E3 2010 - EA Sports MMA Takes The Fight To The Next Level - The UpStream

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

With over ten years of audio engineering experience, Nick's addition to PLuGHiTz Corporation is best served when he is behind the mixing board every Sunday night to produce the audio side of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Piltch Point and PLuGHiTz Live Night Cap. While mixing live every week, his previous radio show hosting experience gives him the ability to co-host as well, giving each show a unique flare with his slightly off-center, yet still realistic take on all things tech. An integral part of the show, you can find Nick always enveloped in coming up with new (and sometimes crazy) ideas and content for the show and you can always expect the most direct opinion on the stories that he feels need to be shared with the world. During the few hours where Nick isn't sleeping or working on ways to improve the company, he spends his free time going to hockey and football games and playing the latest titles on Xbox 360. Email him for his gamertag and add him today for a fun escape from the normal monotony and annoyance that the Xbox LIVE gaming community can sometimes be!

Jon is a F5 Live co-host and UpStream contributor as well as the Chief Cash Officer of PLuGHiTz Corporation. We don't know how he wears so many hats so well or how he still finds time to feed his need for all things tech but some questions are best left unanswered. If you're up for a challenge go find him on Xbox Live @shinobiJon and if you figure him out...let us know.

Josh has come from the Brazilian wilds to bring yet another perspective on the gaming industry as well as today's up-and-coming technology. You may have seen him at GameStop over the past two years, or if you're a lover of Largo High School Productions, you have seen him up on stage doing his thing the last 4 years. On occasion, you can catch him on Xbox Live mowing down zombies in Left 4 Dead or making it rain on Madden 2010.

There has been a lot of talk about Hulu as of late and the biggest topic of discussion had to do with this morning's Microsoft Press Briefing here at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The expectation was that we would hear about Hulu's integration into the Xbox 360 interface.

The big deal at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) early on is about the future and the usability of Project Natal, now known as Kinect for Xbox 360. Going into the show a lot of people had concerns about the idea of Microsoft's controller-less interface for the Xbox 360, after leaving the Microsoft Press Briefing, I don't think there are nearly as many skeptics, myself included. Let's talk about some of what they have done to make me a believer.

We have known for months now that Microsoft had been working on a new version of the Xbox 360 hardware. We have seen photos, we have seen screen captures of POS systems at retailers with the new SKUs, we have even seen future ads for the product. What we didn't know were the details, and today at Microsoft's Press Briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Microsoft waited until the very end to show us the goods.

We saw a lot of impressive things this year at Microsoft's Keynote. Some of the most impressive news came from the widely anticipated and aptly named Kinect for the Xbox 360. Everyone can pick their favorite parts but even I am surprised at how impressive Forza looks given my hardcore Gran Turismo fan status. Bill Geist and Dan Greenawalt from the Forza team introduced us to a whole new Forza experience but more importantly a whole new racing game experience which the genre has needed for a little while now.

A short while ago in a state far far away from Florida, us here at PLuGHiTz Live! got a chance to see a sneak peek of Lucas Arts new Star Wars based project utilizing the newly named Kinect. If you didn't get to see it yourself in the comfort of your homes, I suggest you start searching for the footage now.

At last year's E3, Microsoft was big on making the Xbox 360 the center of all family entertainment in the living room, by announcing the additions of Facebook, Twitter, last.fm, the integrated Zune Marketplace and the then-named Project Natal - now Kinect for Xbox 360. We were all in agreeance that moving into 2010, Microsoft would be in a perfect position to further their stance as the premier entertainment console for the family.

EA has really gone out with their participation in first person shooters lately. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has been a huge hit. Such a hit, in fact, that it has inspired EA to create a new group, which they call The Gun Club. The Gun Club is a group for players who love EA shooters (not the drinks at their after-hours parties) and want to be kept in the loop about upcoming projects, events, etc. One of the things members get is access to Beta programs early.

Peter Moore, the president of EA Sports, made an insightful presentation on a new MMA game they are proud to be working on. There are a multitude of features that MMA fans can look forward to. Do you want to fight in venues all over the world? You can do that. Do you want a control scheme that favors timing and simplicity over complexity? They got that. Do you want to take player customization beyond your wildest dreams. You can definitely do that.

It is another week and once again I am going to write about how excited I am for BioWare's MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic to finally grace us gamers with it's presence. This week thanks to E3 I now have a reasons that everyone should be excited for. Some critics of the game, namely old Star Wars Galaxies veterans, have been concerned with the lack of player housing. Today BioWare has gotten rid of any reason to worry about where you're characters will virtually sleep while you aren't out exploring the galaxy. Because it looks like every character on TOR will be getting their own ship!

This year's E3 has put a lot of pressure on EA Sports to really step their games up when it comes to the quality of the titles they are putting on the market. FIFA 2010 World Cup was a huge improvement over FIFA 2010 and FIFA 2009, and even Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 was graphically cleaner than in year's past. We were really hoping the same for Madden NFL 11, especially after the release of Backbreaker this month, but it seems like there's mixed emotions across the industry.