I've been changing my mind lately too. For one, I can't *stand* the name Wii, but seeing the Super Mario Galaxy video totally convinced me - that looks like sheer fun. Zelda of course looks great, and even Sonic seems revitalised. Nintendo = up in my book. Oh yeah, 100 Hudson Soft games announced for the Wii virtual console. Woot! Gunhed, Y's, Lords of Thunder, Dungeon Explorer multiplayer...DROOL.

And I am as oblivious as everyone else at the PS3 pricing, but after the disastrous press conference, Sony managed to actually start gaining some of my interest back with the AMAZING Metal Gear Solid 4 footage (proven to be real-time), FFXIII (also proven to be real-time), that playable Motorstorm (again, seems like a game that is really fun) and great buzz on closed-door titles such as Assassin's Creed. And I think Warhawk has good potential. Heavenly Sword looks fantastic.

That leaves Microsoft. Sorry, but yawn. Every friggin' game in an FPS or a GTA clone. I don't care how great Gears of War looks (and it looks great), but I never cared for FPSes, and this won't change my mind. There's an appalling dearth of variety within XBOX360's library. So what do they do? They bring Far East of Eden: Ziria to the US. Ugh. And Viva Pinata looks nice, but not interested either. And Too Human was just appallingly awful.

My E3 ranking:

1. Nintendo
2. PC
3. Sony
4. Microsoft

I've obviously become a Nintendo fanboy overnight with the Wii stuff. I think Nintendo stole E3. I also think PC Games like Spore seem pretty sweet, but there weren't a whole ton of them being reported on.

My e3 Ranking:
1) Nintendo
2) Microsoft
3) Sony

I wouldn't agree with this statement. Can you really call PS3 software running on development servers, not the actual box, making a showing or playable form? This is not to pick a fight, but who's to say that Sony might not make another of their "famous" announcements about a delay? The price dosen't matter as I'm going to buy a 60GB system at launch, but I think some serious wind has been taken from their sails.

I think Microsoft had a good show and I love my 360. Nintendo definately went from wait and see to must buy. BTW, a couple of questions. How do you recharge the Wiimote and will the Wii at least support 16:9 anamorphic since it is only 480p? I must admit, since the 360 I definately prefer widescreen gaming (especially since all my TVs are widescreen HD).

Ugh, the XBOX360 showed up as "playable" at E3 last year on huge development servers too (no physical console). So what's your point?

1.Nintendo- Romped E3
2.Microsoft- Pretty good
3.Sony- Crashed and burned

Totally agree, I'm really looking foward to the new Castlevania game on DS and there is nothing new or innovative about that series at this point.

In addition to the wii, and its innovation. One of the biggest games that I am looking forward to is Phoenix Wright's latest chapter on the DS. Nothing anywhere about a text/point & click adventure.

Ugh, what's your point? Read his post more thoroughly and what he was replying to.

I don't recall ever hearing anything about how the Wiimotes are charged. Maybe they have a gyroscope-powered generator? Seriously, I'm sure there's just a cable that plugs into the port on the back and connects via USB to the console.

I believe every Wii game has been shown in 16x9. I know Zelda, Metroid, and Mario all are. The VC games are pillar-boxed.

The Wiimotes use AA, but they may sell a rechargable option. The battery life is supposed to be long so I will just use my rechargeable AAs.

I couple of sites have confirmed 480p and 16X9 for all Wii titles. That is all I was asking for.

BTW, the Wii was running on development kits as well. Those Wiis that were shown are just empty shells. However, Nintendo was supposed to have some actual working versions that were shown behind closed doors only.

Decent. Sounds like Wavebird rechargables will just be pulling double-duty.

Maybe it's just me but Fable 2, Enchanted Arms, DOAX2, BioShock, MassEffect, Chromehounds Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Ninety-Nine Nights, Phantasy Star Universe, etc, etc, would count was all "FPS" or "GTA Clones". Maybe you didn't look at the games hard enough?

Bioware's new RPG has gotten a ton of press. Some called it game of the show. Xbox360 definitely had some non FPS and Sports stuff to look forward to.

Exactly. A lot of people want to paint the 360 into a corner of just "FPS" and sports. It is their bread and butter but a lot of other goodiness exists too.

I believe they think if they can create one, just one insanely huge "must buy" hit for Japan, all won't be lost for them. I only fear that they could create such a game, but it will be intentionally ignored over there for petty reasons.

Blue Dragon from what little I saw looked very exciting. I am very close to a 360 purchase and that could be a game to push me over the edge in the next few months. I would hope if it lives up to potential it could be successful in Japan.

I am not a fan of FPS games at all and I could easily name 2 dozen 360 titles I'm looking forward to. Granted I do like sports and would have to own College Hoops 2K7.

I'm going to hold off on my overall opinion of E3's winners and losers until my summary tomorrow, but I will say no particular company "won" the show. I'll elaborate extensively on the buzz on the show floor after I escape this crazy town tonight.

But what do I know? I was only at the show every minute of every hour for the past three days.

Flay, just out of curiosity, did you happen to hear anything at all about a new Def Jam fighting game? I was hoping they'd at least announce a new one.

About the only title that's of interest there is BioShock. DOA series has long been DOA to me, Lost Planet is an TPS (Third-person shooter), NNN reviews in Japan have been less than complimentary, I don't play MMOs, Dead Rising is of limited interest, though I applaud its strange premise and humor (Evil Dead-like stuff isn't my cup of tea), Fable I never got into. Mass Effect has good buzz but still haven't seen it yet. Blue Dragon? Apart from that trailer there's precious little we even *know* or see of the game. Heck, we see more of FFXIII than Blue Dragon at this point.

That's why I am so happy to see Super Mario Galaxy - it just looks like FUN, something you can just pick up and enjoy. None of the bullshit angst-ridden futuristic BS that plague a majority of XBOX's games (and to some extent,the PS3 too - Resistance? Pass).

Ahem - I can read fine, Gallant. And his points are still not valid.

"Can you really call PS3 software running on development servers, not the actual box, making a showing or playable form?"

This is the exact same scenario as the XBOX360 last year, and the games on it were even MORE rough and early than Sony's showings this year. So if the XBOX360 was not delayed, then I STILL don't see his point. It was running, it was playable, and with the same timeline it will come out. Even Sony cannot screw it up any more than they already have...

All this talk about running on development servers, so many great games being playable, etc...

You guys got to play Metal Gear Solid 4, or Killzone 2, or Devil May Cry 4? Really? Tell me how they were!

Edited to include sarcasm smiley:

Neither KZ 2 nor DMC4 were at the show. But MGS4 was DEFINITELY running on hardware - didn't you notice the slowdowns? Even Kojima said that he was "unhappy" that he couldn't optimise it more, but assured that it WAS running on final hardware.

What some were impressed with were these:

Motorstorm
http://free.elevanet.fr/www.play-att...motorstorm.mov

Heavenly Sword
http://www.playsyde.com/leech_2648_en.html

Heavy Rain
http://www.quanticdream.com/pages/fr...ndex.php?lg=en

WarDevil
http://c.streamingmovies.gamespy.com...06_wmvhigh.wmv

That being said, I don't think many of the playable games were that impressive. Genji (ugh), F1 (zzzz), GTHD (hahahaha), Gundam (way too early), Madden (a mess), etc...

Hmmm. That's a Monster In Playable Form?

Your interest in the titles or their quality doesn't matter. Gallant refuted your position. Let me refresh your memory:

Gallant responded with games(big ones at that) that covered a half dozen genres. The variety is there, you-like many others, just don't want to see it.

First of all, I never said that the 360 made a "huge showing" last year, so don't put words in my mouth or act like I was shilling for MS. I simply said that I don't believe that the comments that I responded to were correct. Software is the fuel the machine runs on, not the machine itself. Just because I put a gas can in front of you and tell you it's a Corvette dosen't make it so. I never said anything negative about the PS3, only that Sony is famous for delays. Why so quick to try to call me out? Did I insult your mother or something?

Again, who said anything about the 360 and last year. Understand, I don't support one or the other. I buy every system (usually) every generation. As to my point not being valid, that's is your opinion. Again, a bunch of games running on PCs is not a PS3 in playable form. It is software optimised to run on the PS3, running on a PC. I am not badmouthing Sony, I am only responding to the comment that the PS3 was a "monster, and in playable form", which I believe was misleading and biased. Oh, and one last comment, Sony can definately screw this up more and delay the damn thing. It is there stock and trade to announce things and delay them. I hope this isn't true as I am looking forward to getting one.

Nintendo: I think they've been "back" for awhile now, but this E3 was a nice way to let the world know. They didn't show the sort of NEW, Wii-only game(s) that I was hoping to see, but they had a ton of stuff that looked like fun. That said, I have no doubt the interesting games are coming, if the DS example is any indication. The Wii is so far ahead of where the DS was at a comparable point in its life, its not even funny. Speaking of DS: just an unbelievable lineup. Nothing more to say there.

Sony: Calling this a debacle is perhaps a bit kind. It's too bad that Sony has finally begun to live up to their "control your living room" PR blather because I've enjoyed their consoles to date. Now their games looked boring, and their system is way overpriced. It seems that Sony isn't at all interested in the PSP, either.