Hey, kids! Daddy's back!

Oh, man. How creepy did that sound? No need to answer.
Anyway, I took some time off from the blog and a few other things, but I'm back for the craziness that is E3 2008, and boy, was it a crazy day! I figure I'll do a quick recap of the things that caught my attention the most today. Hope you enjoy.

Today was Microsoft's press conference, and a lot of goodies and information came from it. Sure, we had new nuggets of information for games like Gears of War 2, Too Human, and Rare's fall games, but we also got some huge announcements, too. One is that Microsoft is updating their dashboard with a new, slicker interface. Coupled with that, are the Nintendo Wii Mii-inspired avatars which look very nice. We sort of have a range of avatars for all three consoles now: Wii is cartoon-ish characters, the 360's avatars are more realistic cartoon creations, and Sony's Home are very much realistic-- a full spectrum of avatar styles!

The second announcement is that-- from my understanding and reading comprehension-- 360 owners will be able to copy games to their hard drive and play them without needing to read the disc. This will cut down load times as well as effort needed from any given 360. Of course, you'll need to keep the played game in the console so it knows that you own it.

Microsoft's last announcement, and quite probably the largest, is that the once PS3-exclusive, Final Fantasy XIII, will be hitting the 360 simultaneously alongside the PS3 version. Oh, how I loved the fanboy tears! By chance, is there a petition up yet? Hopefully Sony has some entertaining stuff for tomorrow, but is there really anything they can do to fill that hole that is there from the announcement of their biggest game no longer being exclusive? I hope so, and we'll find out tomorrow.

While their conference isn't until tomorrow morning, Nintendo had some news of their own to share to get a jump on the competition.

Now, what is that, you ask? Well, that adapter-looking thing (I'm so technical) allows even more intricate motion-sensing, more specifically, 1:1. Now what is 1:1? Well, imagine moving around the Wii remote, twisting and turning it. Your movements will instantaneously be picked up and expressed by the character on screen. This opens up worlds of possibilities that most likely no one but Nintendo will explore. Regardless, it's good news all the same.

Finally, I'd like to take a moment to show my favorite trailers and videos from this, the first day of E3 2008. Now, these are to my preferences, so please bare with me if I'm missing one of your favorites.

Gears of War 2



Resident Evil 5



Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts



By the way, Rare announced that they will be bringing both Nintendo 64 classics, the original Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie to Xbox Live Arcade with enhanced graphics and finally the mystery of Stop 'n' Swap will be revealed as you'll be able to connect the games to Nuts and Bolts.

Mirror's Edge



Star Ocean 4


Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise



Thanks, and be sure to come back for tomorrow's big announcements! There's also going to be some new reviews this week, too!