E3 2011: Charles Scibetta and Paul Gale

Wii U (Overall Best of E3 2011, Best New Peripheral of E3 2011, “I Want This Now” winner of E3 2011)

At E3 2011, Nintendo was the recipient of Paul Gale Network’s first ever trophy for “Overall Best of E3”, for the Wii U. Nintendo has shown with the new console, that they continue to be true pioneers in the video game industry, by seemingly reinventing the steering wheel, time and time again. It’s far easier a task to simply pump more RAM into a console, up the CPU, etc., but it takes real creativity and ingenuity to change the way we play games in this very sophisticated day and age. It then pleasures me to say that E3 2011, there was doubt about it, the Wii U and all that it embodied was the clear winner of the show. Furthermore, the controller itself that I’m torn between calling “U-tab”, “U-control”, or “U-mote” wins the award for Best New Peripheral. The interactive experiences that it will no doubt provide is just remarkable and will see no limit in fresh games for years to come. Finally, Wii U won my award for “I Want This Now”, a kind of fun award I decided to give to the one game/console/device that I simply enjoyed enough that I’d really like to just take home and dissect entirely. Congratulations, Nintendo. For more on the company’s products, visit Nintendo.com.

Zelda: HD Experience (Best Wii U Game of E3 2011, Best 8th Gen Game of E3 2011)

Nintendo had several demos of what kind of different experiences you can expect on the Wii U, but the one that impressed me the most was the Zelda: HD Experience. Even though you weren’t necessarily in control of Link, being able to move the camera system around, switch with ease between TV and U-control, and see what this type of game could be like with zero clutter on the TV, leaving your 6.2″ touch screen for weapon navigating, location searching, etc., made me very excited. All of the demos were solid and showed off a small sample of creativity that the system can present, but the HD Experience was exactly what I was hoping to see from Nintendo. And with that, Zelda: HD Experience also won the award for Best 8th Gen Game of E3 2011. The systems eligible in this category included 3DS, PS Vita, and Wii U. HD Experience simply delivered the most excitement, as I was experiencing the art, sound, and overall excellent design that Nintendo’s known for creating in Zelda games, backed by some of the best real time visuals I’ve seen in a game. Check out E3.Nintendo.com to see HD Experience for yourself.

Halo 4 ( Biggest Surprise of E3 2011)

E3 2011 had plenty of big games, impressive announcements, and even unexpected surprises, but it was Halo 4 being announced at Microsoft’s Press Conference that made me want to give it the award for Biggest Surprise of E3 2011. The series is getting a new trilogy which will begin in the Fall of 2012 and I can already sense the anticipation to see what Microsoft is going to do this time around. There’s no doubt that it will be a big game, but will it live up to its predecessors? Time will tell. For now though, visit Xbox.com to see the slick teaser trailer for Halo 4.

Gears of War 3 (Best Console Game of E3 2011, Best Xbox 360 Game of E3 2011)

There were so many stellar titles at E3 this year amongst all of the consoles and to be eligible for this award, you had to give me something playable that was representative of a full game. It comes with delight to award the Best Console Game of E3 2011 to Gears of War 3. The new campaign mode made me drop my jaw several times, thanks to some truly immersive graphics, gameplay refinements to an already solid setup, cool new enemies, and more. Likewise, the multiplayer mode looks to deliver just as well and will keep gamers occupied for hours on end, later this year. As a result of being the best console game of the show, Gears of War 3 also wins my award for Best Xbox 360 Game of E3 2011. This is pretty prestigious in my book, because Microsoft’s machine had many great titles to show forth, both internally and from 3rd parties. To check out more of Cliff Bleszinski’s upcoming masterpiece, go to GearsOfWar.Xbox.com.

Super Mario 3D (Best Handheld Game of E3 2011, Best Nintendo 3DS Game of E3 2011)

This year saw a lot of handheld games at the show between the recently released Nintendo 3DS and Sony’s upcoming PS Vita, but none were as fun, fresh, and easy to get into as Super Mario 3D. Nintendo time and time again proves that they know what they’re doing when it comes to platformers and for delivering yet one more more Mario masterpiece, Super Mario 3D won with flying colors (or Tanooki Suit I should say), my award for Best Handheld Game of E3 2011. To see Mario move around on a handheld with the graphical integrity of Super Mario Galaxy and still be its own unique game, makes me so happy to be a gamer and to own a 3DS. Super Mario 3D also wins the award for Best Nintendo 3DS Game of E3 2011. I think that Nintendo is going to have a real winner on their hands when this game comes out later this year. Combining elements of Mario’s 3D outings with old school 2D gameplay makes our favorite plumber’s next outing something I can’t wait to dig into further. For more on Super Mario 3D, visit E3.Nintendo.com.