I was never paid to give my opinions on video games, and as a marketer for the gaming industry, I try and live by the motto: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

With an industry-wide increased focus on the casual game market, I was worried this year.  I was less enthusiastic about E3 2010 than I had ever been for an E3.

Luckily, there were enough core games shown to make a top 5 list.  I wanted to point out my favorites from the press conferences that I saw (Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, and Sony).

1. LittleBigPlanet 2 - the sequel to one of my favorite games of this generation.  The creation tools have been upgraded, and some of the game levels they showed during the trailer were amazing.  Sony’s really embraced this idea of make.believe.
2. Medal of Honor - Positioned as a Call of Duty-killer, I am a big fan of how EA focused the experience of Battlefield Bad Company 2, so I am excited to think what what they can do with MoH.  I enjoyed Modern Warfare 2, but the multiplayer kill-based reward system was frustrating if you weren’t a great player.
3. Gears of War 3 - As an Epic Games fanboy who had the honor of working with, and getting to know many of the people who worked on the game.  Beast mode is a really cool take on Horde too!
4. Twisted Metal - despite denying that he was working on it, Sony announced that David Jaffe’s Eat Sleep Play studio was, in fact, releasing the next-gen remake of the classic.  On one of our very first dates, my wife and I played Twisted Metal 1 in my basement.
5. Bulletstorm - This game reminded me of a cross between Serious Sam, and The Club - two great games that had s style, and a personality.  The way in which you get points for stylized killing is right up my alley.