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Despite the smaller size and scope, there's still going to be a lot of games news coming down the pipe this week: the E3 Media and Business Summit 2007 kicks off soon. The big news starts with Microsoft's press conference on Tuesday, but already journalists are on the ground getting stories in order. E3 predictions are available from 1up and Gamespot's editorial team, while Eurogamer has a piece from their newsletter describing what's different about this year's E3. Not everyone is going this year that went last year because of those differences, and it will make for a wholly changed experience. "While a number of the publishers GameSpot contacted said they would consider participating in next year's E3 (some on the condition that the format is further tweaked), multiple representatives said they didn't believe there would be an E3 at all next year. Gamecock is even referencing that notion in its EIEIO event, which will cap off with a funeral service for the ESA's long-standing trade show. 'We're going to have some fun on the beach and say good-bye to the magical beast of yore that was E3,' Wilson said. 'I'd say there's a fair chance there won't be a show called E3 anything next year, which is why we're saying farewell to it on the beach. But I can't wait to see what emerges.'"

Thanks to The Next Level for its two-part hands-on impressions of Halo 2's multiplayer modes, as shown at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles last week, including many videos of the action, and discussing "the changes to the heads up display", also noting gleefully: "Is carrying two guns worth sacrificing your ability to throw grenades? In a word: Hell Yeah!", before finally concluding of the Xbox title, due out this November: "It was by far the most fun and intense playing experience I had with any game at this year's E3."

Thanks to GameSpot for its massive E3 update list, GameSpy for a similar E3 index, IGN for its latest E3 news, and 1UP for its E3 dispatches, as the major gaming sites update on "hundreds of new games" revealed leading up to the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. New highlights include an "epic three-hour press conference" revealing Konami's new games, including screenshots of Metal Gear Acid for PSP, and elsewhere, screenshots and a preview of Metroid Prime Hunters for Nintendo DS, the announcement and screenshots of "unique armband"-toting EyeToy: AntiGrav for PS2, preview and screenshots of Mario 64x4 for Nintendo DS, and much, much more. What's been your favorite hardware or software revelation so far?

Thanks to Yahoo! for reprinting a Microsoft press release revealing its major videogame-related announcements ahead of this year's E3 Expo in Los Angeles. Major among them is Electronic Arts' official support of the online Xbox Live service, long-awaited and previously rumored, so that "by the end of the year, 15 of EA's online-enabled console titles will be playable on Xbox Live." In addition, Bungie's much-anticipated Halo 2 is confirmed for Xbox release on November 9th, just as new hands-on multiplayer previews are appearing online, plus alleged Xbox Gran Turismo-beater, Forza Motorsport is announced, and a multi-person videophone service for Xbox Live is showcased, as well as an Xbox Live Arcade service featuring "casual games people love to play with their families... [including] 'Bejeweled'... and arcade favorites such as Namco's 'Dig Dug' and 'Galaxian'." Update: 05/11 06:26 GMT by S : There are also new Halo 2 screenshots via Bungie.net.

Thanks to GameSpot for its 'Spot On' column discussing game industry financial analysts' predictions for the E3 Expo being held in Los Angeles next week. Among the predictions from various analysts are plans for Xbox ("I'm virtually certain that Microsoft will announce that Xbox Next is coming in 2005. Not clear whether they want to do so at E3"), Sony's possible announcements ("Probably a price cut to $149, and reemphasizing the point that PS2 is still going strong"), and discussion of Nintendo's DS ("...it now appears the system is generating a more positive response, particularly among game publishers.") But if you're fed up with 'expert' opinions, then try some completely fake predictions from Jason 'Loonyboi' Bergman, including: "Midway will announce a pre-order campaign for NARC, in which the first 1,000 orders will receive 1/8th of an ounce of hashish... Nintendo's press conference will consist entirely of awkward silence, interrupted only by a single person making farting noises with his armpit."

mindless4210 writes "Majesco Games has announced a new application for the Game Boy Advance, the Wireless Messenger. Using the Wireless Messenger players will be able to send instant text messages through their Game Boy. The product is set to be released later this year and will make its first public appearance at the E3 Convention next week." Majesco has also announced a Wireless Link, which will "use the standard Game Boy Advance link cable and enable users to play any multiplayer GBA title without the restrictions of the cables", and has just launched the Game Boy Advance Video range, with the "initial roll-out... [including] the first two volumes of SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairly OddParents, as well as Dora the Explorer Vol 1."

Thanks to EvilAvatar for its article discussing the recent launching of Sony's E3 site, showcasing "a few select [PlayStation 2] titles" that'll be displayed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles next month, including Champions 2: Return To Arms, the Snowblind-developed Champions Of Norrath sequel. However, if you "start fiddling with the numbers at the end of the URL" on the official site, you can see very basic, unlinked-to info on other games that'll be publicly shown by Sony at E3, including the unannounced action title Rise Of The Kisai from Bottle Rocket/Sony, Dark Cloud 3 from Sony, Final Fantasy XII from Square Enix, Destroy All Humans! from Pandemic/THQ, and, interestingly, Cold Fear from Namco, a survival horror (?) title (related to the thought-lost U.S.S. Antarctica?) rumored in development at Alone In The Dark IV developers Darkworks. Update: 04/26 18:30 GMT by S : The entire site, even the previously public titles, are now password-protected and private.

Thanks to GameSpot for its news story noting Electronic Arts' announcement of The URBZ, a multi-platform title due later this year which "..will see players creating new Sims-style characters who live in a city where reputation is everything and the goal is to become the biggest 'player' in the city." Apparently, players will need to impress the bosses "at locations such as the Sushi Bar, the Chop Shop, and the Bootleg Fireworks", and the game engine in the console versions "will also allow for a great deal of character customization, with support for tattoos, nose rings, and the like" - more information and screenshots will be available at the E3 Expo next month.

Thanks to HomeLAN Fed for its article discussing the state of the annual 'Best Of E3' game awards, in which the writer suggests that the "E3 awards are a bit of a sham and... a lot of games that get these awards are either not released in the coming year or if they are they are not as good as their E3 presentations make them out to be." He points out that "...out of the 16 categories that the Game Critics E3 awards had last year, 10 of them went to games that have not yet come out and won't be out until after E3 2004." Elsewhere, GameSpot focuses its 'GameSpotting' editorials on the forthcoming E3 trade show itself, suggesting that the show "is becoming a bigger and bigger source of stress and anxiety to the gaming industry as time goes by", even taking into account the excitement of "the biggest video game convention on God's green earth."

tripmaster writes "I'm lucky enough to have been asked to assemble and moderate a panel at the Smithsonian on May 16th; so I asked myself, who can I ask, given the cachet of an invite to speak at the Smithsonian (prior speakers: Berners-Lee, Cerf, Gates, Streep, Albright, etc.)? We ended up choosing Shigeru Miyamoto for console gaming, Richard Garfield for pen and paper games, Doug Church for PC games. /.-ers in the DC area (or on the East coast) should come see the panel, which will be a meaty 2-3 hours. I'm looking forward to asking questions and getting out of the way -- I think their cross-talk could be especially interesting. It's the weekend after the E3 Expo, which is probably the only time Miyamoto's in the States and available -- hopefully he'll also bring his E3 demos to show." Although a little pricey at $40, this is certainly a rare chance to see game design legends, particularly Miyamoto, in a roundtable.

Gudlyf writes "According to CNN Money, Valve's director of marketing Doug Lombardi announced that the company is 'currently targeting this summer for the completion of Half-Life 2'. From the article: 'Valve does not plan to reveal any additional information until the time surrounding the E3 trade show, where the game will once again be shown this year. E3 will be held in Los Angeles May 12-14.'" The game was delayed following a previously covered code leak, and the article also notes: "Arkane Studios, an independent French developer that created the critically-acclaimed role-playing game 'Arx Fatalis,' has licensed [Half-Life 2's Source engine] for a forthcoming title [as has Troika's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines]."

Arathorn writes "TheOneRing.net has a Quicktime movie up of just over a minute's worth of live footage from Return of The King , as shown at E3. The quality's pretty abysmal, but it gives a much-needed taster of what RoTK's going to look like. The soundtrack (such as it is) is from the final act of The Two Towers." Update: 05/21 18:47 GMT by T : Reader Adam Roben has set up a BitTorrent session as well.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to this interview with Chris Jelinek of Capcom, done by the unofficial SNK-Capcom.com site while they were at E3. The confirmed news in this article seems to be that the 3D Capcom Fighting All-Stars has been cancelled (although we never get a direct quote from Jelinek himself about it), but after much poking and prodding from the interviewer, Mr.Jelinek also mentions that they're considering a 'Vs. Vs' title, and gives the possible example of "Take, in theory, Batman vs. Spiderman.." So, DC. Vs. Marvel Vs. Capcom? With this blatant rumor, the stage is set for either rejoicing amongst Capcom fighting game fanboys, or derision amongst those fed up with Capcom recycling Street Fighter II for 10 years or more.

Now that E3 is done and the press have gone home, they're consolidating all their E3 reports into handy indexes. Here's the massive Gamespot index listing all the titles they covered, here's the IGN index for E3, and you can also try the Gamespy E3 index or a multitude of others via Gametab News. Do you have a 'best in show' for E3, or at least a roundly ignored game that people may have missed amidst the hype?

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing out a patch for the PC version of Enter The Matrix, just a couple of days after its release, and a FAQ which rather horrifyingly orders you that "The Vampires should be dispatched in the rooms you find them in" to stop the game from crashing completely. If you add to this the almost complete lack of official reviews, do we get a still-decent game that simply happened to stealthily launch in the week of E3 (when nobody was around to review it), or a rushed license that's deliberately trying to take advantage of gamers who buy based on subject matter? Spoiler-free opinions welcome, especially from those who've bought the game.

So the E3 Expo in Los Angeles is finally done, and we wrap up our coverage with a look at the best of the other booths at the show, from Activision through Take Two to Eidos. Plus, we take a quick trawl round the evil troglodytic dungeon that is the Kentia Hall, deep below the main expanses of E3. Read on for info on virtual ping-pong, Starsky And Hutch, and Futurama.... - Activision's stand had some pretty interesting content, starting with True Crime:Streets Of LA, the closest to a Grand Theft Auto clone we've seen so far. The graphical pop-up was a little disappointing, but it was still fun to play. The new Vampire The Masquerade game, Bloodlines, looked intriguing, with some good physics courtesy of the Half-Life 2 engine, and neat stealth kills, but the FPS action didn't entirely gel with the RPG stylings. Continuing on, Day Of Defeat is the excellent Half-Life mod also available as a stand-alone product, and featuring plenty of WWII team-based action. Spiderman 2 quietly popped up, too, unexpectedly showcasing much more freeform action, with Spiderman running in any direction around streets with passersby and cars and... more shades of Grand Theft Auto? Hopefully the fact that you're Spidey will mix the gameplay up, though. Finally, there was the Doom III trailer, which you've probably seen by now, running on a big monitor at the back of the stand.

- The exterior of Take Two's stand was a little disappointing, with big titles like Manhunt only being shown behind closed doors, but a few products of some interest. Conflict Desert Storm 2 showed more military action, but with urban environments. Hopefully it'll improve on the disappointing original. Starsky And Hutch was looking much better than demos of last year, and any game with music by Tim Follin has to be worth at least checking out, but it still looked a B-list, as opposed to a true A-list title. Finally, Celebrity Deathmatch was.. not good. Seems like any game with licensed characters of the caliber of Marilyn Manson, Mr.T, and Anna Nicole should be quality or, uhm, not. It was a simple one-on-one fighting game which reminded of Simpsons Wrestling in all those not-so-good ways, with average graphics and long loading times.

- Vivendi Universal was sporting licenses, licenses, and more licenses. Simpsons:Hit And Run looks like a pseudo-sequel to Simpsons Road Rage, which was simultaneously addictive and painful (thanks, Crazy Taxi!), and this game had much nicer graphics, plus the ability to get out of your car and wander around Springfield. Futurama has already been previewed positively by at least one site at the show, but.. sorry, Fry running around with a gun being a hero? That on its own is pretty crazy, and the frame rate jerkiness and simple game mechanics weren't doing it any favors either. Still, there was plenty of Slurm. The Hobbit had a very super-deformed and cute look, and seemed reasonable, but not special. Finally, tucked away one just one or two monitors was Buffy:Chaos Bleeds, a sequel to the woefully underappreciated Xbox brawler, and the update was looking seriously good.

- Eidos' stand was dominated by the Backyard Wrestling crew, advertising the gonzo grappling title being developed by Paradox (Thrill Kill, Wu Tang, X-Men.) The stand-out titles were probably Deux Ex:Invisible War, too complex to appreciate properly at the show but very promising, and the new Legacy Of Kain:Defiance, which had shadow enemies borrowed from Ico and seriously nice visuals. The new Tomb Raider title looked nothing more than reasonable, though, not showing massive improvement for its continual delays.

- The Kentia Hall, underneath the main show floor, has long been the place you can find all the weird, lower-budget, often non-US companies and products, jostling for attention with the software wholesalers and peripheral manufacturers. This year, among highlights such as the 'Girls Of Street Racing' DVD stall and Hexacto's Lemonade Tycoon game (what's next, Tycoon Tycoon?), a few products stood out. For example, there was Iritech, the 'Eye Fortune' company, who sold a coin-operated product which worked out your 'Inherited health type and current health condition' through scanning your retina. As long as it had your date of birth too, that is. Mm, high-tech fortune-telling. And we don't know what Bert Co. sold, but they have a great name. Finally, there was D-Gate's networked virtual pingpong arcade machine, Action Ping-Pong Live!!!! - where, yes, you wield a ping pong bat in real life as you duel the person on the machine next to you. Be sure not to stand too close to the guy playing, his backswing may take your eye out. And as the caption on top of the game read, 'You must win to be a REAL CHAMP!' We second that, and hope you enjoyed our coverage from E3 this year.

Getting close to finishing up our three-day stint at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, this time we turn our attention to the Namco booth. So read on for info about Spawn, I-Ninja, and the can't-come-out-soon-enough Soul Calibur II.. - Soul Calibur II, already released in Japan for some time, was showing for all 3 consoles, and continues to look amazing. Not having had a chance to see Link as a playable character on the Gamecube version, it was extremely impressive to see his art style blend in so well with the rest of the fighters, while still being recognizable. This is a must-buy for fighter fans when it finally launches in August.

- Kill.Switch for PS2 and Xbox was yet another tactical action shooter type game, with lots of hiding behind columns and ducking out to nail enemies with heavy weaponry. There really was a preponderance of this type of title at E3, and though this one seemed to do it decently, it didn't seem to stand up to title like EA's Freedom.

- Spawn was a somewhat surprise appearance which continues Todd McFarlane's association with Namco (see the Spawn arcade/Dreamcast title, plus Spawn as secret character in Soul Calibur II for Xbox), and was a double-gun, lock-on type action shooter. That's right, another one. It looked decent graphically, and this type of game can be plenty of fun, but we'll have to see what it has to make it stand out.

- I-Ninja was the Argonaut-developed cartoon-like action game, with a super-deformed ninja lead character running around vaguely stylized environments. It had some neat gameplay mechanisms, such as a blatantly borrowed from Metroid Prime 'rolling-ball' mode, and some cool jump and run along walls moves, but the graphics were a little plain in places.

- also being shown, but not immediately obvious on the show floor, were R:Racing Evolution, the latest in the Ridge Racer series, sporting much-improved graphics and a slightly more realistic approach, and Extreme Force, a Dead To Rights semi-sequel focusing more on Splinter Cell-type tactical action.

For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. Plus, watch for a final round-up from the show soon.

Continuing with brief hands-on impressions from the most interesting booths at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, we turn our attention to Konami. Read on for info about Castlevania, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gradius, Metal Gear, and more.. - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, showing for multiple platforms, was a delight. With awesome-looking cel-shaded graphics, and Batman-the-TV-series type 'CRASH!' and 'THUMP!' voice balloons accompanying the action, this goes a long way to recreating the fun of the original arcade and SNES games, with multiplayer arcade-styled fun to the fore.

- Bloody Roar 4 was showing for PS2, picked up when Konami bought a controlling interest in developers Hudsonsoft a year or two back. It seemed high on the B-list of fighters - not essential, but hardly Final Fight Revenge either.

- Castlevania:Lament Of Innocence for PS2 is a 3D action title that finally puts to rest those horrid N64 Castlevania games, with somewhat Devil May Cry-styled action gameplay, big bosses, and a camera that behaves most of the time. It's still got that oldschool feel, but some of the rooms felt a bit large and empty in places. Still, promising, though it's easy to think about how the Rygar title for PS2 seems to have made the transition a bit better.

- Gradius V for PS2, the latest sequel to the all-time classic sideways-scrolling shooter, was showing on a single machine round the side of the booth. It looked good, with 2D action but great use of 3D scaling in the background, and the traditional power-up stacking system that's always worked so well. If you're not a fan of this genre, you won't be converted, but it's a worthy successor.

- Cy Girls for PS2, some kind of girl ninja/hacker action title, really didn't look that hot in the playable demo on the booth, but the video trailer there showcased some more interesting action, so it may improve as release date nears.

- Silent Hill 3, which seems to come out as soon as next week in Europe, and in a couple of months in other territories, looked very much like a straight sequel to the previous two titles. Basically, it's very spooky, the gritty lighting still works, there's scary giant rabbit costumes outside deserted amusement parks.. you get the drift.

- Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand, the innovative GBA title from Hideo Kojima that will include a light sensor in the cartridge, was difficult to evaluate on the show floor, since there was only a video running and GBAs running the title were only viewable through glass. But the isometric graphics look good, and the presence of a light meter on screen at all times mean you'll either going to be cheating and cupping your hand over the sensor, or running in and out of your cellar a lot when the game is released.

- we dealt with Metal Gear Solid:The Twin Snakes over in our previous Nintendo booth article, and sadly both this title and Metal Gear Solid 3 were only running in trailer form on the E3 show floor. So there's not much more to say about MGS3 right now than 'set in jungle', 'nice graphics', 'mysterious'. Look out for full trailers of both popping up online as E3 winds down.

For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. More hands-on impressions soon.

Getting straight on with our brief E3 Expo hands-on impressions, targeting the major companies and titles to watch at the show, we've made it to the Electronic Arts booth. Read on for info about selected titles featuring James Bond, Gimli, and those pesky Sims.. - The Sims 2 was only being trailed in video form on the show floor, with The Who's My Generation cut up over a smart CG trailer that showed multiple eras of Sims, with whole dynasties growing up, having kids, breathing fire (apparently a hereditary trait in that family!), and generally goofing off. How the game improves on a winning formula remains to be seen, but the DNA-passed-to-descendents angle is clearly the one being pushed to the fore for the sequel.

- 007:Everything Or Nothing, which we mentioned yesterday for its use of real-life actors in virtual roles, was sporting a playable action sequence where Pierce Brosnan ran through a skyscraper and then jumped off the edge, duelling with enemies while running/bungie cording down the side of the building. The action was third-person, darned attractive, and it may be that the improvement in Bond games that started with Nightfire will continue (no more 007 Racing? Phew!)

- Harry Potter:Quidditch World Cup is definitely strange, being an EA Sports-izing of a fictional sport and all. But it looked like it could be reasonably playable, though the size of the pitch looked very small, probably thanks to artistic license in the movies expanding it, and the AI still needed some work.

- Medal Of Honor: Rising Sun was seen in a great-looking CG trailer which, well, didn't have much to do with gameplay, plus some early PS2 gameplay code which was apparently even a little too early to get much of a good impression. The jury has left the building.

- Freedom:The Battle For Liberty Island was the arguably surprise booth stand-out. The developers, IO Interactive, were responsible for the excellent Hitman 2, and this title features crisp graphics and great environmental effects. Sporting frantic shoot-outs on roofs against helicopter gunships, it feels right, more so than most other action shooters at the show - and believe me, there are a lot of those.

- Lord Of The Rings:Return Of The King is being developed in-house at EA this time, so has a different developer from the fun Two Towers. But actually, it looks a spot better than that title, with similar action-based hack 'n slash gameplay, multiplayer co-op action, a ton of enemies onscreen at once, and cave trolls looking about 30 percent uglier than they have any right to be.

For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. More hands-on impressions soon.

Continuing our 'brief impressions'-based look at the major titles and major publishers at E3 in Los Angeles, here's a look at SquareEnix's booth. Read on for info about a cornucopia of Final Fantasies, plus the new Star Ocean and the mysterious Drakangard... - Final Fantasy XI was being shown in the same form as we've already previewed it on the Sony booth. It requiring the PS2 hard disc is a significant expense/hassle, but if you're a Final Fantasy fan or a MMORPG freak, it may be well worth it.

- Star Ocean:The End Of Time was a graphically stunning action strategy game (with real-time combat), including some insanely nice special effects, though there's some very occasional slowdown. You even got to fight enemies like D+D-styled 'eye of the beholder' floating ocular beasts. As far as control goes, you control the main character directly, and the other people in your party follow your lead, but you can stop the action to change priorities or weapons.

- Drakangard for PS2, an unknown quantity until the show, had the player controlling either a warrior on the battlefield, in very Dynasty Warriors-esque hack and slash action, or the same warrior astride a dragon, hovering high above it and swooping down to fire-heat the opposing troops. The graphics looked a little plain from ground level, but being able to see whole groups of enemies from the air and then toast them was neat. Depth of gameplay could be a problem?

- Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronicles was being played by four eager gamers, each using a GBA to control their onscreen character, and we've dealt with this game briefly already in our discussion of the Nintendo booth. It does look like one of the stand-out Gamecube titles at the show, with wicked-looking robot bosses who rotate their body like a windmill, direct action-based controls and plenty of signature Square special effects, but this isn't your standard Final Fantasy title, so it may polarize fans. We heard someone else make the Gauntlet Legends+ comparison while in the booth, so that may be a good way to think of this game.

- Unlimited SaGa for PS2 may be a continuation of a classic series, but it's a decidedly strange one. The use of 2D characters and 3D background mainly works, but it's the opening 2D/3D cinema that really impressed. This definitely comes with an 'only for the hardcore' tag (there's both 'hit points' and 'life points', for example, both of which are important), but if you can get past that, it's a niche title of interest.

- Final Fantasy X-2 can easily be summed up as 'very, very fruity'. From the opening dancing and singing CG, the all-female cast, and the 'Dress-up Sphere' element to combat, with players needing costume changes to power up, it's all very, very Japanese. The game restored the Active Time Battle method for battles, and the graphics surpass even Final Fantasy X, but it's not so much epic as epic kitsch. Still seems to have the gameplay going on, mind you.

For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. More hands-on impressions soon.

Slashdot Games is continuing to report on the E3 expo in Los Angeles, and we're working our way around the major booths, doing brief overviews of the major titles on each. Check out earlier stories for looks at Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and Sega, but now we turn our attention to Capcom. Read on for info on Gregory Horror Show, Onimusha 3, Viewtiful Joe, and more.. - Gregory Horror Show, which is a working title and seriously rips off the Rocky Horror Show logo in current form, was a seriously bizarre Japanese-ish PS2 title that can best be described as Resident Evil with macabre, weird, square cartoony characters. It certainly had nice graphics, but follows the interesting but odd theme we saw on a number of Capcom titles.

- Dino Crisis 3 for Xbox does the obvious, or, uhh, maybe not, and goes for the 'dinosaurs in space' angle for this graphically good title. So you're stuck on a space station with mutated dinosaurs, and the game seems to stick with the more action-based formula showcased in the last Dino Crisis game.

- Viewtiful Joe for Gamecube was a seriously sharp-looking 2D platform title with plenty of 3D graphics and backgrounds. Reminiscent of titles like Klonoa or Pandemonium, but with added slo-mo blur action and crazed combos, this was another very Japanese-styled game (the main character is a masked hero with flowing cape) which looks great, but probably won't be a mainstream blockbuster in the States.

- Gotcha Force was an interesting Gamecube title, reminding us a lot of Virtual On with flying ninjas and dynamic lock-on action. It has a 2 on 2 team battle mode, and was clearly designed mainly for arena-based multiplayer tussles.

- Maximo Vs. Army Of Zin was a sequel to the much appreciated but hardly top-selling Maximo, and the basic elements of the original seem to have been carried over. We heard that Grim (the Reaper, that is) is a second playable character in the game, but didn't get a chance to check that out. Otherwise.. more of the same, in an arguably good way.

- Group S Challenge was a Project Gotham-style racing game for Xbox, which we hadn't heard much of before the show. The control seemed very solid, and there's a plethora of licensed cars.

- Onimusha 3 was only showing in video form on the bigscreen, but the trailer is gorgeous, and well worth watching if it pops up online anywhere. Set in both France of 2004 (with Jean Reno) and 1582-era Japan, the trailer starts with zombie ninjas being vomited out of an organic spacecraft into modern-day Paris, heh.

- PN-03 for Gamecube starred an extremely shapely female robot killer, in this basic action shooter. Plenty of auto-lock action with wrist-firing lasers, plus almost dance-based special moves.

- other games on the booth included Megaman X7 for PS2, with both 2D and 3D action sections and polygons a-go-go, a puzzler called Bombastic for PS2 which seemed to be an update of Devil Dice, Cinemaware's Defender Of The Crown for PS2, a surprise pick-up which uses the traditional Risk-like elements of the original, plus two leading titles, Onimusha Blade Warriors (think Power Stone with Onimusha characters!) and Resident Evil 4 (Leon Kennedy deep in the core of the Umbrella Corporation) which weren't shown on the floor. Oh, and the Steel Battalion controller is truly epic.

For further impressions, screenshots, and media, doing a search by title on Gametab News is working good for us, but you can also try IGN, Gamespot, and a whole buncha others. More hands-on impressions soon.

Slashdot Games is still camped out at E3 in Los Angeles, and having finished hands-on reports on the Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo booths, we're going on to look at some of the other major exhibitors. Next up is Sega, so read on for more info about new Phantasy Star Online, Sonic, Worms, and Virtual On titles, plus the rather smart Billy Hatcher with his Giant Egg. - Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg, the newest Sonic Team title for Gamecube, was the surprise game of the stand. Although screenshots had started leaking before the show, it wasn't that clear what was going on, but seeing the game playable made all the difference. Basically, you're a boy called Billy Hatcher who has a rooster hat on (!), and you help out a giant chicken by rolling massive eggs around the levels, down hills, knocking over enemies, and generally causing havoc. The game sports what looks like an updated Sonic Adventure graphics engine, you can pick up floating PacMan-style fruit goodies, and you can even run around on your own and switch to different eggs, which presumably have different properties. The game looks like a whole heap of fun, and we're really looking forward to seeing more of it.

- Worms 3D, the Team 17 multiformat update of their classic multiplayer title, was recently signed by Sega Europe, so was showing on the stand. Although many 3D updates of classic 2D-based titles don't necessarily turn out for the best (anyone remember Lemmings 3D?), this one looks a lot more promising, with great cartoony 3D graphics, cool targeting for overhead airstrikes, and the same super-fun weapons lists.

- Headhunter: Redemption, being shown for PS2, looked like a pretty competent action game, with plenty of stealth elements as well as action, and a heavily tattooed female lead character for at least some of the game. There were also some very Metal Gear Solid moments in the demo, peeking round corners and pivoting to shoot guards at the right moments, and the title looked accomplished, if not breathtaking.

- Otogi for the Xbox was one of the more interesting games on the stand, a really nice looking action beat-em-up featuring ghostly ninja attacks and a 'rush mode' that was somewhat reminiscent of Shinobi. Actually, it also reminds us of Gun Valkyrie, with the frenetic action and deep valleys filled with enemies. But overall, promising.

- Phantasy Star Online Episode III: CARD Revolution was showing for Gamecube with a playable battle demo, and this turn-based card RPG looked very interesting, if very different from previous PSO games. You could play cards like the 'Chain Sawd' weapon for attacks, and there seemed to be block/hex based movement involved, too, but overall, learning the game will take a lot longer than the brief look at it we got. The graphics were neat, though, with PSO's characteristically swaying enemy animations, so if you can stand the change of pace, this title may be worth checking out.

- Sonic Heroes, due out for multiple formats, was looking like the best 3D Sonic game so far, with much bigger and wider-ranging courses, so less of the constrained platform action that played havoc with the camera in earlier Sonic titles. The unique feature of this Sonic game is that you're controlling three Sonic characters at once, and can switch between them to use their different powers - somewhat like Kameo for Xbox in terms of gameplay mechanism. The version we saw had Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails as the three characters, and each was better suited for different challenges - for example, Tails can fly, so he's great for bridging long distances while carrying the other two characters.

- Altered Beast was being shown on video only, sadly, but looked promising. There were a bunch of cool transformation effects shown for this 3D beat-em-up remake of the classic 2D Sega game, and it's clear you can even transform into different beasts, including a fire-breathing one and a flying animal that can unleash a spectacular-looking energy attack.

- as for the other titles, Virtual On Marz for PS2 had some excellent multiplayer action, looking slightly basic graphically but very smooth, Virtua Fighter 4:Evolution looked even better than Virtua Fighter 4, although the gameplay is as involved as ever, and there were other appearances from a Vectorman PS2 demo and a neat Sonic Pinball Gameboy Advance title.

For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. More hands-on impressions soon.

Slashdot Games is continuing its look at the major booths here at the E3 Expo. The last of the major hardware manufacturers to give us a hands-on look at their software is Microsoft, after earlier articles on Nintendo and Sony. Read on for info about all the new Rare titles, Brute Force, Halo 2, and more.. - Kameo, the Rare-developed game that was shown in significantly different form on the Nintendo booth a couple of years back, looked just amazing. The graphics were lush, colorful, and beatiful, possibly the best of any Xbox game so far, including Halo. The third-person action was fun and somewhat innovative, as you could switch swiftly between multiple characters with different powers to solve puzzles and wipe out enemies. The characters included a plant beast, some kind of rock monster, and even Kameo (a fairy lookalike) herself. So, not only does the Xbox lack quality examples of this type of game, Rare seem to have come up with the goods yet again.

- Brute Force, the Digital Anvil-developed third-person team shooter which has been in development for what seems like an age, was looking promising, with a really fun co-op mode, simple but direct controls, and good sniper-zoom effects. It seemed just slightly plain compared to the very best-looking titles like Halo or Kameo, though, and it's a shame it's not supporting Xbox Live, but it's still a game you can look forward to.

- Voodoo Vince, a quirky new Microsoft-published platformer, looked good, with perky graphics and some really nice fire effects. But overall, it wasn't really a spectacular stand-out, although there were some neat ideas about the main character hurting himself in order to damage enemies - he's a voodoo doll, folks.

- Conker:Live And Uncut is Rare's team-based shooter, and it focuses on multiplayer modes to create an intense but cartoony deathmatch title. As you run around the sharp-looking arenas, picking up everything from knives to rocket-launchers, the third-person view seems to work pretty well for fast and fun combat, and Xbox Live support should wrap up the whole deal. Now, if we could only stop thinking about Fur Fighters when we see it..

- Project Gotham Racing 2 is still using the rather innovative 'kudos' system first pioneered by Bizarre Creations in Metropolis Street Racer. It also sports the noticably real-life tracks, with many fenced-off areas and 90-degree turns, something that will either delight or bother you, depending. The graphics are certainly a notch above the first title, but Gran Turismo 4 seems to have a grittier, more exciting feel overall.

- Grabbed By The Ghoulies was the third Rare title on display, and was an somewhat bizarre, almost flat-shaded, semi-cartoony platformer. Kameo seemed to us to look nicer, but this title certainly had some unique stylings, and even some noticably twisted semi-gore. Look what a few years being forced to make insanely cute games like Diddy Kong Racing will do to a bunch of developers?

- it seems Halo 2 is viewable as a real-time demo, though sadly not playable by the public, in a special booth area that's been drawing gigantic queues. The demo has the same layout as that shown at the Microsoft press conference, and it reliably blows everyone away, with amazing attention to detail, double-gun action, spectacular graphics, super-realistic voice interaction, the ability to jump on the Ghost ships and kick the pilot out.. basically, genius. This is definitely one of the games of the show, and may become the Xbox's second killer app, after its predecessor was most definitely the first.

There were a whole bunch of other third-party games on Microsoft's booth, but we'll get to them on Thursday and Friday. In the meantime, be sure to check IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. Our hands-on impressions will continue on Thursday.

Slashdot Games is here on the show floor at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, and over the next three days, we'll be doing brief hands-on impressions of the major games in each booth. First up is Nintendo, following up our earlier press conference summary with a chance to see and play the games in detail. Here's what we found at Nintendo, including Mario Kart, Metal Gear, Starfox, and.. Wario insulting us? - F-Zero GX is startlingly fast, both in framerate and vehicle speed. There are great-looking light trails on all your competitors, of which you can see most of the 30 onscreen at once. The background levels included a night-based thunderstorm setting, which looked very smart as you looped around the tracks at near-supersonic speeds. Also, the gameplay seemed similar to previous titles, which is good if you're a F-Zero fan to start with. The 4-player splitscreen ran without slowdown, but dropped the backgrounds.

- Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes showed more clearly that it's a (partial?) remake of the PSX Metal Gear Solid, by demo-ing the first area of the original MGS, but Gamecube-ized. It looks slicker and higher-res, keeping the same stylized color schemes, but the real-time cutscenes slowed down noticably due to the screen-filling snowstorm effects. Still promising, though.

- Starfox, being shown exclusively in multiplayer, is puzzling but interesting at the same time. It seems that you can pick to play Arwing flight-based combat, or Fox and friends in ground-based combat. It's possible to be playing in an Arwing while your opponent is running around on the ground shooting up at you. How this works in gameplay remains to be seen (the two people I saw playing in different modes were having difficulty finding each other), but certainly seems that the over-the-shoulder shooter mode and the flight combat mode are both fun and addictive individually.

- Geist is the mystery new Nintendo title from developers N-Space. It seemed to play and look like a Halo competitor, first-person action to the fore, but with the gameplay possession elements of Messiah in full effect. As a ghost, you can take over people's bodies and then use their weapons and identities as you wish. The concept on its own is appealing if done well, and it's visually impressive, so this is definitely a title to watch.

- Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike looked visually stunning, especially in the forests of Endor, where the player could control AT-STs as they stomped through the dense undergrowth, complete with swinging log traps, Ewoks, and speeder bikes. The great-looking lighting and destructible trees really helps make this one of the stand-outs on the booth. The other stages also look excellent, with the player controlling X-Wings and tauntauns in both air and foot-based levels.

- we may cover Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronicles more when we get to the Square Enix booth, but the action was smooth, fast, 4-player simultaneous, and actually very reminiscent of Diablo or Gauntlet Legends. In other words, this is no conventional FF game, but it looks to have made the genre transition successfully.

- Mario Kart Double Dash was running in networked LAN form, using multiple Gamecubes with the broadband adaptor. It looked smooth, fast, with bright and sharp graphics and an excellent frame-rate, a fitting continuation of the Mario Kart legacy.

- the Mario Kart area was also home to the best gimmick in the Nintendo booth. A CG puppet of Mario was displayed on a monitor above the booth, and a voice actor backstage was responding to events in the booth ,while Mario lipsynced and gestured correctly onscreen. Mario even turned into Wario at one point, so he could plug Wario World and be nasty and evil to E3 attendees. Very neat.

- weird exhibit of the booth was Carrera VRS, some real-life slot cars which you controlled via the Gameboy Advance. They ran round and round a slot track, and the players had their lap times, current position, fuel gauge (!), and other stats displayed on the GBA, as they controlled the cars with the GBA itself. Not quite as strange as the Gameboy sewing machine controller, but getting there.

For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. More booth impressions soon, and we'll try to get more GBA titles previewed later in the show also.

colaco writes "After more than a year waiting for the 1.10 patch, Diablo II gamers now have an inside scoop at changes that it will implement. Most of the info on new items and gameplay rules (eg: ladder characters) have been available on Arreat Summit for the past few hours, and are now displayed on DiabloII.net. Blizzard has also offered some clarification. Sources inside Blizzard indicate that more info will be given at E3."

As part of our continuing E3 round-up, ahead of its May 14th start in Los Angeles, the biggest new announcement has been from Activision, which released info on its product line-up (press release via Yahoo) this morning. Highlights include the inevitable Doom 3, Peter Molyneux's latest public speaking project, The Movies, and licenses from Spiderman and X-Men to Shrek, plus Disney Skateboarding (which may actually be good, thanks to cult developers Toys For Bob, of Star Control fame.) Otherwise, it seems Tecmo may be showing a new Dead Or Alive at E3, alongside a DoA fashion show, and Ubisoft will show a more promising new 3D Prince Of Persia and the ever-mysterious Uru: Ages Beyond Myst MMOG from Cyan. Here's links to previous E3 coverage at Slashdot Games.

Thanks to reader dj_paulgibbs for pointing to this Yahoo story talking about further upgrades to Xbox Live that Microsoft plan to unveil at E3. Yahoo's sources say these include "advanced community features such as voice chat and locater services that operate independently of games in progress", and also mentions a new "Xbox Music Mixer" for audio, as well as the ability to play video transferred from a PC. This is separate to the Xbox Live software upgrade we mentioned last week.

More companies are announcing their line-up for E3, and one of the most interesting rosters comes from Capcom, who now have an E3 preview page up on their site. Highlights include Resident Evil: Outbreak (the online Resident Evil for Playstation 2) and Onimusha Blade Warriors (more of a fighting game?), as well as other new Maximo and Onimusha titles, though sadly there are no screenshots available there. Also announcing their product line-up are Eidos Interactive, whose press release mentions Thief and Deus Ex: Invisible War from the Spector-headed Ion Storm, plus interesting Legacy Of Kain and Tomb Raider sequels. Finally, a preliminary list of E3 titles bundled out of Sony Europe by Eurogamer includes Gran Turismo 4, Syphon Filter: Omega Strain, Eye Toy (using your Playstation 2 plus a camera add-on), Ratchet and Clank und Jak and Daxter sequels, and plenty more. Excited yet?

The list of games to be shown at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles next month is rapidly increasing, and this Eurogamer feature has a round-up of what's been announced so far. There's always plenty of new titles and surprises, and this year is no exception. A notable list comes from Sega, and includes the Sonic Team title Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg for Gamecube, more spiky hedgehog action with Sonic Heroes for GC/PS2/XBox, as well as Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D Revolution, a card battle RPG for GC that continues the successful franchise. Another major company showcasing its line-up is Nintendo, who has an E3 preview page that includes the now two-seater Mario Kart: Double Dash for GC and the eagerly awaited Advance Wars 2 for Gameboy Advance, as well as several Nintendo-bound Final Fantasy titles in association with Square/Enix. More updates as we get them.

If you read Slashdot with any sort of regularity you probably noticed a lot of game posts last week - new stuff being shown off at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Let's wrap up the last few submissions and put the Expo to bed for a year. Neil Yates writes "210 pictures, 56 booth babe shots, spread over five pages - what more can we say; this is the killer E3 Expo pictorial feature - only on Envy News. Dial-up users beware - this is broadband territory!" angkor submits a link to a NYTimes story noting that sales of video games were way up last year, no doubt driven by the new consoles. And we had another submission, but the link seems to be broken, so I guess that's about it.