What titles appear to have the most potential?

R. LeFeuvre - Metal Gear Solid 4. Ok, so maybe this is a tad predictable coming from me but, dude, the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4 is amazing. Not only is the whole thing actual gameplay footage (Kojima is not one for any sort of pre-rendered cinematics, in a trailer or in the final game), but it looks like it has some great action and should tie up a lot of the 'trilogy's' loose ends. I was a bit rattled by the second Metal Gear Solid, but Metal Gear Solid 3 not only renewed my faith, but pushed the series to a new high. I expect Metal Gear Solid 4 to blow it out of the water in every way – consider my Playstation 3 already purchased. I just hope that when Raiden makes a return that his annoying girlfriend Rose is gone.

D. Riley - I want to say Assassin's Creed, but I know someone else will so [Guess again! -Ed], suffice it to say, if it has gameplay HALF as good as the trailer makes it out to be, it'll be out of sight.

I'm more down with this game coming from Team Clover that nobody's talking about, God Hand. The game looks to be some sort of post-apocalyptic beat 'em up, like a fusion of Fist of the Northstar and Final Fight. I'm there! Team Clover, as we all know, has been responsible for one good Viewtiful Joe game and a whole bunch of bad ones. But Viewtiful Joe 1 was SO GOOD that it overwrites all the crappy games. 3D beat 'em ups are hard to get right, but I have a lot of hope for this title.

G. Turner - I was blindsided by Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain technical demo. Yes, it's creepy. Yes, there's no gameplay there at all, yes there's a load of technical problems with it and yes, the script is terribly melodramatic. However, I'm very enamored with the idea that Quantic Dream may finally bring a sufficiently grounded & mature story to video games and maybe, just maybe, will be able to deliver a third act that doesn't make me want to retch. It is way too early to tell whether Heavy Rain will be able to reach the ideals I have set in my head, especially since this tech demo is really indicative of nothing but, a man can dream, right?

What surprised you most?

R. LeFeuvre - I never imagined a day where the most imaginative next-gen title (ignoring the crazy ideas on the Wii) would be coming out on the Xbox 360, but Viva Piñata has captured my interest. Not only did they get the look of the Piñata down perfectly, but you can even smash open the paper mache critters you nurture. Raising an animal with a bad attitude and don't want to spend the time to teach him some manners? Smash him open with a baseball bat! Jack Thompson is sure to love this idea. The game looks like there's plenty to deal with, what with all the species and the mating, (which features piñata worms dancing for each other) and, if it turns out to be playable for an above-12-year-old audience, I may be picking up an Xbox 360 sooner than I thought I would.

D. Riley - With the Wii's pricing appearing as if it'll fall within the $200-250 range, well that's barely more than the Gamecube was when it first came out, and, as it stands, it looks like the Wii is going to be the only console with halfway decent launch titles. If I can get Super Smash Bros. Brawl on opening day, I'm there [Sorry, not until 2007 - Ed]. This might be the first console I've bought on opening day in my entire life. I don't really care for the 'Wii-mote Control', but I think Nintendo's making a good go at the console wars this time.

G. Turner - Chibi Robo DS! I have extremely mixed feelings about the Gamecube edition of the game and I know it wasn't even close to the most successful title for the lovable lunchbox, but I will more than welcome this little robot to my handheld. I was also completely blown away by news of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. It wasn't the fact that a non-card oriented Metal Gear game is finally arriving to the PSP, but it's the fact that it's a follow-up to Metal Gear Solid 3, which is a siren song that I cannot resist. Lastly, the prospect of getting my hands on another game from the minds behind Trace Memory, much less a detective game, is absolutely delicious.

What was the most disappointing revelation?

R. LeFeuvre - Why does next-gen gaming look like this-gen gaming, but normal mapped?! Where are the games that are going to take advantage of all the awesome power of the PS3 and Xbox 360 for something other than realistic graphics? Where is the game that has next-gen gameplay? I wish I could have tried the Wii because, from what I played, the next generation of gaming is just like this one but with more polygons. And tilt sensors.

D. Riley - The PS3 conference in general. The outrageous pricing, reversion to the original DualShock and wholesale lifting of Nintendo's motion sensitive controller, it really feels like Sony's just throwing darts at a wall and praying one of them sticks. To then hear their president being all cocky and saying they'll sell six million units by mid-2007? Salt in the wound, man. One of those units won't be mine. Not at that price, not when you're charing me $600 to beta test your new media format.

G. Turner - I'll echo Mr. Riley's sentiments: Sony could have wowed us with a PS3 price matching the 360 premium and a few original IPs, but instead everything is horribly overpriced, the 'bargain' PS3 SKU is allegedly crippled, and all of the games on display (and I include the generic Heavenly Sword in there) only elicited yawns from me. I really wanted the PS3 to wow me like last year, but instead I'm eating crow about everything from the console's price to its power. Have you ever eaten crow? It's bitter, grainy, and laced with the strong aroma of shame.

What looks to be the biggest bomb?

R. LeFeuvre - Pick an MMO that is coming out in 2006. The market is already over-saturated and World of Warcraft is eating up more of the pie every month. Even amazing MMOs are going to have their work cut out for them, and not many will make it to 2008.

D. Riley - Interstellar Marines, I guess? It's like they took a big rubber stamp labeled 'Generic' and pounded over every single part of that game. Still, four player co-op...

G. Turner - A 're-envisioning' of Golden Axe? Sega's track record is pretty poor in this department (Final Fight, all those Sega Ages remakes). Come on Sega, if you're going to pull out old licenses, let's see Alex Kidd on a new console. Also, I want a pony. A pretty little pony.

What did you expect to see, but didn't?

R. LeFeuvre - After ignoring the line for the Wii on the first day of E3, I bolted for it on the morning of day two and got there far too late. "I'll just try again Friday, and if I have to wait in line all day, so be it." Little did I know that after two days of walking and six more hours at the Sony's Thursday night party that I would wake up on Friday, barely able to walk, completely unable to attend E3. It still bothers me that I won't get to play the Wii until it's actually released.

D. Riley - Maybe I'm the only person in the world that cares about Resident Evil more than Metal Gear Solid, but that doesn't mean I should be ignored!! I spend a good portion of every day hemming and hawing about the eventual release of that game, worrying over the fact that the grizzled protagonist might not be Chris Redfield. It would be nice of Capcom released more than ONE trailer this year.

G. Turner - Sadly, I was all ready to fill this space complaining about how Nintendo, yet again, didn't have a proper Mario game to show at E3 but boy they sure shut me up. I do have to say I'm a bit taken aback that Rockstar's Bully was a no-show, if for no other reason that I was so surprised it was at last year's E3 and was listed to be released that fall (which clearly didn't happen). I halfheartedly wished that Disaster Report 2 would rear its head, but I suppose I'm not surprised that no one reported its existence, even if it actually was somewhere in E3's vaults this year.

What news, game or hardware has you the most excited?

R. LeFeuvre - Perhaps this is shameful, but I'm totally in love with the PS3's tilt sensor. Sure, Warhawk was the perfect demo for it but I can't help but love the thing. It was immensely fun and very intuitive, plus I looked like a complete prat playing it! I really hope that game companies put the technology to use. Come on developers, let's not allow the loss of rumble to be for naught!

D. Riley - The compatibility between the Wii and the DS. I'm sure it was expected, yeah, but the reason I'm most excited about it is because it won't require yet ANOTHER peripheral doo-dad to link up like the GBA/GCN link did. I think we'll be getting more than enough peripherals with the Wii's silly controller as is.

G. Turner - I'm completely on the Wii bandwagon. I had been trailing it for a while but, after seeing that Mario Galaxy footage and reading about WarioWare: Smooth Moves, I'm sold. Also, all too ready to sate my desire for more disaster-sims, Nintendo served up fair-warning for their natural calamity game Disaster: Day of Crisis. How can I turn that down? Plus at the rumored $200-$250 price point, I can afford to be disappointed on launch day, but given that I'll have a copy of Twilight Princess to keep me company, I doubt that will happen.

Sundry & surly comments follow

R. LeFeuvre - So this was my first year on the 'other side' of E3, as part of the industry. The biggest difference: I was fucking tired before E3 even began. That final code push was pretty brutal, but so totally worth it, and the warm reception that Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters got, both by the press and the general public, made it that much sweeter. I can't wait to be a part of next year's E3 crunch!

G. Turner - I suppose I should be happier with the news of Elite Beat Agents as an spiritual sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan but, really, I'm not. I just plain don't like the changes; I even scowl at the new bold-but-tacky numeric font! The inclusion of bands such as Deep Purple to the soundtrack roster also turns my smile upside-down since I loved the original's energetic J-Pop soundtrack. I'm sure I'll still pick it up, I'm sure it'll be better than I currently imagine it, but initial impressions make me glad I imported Ouendan instead of waiting for a straight US port.

D. Riley - Dear Hideo Kojima: Nobody cares about how many polygons are in Snake's mustache. Also, start making games like Metal Gear Solid 1 again or I will fire you out of a cannon. For real.