When the first images of Epic Mickey came out back in 2009, I was skeptical. I love Mickey Mouse and everything Disney, but the concept art consisting of steampunk and an angry American icon didn’t make me want it more. What I saw today though, did.

From what I witnessed, the steampunk was gone, although it may just not have been a part of the demo. Mickey looked more concerned than ready to beat up the nearest character, and he still wields the magic paintbrush from the concept art. The brush actually gives him two abilities: one is a painting ability that allows you to add more to your environment, and the other is a paint thinner that erases whatever you decided needs to go. This gives the game a sort of good guy/bad guy feel. You can make the game easier by erasing obstacles and characters that get in your way, making you a more deviant character. Characters that may have helped you earlier might not be so friendly later. By not erasing things, the game may be a little harder, but people you meet will help you out, and you will get extra quests that may have been locked if played as “Bad Mickey.”

There are three different game areas, a Quest area, an adventure area, and a platforming area. During the conference the Quest area was highlighted, as well as a Steamboat Willie side scrolling platformer that definitely got the crowd excited. With old characters (ever hear of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?), and loved characters (well, as much as you can love Smee from Peter Pan), Epic Mickey is, without a doubt, something to anticipate.

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future will be the third installment in the series of puzzle games by Level 5. While the first one was charming for its logic puzzles and cute little story, the second Layton game (The Diabolical Box), felt as if I was playing the same game again. This isn’t like how crazy people complain about the Zelda series and how you go through so many dungeons/kill bosses etc., Layton’s logic puzzles were the exact same puzzles, only with a different coat of paint. With 167 new brain teasers in Unwound Future, hopefully we will see some new tricks when Layton looks at Luke with the sparkle in his eye and exclaims “That just reminded me of a puzzle!”

If one Layton game was not enough for you, Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle was also announced as a working title for the 3DS. This might actually bring a spark to the series with the 3D allowing for some new and interesting ways for puzzles to be created.

Already out in Japan, Pokepark Wii is one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. It follows Pikachu as it adventures through Pokepark (once a traveling Pokemon fair in Japan… why do I live in the US??) looking for answers about a problem concerning Mew. Pikachu and the Pokemon it befriends work together to make their way around the park, using their abilities to get past obstacles and tough fights. There are also various mini games for Pikachu to partake in, including quizzes, timed events and tag games. The mini games sound a lot like what you can find in the older Pokemon Stadium games, which isn’t a problem at all. We should be seeing it sometime this holiday season.

Guardian Signs is the third installment of the Pokemon Ranger series, once again allowing players to protect Pokemon and the environment from the dangers of “Pokenappers”. This time we visit the Oblivia region where Pokemon Pinchers have been causing a disturbance. What makes this game incredible from the beginning is your partner: Ukulele Pichu. How could anyone be unhappy walking around with a Pichu carrying around a Ukulele on his back, ready for action?

By befriending Pokemon, you gain their abilities to help out in sticky situations. To get them to help out, the player must draw their “Ranger Sign” with the stylus. This way, even the legendary Entei, Raikou and Suicune will come to your aid. The ranger also captures Pokemon by drawing circles around it with a Capture Stylus, which also continually gains new abilities. There is also multiplayer capability, so you can do missions with your friends. Guardian Signs should be out this fall!

Well, a lot happened today. I’m sure the majority of you all saw the news all over the internet or listened into the Nintendo conference, so tomorrow we will be keeping the rest of you updated with what you might have missed.

If you want to know how we feel about Nintendo right now, the picture above sums it up!

One of the most fun things to do before E3 is argue with your friends about what you think is going to happen, who you think is going to walk away the conference winner, and what the game of the show will be. We’ve all been having that conversation here, so it time to see if you guys agree or disagree with us.

SHAWN

Things I Expect: While I was putting together the list of games I think Microsoft will show, I realized one thing – that even with the huge names, I think they are going to have the weakest showing. This is mostly because I can’t really think of any super new IP or exclusive they can pick up, so let’s run down the list and see what I think they’ll come out with.

Obviously, Halo Reach is going to have a dominating performance at the show, regardless of if it goes first or last. I expect a huge amount of information on the single player to be announced/shown, as well as the numerous tweaks they’ll be making to the multiplayer from beta feedback. To compliment Halo, I think Gears of War 3 will get almost as much camera time. I’m really hoping that they put a huge focus on the multiplayer aspect to show that they’ve got it right this time. We can only hope, of course. For their third blockbuster, Fable III will look killer. Hopefully some of Peter Molyneux’s ambitious ideas will finally come to life here. Fable III will be used to hype Natal, probably with varied reactions from the community.

One of the bigger unexpected things we could see is a teaser trailer for Mass Effect 3. This has grown to be one of the most popular franchises out there right now, so it would make a lot of sense for them to push for some kind of an announcement on it… just don’t expect much. Microsoft will spend some time running down the summer release schedule, mentioning and showing Crackdown 2 and Dead Rising 2. It’ll be their last attempt at pushing Crackdown 2 before release, so hopefully they’ll have a great presentation lined up to push it along the right path.

So what else could we see? Potentially Forza 4… aside from that I’m not sure what else they could have up their sleeve. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we’ll see Shadow Complex 2, and that the Rare game being teased may just be that Killer Instinct sequel everyone has been begging for. The rest of the conference will more than likely be filled with multiplatform titles, which we will be doing a seperate article on completely.

As for the separate Natal conference, I expect a lot of happy-go-lucky PR speak with some cool looking games, but lack of creative focus or execution. I could be extremely off base here, considering how incredible it sounded when first announced, but unless we get a game where the point is to see the bottom of my avatar’s shoe, it may be too late for this motion stuff. Then again, if stuff like the Milo demo turns out possible? Then it may be the single greatest showing of all time. I’m just not quite convinced yet.

Things I Want: Being an avid Gears of War fan, I could say that tons of info on Gears of War 3 will be enough to make the fanboy inside of me spring to life. However, this is already going to happen, and I need to put my non-biased sunglasses on, so what else do I want to see?

First, I want this top-secret Rare game to be a new entry in the Conker’s Bad Fur Day series. Not only is the game absolutely fantastic, but the online Live and Reloaded had an immense amount of potential to be huge. It’s been long enough were any Pop-culture references would make sense, and it’s time we get a game that puts Rare back on the map.

So what else? Actually, this is going to be my ultimate wish for this E3, even though I know it’s far-fatched. I want a Lost Odyssey 2. It doesn’t need to be a direct sequel, but the storyline that they set up gives them 1000 years to work with. Maybe let us play the beginning of these times, so we see where it all originated from. I honestly don’t even care, I think Lost Odyssey is the best RPG this generation, and anything to along with it will make me cry tears of joy. I’m not lying.

Where Do I Think Microsoft Will Place in the Conference Rankings? 3rd

CHARIS

Things I Expect: Since Shawn already hit all of the highlights, I’m just going to say I agree with a lot of it. I expect a lot of time will be spent on montages. Gears of War 3, Fable III, and Halo: Reach will most likely get the most air time. There will be a small mention of Dead Rising 2 and Crackdown 2, but nothing too spectacular on either, and probably a lot on multiplatform games since Natal will have its own conference. The Natal showing will be interesting, considering the time and date it was given, and I picture it being a huge spectacle. What they showed last year made me stop in my tracks, especially with the Milo stuff, so hopefully it will be more of that. I expect to be disappointed (with Natal), though. Finally I see more of the internet/TV/music integration happening. Hulu will get some attention. There might be a few new additions to the dashboard announced in anticipation for Natal as well… but that’s all you’re going to get from the Microsoft conference.

Things I Want: Gears of War 3 will be enough for me. If the entire presentation was on Gears and Cliffy B., I’d be happy as ever. Other than that? Maybe something like one of the innovative creation games that the PS3 has. A LittleBigPlanet-like game would probably be great for the 360. Either way, while it might not be the most exciting conference ever, it will have a solid offering with something for everyone.

Where Do I Think Microsoft Will Place in the Conference Rankings? 2nd

Alright guys, so this is what we’re expecting from Microsoft. Do you think we’ll be seeing some huge unannounced game? Do you think we’re wrong or right? Let’s discuss in the comments!

One of the most fun things to do before E3 is argue with your friends about what you think is going to happen, who you think is going to walk away the conference winner, and what the game of the show will be. We’ve all been having that conversation here, so it time to see if you guys agree with us.

SHAWN

Things I Expect: First and foremost, I expect most of Sony’s conference to focus on Move. They’ll probably have some of the bigger franchises using it, my guess would be a new Ratchet and Clank. I DO expect an announcement of the PSP2, only because the catch-up margin behind the 3DS would be too significant if they don’t have something to go against Nintendo with. The best part about this? I think Sony will announce that it’s 3D. I hope this doesn’t happen, because the amount of bashing that will ensue from my thoughts and mouth won’t be healthy for anybody. If Sony was smart, they’d come up with their own idea this time so that other people were playing catch-up instead of them.

Little Big Planet 2 is going to be a large part of their showing, and I think Uncharted 3 has a huge possibility of being announced, mostly because it may be Sony’s only way to win over the hardcore crowd. We don’t need to see more Gran Turismo 5, but we will, which will be more boring than ever considering the game should have been done a long time ago. Killzone 3 is going to look spectacular, and hopefully this remake of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus proves to be true. Sony needs to try and use The Last Guardian to steal the show away from other blockbusters. I also believe we’ll be either seeing a lot of Final Fantasy Versus XIII… or the official announcement of Kingdom Hearts 3. Square Enix will NOT show both games.

I’m not sure whether or not I should expect any more large announcements. Sure, We’ll see Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and the new God of War for PSP, but does Sony have anything to surprise us? I’m going to say they don’t. I really think their conference is going to almost mimic Nintendo’s early Wii showings, but hopefully I’m wrong. Just don’t be surprised if you see a lot of mini-game titles being shown on stage. Can’t wait for their sports segment with motion controls! (/sarcasm)

If Sony does a good balance between Move and core games, they have an excellent chance at catching the most buzz from E3 2010. Imagine if all the games above are brought up: Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD, The Last Guardian, Uncharted 3, Little Big Planet 2, Final Fantasy Versus XIII or Kingdom Hearts 3, Killzone 3, maybe even the announce of the PSP2? They would be in excellent position. However, even with all of this, I don’t think they will walk away the winners, but they do have a chance.

Things I Want: This section needs to be a bit out-there or unexpected, so while I want Kingdom Hearts 3, Ico/Shadow HD remakes, and Versus XIII, it’s feasible that they will happen. So what would be a shock?

First and foremost, I want a Wild ARMs 6, and I want it continue to progress the series. The last couple of games have been a bit on the easy side, and I’d like to see some innovations as well as a return to some of the more conventional means. Why not a Valkyrie Profile 3? I personally know people who would kill for this, so hopefully it happens. While Valkyrie Profile 2 was good, the battle system could have been a bit more refined.

The biggest thing I’d like to see that has almost no chance is the next game by Quantic Dream. Regardless of there is a Heavy Rain 2, or this project called Horizon, I want to see it and I want it to be as ridiculous in concept as Heavy Rain was. I’m in the “I love Heavy Rain” camp, because I personally believe that a game that strives for innovation and has a few flaws is better than a “perfect” game that is too scared to try something new. I would go crazy if this game is shown.

OH! Dark Cloud 3. That is all.

Where Do I Think Sony Will Place in the Conference Rankings? 2nd

CHARIS

Things I Expect: Like everyone else, I see Move being the highlight of the show. Whether it is showing it off with old franchises renewed with motion capability or “innovative” Wii-like mini games, this will take up most of the presentation. Just keep some lollipops on hand for when you see the colorful Move controllers hit the stage. Motion demos will take up time like James Cameron did last year, only to leave space for a few announcements and a lot of figures. One of those announcements will be on the anticipated Uncharted 3, but I suspect it to be a short teaser trailer and not much else. Killzone will “kill” some time, and I hope to see more on the beautiful Last Guardian that stunned me last summer. As for PSP, I’m sure that God of War and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep will also make an appearance.

Aside from that, I don’t see Sony winning many people over this year.

Things I Want: I personally haven’t owned a Sony system since the PS2, but of course there are a few things that I would love to see. Kingdom Hearts 3 would probably make my day, but as Shawn said, Square Enix probably won’t show both, and FF Versus XIII has a better chance. If that’s the case, FF will win out (unfortunately for me). I also agree with a second Heavy Rain, maybe not a continuation, but definitely something along those lines. Any innovation that isn’t motion controlled, such as Heavy Rain’s “interactive drama”, will definitely win me over. However, knowing Sony, I have a feeling it will be another year before I invest in one of their products.

Where Do I Think Sony Will Place in the Conference Rankings? 3rd

Alright guys, so this is what we’re expecting from Sony. Do you think we’ll be seeing some huge unannounced game? Do you think we’re wrong or right? Let’s discuss in the comments!

If you said that it meant our coverage starts THIS WEEK, you’d be correct! Be prepared for tons of posts on what we expect from each of the conferences, who we think will take the show, and what we think some of the other surprises will be.

We will also be talking about some of the big games (think Zelda or Gears of War 3) and what we think would be great to see in each of them.

Whether you watch it live or DVR it, we’ll keep you covered!

It looks like it’s officially summer with all of the Deal of the Week savings on Xbox Live. From Peggle to Battlefield 1943, there’s something for everyone. As for Nintendo, we have another week lacking in the Virtual Console department, but I’m sure it’s nothing some puzzle game offerings and Meerkat leading cant’t fix.

Xbox Live

Deal of the Week
- Worms 2: Armageddon will be 400 Microsoft Points (usually 800)
- Serious Sam HD will be 800 Microsoft Points (usually 1200)
- Peggle will be 400 Microsoft Points (usually 800)
- Duke Nukem 3D will be 400 Microsoft Points (usually 800)
- Battlefield 1943 will be 800 Microsoft Points (usually 1200)
- Call of Duty Classic will be 800 Microsoft Points (usually 1200)

Arcade Games
- June 9: Earthworm Jim HD (800 MSP, Watch the Trailer).

Avatar Marketplace
- N/A

Games On Demand
- June 8: Red Faction Guerrilla
- June 8: Need for Speed Undercover

Game Add-Ons
- N/A

Nintendo Wii/DS

Virtual Console
- Nothing

WiiWare
- Reel Fishing Challenge II (500 Wii Points)
- Lead the Meerkats (1000 Wii points, Watch the Trailer)
- Zoo Disc Golf (1000 Wii Points)

DsiWare
- Flametail (500 points, )
- Don’t Cross The Line (200 points)
- Fire Panic (200 points, Watch the Trailer)
- Flips: The Magic Faraway Tree (500 points)

Here we go. Big Daddy and a Little Sister. Colored pencil. I might do it over digitally, but my love for colored pencil knows no bounds. Enjoy!