summer. It’s a flipbook you can make cartoons with.
• DSi. It’s selling well. 1 million have sold in the two months since launch.
• Style Savvy for DS. A style game. Moving on.
• C.O.P. The Recruit. A cop needs to find out who framed his partner. Doesn’t look very good. A 3D, third person shooter on DS from Ubisoft.
• James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion. More mystery games coming to DS. Investigate and solve the crime. You know how it goes. This one’s coming from THQ.
• Golden Sun DS Marks Return of Golden Sun Series.
• RPGs! Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Crystal Bearers for Wii, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 on DS (coming out Sept 22), Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story on DS (coming out this Fall).
• EA Grand Slam Tennis, EA Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Virtua Tennis, Red Steel 2 all on Wii MotionPlus.
• Wii Sports Resort Basketball. It’s a three point contest. Plays like the real thing. Nothing to see here.
• Wii Sports Resort Archery. The Wii MotionPlus is held as the bow, the nunchuck as the arrow. It basically works just like a real bow. Looks decently fun.
• Wii Sports Resort starts with a skydive out of a plane, down onto the island. The Wiimote is your Mii. Kinda fun. It’s supposed to demonstrate to the player first starting the game just how different Wii MotionPlus is.
• Table Tennis, Basketball, Kendo, Archery, Golf, Water Skiing Part of Wii Sports Resort. It looks like Wii Sports, but precision control with WiiMotion Plus, it should play differently.
• Wii Motion Plus. “Doesn’t make games look more real. Makes them feel and play more real.” Trailer plays.
• Reggie!
• Wii Fit Plus makes the workouts with Wii Fit that much more streamlined. Not as stop and go as the original. That’s nice.
• Wii Fit Plus. Helping to create a workout regime tailored to each individual. Arriving this Fall in both bundle and standalone with the Wii Balance Board.
• Moving on to Wii Fit Balance Board. They’re looking to make it easier for people to integrate it into their lives.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii Release Date: Holiday 2009
• It’s 3D in 2D, 4-player co-op. It looks a lot like the New Super Mario Bros. on DS, but it’s multiplayer, simultaneously, co-op. Drop in drop out. A propeller suit is show that you can use to float around by shaking the Wiimote. Control is Wiimote only, no nunchuck required.
• New Super Mario Bros. for Wii announced. 4D? Intriguing…
• It appears she’s hinting at MotionPlus stuff. Oooooh, and Mario!
• Cammie Dunaway back to talk about sales.
• Starting off with a really standard, all inclusive video on Nintendo and its games.

I think I’ll focus on big announcements, instead of the play by play. So, here we go:

• The trailer… Oh my gosh, it looks really exciting. Taking place thousands of years before the events of Star Wars, the movies, they present us here with a huge fight between Sith and Jedi, the Sith winning. C `mon game sites, get these videos up. People need to see this!
• Star Wars: The Old Republic. The largest voice over project ever in games. Yep, The Old Republic is going to be the worlds first entirely voiced MMO. Storytelling is going to be key. It’ll be what propels The Old Republic beyond all other MMOs. (I’d love for them to be right.) New trailer!
• ABP. Realtime Worlds MMO GTA game is going to be published by EA! It looks really good for a 100 player online, open world game. The customizable character avatars have really realistic looking skin and facial features.
  The game is supposed to be a cops vs. robbers type deal. Everyone in the game is out to make a name for themselves, as the driving force. Looking forward to this. No word on release date or release platforms.
• Crysis 2. As I mentioned earlier today, it’s on CryEngine3 on 360, PC, and PS3. They’re not showing anything, but say that the game will be the benchmark for visuals across all systems.
• Brutal Legends. Wooohooo. The game from Tim Schaffer which takes inspiration from the world of rock: cover albums, the sounds, even voice talent. Schaffer takes us through some of the rock legends who are in the game, in voice and in likeness in some cases as well. Ozzy’s in the game!
• The Saboteur. They opened by showing the trailer that’s been up at a few places already. The game’s Pleasantville-esque visuals are great, in the pre-rendered trailer. The gameplay demonstration looks just as good.
  The open world game set in Nazi-era Paris has that freedom of movement that inFAMOUS has, except for the super powers. The character can wear disguises retrieved from taken out Nazis.
  Color plays into the game as part of a system called the “Will to Fight.” By taking out targets and sabotaging the Nazis, more color returns to the world.
• Grand Slam Tennis for Wii Motion Plus. Pete Sampras plays Wii! The demo of this game doesn’t seem too different from the Wii Sports Tennis demo we saw years ago. Wait for the reviews, I guess.
• EA Sports Active. It’s getting an expansion this holiday. New tropical visuals, 30 new exercises. The game is doing well.
• Madden 10 Features Online Franchise Mode. Not only can you play with 31 friends in a real NFL season, the franchise mode will also tied to PC internet and iPhone apps for trades and what not. That is truly scary.
• EA Sports Online. This is their new focus for PC. The example they’ve given is Tiger Woods that’ll be launched directly from the browser, without the need to download and install a program. Social networking is a part of this strategy as well. The next example given is TEAM BUILDER, a web tool that lets you build, completely customize your team’s look, and then import it into NCAA 10.
• EA Sports MMA. It’s under development.
• EA Sports. First up, Fight Night Round 4. It looks really good. All of the visuals and gameplay are physics driven. It’s coming out June 25th.
• Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2. They’re coming. They didn’t really reveal anything other than that. Just showed some trailers.
  Need for Speed Shift. Whoa, this looks really good. The hook is rewards for not only the people who drive really well, but people who drive really aggressively as well. Basically, different play styles will all allow for “leveling up” unlocking new cars and customization options.
  The visuals from in the cockpit are top notch. I noticed that they even start to blur the car’s instruments and dials when you start going faster, simulating a driver’s increased focus on what’s in front outside of the car at high speeds.
• Charm Girls Club. All about friends, fun, and charms. Three DS games and one for Wii. What are they about? Well, they’re playing a game where you shake the Wiimote to style hair. Think Hanna Montana target audience.
• Three New Littlest Pet Shop Games + Littlest Pet Shop Online announced. For girls, he keeps saying. Safe and fun to play online with friends. “Every little girl’s dream come true. Trailer plays. It’s coming in the fall.
• 12 Great Games for the Show. In addition to Dante’s Inferno and The Sim 3, trailers of which were just shown.