Video Round-Up: E3 2011 Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

For June's first (and only) Round-Up, I wanted to look back at this year's E3 highlights. The turnout was good for 2011: a few excellent interviews about games we were familiar with (like Skyrim), some new games we did not (Tomb Raider), and one pretty massive surprise--the Wii U. Even El Shaddai, a smallish game from a smallish publisher, got a lot of coverage and has me interested in its Metatronyness. Here are four of my--and the press'--favorite trailers from E3 2011.

A huge surprise showing, the new Tomb Raider prequel/reboot has a lot of potential, if the quality of the trailer is any indication. It may not be at all. The game could suck. But this great trailer teases that the developers care about the game they're making.

The Wii U is wilderness. I was floored by all the functionality showcased in this original-reveal trailer at Nintendo's press conference. Will developers make quality software to validate Nintendo's crazy controller? Will games utilize the touch screen, the cross-functionality with the Wiimote, the internet-surfing zoom-in weirdness, etc.? I know these questions are completely open now, but I've had a great time playing fun games for the Wii, and I don't expect Nintendo to forget about core gamers with this foray either, even though we may not be their top priority.

I don't care much about the Uncharted franchise, but that is only because I have next to no experience with the games, and I don't own a PlayStation 3. However, the cinematic caliber of the cutscenes and, by extension, trailers of these games is exciting even to someone who is not a fan. I imagine the games' stories are less Da Vinci Code and more National Treasure, but I still enjoy a loosely historically based fantasy plot.

My absolute number one trailer of E3 this year is this one. Ubisoft has a formula for previewing their games, and it works completely. They put good, not terribly popular music to slow-motion cutscenes. It gets me every time. The soundtrack here, "Iron" by Woodkid, with its horns and slow brooding percussion, accentuates Ezio's tribulations. And it's just cool.