And so, the day finally arrived. That big day in which Bethesda launched its first press conference at E3, which also happened to be the first press conference OF E3. But the big Bethesda show had plenty of excitement on hand, with the biggest announcement of the night--potentially the week as well--hitting in this show.

I admit, I hadn't expected it to be so interesting to see Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler together again, but that little shot of retro certainly did perk things up, though it didn't seem to be too much of a much. But what's particularly interesting here is that this wasn't the end of the day for Bethesda. It's got plans for the rest of this week to show off, starting with a couple of shows tomorrow--one PM will be devoted to Doom, while Todd Howard will be taking on an exclusive interview about Fallout 4 at 2:30. Also making an appearance throughout the week will be Battlecry, Bethesda's lesser-seen title that is, in many ways, just as anticipated by many players out there.

Perhaps the best part of this event, meanwhile, was dispelling some of the rumors that had emerged around Fallout 4. There were plenty of these, of course, including that there would be five different pieces of downloadable content released over the next year, with an expansion set for the next E3 to be released in October of 2016. Of course, the release date was the thing most people were dying to hear, and while it was rumored to hit in October 2015--I gave it one in three odds of hitting by the end of 2015, though I was personally figuring November remembering the Skyrim launch--and the real date of November 10, 2015 likely came as a surprise  to many.

Watching the SPECIAL system come back was a thrill, as was being able to play the early portions of pre-war society, complete with a Mr. Handy that offers up coffee. The plot seems even better, kicking you off as the sole survivor of that Vault 111 we saw in the trailers. Naturally, the world is huge, and largely unpleasant, but everything you could do in the past seems game for this round. And much to the chagrin of many, the VATS system appears to still be in play. A little different, but still lookimg sharp. The Collector's Edition even comes with a Pip-Boy that works with your current smartphone. There's even an app for it!

There was even a new app called "Fallout Shelter", specifically designed for smartphones and touchscreens. It draws its cues from a lot of older games, and looks surprisingly sharp. It'll even be out very soon; it released the night of the show!

This looks like what a next-gen adaptation of a game should be; a fresh coat of paint, a few nifty new options, and a lot of big new storyline. Everything we loved, and a few new things to try besides. I'm very excited about this, and you likely are too. There's not so much more to say about this just yet, and hopefully we'll have plenty more to talk about as E3 carries on in earnest, but man...this was big enough for anyone.

Indeed, there were plenty of surprises in this show, and there will be plenty more surprises to come. But that's half the fun of E3, and I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to every single one to come.