If you are a gamer, you know that it is that time of the year again, E3. E3 is basically the worlds biggest video game conventions and it happens to be the place where all the big dogs in gaming show off all the products they’ve been cooking up for the past year. Special attention is often paid to the “big 3″, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, as their keynotes during E3 often have bombshells that occasionally change the face of gaming as we know it. I’m not sure there was anything that huge this time around but there was some interesting bits. Though Microsoft has not done their keynote yet as of the time of me writing this but Sony and Nintendo have already showed their hands.

Sony probably had the weakest keynote address as their big product to show off was the Sony Move which seems to be nothing more than a goofy looking motion controller. Basically it is a Wii Remote with a big glowing ball on top. Not exactly innovative by any means. Sony also debuted a new subscription gaming service which will make the Sony Network a bit more like Microsoft’s Xbox Live in terms of having a free version as well as a paid version. Once again Sony is doing the “me too” thing.

Nintendo seems to be the one with all the buzz this year. Not only did they show updates to many of their classic franchises such as Zelda, Metroid and Pilotwings, they also showed off a device that may once again change gaming in the way that the Nintendo Wii did, the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo has been known lately for repackaging the same hardware and putting it back out with only slight adjustments (DS Lite, DS XL, DSi) but the 3Ds seems like a major jump. Not only is the handheld almost as powerfull as a Wii, it has 3D graphics. As we know 3D is all the rage these days but Nintendo has pulled off 3D without the need of some silly glasses. Those who have tested the device say the 3D not only works, it works well.

It is amazing how well Nintendo innovates. It always seems like Microsoft and Sony are playing catchup. Yet Nintendo continues to fail at resonating with hardcore and mature gamers. Maybe they just don’t care. Its not like they aren’t already making fistloads of money.

Soon Microsoft will be doing their keynote address where they are expected to talk about their “me too” motion device called Kinect. Microsoft has actually also already anounced a new version of the XBox 360 which is quite a bit smaller and features more USB ports. As there is big competition between the “big 3″, it’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft will have any other surprises that may take the steam of of Nintendo’s keynote.