E3 2010 is closed for business, and as much as we would like to do this all year, frankly, we’re exhausted, and all of this talking about games hasn’t left us any time to play games, or you know, go outside. If you didn’t get to experience the madness of E3 first hand this week, or if you didn’t spend your entire week in front of a computer watching the videos and reading the news, let’s catch you up on some of the biggest stories from the show.

New Technology

E3 is above all a show about games. Yet every once and a while, the perspective shifts to the technology that powers those games. Leading up to the show, all eyes were on Microsoft and how they could convince us video games could be played without a controller. Meanwhile, Sony was expected to spend much time illustrating how their approach to motion gaming would differ from the Wii and stake out a place in gaming. And as we all prepared for E3, Nintendo gave us little hint about the three dimensional future of their DS handheld.

Well, the show pretty much went to script. These pieces of technology were the big story, but having finally seen them in action, we finally have something to talk about, and boy, it’s exciting.

For starters, Natal got its official name, Kinect, and Microsoft showed off how the combo of the body sensing camera and voice recognition could empower new gaming experiences and new ways of interacting with our technology, our media and our friends and family. Looking at just the limited variety of uses shown off at E3, Kinect could be a game changer.

In many ways Sony’s PlayStation Move represents a compromise of sorts between Kinect and the Wii. It combines the PlayStation Eye camera with the motion controlled, wand-like Move controller. Using these two pieces of tech together allows for increasingly responsive motion control, in addition to some very cool uses of augmented reality. The PS Eye may put your image up on the screen as you swing around the remote, but the remote can appear as something completely different on screen like a sword or a paintbrush. With applications like this, Move provides some pretty cool new gameplay opportunities of its own.

Beyond motion control, 3D was the other big tech storyline going into E3. Combine the Move with Sony’s 3D gaming efforts at E3, powered by 3D television and the 3D Blu-Ray capabilities (for movies and games) present within the PS3 and Sony just might have a real winner on their hands. But Nintendo might have a winner too… the 3DS. This little machine has to be seen – and played – to be believed. When the objects on screen come at you in 3D with no need for glasses of any kind, you’ll hardly believe your eyes.

Microsoft’s Not Ceasing Fire

But enough about the tech, let’s talk about games. Microsoft’s big story may have been Kinect, but that didn’t stop them from showing off some big titles. Gears of War 3, Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops were the highlights, with Fable III and Metal Gear Solid: Rising providing additional excitement.

And you’ll be able to play those blockbusters on a new, sleeker Xbox 360 announced at the show that you can already buy.

Nintendo’s Bringing ‘em all Back

There was a definite retro vibe going on in Nintendo’s E3 booth and during their conference. We knew Nintendo was giving us a new Metroid, and we expected a new Zelda. What we didn’t expect was for Nintendo to pretty much bring back every single one of their old franchises, making the longtime Nintendo fans go nuts.

Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Kid Icarus all made dramatic returns to the spotlight at E3. Classic shooter GoldenEye returns to Wii as well. And Nintendo showed off more classic Nintendo series like Star Fox and Pilotwings reimagined for the new 3DS. Leave it to Nintendo to take bold steps forward while still keeping a foot planted in the past.

Sony’s Special Guests

Sony’s games and technology impressed at this year’s E3 to be sure, but believe it or not, that’s not what left the biggest impression. It was a few epic, surprising and refreshing guest appearances at their press conference that made waves. The Sony fanboys demanded it and so they got it; Kevin Butler, the new brand icon of PlayStation and the star of the latest PS3 commercials stormed the E3 stage and gave a rousing speech that had the audience laughing and applauding. This one will be remembered for a long time.

Valve head honcho Gabe Newell also made his way to the front of the stage, to many a wide eye and slack jaw. Here was a figure who had been very vocal about his lack of favor for the PlayStation 3 as a gaming platform, now telling us that Valve’s next anticipated title, Portal 2, would be coming to PS3 and it would be the best console version to have.

Finally, David Jaffe, creative mind behind the Twisted Metal and God of War games, who had insisted on his blog that he would definitely not be present at E3 this year, proved he was a liar. But everyone forgave him, as they watched Jaffe show off the new Twisted Metal for PS3.

No E3 is complete without a little drama, and Sony answered the call with these guys.

Music Games that Matter

There was no shortage of music games making noise at E3. There will be more singing with Karaoke Revolution: Glee and Def Jam Rapstar, more dancing with Just Dance 2 and a number of Kinect powered dancing games, more DJ-ing with DJ Hero 2, and finally more Guitar Hero-ing with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and Power Gig: Rise of the SixString.

But Rock Band 3 may be the big story of music games this time around. For the first time since the original Rock Band, a new instrument enters the fold with the new keyboard attachment. Then there’s Pro-Mode which promises to teach gamers how to take those Rock Band skills and translate them into real musical ability. We checked out a new guitar controller that is a near exact replica of a real guitar with real strings for strumming and buttons on the neck for every fret you’ll find on a real guitar. It’s a bit intimidating, but finally all our efforts to be virtual rock stars may translate to the real world.

Finally!

Release dates are always a treat reserved for E3, and we did alright this year. The wait is nearly over for Gran Turismo 5. The title FINALLY got a release date, November 2, so racing fans can begin counting the days until they can get behind the wheel… in 3D!

Another title that has been testing gamers’ patience is RAGE, the latest shooter from the genre masterminds at id Software – the guys behind defining titles like Doom and Quake. The game stepped out from the curtain at E3 and it looks awesome. Sure, it’s not releasing until some point in 2011, but finally getting an extended look at the title is enough to control our impatience for now.

Unfortunately, Duke Nukem Forever was still MIA. Let us know if you hear anything.

And the Rest...

There was plenty more to be seen at E3, including the launch of OnLive (no relation to this website). OnLive is a new cloud-based game streaming service, and if successful, it could have a big impact on how you receive your games in the future.

The MMO genre might receive a shake-up with Star Wars: The Old Republic, which looks to challenge World of WarCraft by innovating in the MMO genre with a large focus on storytelling and full voice acting for all the characters in the world. And speaking of Jedi Masters, make sure you check out the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, as Yoda would say, “awesome it looks”.

And little old Best Buy made a little E3 news too. We gave customers a first play of Sony’s PlayStation Move, and we announced a new gaming magazine called @Gamer. You’re probably wondering, does the world need another gaming magazine? Well, I guess we’ll find out.

Well, we’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to big games and big stories at E3. We didn’t even mention Epic Mickey or Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or Civilization 5 or Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood or Mortal Kombat or, perhaps the biggest story of all, FREE BURGERS FROM BULLETSTORM!!!

Now you tell us the stories that defined your E3 in the comments below.