Last week at E3, Microsoft announced the all new sleek, stylish and Kinect-friendly Xbox 360. Offering things like built in WiFi wireless N (the first Xbox to offer built-in WiFi and the first game console to offer support for the latest, fastest and greatest WiFi wireless N), a 250 GB hard drive and that oh so nice new black design it seemed like a great update to usher in the next generation of the Xbox 360.

For new Xbox 360 owners this of course seems like a great deal, but what about for those with the older, original Xbox 360?s from the launch days in 2005– is it worth it to spring for the new update? Read on because we’ve got all those answers and more at the more link.

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Nintendo didn’t disappoint at E3 yesterday, showing off not only the what looks to insanely cool 3DS (with a whole bunch really cool games to go with it), but also some little surprises that look to show Nintendo raising the bar on mobile gaming yet again. Read on for all the info.

Hardware

First things first, the hardware. While it initially may look like just a normal DSi, once you get closer you see Nintendo has made some really great improvements. For one, the upper, 3D enabled screen is a bigger 3.5 inches than the DSi’s 3.25 inches (though of course it’s not as big as the DSi XL’s 4.2 inch screens. But who needs that extra .7 of an inch when you got glasses free 3D!), with the bottom touchscreen being 3 inches. The 3DS also packs not one, not two, but three cameras– 1 on the inside of the device and 2 on the outside for taking 3D pictures! Yeah, told you there were some surprises. Nintendo also has added a “Slide Pad” that to me looks like an analog stick similar to those found on the Xbox 360 and PS3, along with other new additions like a motion sensor and gyroscope (as seen on the iPhone 4), a WiFi switch and 3D depth slider for adjusting the 3D (even during gameplay), and a home button below the touchscreen. All this is on top of the other features we’ve seen on the DSi like an SD card slot and stereo speakers.

Even those who’ve doubted Nintendo’s focus on specs gotta admit that this is pretty solid, especially for a device that can fit in your pocket.

Games

Now what good would the 3DS be without some 3D games? Nintendo sure has a bunch lined up that look to be really great. We’re talking Nintendo classics like Mario Kart, nintendogs+cats (with cats being new this year), Animal Crossing, and Kid Icarus: Uprising, as well as games from third parties like Madden, DJ Hero 3D, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.These are just a small sample of what Nintendo plans to have for the 3DS, and if these graphics from Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory are any indication of what we can expect, then Nintendo has yet another huge hit on their hands. Seriously, this looks like Xbox-esq graphics, on a portable system and in 3D!

Unfortunately Nintendo didn’t announce any price or release date info, and even went out to say that the designs we see today can still be tweaked and aren’t final. Regardless though, Nintendo has clearly here shown why they are the leader in portable video games and we really can’t wait to see this launch so we can play with it ourselves.

While we wait though, we want to know: if you had to pick between this, a PSP GO!, or an iPod touch as your next portable gaming system, which would it be? Let us know in the comments.

You can see more of the new 3DS and other announcements Nintendo made at E3 at their E3 site here.

The new Xbox 360 and Kinect– Yeah, your going to want to read on.

Microsoft has kicked off E3 today with their pre-event keynote and wow is this insane. A whole bunch was announced including new info on games like Call Of Duty Black Ops, Halo Reach and of course Kinect (formerly Project Natal) PLUS a new design for the 360– so what you waiting for, hit the more link and get to it.

Games

First let’s start with a couple of the new games showed off today.

Call of Duty: Black Ops– Treyarch and Activision showed off the new game in the amazing series today, and wow it makes Modern Warfare 2 seem like child’s play. The graphics look even better, gameplay is insane as usual, and the story line is traditional Call of Duty greatness. I mean you actually are flying a helicopter and trying to kill enemy combatants while avoiding fire. Microsoft also announced a new deal with Activision that all new Call of Duty add-ons (like new maps) will come to the 360 first.

Halo Reach– Wow. That’s it– Wow. Microsoft and Bungie have made yet another Halo that just as Black Ops made Modern Warfare 2 seem easy, Halo Reach goes right up there in that new league of what I call “super games.” Graphics insane, story unreal, fighting so intense it makes you wanna actually duck and cover (and there are knife kills!). Amazing, plain and simple.

Gears of War 3–The first footage of the next game in the series was shown, including the first actual gameplay. What’s really great is the all new 4 player co-op mode, which should make for some intense group fighting, and unlike  other co-op games, this keeps everyone following the (main character). Now this could make things tough for when your not in front of whoever is player one, but it definitely seems cool and I like the unique approach. Graphics wise this too looks beast, with the fighting looking as real as fighting giant multi-armed monsters could look.  There also is a new mode called “Beast,” though they’re keeping quiet on what’s new there until later this week.

ESPN!

Yes, the rumors were true– ESPN is coming to the 360! Over 3500 lives events will be shown over 360, including MLB, NBA, college basketball and football, as well as shows like SportsCenter and other on demand titles– with most being in HD. They showed it off using Kinect to control replays using commands like “Xbox Replay” as well as new features like in game trivia and polls to make live games even better. As a huge sports fan myself, this is perfect. This is all available for free to all Xbox Live  Gold members.

Pic from Kotaku

Kinect

Now let’s go on to the big guy– Kinect. Obviously Microsoft had a lot to share on their new baby, and it all looks great. First off– price and release. Microsoft announced that Kinect will be available starting November 4th, with GameStop showing pre-orders going for $149.99. Now Microsoft didn’t confirm the price, but considering Microsoft views this as a new system instead of just a new controller (which I completely agree with), this price does make sense. It would have been awesome though if it was that rumored $84…

Anyways, there’s a new Dashboard to allow you to do everything– play games, check Facebook, video chat, watch movies and listen to music (thanks to Netflix, Last.fm and Zune)– with no buttons, and it couldn’t be simpler. For the really lazy among us, you can even use voice commands like “Xbox Pause” and “Xbox Play”– honestly, this is unbelievable. Doing things like controlling a movie and even scrolling seem like it was meant to be like this from the start. Microsoft also has brought Zune Music to the Xbox, and its great for parties where you wanna use your Xbox as a media center.

Video Kinect– This is video chatting right from the 360– to people who either are on Xbox Live or Windows Live Messenger, so you can chat even from TV to computer. There is also Bing integration to share things on the screen, like watch a movie together. The camera also senses where you are in the room so that you don’t have constantly re-adjust the camera when you move. (Pic via Engadget)

A bunch of new Kinect games were shown off:

• Kinectimals– Where you raise a virtual pet– albeit here much more life-like than all prior variations of these types of games thanks to Kinect’s cameras and voice features

• Kinect Sports–  As seen in the Kinect pic above, Kinect Sports is kinda like Wii Sports with games like Soccer, Bowling Ping Pong, Track– though unlike Wii Sports you can grow your character into a “sports god” in game modes or play online over Xbox Live)

• Kinect Joy Ride–  A more casual racing game, that while no Need for Speed, should be great for some fun racing.
• Kinect Adventures– A bunch of cool simple games like Wii Play, great for the casual gamer or for playing with family and friends. It even takes pictures of you playing so you can upload to Facebook and other sites)
• Your Shape: Fitness Evolved– From Ubisoft, it’s a Wii Fit like game that looks to offer some real intense workouts though again, unlike Wii Fit, without having to be on aboard), were shown off, and the easiest way to describe this is like the Wii with much better graphics and with no need to carry anything with you.It offers Yoga.
• Dance Central– From Harmonix, Dance Central is like Dance Dance Revolution, just with crazy graphics and again no need for any mat on the floor (getting the theme here?).
• Star Wars– Coming next year, not much beyond a gameplay video was shown here– but wow, video gaming is now on a whole new level.

• Froza Motorsport– Another racing game, though this one more intense then Joy Ride, offering intense racing with extremely life like driving controls and realistic graphics. And while you won’t be really sitting in that Ferrari or Maybach, this is probably the closest thing most of us will get.

New Xbox 360

As we wrote in the previous post– a nicer, smaller, quieter, and sleeker redesign for the Xbox 360 that offers some much wanted new features like built in WiFi with support for the latest and greatest wireless N (again– FINALLY!), touch sensitive power (on/off) and eject buttons– meaning they’re more like the PS3 in that you are not pressing a physical button unlike the old 360, 5 USB ports (with an additional one for Kinect), HDMI,   and that 250 GB hard drive. All this available online today and in stores this week at $299.99 (the same price as the Elite was). And as with all prior Xbox 360s, this will be fully compatible with Kinect.

So there you have it. Everything you need to know from Microsoft’s E3 keynote. This is just the start of what looks to be an awesome E3, and we’ll make sure you get all the info you wanna know so keep checking back. So Xbox 360 users– what you think of these announcements? You going to get a Kinect? You digging the new look?

Kinect isn’t the only thing Microsoft has planned for E3– today they’ve taken the wraps off an all new, sleeker, quieter version of the Xbox 360. Not only does it pack a newer design, but also 250 GB of built in storage, and built in WiFi wireless N (FINALLY!!). Best part? It’s out now for $299 (same as the old Elite), and will be available in stores later this week. So, who else is loving this new design?

UPDATE: Alright so all the info has come out– not only is there the built in WiFi and the 250 GB hard drive, but also 5 USB ports with a special Kinect port (though don’t worry, Kinect will still work with all existing 360′s, just the use of this port means no need for a separate USB and power cable for Kinect), touch sensitive power and eject buttons, and  HDMI. Check out our Microsoft E3 wrap up post for all the  info on what’s new in the world of Xbox 360.

Pic from Engadget

Yes, it has a name. The Microsoft product formally known as Product Natal has been renamed, and given a launch date. It’s going to be the Microsoft Kinect, launching November 2010. Also announced was video chat, and a few launch games: Kinectamals – raising a virtual pet, Joyride, a title shown off last E3, a cartoony kart-like racing game, Kinect Sports – go figure, Kinect Adventures – including an obstacle course. Also announced was MTV’s Dance Central, and most importantly, a motion based Star Wars games – supposedly complete with Force power flinging and motion lightsaber duels.

More details to come as Microsoft announces them today at E3.

Wow is June off to a hot start for tech. First the EVO, then the iPhone 4, and now we got E3. For those that don’t know, E3 is the big video game event that takes place for a couple of days (this year it’s June 15-17) once a year in LA where all the newest and hottest things in the world of video games are announced. Last year for example, we saw our first peak at Microsoft’s new Project Natal for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation Move, PSP GO! and PS3 Slim, as well as the Wii MotionPlus. Not to mention info on new video games like the latest in Madden, Halo and Call Of Duty.

So what can possibly be on tap to top last years show? For one, we can expect more on Project Natal (including hopefully a true price and release date as well as what games will be available and a sneak peak at what they are like), the PlayStation Move (hopefully with more details as with Natal), and what exactly is Nintendo’s new 3DS that looks to offer portable 3D gaming WITHOUT those annoying glasses. Yeah, and this is all on top of those usual new game annoncements and details.

As in years past we’ll have everything from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo’s big keynotes, as well as info on all the other cool games and other things we see at the conference. So make sure to check back all this week for the details!

Activision officially announced what we all knew was coming– Guitar Hero 6, or as Activision calls it Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Activision promises a more rock centric soundtrack, and with a rocking soundtrack you need a rocking new guitar. So Activision announced a new type of guitar specifically made for shredding. This guitar has the electronics in the neck instead of the body so you can swap your favorite guitar bodies instead of buying more plastic instruments. To see a picture of the new guitar or to see the new trailer, hit the more link.

Freaking Awesome.

That’s what I think of the new Call of Duty: Black Ops. In this trailer, we see soldiers rappelling down enemy buildings, enemy buildings blowing up, and a crossbow that shoots dynamite? Freaking awesome.

From what I can gather, this game will be built around quite a few clandestine missions. Think Metal Gear Solid strapped with 20 sticks of dynamite and machine guns and you get Call of Duty: Black Ops. Oh, you also get to blows things up in a Helicopter. November 9th can’t get here fast enough! See for yourself in the trailer below.

June is almost here and that means a couple of things: school is almost over, summers almost here, the NBA Playoffs are in full gear, and the major video game conference E3 is almost upon us.

This year’s E3 looks to truly be epic, with promises of more info on the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Move, Xbox 360 Project Natal, and who knows what else! Now as we’ve done in years past, we’ll have all the info on all the awesome, need-to-know stuff out of E3. But for those of you who want to follow one of the biggest announcements live, Microsoft and MTV are teaming up to broadcast the whole Project Natal announcement featuring CIRQUE DU SOLEIL commercial-free on MTV, Tuesday, June 15 at 3:30 PM ET, and will be replayed on MTV’s other networks– Nick at Nite, mtvU, MTV Hits, and Logo– Tuesday, June 15 at 9 PM ET.

MTV’s other network, Spike TV, will also be showing off other Microsoft Xbox 360 announcements such as demos of games like HALO: Reach, Gears Of War 3, and Fable III.  Called “Xbox 360: The Future Revealed” that show airs LIVE on Monday, June 14 from 1:30 – 3 PM ET.

Another year, another Madden and frankly, I’m getting bored. Sure, this year promises new features and “under-the-hood” tweaks, but is it enough to keep us interested?

Backbreaker, a new football game for Xbox 360 and PS3 and created by 505 Games, hopes to dethrone Madden from being king of football video games. Since Madden still has exclusive rights to the NFL, Backbreaker won’t be able to use the teams and players of the NFL. However, that’s just a small hindrance once you see the trailer for Backbreaker (which you can find after the break). This fledgling game makes use of the “Euphoria” engine, which promises the most spine-cracking, bone-bending tackles of all time.

And the best part? Since all the tackles are calculated on the fly based on mass and velocity (physics…. ugh), every tackle is new and action packed. Forget seeing the same boring tackle over and over. Get ready to see running backs fly, and quarterbacks flip as defensive linemen ram straight into them. Here’s a trailer so you can see what I’m talking about. So, are you sick of Madden too? Let us know. Backbreaker hits shelves on June 1st.