E3, or Electronic Entertainment Expo, usually takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It's generally considered one of the biggest gaming expos, due to the sheer number of eyes that are on it.  People pay attention to this thing, eager to get an early look at what the big guns of the industry have in store.

While California is opening up, an in-person convention was too much to hope for this year. It would have been a logistical nightmare. So we have to make do with a virtual expo, but that actually offers some wonderful conveniences. It makes sense that such a technology-centric event would be well suited to take advantage of technology. So each company has a virtual booth, with details of how to watch their presentations live or later. There are product details, trailers, and occasional freebies. Just like a regular convention.



The highlights are numerous. Ubisoft wowed on day 1 with the trailer for the visually spectacular Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. It's tough to get a handle on the gameplay based on the trailer, but it certainly looks beautiful.

More fun and certainly sillier is the Mario/Rabbids team up, Sparks of Hope. Again though, the trailer allows us a taste of the plot, but little in the way of gameplay.



On the other hand, Xbox and Bethesda Games gave us a proper look at how Halo Infinite: Multiplayer is going to look on day two, and old school Halo fans will rejoice. Visually stunning, the classic shoot-em-up style never gets old, and the multiplayer format is intriguing. That same day, Square Enix gave us a look at their Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther games.



Later in the week, Nintendo's highly anticipated presentation offered a look at Tekken's Kazuya Mishima coming to Super Smash Bros, Ultimate, the first new 2D entry in the Metroid saga in more than 19 years, and the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

One of the most exciting moments came when we saw a glimpse of the latest installment in Bandai Namco's Dark Pictures Anthology horror game series -- Houses of Ash. Set during war in the Middle East, the game looks terrifying and extremely gory. Not for kids.

Which just goes to show that there's something for everyone at E3. Hopefully we'll be able to witness  it all in person next year.



The first-ever interactive, worldwide broadcast of E3 is available to watch via  the online portal streaming the broadcast, with access to exclusive content from event exhibitors. Access ends June 30.