So by now you may have already heard of E3 in the news, which is a basically a video game convention of sorts. It’s held once a year in Las Vegas, and this year is proving to be one of the biggest E3’s ever, since Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are all introducing brand new video game consoles.

Sony revealed the Playstation 3 in a keynote press conference on Monday, and stated that the system is due for release in mid 2006. The design looks really nice and sleek, and the hardware specs are equally impressive: Blu-ray DVD, 3.2 GHz Cell processor, 1080p HD support, a hard drive attatchment, and wireless controllers. Here’s another overview from the actual presentation Sony put on.

Immediately after Sony’s presentation, Microsoft took to the stage with their own system, the XBOX 360. This system is no slouch compared to the Playstation 3, the hardware specs are certainly equally impressive. It’s going to have a triple core processor at 3.2 GHz (wow!), half gig RAM, 20 gig hard drive, all games will be hi-def, and it’ll support wireless controllers as well. The unique thing about the XBOX 360 is that it’s going to be “online all the time”. Think video conferencing, voice chat, or instant messaging, all from within your living room. While video games are it’s primary focus, Microsoft is looking to use the XBOX 360 to connect your living room to the Internet.

Not to be left out, Nintendo also revealed their successor to the Gamecube, the Nintendo Revolution. Nintendo is pretty tight lipped about the specs so we don’t know much about it, except for what it looks like. They havn’t even revealled what the controllers are going to look like! From early indications, Nintendo’s Revolution is not going to be as powerful hardware wise as the Playstation 3 or XBOX 360. However, keep in mind that Nintendo is very good at making really fun and innovative games, so don’t brush them off just yet.

Regardless of who “wins” the next generation console wars, it looks like 2006 is going to be a fun year for video games And for more E3 coverage, try here, or here, or here, or here.