So we don’t live in Japan where everyone plays Dragon Quest, population density is huge, and public transportation is extremely common.  Nor do we live in the land where having a bar where you can gather to play and exchange game items is not only normal, it’s expected.  As a result, many North American players have expected to miss out on the features of tag mode that helped make the game such a success in the land of the rising sun.  Nintendo seems to have realized this, and so has organized a series of Dragon Quest IX events at local retailers and malls to spread the word about the game and give US players the chance to get some new treasure maps.

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Nintendo will be at San Diego Comic Con next week (July 22 – July 25) and has announced what they’re bringing with them for their fans. It’s a small presence they’re bringing with them to the party, but adopters of the recently released Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies who bring their DS and their copy of the game can get a special goodie from Nintendo if you turn on Tag Mode. Head to the Nintendo booth (#2944) with Tag Mode on in your game and you’ll be able to download a special treasure map called Mortamor, never before released for North American fans! In addition to that bonus, they’ll have two games on hand with hands-on demos to check out.

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When I first saw NBA Jam on the Wii back in March I was immediately blown away by how the team at EA Vancouver was able to capture the old school gameplay and still make it feel new. At this year’s E3 I got a chance to play an updated version of the game, and although there didn’t seem to be a huge difference between this build and the build I played earlier in the year, I did notice the motion controls are more accurate. Plus, they introduced a few legendary players into the mix. After playing the updated build I can say for sure that NBA Jam is going to be a big hit with fans of the franchise and newcomers as well.

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With E3 2010 in the books it’s now time for the Game Critics Awards to be handed out. So how does the GCA work? The nominations are given and voted on by a group of game journalists from 31 different mainstream outlets which include Wired, GameSpot and USA Today. For this years awards there weren’t too many surprises but one award, Best of Show, which normally goes to a game this year went to the Nintendo 3DS. Other notable winners include Rage for Best Action and Console Game, and EA who had the best showing for a publisher with 4 titles winning awards. Check out the complete list of winners from this year’s E3, winners are highlighted in bold.

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In the world of ATV/Motocross racers there are very few titles that have been successful. It’s a genre that is very hit and miss. It’s either too realistic, not realistic enough, centered too much on tricks, or simply not fun. Titles like Pure, Motorstorm and the ATV franchise have successfully created great ATV racing experiences in large part due to the developers concentrating on a particular aspect of ATV racing. With Deep Silver’s upcoming racing title Nail’d, they look to do the same by focusing on the speed and exhilaration of ATV and Motocross racing. Nail’d is definitely an arcade racing title and from the demo I played at this year’s E3 there is a lot to like about this upcoming racer.

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It’s too few and far between these days that we get to experience solid console co-op games. The last enjoyable one off the top of my head that I played extensively was Resident Evil 5, and that was already well over a year ago. Oh, and Borderlands, which is certainly fun, but moreso in the way that you and some friends can “hang out” and do a ton of mindless (the story is as generic as generic gets and you know it!) but really fun missions. That’s why when Bethesda announced they were publishing inXile Entertainment’s upcoming co-op title Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, I’ve kept my eyes peeled ever since. Luckily, at E3 I had the chance to play an extremely polished demo of Hunted and walked away with feelings of probably the game I would have been hands-down most excited to take home with me from E3.

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Sega had a massive presence this year at E3, with a lofty sum of the Seganian Army dedicated to five upcoming Sonic releases that have been, should be, and will be receiving some props and attention for putting Sonic back on the fast track that he had strayed ever so far from in the past few years. The Sonic games present at Sega’s E3 booth this year were Sonic Colors – one for the Wii and one for the DS, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, the Kinect title Sonic Free Riders, and also a port of the Dreamcast favorite Sonic Adventure for XBLA and PSN. I was able to get some hands-on time with Sonic Colors for the Wii and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1.

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For the first time in its history, the Medal of Honor franchise is bringing gamers to the modern war setting. With plenty of other modern war video games out there, EA is hoping to bring a sense of realism that other titles have not been able to accomplish. With the help of Tier-1 operatives, MOH’s campaign looks show gamers what it’s like to fight in modern day Afghanistan. EA’s realistic mentality doesn’t change when it comes to the multiplayer portion of the game. At this year’s E3 I was able to play a few rounds and I instantly found it to be very familiar.

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We stepped into the Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep presentation and were surprised to be face to face with none other than Tetsuya Nomura who was sitting there with an entourage of translators.  Both Stephanie and Dave had assumed that we were in for a demo of the game itself just like all of our previous appointments had been thus far. So when we sat down with Nomura, we flipped out our notebooks and prepared to absorb in any juicy information we could pry about the upcoming PSP Kingdom Hearts title, Birth by Sleep.

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I’ve been a LONG-time fan of the DDR franchise. For years and years my friend’s and I would practice and train rigorously for hours at home so we could play at the arcade every weekend. Good times were had with all the vibrant classic DDR beats from DJ Naoki, RevenG and dj TAKA, but the franchise took a huge wrong left turn and changed to reel in a new audience who weren’t as familiar or ecstatic about the Eurobeat flavor it was offering. Towards the latter end of the PS2 DDR cycle the games started having much less of the music that the hardcore fans were crazy about and instead were given a helping of Britney Spears and Sean Paul. I finally got a chance to give the newest Wii version a shot at E3 (titled merely: Dance Dance Revolution currently, as skeptical as I was about playing with arm movements, but came out impressed when I realized how fun it actually could be.

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Ivy the Kiwi? was created by Yuji Naka former head of the Sonic Team for the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, now head of Prope. With such a massive notch like creating Sonic under his belt, he’s now gone on to create his first fully original game of his own. Ivy the Kiwi? creates a slight edge of its own genre by what feels like a platforming puzzle game where the main character, Ivy, is a flightless bird who is born into the world without her mother in sight. That’s where the question mark in the title comes in — IS Ivy a kiwi? Poor Ivy doesn’t know and is saddened to be without a mother so she goes on to find her.

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I didn’t get a chance to play every PlayStation Move game at E3 but the few that I did gave me a good idea of what I could expect from the Move. For those who don’t know what the PS Move is, its Sony’s new motion control peripheral. Working in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye (camera), the Move controller with the ball at the end of it can sense almost every movement the player makes. I was able to test out the Move playing Time Crisis: Razing Storm, Resident Evil 5 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. Each of these games shows off a different way to use the PS Move and, more importantly, are geared towards the more “hardcore” audience.

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Where EA has taken the darker path for the young wizard, WB sees Harry Potter and his friends returning to a simpler time when all they had to worry about was giant basilisks and shape-changing rats.  Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 returns players to the first four books of the series, before Voldemort was terrorizing the English countryside and J.K. Rowling was still considered a children’s author.  Oh, and they’re now made of Legos.  I got to play a portion of Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 at last week’s E3, and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.

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The booth for TERA Online felt a little lonely, small and innocuous and off to the side of Harmonix’s giant hall. It was a simple four-walled structure with five computers all closely packed and a reception desk. One wall featured the trailer seen below, which caught the eye of more than a few passersby. The game is pretty, the trailer shows this and my own time with the game certainly didn’t refute the fact.  The real question is: Is there room for a self-proclaimed action-MMORPG in today’s saturated and dominated market?  En Masse Entertainment hopes there is, and I can certainly say after my own demo that it plays differently than any MMO I’ve had experience with.

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Yes, I am an unabashed Harry Potter fan.  I love the series, but have yet to play any of the games for whatever reason.  I think the stigma of movie-game tie-ins is too hard to overcome.  With EA promising to make the newest in the Harry Potter games darker and more in-line with a third-person shooter, I decided to at the very least give the game a shot.  So it was that I found myself inside EA’s pavilion at E3 with a PS3 controller in my hand and a virtual wand in Harry’s.

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