Call of duty: Black Ops – Right out of the gate, i’m given hope with an awesome looking gameplay sequence – including some awesome helicopter action. Lots of pretty looking carnage. Graphics looked to be kicked up a notch, and the whole Vietnam/Cold War setting is a fresh coat of paint. Thumbs up.

Metal Gear: Rising – Awkward controls, bizarre sword-slashing mechanics. A game that should feature lightnign fast sword action looks slow and cumbersome. Also, recieving mixed signals on whether or not it’s a Kinect game, considering the blathering they did about that “device” before showing off Rising. This one is a heartbreaker for me. Thumbs down.

Gears of War III – It’s gears, with four player co-op. Fun times. Should be entertaining enough, even if it does look sort of same-y. I’m sure the Gears diehards who weren’t turned off by Gears 2’s gimped matchmaking and tyhe constant whining of Dominic will be happy. Thumbs up.

Fable III – No mention of Kinect support (*phew*). I’m still not entirely sure what to make of this one. There hasn’t been much talk of the gameplay, but everything looks pretty farmiliar. I’m nervously anticipating considering how much i loved the first one (and how much the unfinished mess the second one was let me down). Even Handed motion.

Codename: Kingdoms – Microsoft published, Crytek developed. All that was shown was a 300-style live action teaser. Nothing to see here, move along. At least it’s a new property i guess. Even Handed Motion.

Halo: Reach – Now this is more like it. Our first , a glimpse at the single player campaign. Looks good, looks a lot like Halo (gosh!), prettied up a little, but not quite cutting edge or anythin… holy crap! SPACE BATTLES! Thumbs up!

Microsoft Kinect – The bit you all been waiting for. A pile of crummy launch titles, some dull looking gesture controls for your dashboard – complete with hand cursor, and voice commands. Coming next year, a Forza racing title with canned video clips and ‘interactive’ sequences that look like something off of a flash website, and a completely wretched Star Wars title that’s basically lightsaber battles on rails. This looks like absolute ass. They want us to play $150-plus for this? Thumbs down.

Newly redesigned Xbox360 – Same price as the old, 250GB Hard Drive, Wireless N built in, super quiet, In stores THIS WEEK! Oh SNAP! I’m having Sega Saturn flashbacks. The system looks kinda ok. Big questions: Does it have to stand upright? Can my old Hard drive fit? (doesn’t look like). Thumbs up (if the old drive fits, and it doesn’t go off like a nuke in my living room.)

Overall, Thankfully they paid heed to my request from last year and didn’t try to dazzle the crowd with BS celebrity appearances. Unfortunately, they continue to focus on content like avatars, ancilliary features, and the new bane of my existence, Kinect. I can’t help but think that all but the staunchest of microsoft supporters will feel a little abandoned by the big M this year. No megatons, no big suprises, not even a decent new game announcment. On top of that, one of the titles i’d been anticipating looks like warmed over ass (Metal Gear: Rising). Once again, Microsoft is hedging bets on clunky looking motion and gesture controls and relying on third parties to deliver – a dangerous game considering the total lack of third party exclusives these days.

Steve’s Grade:  D-