Another E3 has come and gone, and another week needs a Rundown. It just so happens we’ve got just the thing to get you caught up on both. In this edition of the Suddenbrain Weekly Rundown we dive into the biggest news from E3 2012, pick out some of our favorite announcements, and criticize others as though we could have done something better.

1. Nintendo WiiU

Last year Nintendo made waves by announcing the WiiU, the followup to the mega successful Nintendo Wii. This year they barely made ripples by announcing that the U would support 2 (TWO!) controllers along with a gamepad to appease the hardcore audiences. The Nintendo conference wasn’t a complete dud with announcements of some cool titles, including ZombiU which for a minute had me convinced that I needed a WiiU, but the hype surrounding the conference was negligible compared to others. I expected a little more given their impending release of the first next gen console.

2. PS3 Wonderbook

Sony’s announcement of the Wonderbook was puzzling for a few reasons. First consider Sony’s demographic which tends to include more “mature” audiences than the Xbox and Wii. Why the hell is the big push with this new hardware a lame Harry Potter spell book? I would have been more amped to see something my 3 year old could enjoy. I’m sure there will be some other content to look forward to with the Wonderbook, but Sony has built a reputation as of late for not following through on the peripherals they sell for the PS3. I’d like to be wrong, but this has the stink of another piece of hardware that you buy because of 1 or 2 titles, then never use again much like my Move controller which started collected dust just weeks after the purchase.

3. The Last of Us

I’m always hesitant to get worked up over games that focus on linear gameplay and hours of cutscenes, but The Last of Us has kept me intrigued. I don’t mind playing a movie disguised as a game, but the movie part of it better be good, and all I’ve seen of The Last of us looks pretty good. The jury is still out on whether or not I’ll  buy the game when it’s released, but the brutal intensity shown off during the tech demo was definitely attention-getting.

4. Tomb Raider

I haven’t played a Tomb Raider title since PS1. Even though they fall under that umbrella of that linear style gameplay that I have trouble getting into, the original Tomb Raider titles managed to feel like big open environments. My hope for the new Tomb Raider title was something part Portal and part Skyrim. What it looks like from the E3 tech demo is something more along the lines of Uncharted. Furious gameplay including destructible environments and very real-feeling danger seem to have audiences intrigued, but I have a feeling that Tomb Raider will wind up being more of the same old same old.

5. Xbox SmartGlass & Kinect

Microsoft’s press conference, though lacking next gen hints, was still pretty ambitious with the announcement of Xbox SmartGlass. The technology allows users to sync their entertainment and gaming across several devices. Users can begin watching a movie or playing a game on their tablet or smartphone, pause, and resume on their Xbox. Though Sony also touted Vita to PS3 cross-compatibility, Microsoft seems to have beaten them to the punch in terms of a more complete multiplatform product. Xbox also made more positive strides showing off ome new Kinect capabilities including voice controls for Madden that will allow the player to control the game from the line of scrimmage.

6. The Unfinished Swan

Probably the coolest thing I’ve seen out of E3 2012 is the demo of The Unfinished Swan. The concept for this game is that the environment is basically non-existent, or invisible to the player, and you throw blobs of black paint to make the world come to life. “Come to life” is a strange term to use for a largely simplistic black and white game, but from what I’ve seen Unfinished Swan looks amazing, and it’s a Playstation Network exclusive. Just because we like you I’ve embedded the HD tech demo of Invisible Swan below. Enjoy.

What happened this year at E3 that got your attention?  Leave a comment below.

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