Genre: Sports / Golf
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Release Date: Fall 2005

In the mist of video franchises for more popular sports such as football (Madden) and basketball (NBA Live), EA's Tiger Woods series of games has always been somewhat off to the side, discreetly making strides for those who like their sports a little quieter than most. They simultaneously strive for both accurate simulation and for accessibility, with the random fun feature thrown in for good measure. The series is now making its way to the next-generation systems, and we were able to take a

Enchanted Arms

Genre: RPG
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: From Software
Release Date: August 2006

Come On, What Was Wrong with [eM] -eNCHANT arM-?

Horse armor and wizards' towers won't keep Oblivion players saddled up forever. Well, maybe they will, but at some point, you'll need to take a breather and find something other than shutting down Oblivion Gates to do with your Xbox 360 role-playing time. Excellent RPG alternatives remain scarce, much as they always were on the original Xbox, so it was disappointing to find the Enchanted Arms demo station somewhat under-mobbed next to the tangle of squirming E3 attendees trying

Get the Splinter Cell Double Agent E3 2006 Trailer off WP (37mb)

The best-selling Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell® saga takes on an entirely new direction. In the highly anticipated sequel to the 2005 game of the year, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent™, play as a double agent spy for the first time ever. Take on dual roles of covert operative and ruthless terrorist, where your choices of whom to betray and whom to protect actually affect the outcome of your game.

Experience the relentless tension and gut-wrenching dilemmas of life as a double agent. Lie. Kill. Sabotage. Betray.

Genre: Action/Puzzle
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Vigil Games
Release Date: 2009

Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda franchise is among the most highly praised in the video game industry. Even the worst titles (barring the non-Nintendo produced CD-I exclusives) are among some of the top-rated games, and Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time is still the best-rated title of all time. For some reason, there aren't many attempts to copy The Legend of Zelda's success. The games that follow the Zelda mold are few and far between, and the only really notable one in the last few years

Genre: RPG
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Lionhead Games
Release Date: TBA 2008

Peter Molyneux has earned himself a curious reputation of making promises he can't keep in regards to his unreleased projects, but while the half-hearted backlash hasn't stopped the legendary developer from making prognostications, his most recent one leaves quite a bit of wiggle room.

"Fable 2 will be finished sometime next year... at 4:20 am," he said, opening a guided demo presentation of the massive (and massively anticipated) sequel. "Can't tell you the day, but I can tell you the time."

At least he still has

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

NGC/PS2/Xbox/PC

Xbox 360

Genre: Action
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Tiburon
Release Date: Q4 2006

The first thing I thought of when I saw Superman Returns, frankly, is that certain people are going to have an absolute ball with it.

The second thing I thought of, regrettably, was Superman's video game record. With the arguable exception of the arcade quarter-muncher, no game based on the Superman license has ever aspired to or reached anything better than utter mediocrity.

Like Spider-Man before it, Superman Returns is a free-roaming action game set in 80 square miles of city. As Superman, you've got

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

Get the Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PS2/Xbox/PS3/X360) Trailer off WP (71mb)

Reengineered from the ground up for Sony and Microsoft’s next-generation consoles, Tony Hawk’s Project 8 immerses players in the definitive skateboarding experience using ultra-realistic graphics, enhanced physics and extremely responsive controls that simulate the feeling of skating with every trick and bail. The game challenges players to experience the intensity and pressure of skating against some of the world’s top pros in true to life competitions as they aim to become the #1 skater and establish their town as a skateboard destination. Delivering continuous skating action in a free-roaming

Genre: Action/RPG
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Raven Software
Release Date: Q4 2006

Hey, remember all the fun you had playing the X-Men Legends games? Activision, which employs few if any fools, does, and they wish to hook you up again. This time, they’re expanding that style of gameplay to the greater Marvel Universe, and to pretty much every console you can think of.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is the story of what happens when Dr. Doom reunites the Masters of Evil, and proceeds to attempt to mess up the wider Marvel Universe. In the face of such a threat, Nick

Your world…Your rules! In Just Cause, you are a field operative and specialist in regime change backed by a top US secret government agency who will overthrow the corrupt government of San Esperito. The rogue South American state is suspected of stockpiling Weapons of Mass Destruction, and it’s your mission to negate the threat this poses to world peace. It could be to your advantage that the tropical paradise is about to implode as various factions vie for power – it just needs a gentle nudge in the right direction.

Just Cause offers the freedom to tackle your assignments

Genre: RPG
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: BioWare
Release Date: November 2007

Mass Effect may be the most highly anticipated Xbox 360 title to not be spawned from an established franchise, but the universe-exploring RPG has something else going for it that might be worth as much as a million-selling predecessor: the BioWare logo emblazoned on its packaging. More importantly, BioWare’s trademarked style of highly customizable experiences, introduced to console gamers with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, infuses every inch of Mass Effect, its most ambitious project to date.

Following three-plus years

Genre: Racing
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studio
Developer: Bizarre Creations
Release Date: September 2007

Project Gotham Racing 3 was an undisputed hit, both from a commercial and critical standpoint, but there was a distinctive air of exclusivity behind it — almost an arrogance, if you will. By limiting the vehicle selection to those that could reach speeds of 170mph or more (i.e., cars that most of us will never own), any semblance of a learning curve was swiftly axed, as even the most basic car was difficult to control. That didn't stop the Xbox 360 launch title

Agent 47 is back and this time he's paid in cold, hard cash. How the money is spent will affect his passage through the game and the weapons at his disposal, resulting in a unique gameplay experience for each player. Powered by a new version of Io's stunning Glacier engine, Hitman: Blood Money will deliver the most brutal and realistic simulation of life as the world's deadliest assassin.

In Hitman: Blood Money, Agent 47 finds himself in the midst of a war between two rival contract agencies. When assassins from his contract agency, the ICA, are systematically eliminated in

BattleStations: Midway is an immense action game that drops players into massive air, sea, and undersea battles from Pearl Harbor to Midway. Players command massive fleet attacks and take direct, real-time, control of every plane, battleship, and submarine in the battle.

Battlestations: Midway’s blends intense 3rd-person action with epic, large-scale naval combat and brings to life the great Pacific battles of the World War II. From the chaos of Pearl Harbor, through the Philippines, Java and the Coral Sea all the way to the epic Battle of Midway.

Innovative gameplay lets players take direct control of over 60 different warships,

Genre: Action/Puzzle
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Namco Bandai
Release Date: Fall 2007

No seismic shift occurred between the original Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari for the PlayStation 2, and the PSP iteration, Me & My Katamari, did little to disrupt the balance of simplistic gameplay and quirky storytelling established back in 2004. Beautiful Katamari for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 looks to continue this trend of complacency, expanding the role of the multiplayer game while generally maintaining the same style and feel of its predecessors.

As in previous Katamari entries, the name of the game is

Genre: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bungie
Release Date: September 22, 2009

Halo has always been the story of the Master Chief; it began with him waking up from cryostasis, and it ends the same way. The Halo universe however doesn't quite revolve around the Master Chief, as a number of the side materials, such as the novels and comics, also involve other characters. The first game to feature a story that didn't center on Master Chief was Halo Wars, and even that focused heavily on his fellow Spartans. Halo 3: ODST is unique

Genre: Racing
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Turn 10
Release: October 29, 2009

I didn't know what to expect at the Forza Motorsport 3 demo at E3, and not only because I haven't played the previous two iterations, but because we weren't actually told beforehand that the hush-hush appointment would be the Forza 3 demo. After checking out the game and chatting with one of the lead designers, though, Forza 3 certainly looks to be an impressive piece of work.

The developer immediately set forth the very interesting argument that there is no such thing as "arcade" versus "simulation"

Genre: Stealth Action
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date: September 2006

There are tons of Splinter Cell games, or at least it feels that way. Somehow, Ubisoft can keep a new one hitting every 18 months (or so) and still leave the gameplay feeling fresh and fans satisfied. The upcoming Splinter Cell: Double Agent seems to be no exception to this general rule. Plenty of what goes on in the story and gameplay should feel familiar to fans of the Splinter Cell titles, but there are also some striking differences from previous entries in the

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