AND THE WINNER IS...

After four days of press conferences, huge announcements, and new demos, E3 has drawn to a triumphant close. Only now can we look back and truly analyze the full goings-on of the conference and draw the undeniable conclusion that Xbox 360 was the clear winner amongst "The Big Three".

Now, this isn't to say that Nintendo or Sony did not put up gallant fights, because they did.

Nintendo came out with the big news of a new Metroid game and that Retro Studios, the developer of the Metroid: Prime trilogy, would not be working on this game, but that Team Ninja of Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive fame would be mixing first- and third-person shooter elements in Metroid: Other M. An early trailer with Samus fighting against Ridley looked breathtaking, but I'm not sure if the strong anime style graphics will appeal to Nintendo's hardcore audience. Fanboys everywhere though will rejoice from the many scenes of Samus outside of her famous gold and red spacesuit.

Along with this, Nintendo's other surprise reveal was Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario's first true sequel since the SNES and the first in 3D. The early trailer showed that the Yoshi clan will return with many different powers and colors, much like in Super Mario World for SNES, to lend Mario a hand once again. These reveals, along with New Super Mario Bros. for Wii, another remake of the all-time classic, this time with 4-player co-op action and new powers like the propeller suit, were the only real eye-openers to Nintendo's presentation.

Other news from the Nintendo front was the reveal of a Wii Vitality Sensor which monitors your heart rate as you play games. I appreciate Nintendo always trying to think outside of the box, but unless it is packaged with one of their Balance Board workout games like the newly revealed Wii Fit 2 (basically Wii Fit with more exercises; Heath Bell will be thrilled), this sensor looks like the biggest waste of money since the Virtual Boy. This lack of earth shattering reveals means that Nintendo is simply staying the course and that they are beginning to hit the same problems they had with the Gamecube: a lack of third party development, aside from a look at No More Heroes 2: Desperate Measures and Red Steel 2. Of course, in terms of economic times, it's also safer just to push established titles (which you see from everyone now; we are living in the era of the sequel), hence another Metroid and two more Mario games.

Sony led with the worst-kept E3-secret since they were promoting the PS1: the PSP Go! The Go! is a smaller, sleeker, touch-screen-enabled PSP with 16 GB of flash memory and the ability to download games directly to the system. Along with the new system, Sony announced exclusive Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed, Gran Turismo, and Little Big Planet games for their PSP line that will be able to provide exclusive content for their PS3 brethren when you link the PSP and PS3 games.

On the console front, Sony had a couple of blockbuster games up their sleeves to try to steal thunder back from Xbox's press conference, which revealed a lot of Sony's formerly exclusive titles would no longer be exclusive. However, Sony did unveil Final Fantasy XIV to be an exclusive. Unfortunately, a nice trailer does not mean the game is anywhere near finished, and considering we're still months away from FF XIII, I don't think we'll see FF XIV for a long while. Along with this, Sony revealed Mod Nation Racers, a game that looks like Little Big Planet, but with go karts.

Much of Sony's press conference hinged around two things though, God of War III, which was expected (and the live demo of Kratos ripping harpies apart looked fantastic!), and a new motion controller that looks like a remote with a light bulb on the end. This new 1:1 motion controller won't be released until Spring 2010 and requires the purchase of the PS Eye with it. Its best feature, aside from the 1:1 movement, is the light bulb changes colors depending on the game and actions you take during the game.

Nintendo may not have been the winner, but it definitely wasn't a loser. Sony on the other hand should just fold up shop at this point like SEGA did after the Dreamcast because the PS3 is going nowhere in terms of innovation. This new motion controller is clearly a rip-off of Nintendo's Wiimote and adds nothing to the gaming experience besides a light bulb. I understand that bright lights and colors often grab people's attention, but I'm pretty sure most gamers will want something with a little more substance in the long haul. Considering that Nintendo's Wiimote will be 1:1 in a few weeks, the Sony motion controller doesn't have any special features that Nintendo hasn't thought of.

The PSP Go! is a direct response the DSi as the inclusion of a touch screen seemed necessary as the DS and its variants are outselling the PSP and its variants at about a 2.5:1 ratio at this point and will most likely continue to as long as the PSP and its variants are $100 more than the DS.

In addition, one of the games they spent the most time on, Mod Nation Racers, is nothing more than a Mario Kart rip off with a create-a-track mode, just shows that Sony has run out of good ideas and is the exact opposite of Nintendo in that they have to rely on their third-party developers to survive because their lack of originality is leaving them floundering in the game community. The fact that the games they announced that were the most interesting, Agent, a Rockstar developed game that deals with international espionage, and God of War III, had the least amount of time spent showcasing them just shows how backwards Sony is at this point in time.

This leaves Xbox 360 as the only one to come out with true blockbuster announcements and reveal an actual step forward in motion sensor technology with Project NATAL, which if when released is anywhere near as good as the demo at E3 was, will fly off shelves like the Wii did with its release over two years ago.

With a little help from Steven Spielberg (yes, that Steven Spielberg) and Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios (of the Fable franchise, who coincidentally, looks like a bad James Bond villain), Xbox 360 unveiled a motion sensor that would eliminate controllers altogether. With graphics reaching their fullest-potential with current technology, the next step in gaming is apparently going to be finding ways to give gamers a more immersive experience beyond the television set. The Nintendo Wii had capitalized on this with their pre-set waggle commands (which the Xbox 360 folks took a bit of a shot at) and this left Xbox 360 asking "what would be the next logical step in gaming technology?". They would give us an answer.

Imagine a sensor that connects to your current Xbox 360 and could scan your face, your clothes, objects in your room, and then follow every motion you make perfectly. You would become the controller. No more rechargeable batteries. No more tripping over cords. No more limitations. As development kits are being shipped as you read this, Xbox 360 showed to everyone at E3 several of the endless possibilities this device could have.

They began by playing a Brickbreaker-type game, where you served as the paddle that would deflect projectiles at the bricks. The woman doing the demonstration danced around in a small circle as she hopped, punched, and kicked her way through the first three levels. It was a simple demonstration, but enough to start making eyes bug out of heads.

The next demonstration reminded me of Mario Paint for the Super Nintendo, a game that debuted almost two decades ago. It was a simple program where your arms served as the brush and your voice commands were recognized when you wanted to go to a more detailed or broader painting tool. An interesting concept, but how many gamers would really drop their hard-earned cash on it?

The demonstration that took my breath away though was done with a small film presented by Molyneux, one of the first to get their hands on the development kits. Peter proceeded to introduce us to "Milo," an A.I. program that responded with original thought to the context of questions and answers it was given and reacted to objects that were scanned into the system, recognizing colors and shapes. This mind boggling revelation means that, in theory, for truly the first time ever, the game could intelligently interact back with you.

It is a bit of a scary thought when you think of all the sci-fi movies that always begin with a benevolent A.I. that runs amok, but also think of the gaming possibilities: Calling out commands to squad mates in Call of Duty, climbing up towers that nearly touch the sky in Assassin's Creed, ducking for cover in Gears of War, all with never pressing anything more than the "on" button.

Of course, I'm sure there are a lot of additions and changes that need to be made before an optimistic release for the Fall of 2010 (and to get the image of SkyNet out of people's minds when they see it ), but Project NATAL's announcement was the left hook that Sony and Nintendo didn't see coming. Nintendo is strong enough to withstand it, I'm not so sure about Sony.

Project NATAL aside though, Xbox 360 also dropped major game and system announcements that will have repercussions throughout the ongoing console wars. The announcement of exclusive relationships with Twitter and Facebook that can be accessed via your Xbox Live account and all Netflix movies coming in at 1080p HD brings Xbox Live to a new level in terms of providing quality entertainment and interactivity to home consoles and this comes at no extra charge to your Xbox Live subscriptions.

Add in the announcements of FF XIII and a new Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, will be coming to Xbox 360 as well as the PS3 is a huge blow to Sony's dwindling exclusives list. This just shows how little of the market Sony is actually appealing to right now and that Xbox 360 is still going strong, even though the Wii is far and away the number-one seller as of this moment.

Aside from snuffing out some of Sony's exclusivity for certain franchises, Xbox 360 also made strong showings from their own exclusive titles as well as a few new ones. The first one, which did not surprise many people, was Forza Motorsport 3. With the promise of over 400 available cars, new tracks, and better controls, this was an expected announcement that had racing fans nodding with approval.

Then the big guns came out. Halo 3: ODST was revealed as expected along with a new Firefight mode that resembles Gears of War 2's Horde mode. As everyone knows by now, ODST is a side-story that follows a new character during the events of the third Halo, expanding on the already rich lore of Xbox's premier franchise. What no one expected though was the announcement of Halo: Reach, another new game in the franchise due out in 2010 that takes you through the fall of humanity's main colony. Although only a teaser was revealed along with the details that it will be a first-person shooter, this announcement shows that the Halo franchise is alive and well and should have Nintendo and Sony a little worried considering how well Halo always does.

Xbox also revealed an Xbox Live exclusive download called Shadow Complex. It reminded me of a Metroid game in that you start off with all your upgraded devices and weapons in the first level, only to lose them all and have to search through a giant complex that you can go forward and back in as much as you want as you find new weapons to open new doors. Considering it is an Xbox Live game, the promise of a 10+ hour campaign, it is made by the guys who brought us Gears of War over at Epic, and that it reminds me of a great classic franchise like Metroid, will have this at the top of my Xbox Live list when it comes out later this year.

The last exclusive that really knocked my socks off was Alan Wake. Set-up almost like a murder mystery TV show, this survival horror game redefines the idea of lighting effects, especially since it is your main weapon in the game. Alan is a novelist who has lost his inspiration and hasn't written anything worthwhile in over two years. His wife suggests a nice relaxing vacation in a backwater town up in the state of Washington. Everything seems picture perfect until Alan's wife disappears and his only clues are pages he keeps finding to a book he hasn't begun to write yet. With a feel like Stephen King meets Silent Hill, this looks like it will be a worthy addition to Xbox's exclusive library in the Spring of 2010.

Along with these exclusive titles and announcements, Xbox also revealed that along with PS3 it will have Tekken 6 and a new re-launch of the Castlevania series that is being developed by Hideo Kojima of the Metal Gear series that people are already comparing to God of War in terms of its style. On top of those announcements, looks at Bioshock 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Fight Night Round 4, Madden '10, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, The Saboteur, Brutal Legend, and Alpha Protocol, which will all be out this year for multiple systems along with the console exclusivity Left 4 Dead 2 (now you can wield an axe!) and Xbox 360 looks very strong in the coming months in terms of their library and the direction they are headed in.

Therefore, as the only system to make an actual technological advancement and to have both strong first- and third-party projects coming out that after a long week of gaming greatness being on display, as the dust has now settled, Xbox 360 walks away the winner after quite possibly their best showing ever.

-Ray Carsillo