E3 is done! Long live E3!

Every May, thousands of game developers, journalists and hopeful fans congregate in Los Angeles for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3. Though there are many other gaming expositions throughout the year, such as the GDC and PAX, this is the one where every game developer and publisher pulls out the really big guns. This year, it was the thermonuclear weapons. Here are the major highlights:

• Nintendo stole the show by announcing the final details on their new console, the Wii, and making it playable to the public for the first time. Though there's no pricetag yet, the console will be coming out this Holiday season and will feature new titles from nearly all of the company's major franchises at or near launch. Games include Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda: Twilight Princess (which is also a GameCube title), Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• Sony showed off their impressive PlayStation 3. The console is as big as a coffee table, consumes enough power to black out a city block, and will only cost you another mortgage. Okay, so maybe that was a bit of hyperbole, but Sony pretty much tripped themselves out of the starting gate with the words "SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS." In the words of Microsoft Vice President Peter Moore: "People are going to buy two (machines.) They're going to buy an Xbox and they're going to buy a Wii ... for the price of one PS3." On the other hand, the games are pretty, just not quite SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS pretty.
• Microsoft just kind of stood around and Nelson-laughed (HA-ha!) at Sony. Well, maybe not, but seeing as they're the only company with a next-gen console on the market, they didn't have to do much. Some new features for Xbox Live!, and, oh yeah, our first look at Halo 3.

But let us not forget that the PC gaming crowd (ie, me). Here's my top 10 for the PC from E3, in alphabetical order:

• Alan Wake - Another great looking game with an idiotic name from the same team who brought you Max Payne.
• Battlefield 2142 - Otherwise known as Battlefield OMGMECHS!
• Bioshock - System Shock 2 + 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Sold!
• Crysis - From the team that brought you Far Cry, it looks just as technologically amazing as Far Cry was at its time, but hopefully it won't suck this time.
• Dark Messiah of Might & Magic - Source-engine powered, first-person hack-n-slash.
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars - See Battlefield 2142. But prettier!
• Neverwinter Nights 2 - Sequel to Bioware's successful, customizable RPG brought to you by Obsidian Entertainment, a company formed by refugees of the late, great Black Isle Studios.
• Spore - So ambitious that it's destined to be a disappointment, but I can't help being excited anyway.
• Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Check out the cinematic trailer. Why can't they make movies that look like that?
• World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade - So, the new Alliance race is Draenei who look like Eredar? I don't care how they explain it, I still think it's dumb. Cool, but dumb.

For more E3 coverage and videos, check out Gamespot or GameTrailers.

-ses