Giant posters deck the outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014. (Photo credit: Dominic Baez)

LOS ANGELES — Starting with the Nintendo press conference, which it did online for the second year in a row, to the getting a chance to check out some wearable gaming shoes that calculate your center of gravity and translates that into usable analytical data, Day 1 of E3 2014 proved a flurry of activity.

Continuing my first trip to the Electronic Entertainment Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday, I had a decidedly light media schedule, which turned out to be a blessing.

The first event of the day, though, allowed me to stay at the hotel, as it was Nintendo’s online-only presser (the video is above), during which it revealed the latest of its products, including major updates to “Super Smash Brothers” for 3DS and the Wii U, including new characters (like Palutena) and Mii fighters. Other news included: the announcement of “Mario Maker”; “Splatoon”; “Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker”; the newest Zelda game and its boundary-less world; the newest Pokemon releases, “Omega Ruby” and “Alpha Sapphire”; “Bayonetta 2” and more.

My favorites definitely revolve around “Super Smash Bros.” because I’ve been waiting to get my hands on the newest version for a while now. I’m a huge fan of the game and its multiplayer battles. Seriously, that was my senior year of college.

Attendees swarm popular titles at E3 2014, including “Battlefield Hardline.” (Photo credit: Dominic Baez)

On the E3 floor

The day before involved travel to downtown LA for the major press conferences, but I didn’t actually make it to the convention center. Tuesday was the first day I spent any time at the convention, including the main exhibition floors. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. That the building is enormous didn’t help anything.

My meetings for the day didn’t start until after 1 p.m.., so I got to spend some time finding everything I needed to (such as the media hospitality center) and on the showroom floors checking out the exhibitions.

From “Battlefield: Hardline” to “Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn,” the convention center’s South Hall was chocked full of the latest and greatest in the gaming world. I couldn’t stay long in there, though, as I had meetings to attend.

For Tuesday, my media briefings including Konami (“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain”), Deep Silver (“Metro: Redux,” “Homefront: The Revolution” and “Dead Island 2”) and Boogio (wearing gaming shoes).

(Stay tuned for reviews for those exhibitions in the coming days.)

To end my day? Getting to meet some cool gamers and industry people at the Twitch Booty Mashup party.

Wrap-up

Being on the floor for the first time was an experience I won’t soon forget, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience the chaos that is E3.

Next up:
Day 2 – Telltale Games, SEGA, Square Enix, IndieCade, Snail Games