In between writing two reviews for Machinima.com, I drove down to Irvine, CA to test out a pair of games from Square Enix, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dungeon Siege III. This two day-event marked my third time seeing the highly anticipated Deus Ex game in action — I saw it in Montreal last fall and debut at E3 2010 that summer — but my first chance to go hands-on with the gameplay. Besides a few Xbox 360 debut unit issues (video game industry vets will instantly recognize this common reset screen), this preview build offered a distinct sense of choice and a strong sci-fi narrative.

Dungeon Siege III, on the other hand, didn’t strike me as anything special. I did, however, appreciate taking a tour of developer Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas. They’re a pretty big name in this area, second only to nearby World of Warcraft-developer Blizzard Entertainment.

I could retire from my hotel room after demo sessions, but I couldn’t stop playing games altogether. I’m also reviewing Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll for Machinima.com, which requires at least 40 hours of dull gameplay! I brought my PS3 console, a controller and the game with me in the car (and a monitor just in case the TV wasn’t HD in the hotel room–it was) just to stay on top of deadlines. Weird looks from the hotel staff on my multiple trips back-and-forth from the car with so much technology? You bet.