For lovers of video games, E3 is a magical time of year. It's like a full week of Christmas, except you can only look at and read about the toys without actually having a chance to play them. In that regard, it's actually really depressing…

Enough about that! I'll be touching down in Los Angeles, California early next week in order to make sure the TechnoBuffalo herd is present and accounted for. A few of the folks in the Irvine office will be making their way up to give me a hand with coverage (read that as "to play video games while I work").

What does this mean for you?

How we'll handle E3 coverage…

Essentially, E3 is going to be broken up into a few elements: news, screenshots and trailers will come on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will be nothing but asset (trailers, pictures and the such) uploading, possible interviews and written previews. We'll also probably see some video coverage come from the folks at Irvine.

They don't trust me with a camera.

My preview write-ups, they're a little different…

E3 Logo

You know what I hate? I hate formulaic previews. I hate reading checklists about games. I hate starting at the top of a hands-on and watching the writer hit graphics, sound, gameplay, music, etc. one after the other. It makes things boring.

Those types of previews are also exceptionally tiring to write.

So? I don't do previews that way. I pick a single element that stood out for me, the viewer or player, and expand on that. If I were previewing Red Dead Redemption, my write-up might be about nothing more than sunsets and the environment. If I were previewing Super Mario Galaxy, my work might only cover the inventive platforming.

The point is this: you can judge graphics from trailers, and you can read about gameplay on every other site out there. We want to offer you a unique look at these games. We want to explore a bit of the finite stuff that other sites might just gloss over. That's what makes us different, and that's what will hopefully make our previews so much more interesting than they could be.

When will the coverage come?

For the sake of full-disclosure (and so you're not yelling at me over Twitter), know that my appointment calendar is crammed for next week. I'm literally booked from the moment the floor opens until it closes each and every day. That means our coverage will come in the early evening hours once I sit down in front of my computer.

I will, however, be Tweeting quick thoughts and pictures throughout the entire day. Feel free to follow me if you want more up-to-the-minute stuff.

E3 is a great, great show. It's also an awesome time to be a gamer. I hope you like our coverage.

[Photo: National Geographic]