Bryn: Thanks E3 for making me work harder than ever before. Truly, you have shown me the meaning of mental pain. But there were some highlights. One of which was checking out Burnout Revenge in EA's booth, which in turn has fueled a comeback of Burnout 3: Takedown in my office at work. It's just to good not to play. Then there's EA's surprisingly good Batman Begins, and although I'm still waiting to get the final version of the game, I'm really chuffed with what I've seen so far. Oh yeah, the new Kirby game for the DS is awesome too ... look for our review now!
1. Batman Begins (multi)
2. Kirby: Cursed Canvas (NDS)
3. Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox)
Phil: As excited as I was about San Andreas back when it came out for PS2, I didn't get nearly as far into it as I had hoped that I would. Silly me, getting distracted by other games that I had to play for work. Turns out that it was for the best, though, as I now have the Xbox version, so I can play through CJ's tale with better graphics and my own custom soundtrack. Nothing says "drive-by shooting" like Oingo Boingo and the soundtrack to Gitaroo Man.
On the handheld front, I'm extremely pleased with Kirby: Canvas Curse. I was afraid that it would fall into the same pattern that trapped other DS titles -- that it would feel more like a tech demo than an actual game. Go figure, Nintendo decided to build an actual game around the "guide Kirby around by drawing lines" mechanic. It's actually quite a bit of fun. I also can't get enough of WarioWare: Twisted!. The tilt sensor goes a long way into making it one of the more unique gaming experiences around. I may look goofy spinning my GBA around as I ride the train into work, but I've having so much fun that I don't really care.
1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Xbox)
2. Kirby: Canvas Curse (NDS)
3. WarioWare: Twisted! (GBA)
Allen: I thought that going an entire week without World of Warcraft at E3 would finally allow me to break away and dig into that pile of games that's been sitting on my desk since last November. Sure enough, it did -- for a while anyway. I finally cracked open my copy of Sid Meier's Pirates, which is not only as good as the original, but is better in some ways. I started working my way through Half-life 2, so don't spoil the ending for me, and I picked up a copy of Jade Empire for the Xbox. All great games -- then Blizzard has to go and release the damn Battlegrounds patch. Now, rather than working, you can find me slaughtering Horde scum in Warsong Gulch or deperately begging players to go to the troll caves in Alterac Valley because I want that sweet, sweet, blue crossbow. Damn you Blizzard! Let go of my soul!
1. World of Warcraft (PC)
2. Sid Meier's Pirates (PC)
3. Half-life 2 (PC)
4. Jade Empire (Xbox)
