Genre: RPG/RTS
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Liquid Entertainment
Release Date: Summer 2005

One of the weirder revelations coming out of this year's E3, if you're as big a damn nerd as I am – and you aren't, so don't even try to step to this – is that the new Dungeons & Dragons PC games -- Dungeons & Dragons Online and Dragonshard -- are set on, of all places, Eberron.

This is one of the few memorable campaign settings to come out since D&D's third edition hit shelves, because it is, in a way, a fantasy world taken to its natural

Genre: Racing
Publisher: Namco
Developer: Eutechnyx
Release Date: June 2006

Add an extremely popular movie franchise to one of the most popular genres, and you end up with a game that promises to fly off of the shelves. It helps that the movies are speed-oriented adrenaline fests full of pedal-to-the-metal racing and customized top-of-the-line automobiles, as those are the things that lead to success in the racing genre.

The newest "Fast and the Furious" movie is focused around drifting, a type of racing that requires the drivers to intentionally come close to losing control, while literally sliding around

Genre: FPS
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bungie
Release Date: September 25, 2007

With the multiplayer beta giving Halo 3 all the bonus buzz it would need to keep gamers at bay until September, Microsoft opted for low-key presentations at E3, keeping the game in a dark room for the huddled masses to watch (but not play). Much like the Fable 2 meeting, this was not meant as a comprehensive overview of the game — not only is Halo beyond such things, but Bungie is also attempting to keep a Grand Theft Auto level of secrecy

Genre: RPG
Publisher: Square-Enix
Developer: Square-Enix
Release Date: TBA

One of the titles I anticipated most before this year's E3 was Kingdom Hearts II, which picks up the story a year after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The Heartless are back once again, but so are Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Some of the supporting characters from the original game have returned, as well as a few new friends.

For me, Kingdom Hearts was always about two things: the gameplay, and the joy of seeing the Square-Enix characters working with the Disney characters. As far as gameplay goes, a lot of

Genre: Action/Adventure
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Redwood Studios
Release Date: Fall 2005

They all just make it look so easy, don't they? The mob, that is. Control of underground criminal activities, a reach that spans cities, the power to make or break lives within minutes, manpower to call their own … oh, yeah, it's incredible.

Most movie mobs, however, don't show you the nitty-gritty side of things, just the raids and the gunshots and the thick accents. But what about getting there? Isn't that half the fun?

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were organized crime empires. There's

Genre: Social Interaction/Dating
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Release Date: Spring 2007

Okay. I don't know about you guys, but I, like, so totally hated high school. Check this: in a school full of nerds, I still didn't fit in! What kind of ironic garbage is that? I was, like, a complete and total prodigy anywhere else, yet a doofus at the actual place of learning I was eventually sent to. What a joke.

(…wow, "ironic?" Like, ohmigod, total vocab word alert! I should seriously save it.)

Anyway, if you're, like, like me, then you seriously want to check

Beatmania

Genre: Puzzle/Rhythm
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Release Date: TBA

Konami has finally started bringing their music games stateside, which means that we gaming fiends can finally experience Beatmania. I'm hoping that this will start a trend, forcing Namco to import more Taiko goodness, and Konami to bring over DrumMania and Guitar Freaks.

For those who are new to Beatmania, the game is Konami's version of deejaying. It plays like Dance Dance Revolution, but instead of using your feet, you are using your hands to hit the keys of their deejay controller, basically a turntable and seven buttons. At the Konami booth, they

Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Publisher: TBA
Developer: Left Behind Games
Release Date: Q4 2006

From Troy Lyndon, the developer of the original John Madden Football, comes a new RTS set in the universe of the hit Christian book series, "Left Behind." Lyndon, who has served the ministry for a number of years and has a track record full of game development and managerial experience, is perhaps the perfect choice for executing the new Christian-driven game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces. Without the religious theme, Eternal Forces would have been a solid RTS with some interesting gameplay mechanics and a

Get the MechAssault: Phantom War Trailer off WP (12mb)

MechAssault: Phantom War brings the future of interstellar combat to today’s handheld gamers in a third-person futuristic shooter. Players assume the role of a MechWarrior, an elite fighter trained to control the ultimate war machine of the 32nd century...the BattleMech. Gamers experience fast-action, 3D ‘Mech combat on the top screen, while the lower touch screen positions them inside the cockpit at the controls.

The year is 3134 and after 60 years of peace and prosperity, the Republic of the Sphere is now living in a dark age of ex-communication. Nearly all Hyperpulse

Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: Square-Enix
Developer: tri-ACE
Release Date: Q4 2005

One of the pleasant surprises about E3 was the presence of the special Radiata Stories localized demo. This game caused quite a stir when it was launched in Japan, debuting at #2 on the sales charts and receiving some astronomical review scores from Famitsu. Import fans were more divided on it; while the game was enjoyable, it was almost totally unlike anyone's expectations. A lot of the micro-management that fans expect from RPGs was simply not there, replaced with what was obviously an experiment in Western-style, open-ended gameplay

Genre: Racing
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Pseudo Interactive
Release Date: Q4 2005

Now this will involve thinking way back, the length of which being painful for some to attempt, but think back to when you were little. Remember how you had the Matchbox cars and imagined them racing each other and doing whatever was necessary to cross the finish line first? Missiles making opponents fly into heaps of rubble, explosions, and ridiculous amounts of violence? Maybe it's just my childhood that was as strange…

In either case, Pseudo Interactive has captured that same wanton destructive glee and digitized it in the

Genre: Action
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date: Q1 2007

The Prettiest, Noblest Assassin

If you set aside all things Nintendo in their own special, line-hundreds-deep category, the non-Wii-related star of E3 2006 belonged to Ubisoft. The Assassin's Creed demo chamber barely contained the frenzy of last-minute glimpse-seekers during the waning hours of the show. As if the situation weren't dire enough already, Steven Spielberg and a small entourage arrived just in time to commandeer the room for 30 precious minutes while all of us who didn't direct "Munich" hassled the PR people for a good position

JAWS, from Universal Pictures and Steven Spielberg, broke all box office records to become one of the highest grossing films of its time. The movie has had a lasting impact spanning decades and now JAWS Unleashed is poised to recapture the horror of being preyed upon by the most feared creature in the ocean. JAWS Unleashed recreates scenes and character spinoffs from the movie while allowing the player to experience the JAWS universe from a unique perspective—that of the Great White Shark.

Amity Island is growing, making corporate connections with prestigious companies like Environplus to improve the Island’s economy. Unfortunately the

Get the Switchball [X360/PC] trailer off WP (33mb)

Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade late this summer and currently available for the PC on popular online gaming portals, Switchball challenges players to control an ever-changing ball along a narrow and challenging course suspended in midair. A polymorphous ball exhibits different physical characteristics as it changes form as either a standard Marbleball, a feather-light Airball, an electrically charged Powerball or a dense and powerful Metalball. Players will have to solve their way through challenging levels packed with tricky obstacles, traps and mazes. With beautifully rendered 3D environments including Skyworld, Iceworld,

Genre : Action
Publisher: SCI
Developer: SCI
Release Date: November 2005

"So," the PR agent said, "have you ever seen I’m Gonna Get You Sucka?"

That was what first got my attention about Total Overdose, because truly, that film is the Wayans brothers’ magnum opus. What kept my attention was the insanity that followed.

Total Overdose is a sort of demented cross between Robert Rodriguez’s Mexican Westerns, i.e. Desperado, and Max Payne, with a lot of room for improvisation, a Mexican hiphop soundtrack (featuring bands like Control Machete), and a lot of points for style. You begin the game as an

Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Relic Entertainment
Release Date: September 19, 2006

What Would a 30-Ton Tank Do?

The conventions of World War II-themed games have become so persistent and commonplace that the act of discerning cliché from authenticity is a grand struggle in its own right. Everyman heroes, squadmate drama, clear distinctions between good and evil that let you enjoy the shooting without much regard for the corpses piling up, forever referencing the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan – it's all endlessly recombined to balance the intensity-versus-authenticity equation in new ways that keep gamers

Genre: Racing
Publisher: Koei
Developer: Koei
Release Date: November 17, 2006

Of all of the titles slated to ship alongside the launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 console, Koei's Fatal Inertia looks to be one of the standout titles. Set in the 23rd century, Fatal Inertia is based on a sport that involves pilots flying around at incredible speeds and taking each other down, all in the name of honor and glory. At this year's E3, we got to talk with some members of the Koei team to check out their fast-paced racer, which is set to hit

Genre: RTS
Publisher: TBA
Developer: SEK/Sunflowers
Release Date: TBA

No, it isn't the "Land of the Lost," but the world of Sunflowers' upcoming real-time strategy title, Paraworld, will certainly remind you of it. It's a land of dinosaurs and ancient tribes anachronistically juxtaposed with modern humans with shotguns and smug grins. It's a land that time forgot, but one that Sunflowers hopes you won't.

Paraworld is an example of the action RTS – a game of building a base, collecting resources, creating an army, and crushing your enemy without mercy. Other than the dinosaur theme, there are a

Get the Huxley trailer off WP (80mb)

Webzen introduces Huxley for the PC and Xbox 360™, the first game to allow console players and PC players to go head-to-head in first-person shooter (FPS) battles on a massively multiplayer scale.

In a post-apocalyptic world human beings have mutated and divided into Sapiens, Alternatives and Hybrids. The Sapiens and Alternatives both battle for control of the Earth’s resources as the Hybrids, a mysterious third race, fight for their very survival. In the PC game, players take on the role of the Sapiens or Alternative. On the Xbox 360™ they enter the game as

Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Gas Powered Games
Release Date: Q1 2007

The Strategic Possibilities of Deluded Megalomania

The Gas Powered Games crew, including Chris Taylor of classic real-time strategy game Total Annihilation fame, really know how to get a point across. That title hit PCs in 1997, and a decade's worth of anticipation and expectation awaits the arrival of Supreme Commander, the Taylor-led PC RTS due out early next year. The Supreme Commander show at the THQ pre-E3 summit was a presentation, not a demo. Still, the sense of scale and the-galaxy's-at-stake drama emerged convincingly from