Unlike the rest of the crew, I could pretty much sum up my thoughts in a few words or less: underwhelming. Just about every conference left me wanting more. More games. More surprises. More to actually be genuinely enthusiastic about. While there's a few out there who actually miss the E3 of old, the rest of the industry has more or less embraced the leaner, quieter atmosphere which now resides within select posh hotels and the new epicenter for featured demos: Barker Hanger.

Microsoft's event was fairly scaled back, taking place at a Santa Monica high school - a setting which I am sure raised a few eyebrows for attendees. 5 musicians kicked off the presentation with an impressive tribute to Halo. Then Peter Moore hopped on the stage and it was business as usual. The video showcase honestly felt like an extension of last year's rundown. That's not to say that they didn't show anything new. Call of Duty 4 and Mass Effect was the biggest standouts for me. Oh, and of course there was some screen time given to Halo 3 and GTAIV, but c'mon — we KNOW these were on the way. Show me stuff that I DON'T know about. 

Microsoft seems focused on reaching out even further to the mainstream market with the upcoming release of SceneIt and a new family-oriented controller. Go ahead and knock it, but I know a lot of you are going to be spending many, MANY nights playing that with friends and other competitors. Shoot, I definitely will. 

I started to lose interest after they shifted to Games for Windows Live — but that's only because I am biased to console gaming. Travis will definitely be thrilled since he's still using Windows XP and many of you out there are in the same boat. Vista hasn't been embraced yet by the gaming community and Microsoft wants their new brand to be accessible as possible. It's great to see Gears of War making the jump and the addition of 5 exclusive chapters and some new achievements almost makes me want to consider upgrading my system. I am sure they'll eventually offer that new content to the 360 market — they have to.

Xbox Live Arcade's lineup looks pretty tight. Now that the file limit has been increased, we can expect some really awesome games like Ubisoft's War World. I am VERY disappointed that there was like no love given to Bomberman Live. HELLO, Hudson, what gives?  Ah well, at least SEGA blessed us with Golden Axe and the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

I actually missed Nintendo's press conference this morning but from what I was told… it sucked. No that's not being harsh. It was one of the worst conferences Nintendo ever rolled out. How do you end the presentation with a Wii exercise title? That's just weak in my opinion. I am told that they revealed the Zapper, but that news didn't do much for me because I was already aware of its development after catching a glimpse at Nintendo's E3 booth last year. Super Mario Galaxy apparently was one of the few redeeming features of the entire show which I am very excited about. Still didn't see any new video so it wouldn't be appropriate to offer an opinion just yet. 

Very weak showing for the DS too — color me puzzled.

I think Sony shocked everyone this year. They spare us the usual snooze-fest rundown of sales figures and focused on showcasing a strong portfolio of first- and third-party support. Where to begin? Ok… for starters — I am really glad to own a PS3 right now. The new Super Stardust game and Little Big Planet are just downright awesome. Wipeout HD, in spite of the choppy framerate left me in awe. THANK YOU SONY. I was impressed with EchoChrome — which by far will be one of the most visually basic games you'll ever see on the PS3. Yeah I know… it was just a guy walking on platforms suspended in mid-air. When you put it like that, of course it sounds boring… but we all know better. I am not saying it's going to be the next best thing since Geometry Wars, but you'd have to be fairly close-minded to suggest it's not going to be a sleeper hit. 

Home makes the whole Mii thing Nintendo has going for it look so bland by comparison. You can tell that they've been putting a lot of thought into it and I believe the recent launch of the PlayStation.Blog will play a key role that connects the corporate entity with its consumers. I've only glimpsed a few posts but Sony really seems to be listening.

And then there was the PSP "Lite". Yeah, I know that's not the official name… they really ought to consider a different moniker though to set itself apart from the predecessor (Kevin and I see to be on the same page more or less). I already outlined what the new system is about (psst, click here) so I'll just use this space to say… I WANT one. The video-out feature is one the biggest reasons, not to mention it's leaner and lighter. The current model is just so damn big. It's like I got a DVD case in my pocket. O_o 

It's still too early to be making any judgments, but I am very intrigued by what Microsoft and Sony have in store. In my opinion, Sony's conference was a tad more impressive than the others. That's not to say that Microsoft didn't have any substance, because it did reveal a painful reality which Sony has had to deal with: a huge loss of exclusives. As for Nintendo, well, I've been skeptical for some time. As usual, they're banking on the classic franchises to keep them afloat. They're going to need huge support from third-party publishers though otherwise the Wii will end up just like every other Nintendo console… obsolete.

Be sure to check out the rest of the crew's thoughts per the following links below:

E3 Press Conference Thoughts II

E3 Press Conference Thoughts III 

E3 Press Conference Thoughts IV