Editor's note: OK, I know E3 is a couple of weeks behind us now, but a few Bitmob community members got together for a roundtable discussion of the big show. See what they had to say, and add your own thoughts to the comments below! -Shoe

E3 is over, but that doesn't mean we can't stroke chins! Fellow Bitmobbers Alex Cronk-Young and Cameron Pershall sat down at their computers with me and gave their thoughts on the big three press conferences, as well as number of other things at the show.

On Microsoft's press conference:

Suriel: Microsoft started by showcasing the games that their hardcore audience wanted to see: Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3, Fable 3, etc.

There weren't too many other surprises on that end, but their extended showcases helped grease the wheels of their hype machine effectively. They definitely know what their hardcore audience wants.

Their Kinect showcase wasn't for us, as many have pointed out, but that doesn't put it above reproach. The games they showcased certainly did their jobs -- they demonstrated the possibilities of the hardware and made the release date seem that much more feasible. But they've yet to give us a game that blends the hardcore nature of the titles they were showing us just a few minutes earlier and the innovation they're pushing so hard. I would've felt better about Kinectimals if the Forza 4 demo with Kinect had shown us something that was more than air driving and head tracking. Until then, I remain unconvinced of its potential as something other than a Wii cash-in.

Microsoft continues to show its drive to reach out to the Wii's audience, as well as the people who'll be enticed by things such as their partnership with ESPN, but they haven't left the hardcore behind completely. I just hope that they won't push the kind of stuff I'm simply not interested in on games that will ultimately suffer for it. Child of Eden was about as close as they got, but I don't have the same reverence as others for the game.

Cameron: I decided to get really drunk during Microsoft’s press conference, so my impressions of it probably aren’t worth much. I thought the Kinect stuff was presented about as well as it could have been. Yes, it was cheesy, but I appreciated that they didn’t just have some developer come out and stand there like a block of wood while saying how awesome his game was. Even if there wasn’t a single moment of genuine emotion, they at least got people to look like they were having a good time jumping around like lunatics.

Still, they didn’t convince me that Kinect is something I have to own if I want to be an informed gamer. And giving everyone in the crowd a new 360 was pretty ostentatious the morning after they tricked a bunch of big-name journalists into compromising their integrity by participating in an infomercial.

Alex: It almost seemed like MS took notes and recreated Nintendo's presser from two years ago. I think it really showed how embarrassingly out of touch they are, and once Nintendo came in it just cemented that even further. I think Nintendo used the type of games that MS showed for Kinect to lure in their audience, and now they've weened them onto things like Mario and plan on continuing that with Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, etc.

Microsoft had an opportunity to be the ones to jump in and say, "Hey, you're interested in gaming now, why not get our cheap system and play something a bit meatier." But they blew it and made a bunch of minigame-like things. Oh, and then tried to buy themselves an exciting conference by giving everyone a redesigned system.

On Nintendo's press conference:

Suriel: Nintendo had their motion-control and lifestyle-changing conference a year ago, so this time they went straight for the game announcements. This seemed to wow the press, who were likely sick of hearing the phrase "like never before" and were excited to hear about actual games. Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Epic Mickey, and several other announcements gave Nintendo the momentum they were sorely lacking last year. They slowed down once in a while, but for the most part, it was reveal after reveal, and it keep the crowd on a constant high.

The 3DS was, of course, the bell of the ball. More than an incremental update, the 3DS seems to have justified its gimmick to the press according to hearsay, but the graphical improvements and analog stick have me intrigued. With the 3DS being able to render Metal Gear Solid 3 in 3D and make something that looks as good as Kid Icarus: Uprising, a PSP will be a much harder purchase to make when Nintendo releases this thing.

Is Nintendo reselling us our childhood? Most definitely, but they showed off enough new things and hardware that it didn't really matter; I much prefer Nintendo's approach than selling us software and hardware from less than five years ago. When Zelda's your weakest showing, you're doing something right. (I'm aware of the technical hiccups, but that can't kill my love of the art style.)

Cameron: Even though nobody can accuse me of being a Nintendo fanboy, I love their press conferences. That’s because Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime is a living cartoon character, and I find Nintendo head Satoru Iwata inexplicably entertaining. But this year, Nintendo actually made me care about their games as much as their executives.

The new Zelda didn’t grab me because it didn’t look like a significant departure from the post-Ocarina Zelda formula. But Epic Mickey and Kirby's Epic Yarn both look tremendous, and Kid Icarus: Uprising was easily the most exciting announcement of the show for me. Those three titles are just what Nintendo needs: games that can appeal to a wide audience while breaking away from all of the formulas we get so tired of the company recycling.

Alex: Holy fuck! Last year's conference being a step better than their previous crappy concerts seemed like a fluke, but they blew it out of the water this year. That NeoGAF thread with the list of the 3DS line-up didn't have a single negative comment on it. NeoGAF!! Somehow Nintendo doesn't feel so out of touch anymore, and I never thought that could be. I'm suddenly excited to own a Wii, and super pumped for the 3DS.