Note: E3 may be over, but that doesn’t mean we’re done with posting hands-on impressions and views from the show floor!

The original Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was a lot of things. It was gimmicky, repetitive and tiring. It was also very successful, and at least a little bit fun. With the winter-themed sequel, Sega looks to tighten up the controls, keep things fun and recapture that sales magic. We got some time behind closed doors with the title. READ MORE

While E3 is now officially over, we still have lots of coverage from the show coming your way in the next few weeks!  For now, though, we’re taking most of the weekend off to recuperate.  In the meantime, here’s a list of ten things we learned at the show:

– Charles Martinet doesn’t just take his paycheck and go home.  He really enjoys the whole “voice of Mario” thing and meeting fans.

– The Conduit set the record for appearances in most booths with 3: A station at Nintendo’s booth, a wall of demo units at the Sega one and an entire booth for developer High Voltage.

– The plush blue seating in Sega’s meeting room is quite comfy.   Not at all like sitting on a hedgehog.  (At least, I don’t think so.  I haven’t tried.) READ MORE

5th Cell, developers of Drawn to Life and Lock’s Quest, have been hard at work at Scribblenauts, an ambitious project seeking to encompass all things (literally).  We had a few minutes with the game at E3.

In Scribblenauts, players type in the name of an object, and it appears.  They can then use the item to retrieve “starites” from weird places.  The fun comes in thinking of various ways to accomplish the task. READ MORE

Developer BigPark’s free-to-play 360 racer, Joy Ride, was among the games on display at Microsoft’s E3 booth.  We got a few minutes with the title, guided by a developer.

The controls are solid, but not overly forgiving; skill will still be needed in Joy Ride.  Tricks are interesting, but need a bit of fleshing out, and the customization wasn’t part of the demo. READ MORE