E3 technically kicked off in earnest last night, with Nintendo drawing first blood with a half hour presentation about the WiiU which you can watch here (the CliffNotes version:MS and Sony spent the last few years trying to copy what Nintendo did. Tables have turned.), but E3 officially hits the ground running today, with Microsoft’s conference getting this show on the road at 9:30am, West Coast time. Unless everyone’s been hoarding surprises, with a bunch of the big names sitting this one out (dammit, Valve…), this looks to be a slow year. Which usually means, it’s prime time for somebody to surprise the hell out of us. Either way, we’re gonna try out damndest to sift through the sound and fury and bring you the true goods during the week.

On top of that, I’ll be right here, shooting the shit with a liveblog during the presentations from the Big Three as they happen. The schedule and livestream links for those. as well as the smaller conferences from EA and UbiSoft, will be posted below. And come Friday, we’ll have wrap-ups from myself, Rob Ottone and Tim Kelly on winners, losers, and who else screwed the pooch badly enough to create a new internet meme.

Quoth a famous clown, commence au festival. Watch the main page for links to the liveblog closer to show time. And we’ll see you on the flip side.

The schedule (all times PST):

Monday, 6/4

Microsoft – 9:30 AM

Electronic Arts – 1:00 PM

Ubisoft – 3:00 PM

Sony – 6:00 PM

Tuesday, 6/5

Nintendo – 9:00 AM