The Button Presser

The 2010 E3 Nominees for the annual Game Critics Awards have been named for each category. The Winners will be announced on July 6th, and below you can see all the Categories and Nominees:




Best of Show

- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)
- Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Original Game

- Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3, Xbox 360)
- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Console Game

- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- InFamous 2 (Sucker Punch/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- Kirby's Epic Yarn (Good-Feel/Nintendo for Wii)
- Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Handheld Game

- Ghost Trick (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
- God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready at Dawn/Sony Santa Monica for PSP)
- Okamiden (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
- SuperScribblenauts (5TH Cell/WBIE for Nintendo DS)
- Valkyria Chronicles 2 (Sega for PSP)

Best PC Game

- Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games)
- Crysis 2 (CryTek/Electronic Arts)
- Portal 2 (Valve)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA)

Best Hardware

- Kinect (Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Move (Sony for PlayStation 3)
- Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)
- Rock Band 3 Pro Guitars (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)
- Rock Band 3 Keyboard (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)

Best Action Game

- Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (TreyArch/Activision for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Gears of War 3 (Epic Game/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Halo: Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Action/Adventure Game

- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)

Best Role Playing Game

- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal/Square-Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
- Fable III (Lionhead/Microsoft Game Studios for PC and Xbox 360)
- Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian/Bethesda for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)
- The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (CD Projekt RED STUDIO/Atari for PC)

Best Racing Game

- Gran Turismo 5 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- MotorStorm: Apolcalypse (Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Test Drive Unlimited 2 (Eden Games/Atari for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)

Best Fighting Game

- Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom for PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm/WBIE for PS3 and Xbox 360)
- WWE All Stars (THQ San Diego/THQ for PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Sports Game

- EA Sports MMA (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
- Madden NFL 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
- NBA Jam (EA Canada/EA Sports for Wii)
- NCAA Football 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
- NHL 11 (EA Canada/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Strategy Game

- Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games for PC)
- Company of Heroes Online (Relic/THQ for PC)
- End of Nations (Petroglyph/Trion Worlds for PC)
- Shogun 2: Total War (The Creative Assembly/Sega for PC)

Best Social/Casual Game

- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- DJ Hero 2 (FreeStyle Games/Activision for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
- Kinect Adventures (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Rock Band 3 (Harmonix/MTV Games/Electronic Arts for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)

Best Motion Simulation Game

- Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Socom 4 (Zipper/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)
- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for Xbox 360)

Best Online Multiplayer Game

- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360 )
- Halo Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Medal of Honor (EALA/DICE/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)

Source- Game Critics Awards

Sony focused on a few key features for their conference: 3D gaming, PlayStation Network, and many great games and exclusive content for them. Many upcoming PS3 titles will have support for 3D including Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5, and Crysis 2.

Many games were demoed and shown including Little Big Planet 2, Dead Space 2, PlayStation Move titles, and plenty of trailers for new games. GT5 actually a release date, and is set to launch this November.

The PS Move will arrive this September, and the Action Motion controller will be $50and the Navigation Controller will cost $30. So about 80 bucks to have both plus the price of Move games shows that Sony's motion plan might be a little cost worthy. More Notes Below:


PlayStation Move will launch in the US on September 19th.

The motion controller will cost $49.99. The Navigation controller will cost $29.99

Heroes on the Move Action Game- Features Jak, Ratchet and Clank, and Sly Cooper

PSP Camera Enable games

Little Big Planet 2 being shown

Play.Create.Share!

LBP2 is being shown minigames created withing the game

Virtual E3 in Home

PlayStation Plus Service Option 49.99 Yearly 17.99- 3 Months

PS3 will get Medal of Honor exclusive content

Dead Space 2 demonstration!

PS3 Exclusive Dead Space 2 Edition- Includes Dead Space Extraction with Move Support

Gabe Newell! Talks about Steam and PS3

Portal 2 coming to PS3-Coming 2011

Final Fantasy XIV trailer shown

Mafia II hitting August 24th

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Beta Exclusive to PS3

Gran Turismo coming in November

inFamous 2 trailer being shown

Twisted Metal! Coming 2011 and Exclusive to PS3

Wow! Nintendo had a great presentation that was filled with new game announcements, minuum sales charts, and the return of great classics. They kicked things off with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which uses the Wii Motion Plus and is set to be out next year. Almost every game they showed had some gameplay to be seen, and most are coming out this year or early 2011.

The New Goldeneye looks great and it's nice to see Donkey Kong back, and the 3DS was detailed more and some heavy hitting publishers are getting behind it. Nintendo did what we wanted them to do: Show games, games, and more games!

Here are some highlights I wrote from the conference:



The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Out in 2011

Mario Sports Mix- Coming in 2011

Wii Party- Uses your Mii's for various party games

Just Dance 2-

Golden Sun gameplay footage shown- Coming this Holiday

Goldeneye is back! Online Multiplayer starring Daniel Craig- This Holiday

Epic Mickey shown by Warren Spector, creator of Thief and Deux Ex

Kirby's Epic Yarn Announced- Cool Knitting Visual style- Out this Fall

Dragon Quest IX comes to US in July

Metroid Other M Coming August 31st

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Nintendo 3DS

Kid Icarus Uprising

Nintendogs and Cats for 3DS

Many great publishers for 3Ds like Take Two, Activision, Square Enix, THQ, EA sports
Capcom, and Konami

Microsoft presented first once again and primarily focused on Kinect, but featured gameplay demos of Halo Reach, Gears of War 3, and Call of Duty Black Ops. New trailers were shown for Metal Gear Rising, and a lot of on stage demonstrations for Kinect. Saving the best for last though, Microsoft confirmed the new Xbox 360 which is slimed down, black, and features built in wifi and a 250 GB Hard Drive. It will be available this week for purchase. Here a few notes I put down as I watched the conference on Spike:

Call of Duty: Black Ops demoed- For the next three years, All Call of Duty DLC will appear on 360 first for a set period of time

Metal Gear Rising gameplay was shown- Awesome slashing action!

Gears of War 3 was demoed with the 4-player co-op support. It will also contain a new mode coming called Beast

Halo Reach single player was demoed- Might include space combat

ESPN partners with Xbox to deliver tons of sports action. Free for Gold Members

Kinectamals and Kinect Sports shown. Pretty similiar to Wii Sports

Kinect will launch November 4th 2010

New Slim Xbox 360 will be $299. Available this week!

Goodbye Natal, Hello Kinect. This is now the official name for Microsoft's device to allow motion control play to the players with no addition hardware needed. We are the controller, as Microsoft says. The Cirque Du Soleil showed Kinect off with a few demos and will be on Tuesday on MTV for us to get to watch. E3 will kick off Monday, or later today since I'm writing this late, so expects TONS of information to hit the web all next week and beyond. I'll be writing some stuff too, most likely wrap ups and compiling the coolest information since there will so much to learn.

"Freeman" June 14th. If you look closely, you can see the Gman. E3 is gonna be sweet!




Source- Godfree's Twit-pic (Gamertagradio Founder)

In 10 short days, the future of gaming for the next few years will be shown at the annual Gaming Convention. For us the game fans, Spike and G4 will be showing the press conferences on TV with no commercials in the way as we see what Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have been up to. For my blog, you can expect plenty of quick posts and my twitter to feature 140 characters of gaming goodness. I pretty much plan on watching the conferences with a laptop close by to summarize what will be shown.

I personally want to find out more about the Dead Rising 2 Downloadable chapter that will be out before the games release, and see Fallout New Vegas in action. Anything you are looking forward to for E3 2010? Feel free to leave a comment and tell me!