More videogame talk. Because I'm a nerd, and I have two hours to kill before my haircut.
E3 is going to happen next week. E3? The Electronic Entertainment Expo, the annual trade show for videogaming. Every year it's a huge buzz to see all the newest games that are going to come out this year, or the year following. There's also basically an unwritten "competition" to see who "wins" E3 with the best showing. 9 times out of 10, it's one of the big console-making giants - Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sega - who wins, unless a smaller developer makes enormous waves with a really highly-anticipated game. (Konami did that a couple years back with Metal Gear Solid 2).
So this year, everyone's writing all their previews and so on and so on. Instead of getting gritty with the videogame jargon, I'm going to help all you not-quite-so-nerdy-as-me videogame lovers and tell you what you're going to hear about in the next couple weeks, and when they're all coming out.
Nintendo: will win E3. They're finally getting their act together for the Gamecube, and nobody's going to introduce any new hardware, so they're in the green. Expect to see F-Zero GC, an 8-player Mario Kart with LAN support, new versions of Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, a sequel to Metroid Prime, Pikmin 2, a new Pilotwings game (finally!), and all that's just being developed by Nintendo. Outside, expect the usual versions of mediocre games that come out on every other console, but they've got one last ace up their sleeve: A 'director's cut' style remake of Metal Gear Solid (the first one) with graphics matching MGS2 (which sucked, but was visually revolutionary). MGS was one of my Top Five Games of All Time, so this should be worth everyone's time.
Sony: will take a close second, just by quality over quantity. Expect lots of sequels to those mediocre games that came out last year: stuff like Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, etc. However, there's lots of good stuff to make up for it. Final Fantasy X-2 will make its American debut, which will make fans happy. SSX3 should get a big following. The PS2, if any console, will be likely the exclusive (or at least first release) for Metal Gear Solid 3, which will be announced and excite the hell out of everyone there. Jaws will drop, however, when we all see Gran Turismo 4 in action.
Microsoft: will ride the one-trick pony once more and show off Halo 2. The only way they can not lose this E3 is to convince Rare (the studio that made Goldeneye and a bunch of Nintendo games way back when; Microsoft bought them from Nintendo to make Xbox games) to show off everything they've got. If Rare can show their prequel to Perfect Dark, Xboxes will be sold by the dozens. If these guys resort to saying they'll get Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City in 2004, even updated versions, that's waving the white MS flag.
Sega: has all but gone down the toilet. Expect this to be their last E3. You'll see the 2K4 series of sports games, which won't ever beat EA's games despite everyone's wishes, and about seventeen crappy ports of Sonic games to various consoles.
PC: won't quite steal the show, but will have a strong showing. Half-Life 2 will eat the place alive, but it won't drown out the buzz over GT4 or the new Nintendo collection. Expect a few fans to get happy over Thief 3 and Deus Ex 2, also (I'll be first in line for DX2).