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Just been watching the press conferences over the last few days and there seems to be plenty to get excited about towards the end of the year.

Microsoft – So Project Natal is now just called Kinect. I cringed at first but now I think the name is starting to grow on me, but I’m not sure if I’m convinced about the technology yet. It all seems a bit “too good to be true” and I have a horrible suspicion that the motion tracking involved won’t be precise enough to be used for anything other than fitness simulators and party games. Saying that, I really hope to be proved wrong on this!

Also, Gears of War 3 is looking amazing.

Nintendo – Well I actually missed most of this because it was apparently more important to go to Morrisons to get petrol and food. Misguided priorities there, eh!

I just get back in the house to witness the announcement of the Nintendo 3DS though. I have to say that I’m absolutely gagging to have a go on one of these as it sounds like Nintendo may have gone and done it all over again! Apparently the top screen on the new handheld is displayed in full 3D requiring no glasses using an auto-stereoscopic display. (Just google that term if you want more information, it’s takes a fair amount of explaining!)

My first impression was that it may be a bit of a gimmick that doesn’t really work that well. But then I remembered I thought the same thing about a dual screen handheld with a touch screen and a new console with motion control previously. So it’s probably safe to put a bit of trust in Nintendo by now as they’ve proven that they know what they are doing. They were also ready to let the whole E3 audience get up close and personal with the new hardware too which implies they are suitably confident about the technology.

New Zelda on Wii. (Damn, I need to catch up on all the previous Zelda games too!)

Sony – I’m starting to get a bit hyped up about Playstation Move now. My big issue with the Wii-mote is the lack of precision. You can play Wii Sports fine but the tracking just isn’t good enough to work in a first-person shooter or any other serious game. I’m hoping the blurb is accurate and that this is not the case with Move though. The technology certainly seems viable and believeable.

It’s great that Sony seems to be making a serious effort to push this technology into hardcore games too.

Strong support for the PSP. Well, I have to say I’m sceptical on this one as we had the same speech last year and apart a few new (albeit great) games it hasn’t really been pushed at all from what I can see. Come on Sony! Splash out on some proper TV advertising and make people more aware of the console. The PSP game section in GAME has almost disappeared!

Killzone 3 looked great. Would love to see this running in full 3D for myself!

Portal 2 and Gabe Newell from Valve. WOW! I didn’t see that one coming at all. At least Gabe had a bit of a joke and didn’t mention anything about sticking forks in anything! Portal 2 is definately one to watch and it will be interesting to see how they integrate the PS3 version into Steam.

There. My initial impressions on E3 anyway. I’ve probably forgotten loads more I wanted to comment on too. That’s the problem with E3 – Too much stuff going on!

Dead Space 2 as well…. I want!