Admittedly, I haven’t been excited about an E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) Expo in quite a few years, as the conference seems to have lost some of its glory and hasn’t featured as many big announcements in years past as many would like. However, this year the headlines coming out of E3 are quite impressive as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all have interesting products preparing to hit the market.

Perhaps most interesting is Miscrosoft’s answer to the Wii, a motion sensing device called Kinect. Kinect works with the Xbox 360 and through a series of cameras and sensors detects user movements in order to provide a virtual reality type experience. This is actually the first time in a very long time that I can’t wait to get my hands on a Microsoft product. If done well the Kinect could mean a surge for Microsoft in the video game/console market… However if the Kinect performance is clunky or otherwise imperfect word will quickly get out and put a damper on any Microsoft party. The Kinect is conveniently set to be released in early November (November 4th to be exact), right in time for the Christmas rush.
Okay, next up is Nintendo who is using E3 to promote a game that is sure to fly off store shelves - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The Wii remote will be fully functional in this game, with the ability to be used like a sword, and with the nun chuck serving as Link’s shield. However, as big as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is sure to be, Nintendo’s main focus of the expo has been showcasing their upcoming portable gaming platform the 3DS. The 3Ds, as the name would suggest, is a fully 3D capable portable system — thankfully, no funny glasses are required. The 3DS isn’t due out until next spring.
And Sony? Sony also has a motion sensing device coming down the pipeline, theirs called PlayStation Move and due out in mid September. The PlayStation Move tracks user movements and reflects them in game much the same as the Kinect is supposed to do. Right now it appears users will also need to purchase the PlayStation Eye camera for the device to work, which kind of sucks – likely these two will be sold as a bundle at some point, hopefully right from the get-go. It should be interesting to see how the PlayStation Move compares to the Miscrosoft Kinect, and how Nintendo responds to this increased competition for the Wii.
Oh, Sony also revealed details about PlayStation Plus, a service costing $50 annually for additional features, including demos and maps.



