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The world’s video game developers and press descended on Los Angeles last week to see the latest developments in electronic entertainment, and it’s doubtful that anyone left disappointed. The show kicked-off the night before opening with an incredible star-studded concert sponsored by Activision that featured Emimen, Rhiana, Jane’s Addiction, and others. The next morning the LA Convention Center was a sensory overload, with huge screens full of hi-def explosions, exciting swordplay, machines and aliens battling in beautifully rendered futuristic cityscapes, and… yoga?

3D is Hot:

The big story was by far the new advancements in 3D displays and games. The hi-def plasmas in the Sony booth had people lined up to put on the shiny glasses and stare deep into center field, but it was a smaller screen that stole the show. A chance to see Nintendo’s 3DS had people running through the halls when they opened the doors each morning. You would have thought we were going to an open seating concert in what was a rush to get in line and get your hands on a device, along with a private demo from one of the dozens of the awaiting attendants. The official word from those that got a demo is that it’s ‘awesome’ – we attribute that to not only the way it looks, but that you don’t need special glasses to experience it.

Get Moving:

Fitness may be an unexpected theme for a video game show, but many devices and games aimed at getting you off the couch. Around every corner there were people dancing, singing, stretching, or running in place as their onscreen avatar hustled down the sidelines. Microsoft gave an update on their Kinect device (formerly Project Natal), where your body becomes the controller. While the figure mapping technology is pretty impressive, we were just as excited about voice control: ‘XBOX, pause DVD’. Sony put their Move controller in people’s hands, their answer to the Wii remote uses a camera to track the glowing ball atop the handheld controller and translate the movements onscreen. While both Kinect and Move are interesting technologies that open up more possibilities to interact with games, the chatter on the showroom floor seemed to think it was going to take that must-have game to get people to buy.

Wrap Up:

This year’s show had an attendance of more that 45,000 people, slightly up from last year and in line with what organizers say they were expecting. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show, whether they were getting a touch of nostalgia by playing the 4-man tabletop Pac Man, or looking toward the future by interacting with a new set of games and activities for the iPad and iPhone. And yes, regardless of gender everyone seemed to like checking out the booth babes that were  in full force ready to hand out free stuff. It’s an event like none other, with a crowd somewhere between CES and ComicCon. Now that the show is behind us, there is one thing that’s for sure – we can’t wait for next year…