Anyway, here are some overall impressions and thoughts on the big three.

Microsoft:
The press conference was fairly by the numbers, but definitely solid. You can't go wrong with Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 5 or Fallout 3 live demos. A few cringe worthy moments came from the Lips "lifestyle" reel, but it could have been worse (see Nintendo's conference). Of course, it ended with a big Final Fantasy XIII announcement bang, so that alone makes it the most memorable. The Netflix announcement and "New Xbox Experience" interface were also highlights. The optional "Mii Too" Avatars were a little blatant, but will be a nice customizable addition in the long run.

In terms of exclusive games, and services, there were no real surprises at all during the show itself. The supposedly big, exciting Bungie announcement was canned at the last minute by Microsoft, and what happened to Alan Wake and Forza 3? What was on display was excellent obviously, although actual first party games were lacking somewhat in quantity. Gears 2, Fable 2 and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts cover a nice variety of gameplay types and genres, as was the anticipated XBLA games like Braid, Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars: RE 2 and the new Galaga. Gears of War 2 looks especially gorgeous, gory and polished; Banjo is a creative twist on the standard 3D Mario 64 style platformer; and Fable 2 looks, sounds and plays like the fairy tale RPG we hoped the first Fable would have been. Overall, a well-rounded lineup and strategy with a number of big tent pole releases, new community based services, upgrades and content will make for happy Xbox 360 owners well into 2009. Microsoft knows their audience and is pushing hard to give them what they want.

Sony:
What their conference lacked in excitement was made up for in quantity. With 3 platforms to cover, they did a good enough job trying to juggle announcements. Sony has some of the biggest first party content out there, and what was displayed is coming along very nicely. The barely had time to even touch on third party content. The Resistance 2 live demo was a poorly chosen one, with a seemingly unfinished boss-type encounter with the 300 foot tall Chimera. It was interesting for the fist 30 seconds, but it was far to drawn out and bland, especially when compared to the impressive R2 single and multiplayer gameplay footage that we've seen since then. There were plenty of montages with glimpses of their PS3/PSP/PS2 lineups, including a cool, but unfortunately pre-rendered God of War III teaser trailer. The highlights were the unveiling of the PS Store video deliver service, the awesome Little Big Planet "sales chart" demo and of course the announcement of Fat Princess! The 256-player MAG (Massive Action Game) sounds interesting on paper especially coming from Zipper Interactive, but we'll hold off until actually learning a little more about the game.

As for PS3 titles at the show, Little Big Planet, MotorStorm 2, Killzone 2, and InFamous were all ridiculously polished and Sony spent a lot of time live-demoing all of them to different audiences. Killzone 2 looks to be the one of the most impressive console FPS yet even with several months of tuning to go. Little Big Planet's creative gameplay and community features are just brilliant (and cute), and continues to wow everyone who plays it. InFamous was finally revealed and looks to be like a much more serious take of the open-world superhero formula. MotorStorm 2 is by far the most impressive new arcade-style racer out there with lush environs, crazy amounts of action and even up to 4 players split-screen. Their PSN lineup was especially interesting with games like the 32 player, team-based hack and slash Fat Princess game, the soothing and environmentally friendly Flower, and the sequel to Ragdoll Kung-Fu. Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Boot made it's PSN appearance also, and looks just as good as Tools of Destruction but in a more platforming oriented, bite-sized chunk. Home is looking better and better, with fully fleshed out game spaces for Uncharted, Resistance and such, but we are getting tired of waiting for it. The video store was pretty well stocked, and decently priced. The ability to also watch that content on a PSP was a great, differentiating touch. The PSP was thankfully not overlooked, with Patapon and LocoRoco getting sequels along with a way too good looking Resistance spinoff titled Resistance: Retribution (by Sony Bend, the Syphon Filter PSP devs). The PS2 is still chugging along with mostly 3rd party releases such as Madden, Guitar Hero, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, etc. Overall, Sony is clearly building up their first party projects, studios and technology and the worldwide collaboration appears to be paying off. They finally have some good momentum and they appear to be working hard to keep it going.

Nintendo:
Well, most people know how the press conference went. It was geared more towards the mainstream media and the casual Wii/DS-buying soccer mom population than the "core" gamer. Amazing sales stats, and the influx of new casual gamers and gaming experiences was the focus, and they communicated their strategy quite clearly, like it or not. For hardcore-type gamers, and even those who live on Nintendo-developed games, there was not much in terms of new content to be excited about. Animal Crossing: City Folk is finally coming to the Wii complete with online and tons of customization, along with the WiiSpeak voice communication accessory, and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS was quickly announced. Wii Sports Resort looked to be the most interesting with games such as fencing, disc dog and jet-ski racing, especially with the newly announced Wii MotionPlus accessory it will be packaged with. It's destined to sell millions and possibly replace WiiPlay as the month to month, best selling Wii game/accessory bundle. Nintendo seemingly spent most of their time on Wii Music, their motion controlled music making application. With the ability to virtually jam with 3 other players using 50 not-so-authentic sounding instruments, and then share those sessions with others, we're not sure what to really think yet. As a non-game, it sounds like it could potentially be fun with a group of friends. Kid Icarus was a no show, as was anything Mario/Zelda/Metroid-related. There were plenty of animated gif-worthy "Wii Lifestyle" moments that made it difficult not to cringe a couple of times.

At the show, impressions of Wii Music and Wii Sports Resort with the Wii MotionPlus appeared to be mixed, although generally positive. Nintendo and LucasArts letting the upcoming Clone Wars lightsaber game ship without Wii MotionPlus support is a big mystery. It seemed like a perfect match. Without much in the way of first party support at the moment, Nintendo let the third parties fill in the void for the Wii and DS. Call of Duty: WaW looks great as do all of EA's latest sports games. Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rockband will be big sellers. Most of the lineup is still too casual and mini-game heavy for the "core" gamer, but as we've seen before, they will still find an audience. Nintendo promises that the hardcore-type gamer will not be forgotten, so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt, for now. At least magazine magaine unveiled an excellent looking conversion of Dead Rising... too bad it was not to be found at the E3. Overall, Nintendo has a vision and is sticking by it. They've been ridiculously successful so far, so why mess with the formula.