In case any of you were in a black hole, the 16th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) convention took place in Los Angeles from June 15-June 17 this week. According to Wikipedia, “E3 is widely considered to be the ultimate expo in the video game industry,” and this year’s expo, which attracted an estimated 45,000 attendees, was no exception. Despite some weakness in the overall video game industry, overall marketing budgets seemed to be holding steady. But enough talk, let’s move on to the games!

A major focus of this year’s expo was immersive experiences. Formerly known as Natal, Microsoft’s Kinect was on hand, ready to do battle with the Wii’s motion remote. The motion-sensing game system will begin selling in stores on November 4, before the crucial holiday season. It will launch with 15 titles, and some of the titles were on hand to be demo’ed

Also on hand was the PlayStation Move. Despite a more subdued booth, long lines of attendees waited for their turn to play, which uses a handheld motion controller wand, the PlayStation Eye camera to track the wand’s position, and inertial sensors in the wand to detect its motion. The system will be released in North America on September 19, 2010 with a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Virgin Gaming is a new service that lets you place a wager to compete in online matches and tournaments. According to Virgin Gaming’s site, at least $1 million in cash and prizes will be available for tournaments over the next 12 months.

More after the jump…

–Albert Wang

“Hot for Words” Marina Orlova appeared at ChangYou’s booth as the spokesmodel for their popular free-toplay MMORPG Dragon Oath.

A popular (and shiny) booth at E3 was Disney’s Tron display, which contained neon light cycles and demos of the highly-anticipated console game. The iPhone is also getting it’s own version!

The Nintendo 3DS, featuring a 3.5-inch 3D capable display on top, and a 3-inch touchscreen on the bottom was available for demo. It is expected by next March, but no price has yet been announced.

The all-new Legend of Zelda game for the Nintendo Wii subtitled Skyward Sword was announced. Using a Wii MotionPlus-equipped Wii Remote and Nunchuk attachment, the game features new swordplay mechanics.

Some random photos:

Dragonball Raging Blast 2!

Mmm, Ferrari

Final Fantasy XIV

–Clarissa Stahl

That’s some startup there.