Genre: Action-Adventure
Publisher: Vivendi-Universal
Developer: Stormfront Studios
Release Date: Fall 2006

Buoyed by the sudden interest in fantasy fiction that followed in the wake of the Lord of the Rings movies and the monstrous success of Harry Potter, Christopher Paolini's Eragon novels soared to the tops of the bestseller lists despite being written by a fifteen-year-old and being arguably quite derivative. 20th Century Fox promptly snapped up the rights to make an Eragon film, and a veritable deluge of Eragon related media - the film, the final novel of the trilogy, and a video game - are all poised

Genre: Action
Publisher: Sega
Developer: From Software
Release Date: July 2006

It's time to take smashing each other with giant robots to the next level.

From Software's Chrome Hounds is a next-generation squad-based shooter, the first mech game for the Xbox 360, and offers you the opportunity to go after your friends with huge, customizable robots. It's hard to find anything wrong with this.

In an alternate universe where the Cold War ended in the decimation of the planet, you take on the role of a mercenary participating in a conflict between nations, as a member of one

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

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

Genre: Action/Platform
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Release Date: Fall 2006

Wouldn't you know it? The people who loved the 2.5D action of Sonic Rush (which includes yours truly) are about to be thrown another bone: Sonic Rivals is coming to the PSP. For those wondering what it's like, picture non-stop servings of the two-player versus mode zone-races in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Now imagine the aggression turned up a notch, and there you go.

Sonic, Shadow, Silver and Knuckles the Echidna will each be getting their own storylines, and will participate in one-on-one races through

Genre: Action
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Epic Games
Release Date: TBA

Microsoft's theme for E3 2006 was to show off all of its big titles in playable form, and when it comes down to big titles, they don't get any bigger than Gears of War. Last year, we got an early look at one of the single-player levels, but this year, we got to see a much more complete version of the single-player mode. We also got the chance to go hands-on with one of the multiplayer modes.

The madness all started off when Cliff Bleszinski from Epic

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: 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: 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: 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