E3: Day 1 in the South Hall

Since Tim is a far more proficient gamer than myself, I can't really demo difficult games like "Assassin's Creed" or "Metal Gear Solid." However, what I will do is preview games that are family-oriented and easy to pick up.

Walking into the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center was like walking into a 12 year old boy's dream. Everywhere you turn there are all manner of games to play.

You may recall that I wasn't impressed with the demo from yesterday's press conference. Upon watching people experience it live, my opinion hasn't changed. The sports game featured someone bowling and if I hadn't known better I would assume they were playing a Wii.

"Dance Central," from the makers of "Rock Band," could be fun but you really have to have a little rhythm to start with. Those with two left feet will find this game challenging at any level.

Finding the Kinect area too crowded I headed over to "Def Jam Rapstar" which had me showing off my mad rhymin' skills as I posted a very good score on Snoop and Dre's classic "Nothin' but a G Thang."

This game is scheduled for release on Oct. 5 on all platforms and will be $69 for XBOX and Playstation and $59 for Wii. While it has all the usual elements you would expect from a karaoke style game, "Rapstar" does offer a few differences.

For example, players can rap as a duet, in battle mode or for the really adventurous they can try freestyle mode, where players use their own lyrics over instrumental versions of the playlist.

This game is made for a party, it provides all the fun of "Rock Band," but with a hip-hop appeal. There is also the added element that players can make a video of themselves and upload it to the Def Jam site. "Rapstar" was a lot of fun and I definitely need to go back and rock some Notorious B.I.G.

Next door to "Rapstar" was "Karaoke Revolution: Glee" for the Wii. It is basically a karaoke game that uses the best numbers from season one of the hit FOX show. While fun for fans of the show, if you're not familiar with the show's arrangement of a song it can be difficult to follow along, as the "Glee" cheerleader singing with me found out.

Finally, I hit up the Disney booth and played a racing game based on the "Cars" shorts featuring Mater. It took me a minute to get the hang of playing on a Wii, but once I did I could see how kids would really love racing along as their favorite "Cars" character or creating their own.

So Day 1 is almost over for me, I'm exhausted and haven't even hit up the West Hall yet. Who knew video games were so grueling?

Tomorrow "Rock Band 3."