Handheld Previews

Skylanders was a game that nobody really saw becoming a success. Plastic toys you put on a cylinder base to make them come alive on your television screen? Adults didn't get it but the kids did. Some see the release of Skylanders as the start to a next generation toy market. Activision is hoping to continue the magic and with the release of Skylanders Giants. The villainous Chaos is back from the first Skylanders and he is desperate to still take over all of Skylands. Fortunately there are the Skylanders standing in his way to stop him.

The reveal of Luigi's Mansion 2 at Nintendo's press conference took me by surprise. I did not expect Nintendo to come revisit the idea of Luigi as a ghost buster, but I was happy to see it. I enjoyed the gameplay of the original, and it showed off the power of the GameCube and its new controller quite well.

Even if it wasn't shown briefly in video form last year, I think we all knew that a Mario Kart game would be coming for the 3DS. It still doesn't have an official title, but Nintendo uncovered some concrete details with its playable demo at this year's E3.

Capcom is showing some confidence in the 3DS with Resident Evil Revelations. This is a brand new, original Resident Evil game, not a remake. The game takes place between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. We follow Jill Valentine with her new partner, Parker Luciani, looking for a missing Chris Redfield. His last known location was aboard a cruise ship. Of course, being a Resident Evil game, it happens to be a super creepy, abandoned cruise ship.

While the Wii U may have been grabbing headlines as Nintendo's main announcement at E3, it was the Nintendo 3DS that had the most gameplay to show off at the Big N's booth. Super Mario 3DS (working title) is definitely one of the highlights.

We don't know what the plot is, but honestly, does it really matter? I predict that Bowser's involved and something's happened to Peach. If my prediction is right, no one will be amazed. Mario 3DS takes a lot of elements from old school Mario games, and throws in a dash of new here and there. I have to say, the recipe is working great.

Deep in the heart of the LA Convention Center, in the quiet Concourse Hall, Telltale Games is hard at work showing off their latest titles. One of these is the greatest game based on the Jurassic Park license ever seen.

We got our hands on the newly named PSVita after Sony's Press Conference. Sony released several details about their newest handheld but left many questions for us to speculate about.

On release date, Sony offered a "Holiday 2011" launch for Vita. When I questioned them about if this was meant for the Japanese market only, I was told that Sony is trying for a worldwide release this year. If they can pull it off, that will cause a serious problem for Nintendo's 3DS sales during the Holiday of 2011. 

Last year, a little game called Scribblenauts arrived on the scene and wowed and amazed players. This year, Super Scribbenauts is on the show floor to give players more objects, new possibilities, and an incredible amount of fun. At the same time, they are keeping the charm and basic formula of the first title.

If you are ever curious what happens when an unexpected console mascot bursts onto the scene then look no further than the Jak and Daxter franchise. The original series was always planned as a three-game set, and Sony was happy to have a new set of heroes exclusively gracing their consoles. But then something unusual happened, and fans latched onto the duo with a fervor that no one had really expected. Thus, when the original trilogy ended and effectively closed off the storyline Sony couldn’t help but wonder how they could continue to profit off the franchise. The solution they determined was to release a new adventure on the PSP starring Daxter, and that title’s impressive sales and solid reviews showed Sony that there was still life in this franchise. Now, they’re going back to the well once more with a new PSP Jak and Daxter adventure, but it seems that the well may finally be running dry.