Slideshow

Shiny cars! Zombies! Cosplay! All this and much more on display at E3

  • The Electronic Entertainment Expo is an industry event, which means you can’t get in if you don’t work in the game industry (or cover it as press). That’s a real shame, because there are lots of neat things to see beyond just the games on the screens. For video game fans, the statues, displays, characters, and cosplayers that occupy these booths make the show like Disneyland. Maybe you can’t be here, but if you look at enough pictures, it’s just like being here, right?

  • PlayStation 4: No touchie! Look but don’t touch: Sony showed its PS4 systems behind glass.

  • No coddling the Xbox One, either: Not to be outdone in the “consoles-behind-glass” contest, Microsoft had its Xbox One in a nice, glare-prone box as well.

  • Think of the planet(side): Planetside 2 has been available for a few months, but it’s not like they can just let these cool plastic outfits go to waste, right?

  • E3's green monster: Microsoft’s entire giant booth is surrounded by a huge glowing green wall. Way to look like a giant impersonal megacorporation, Microsoft.

  • *Awkward* Unfortunate victims...er…showgoers try out the new Kinect, which is far more responsive than the current model and tracks multiple players with ease.

  • 'It's'a me...!' It must be hot in those Mario and Luigi suits. Who knew they were so large? Imagine the size of those koopa troopas!

  • It's Mario's world--we just live in it. If you want, you can get your picture taken popping up out of the big pipe. You cannot, unfortunately, eat a flower and toss around fireballs. Not after last year’s fiasco.

  • Watch for those banana peels: Nintendo had a life-size model of a racing kart on display, with wheels transformed to hover mode. No license required!

  • A beautiful (video game) mind: Gaming luminary Shigeru Miyamoto explains Pikmin 3 to the crowd. You may not have been expecting this, but it’s very much like Pikmin 1 and 2, only better. Honest.

  • Sing a song of pikmans: If you want your picture taken next to a statue of some pikmin walking on a log, Nintendo’s booth is the place. If you want totally original games, Nintendo’s booth is not the place.

  • The ultimate driving-game machine? Once you sit in this racing chair, in front of a giant display, with the awesome wheel and pedals and surround speakers, you’ll insist on the same getup in your home. We're sure the missus won’t mind.

  • Dude, where's my car? First rule of showing off a new racing game is to have a hot car in your booth. Here, Microsoft convinces us that Forza Motorsport 5 is great because this McLaren P1 is so cool.

  • Long day, huh? Nintendo has a professional cosplayer dressed as Bayonetta, so attendees can can get your photo taken with a lady bearing a permanent scowl and brandishing two guns. We couldn’t tell if she really hated being there, or was just really in character.

  • Um, eek: The best thing about this giant 20-foot tall statue of a titan (from the just-announced Titanfall), out in the convention center lobby, is the creepy eye up top that follows you around.

  • How's the weather up there? To give you an idea of how tall this titan thing is, here's the bottom portion of the statue.

  • There are zombies at E3: This cuddly little fella would take photos with anyone who wants to hug a zombie (and help promote EA’s cute new team-based shooter Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare).

  • So. Many. Screens. Battlefield 4 brings back the beloved Commander Mode, and what better way to show that off than with this huge multi-display commander station? We won’t lie, we kinda want it.

  • When you wish upon a star… Disney Infinity, which brings together like every Disney character and franchise, ever, is set to release in a couple months. So of course, they have to fill half the booth with a giant fairytale castle. Nothing says “Disney” like a fairytale castle.

  • It's bricked! Get it? I...er... Every year brings at least one new Lego game, and some big Lego statues to promote it. This year, it’s Lego Legends of Chima, in which you apparently play a cat person with a sword.

  • Insert obligatory Lady Gaga song title reference here: To demo Just Dance 2014, which for some reason comes out in late 2013, Ubisoft had professional dancers. That way, you’ll think you won’t look stupid when you flail around your living room playing it.

  • Braaaaains! One booth had this fenced-in area with actual real-life zombies in it. We honestly don’t remember which game they were promoting, because there are approximately 943 zombie games coming out.

  • Even vampires need a break: We know how you feel, Dracula (from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow). All this noise gives me a headache, too.

  • Back to the future E3 isn’t just for upcoming games. Okay, it sort of is. But there’s also a really neat area run by the Videogame History Museum with a bunch of old arcade games on free play.

  • Back to the future, part 2: More from the old days of gaming, courtesy of the Videogame History Museum. How many of these old systems did you own?

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