e3.jpgIts the last day of E3, and all the publishers, studios, businessmen, designers, and artists have played their best hand of the year. There is no comparison in any other industry. Imagine if Hollywood showed a trailer for every movie of the next year on the same weekend. Thats crazy! And yet its E3.

In that spirit, those of us who follow at home don’t get hands on impressions, we just get 2 minute snippets of the games we’ll be playing from now until next E3. Who had the best?

10: Halo: Reach

After a huge beta test and the most successful franchise on Xbox, Halo: Reach didn’t have a lot left to prove. The trailer gets us a great peak at the Covenant Elite back in action, and shows that the action doesn’t stop on the ground. Vehicles have always been a big part of Halo, but space combat? September can’t get here fast enough.

9: Castlevania: Harmony Of Despair

A new 2D Castlevania isn’t big news, but going HD on XBox Live Arcade with 6 player co-op most certainly is!

8: Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Kirby’s Adventure on Gameboy is a legit classic, but outside of a few instances, the pink puffball has only shined on portables. Nintendo has given him a makeover that might have been as instantly controversial as Wind Waker Link if it didn’t fit the character so well. His vacuum suction isn’t seen here, but he does lasso and swing on a string to grab enemies.

7: Nintendo 3DS

Check out Miyamoto’s pink blazer. Maybe fashion will be his next game?

6: Need For Speed Hot Pursuit

EA’s annual racer gets a major overhaul and serious music from Criterion Games, the creators of Burnout. We got a peak of what this game might be with the Burnout Paradise Cops & Robbers DLC, but this is far more glorious. Only Criterion would make a Bugatti police car. This may be Need For Speed, but the takedowns are pure Burnout.

5: Metal Gear Solid Rising

I Said What What Will You Cut?

4: Gran Turismo 5

GT is the gold standard for car sims, and of course it was going to have a great trailer. What you might not expect was the Top Gear test track and The Stig at the wheel. What happens when you combine the most popular car game and the most popular car show?

3: Devil’s Third

Itagaki’s latest takes all the character action from Ninja Gaiden, adds guns, and turns on the crazy. Maybe its that music, but I really want to play this game more than anything he’s previously done.

2: Donkey Kong Country Returns

Retro Studios turned in three excellent Metroid Prime games and have been silent for years. Now they reveal they’re revamping Donkey Kong Country. Not quite the next step I’m expecting, but if any studio has proved they can take a classic in a new direction and innovate without losing the soul of the original, its Retro.

1: Portal 2

Portal 2 getting a trailer was hardly a surprise: We knew the game was coming and if there was one place to show the first footage it was E3.
However, Valve choosing the SONY press conference to show it, after years of Gabe Newell trashing PS3… well this was a shock that no one could predict.

Portal 2 AND Steam are coming to PS3. Unthinkable.

Bonus: Captain Genius Pick–
Otomedius Excellent