A small team of us staff here at Digital Manga Publishing had the privilege of attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo this Thursday thanks to an invitation provided by D3 Publisher (omg thank you!!). All of us arrived with full tanks of excitement (which is far cheaper than gas), and came home having spent every last bit of energy. Some of that energy was spent adventuring the massive convention hall, while some was burned away simply staring with mouths open at the amazing games and displays. Yet more energy was spent trying to like some of the aspects of the show, but no one can honestly say that every game and every idea in any industry is going to be a winner.

Despite some minor gripes and some underwhelming games, E3 this year was nothing short of an incredible experience. The amount of people they allowed to attend the show was significantly lower than previous years, so what was before a literal swarm of flesh was instead a bustling (but not overwhelming) crowd of attendees. Everyone there had something to be dazzled by, and if anyone managed to emerge from E3 without their mouth dropping, their blood pumping, or their eyes bugging out at least once while they were there, then maybe they didn't belong.

But enough about the setting. What everyone wants to know about is the new games and the new systems those new games will be played on. I can say now that this article may not touch on everything you want to hear about, but I think many would agree that some aspects of the show just simply overshadowed others.

Anyway, let's start with what was probably the most anticipated item of the show:

The Nintendo Wii

What everyone's talking about for Nintendo's new and curiously named next-generation console is its unorthodox controller. Everyone wanted to give it a shot, and you'd be hard-pressed to talk to someone who didn't at least try to get a chance. The unfortunate truth is that Nintendo's booth setup simply wasn't terribly accomodating to the sheer amount of people that wanted to play the Wii. Too much room was devoted to a demonstration of some music-themed Wii games (which I'll talk about later) and not nearly enough systems were around to let people try out games. I was saddened that I didn't have the time to wait for two hours to get a shot at the new Legend of Zelda game, but there were enough Wii games that were getting less attention that I was able to at least get a feel for the controller.

At first I was very skeptical about remote + nunchaku design, but I was surprised to find that it was actually quite small and manageable. For such an unorthodox design, it felt unbelievably natural in my hands. (Note: those are not my hands) In retrospect, the controller is surprisingly intuitive. It doesn't really matter where your hands are in relation to each other, as both hands can, of course, act independent of the other. The controller and its motion sensing capabilities form the foundation of Nintendo's strategy for the Wii, and it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

I will get to the games themselves a little bit later, but before we move to the next section, I just wanted to mention that the Wii has by far the best design of all three next-generation consoles. I'm sure it's largely due to the fact that it doesn't have anywhere near as much hardware or processing power as its competitors' systems, but I think that works to its advantage. The system is sleek, but unobtrusive. You won't feel like you need to buy a bigger TV so you aren't embarrassed that your game system is two-thirds the size of your current one.

The Playstation 3

First of all, the system itself is enormous. The pics floating around the internet make it look fairly small, but I assure you it's as big as a standard briefcase.

Aside from the design, the PS3 had some good things going for it. The Playstation 3 booth itself was much better in terms of trying out the games. While there were definitely some large crowds, you could easily walk up and be playing within ten minutes. The graphics of just about every game I saw were breathtaking, and I don't think there's any doubt that it's a close call between the Xbox360's graphics and those of the Ps3. I do think, though, that this generation of consoles may be the last chance that Sony and Microsoft will get to tout stunning graphics as their selling points. The graphics are getting so good (and believe me, they are GOOD) that they so many aspects of those games are going to be overlooked by the casual gamer. Don't get me wrong, the PS3 and Xbox360 will both have excellent games, but they're going to have to figure out something new this next time around.

The Microsoft Xbox360

I admit that there was nothing here that really impressed me. The 360 has been out for the better part of a year now and we've already seen what it could do. Maybe I didn't spend much time at their booth because of its placement in the back corner of the larger of the two halls? The hall housing the Nintendo and Sony booths left no room for the massive Microsoft booth, so it was forced to take the larger hall with all of the medium-sized developer booths. Since there was so much else to see in that hall, my interest, and that of the rest of our small group was quickly diverted to other shiny objects in the room. The only thing that really caught my eye at the Microsoft booth was Viva Pinata.

The Games!

I can't talk about E3 without mentioning some of the games featured at the event. This is not a full list by any stretch.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii and Gamecube)

The next iteration of Nintendo's Zelda franchise is really quite amazing. While waiting in line for 30 minutes to play, before ultimately getting frustrated and giving up on it, I had a fair amount of time to watch the demo. There's so much to say about the game, but it's probably best to sum it up like this: You have to buy this game. Quite honestly, this game will be one of the biggest reasons to buy a Wii. Before moving on, I should mention that while the Wii version of the game supports the motion-sensitive controller for normal gameplay, the game can also easily be played with a conventional controller. Those of you that don't want to twirl the remote around to do Link's spin attack won't have to.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Nintendo's next Mario game looks incredibly fun. This game also had lines as long as Zelda's so I didn't have the chance to play, but seeing Mario singshot and fire himself from PLANET TO PLANET looked like an absolute blast. This is another no-brainer for the Wii.

Sonic WildFire (Wii) and Sonic: The Hedgehog (PS3)

The blue blur is back, and faster than ever. Fans will appreciate both of these new Sonic titles as they are a harken back to the showcases of break-neck speed characteristic of the originals. The differences between the two? The PS3 version boast far superior graphics, but also suffers from the inclusion of two characters (Shadow and Silver) that aren't quite as umm... fast as Sonic is. Sonic WildFire for the Wii will integrate motion-sensitive interactivity, and really... how good do the graphics have to be if you just want to go really really fast?

Heavenly Sword and God of war 2 (both on PS3)

God of war was one of the best games of 2005, and they are hard at work making God of war 2 just as good. I honestly didn't see much of a change from the original besides better graphics, but as they say: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Heavenly Sword is, essentially, the same game, expect with a hot chick. Pick either flavor, both of them look (and taste?) great.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

While there was no playable version of this game, the approximately 15-minute trailer being played at the Konami booth, and also at Sony's, was absolutely breathtaking. The whole time I was thinking "Why don't they make a movie of this thing?" ...Oh wait, they already are. MGS4: Guns of the Patriots is going to be just as amazing and unprecedented as the ones that came before it.

The event wasn't without its share of disappointments. For instance, the Square Enix theatre require you to get tickets to see its cool movies and previews of games (presumably including Final Fantasy XIII). Why didn't they just have a big screen playing it all on a loop? Lines to play the Wii, to buy (a mediocre) lunch, and to buy Starbucks were ludicrously long. We missed our chance to see Paris Hilton and when we showed up late, we were basically given the finger. Lastly, there were far too many games of soldiers and people with guns running around and killing things in a post-apocalyptic setting. How many times is that going to be rehashed? How many games have to tell us "war sucks omg forever"? There were also an alarming number of urban-themed games where you run around and be a thug a la Grand Theft Auto 3. You've done it enough times. Please stop.

In Conclusion...

This year's E3 was a blast and brought a lot of new things to the table for the world of videogames. But for all the demos, all the free swag, and all the flashing lights and sounds of E3, it's ultimately a preview of what this year is going to mean for videogames. It's a glimpse into the future, and the future we saw was bright.

More pics to come soon!