PSP

Swords, Sandals and Stats

HIGH Improving my favorite sword and killing an opponent in two strikes.

LOW Taking humbling beatdowns from the Egyptian fighters.

WTF Why aren't there more bull, tiger and elephant battles?

Microsoft

Nintendo

Sony

Thanks for coming back. This is the sad end to another year at the Biggest Show in Downtown Los Angeles in June. Ha. Ah, seriously, I was sad to see another one go.

How about some delicious Day Two?  (SPOILER: Still no Vita.)

The middle day of festivities at the Electronics Entertainment Expo here in Los Angeles was an exceptionally busy one. This entry is part one of two, as there were eight hours' worth of meetings and booth tours that took place.

After weeks of waiting—the E3 experience finally got underway on Tuesday. It was an early start (5am, to be exact), but after a breakfast with some awesome people– including a conversation with James Stella, Sears Holdings' Divisional Merchandise Manager for Movies, Music, & Video Games—it was off to the L.A. Convention Center to pick up our E3 badge holders and shoot some video.

My first year of E3 had a slow start. Not knowing how early I should get there to pick up my press pass, I found myself in the L.A. Convention Center at 8 o'clock. The process of getting my badge took three minutes at the most, so I had about four hours to kill before the main show floors were open to the media.

So, I went to E3 2011 Day One today! I am just a person. Here is what there is to report.

The biggest reveal for me so far has been Sony's price tag of $250 for the PS Vita, formerly known as the NGP, also known as the PSP2. That's an incredible price for such a snazzy piece of technology. Apparently Sony has learned from the pricing mistakes it made earlier this generation.

Looking at the calendar, we're less than two weeks away from what will be one of the most important E3 events in recent memory when it comes to what I call the Hardware Trinity—that is Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. Each of the three companies have issues to address. Nintendo is facing lackluster 3DS hardware sales and the lame-duck status of the Wii until its new platform is launched. Sony has to deal with the aftereffects of one of the largest online security breaches in history and major losses in the last year. Microsoft may seem bulletproof, but the stagnant nature of the Kinect sensor and a slow trickle of software for it call into question the viability of the technology.