Tomorrow, it begins. The lights come up on E3 2008, and the world will know what to expect on their gaming consoles for the next 365 days. At the end of it all, some will be happy, some will be crying, some will be pissed off, and some will be confused. But there’s one thing everyone can agree on: E3 time is the best time of the year. Other than Christmas and my birthday, of course.

I’ll admit the only time I’ve ever been to the LA Convention Center is when I was running around it in S.W.A.T. 3 trying to eliminate the terrorists held up in there. On one hand, I am a bit bummed I couldn’t afford the E3 trip, but if I were there, I wouldn’t be relaxing at all. Heck, I probably won’t be since I’m manning the Blogcritics Gaming Web site while my boss is in Los Angeles for the event.

Still, I am excited, as I have a lot to look forward to this year. Last year was a bit of a let down, but I’m hoping this year will be a bounce back. Though the list below is my 10 best things to be excited about, there is much, much more I’m geeked over right now. And here they are:


Things to be excited about at E3

10.) No Activision. Sure, this also means no Diablo III or StarCraft II, but Blizzard handles all their stuff at BlizzCon anyways, so we probably weren’t going to get a whole lot. While this might make the PC journalists out there sad, it also means we don’t have to deal with Guitar Hero: World Tour and the new Tony Hawk games being slammed down our gullets for 90 minutes. Also, Call of Duty: World at War doesn’t really have my attention too much right now, so I don’t feel like I’m missing much on that. Odd-numbered CoD installments tend to be forgettable, anyways.

9.) Forza 3 finally announced. The racing geek in me is excited about this, just as excited as the first time I saw the Forza 2 teaser trailers. If Turn 10 can deliver a game that pushes data capacity on 360 discs, then I’ll be a happy camper. They also need to adjust the sense of speed and polish up the damage system in the game, both things Codemasters’ GRID kicks Forza 2’s ass in. All that aside, it’ll be nice to see where Forza is being taken this time around and if they can truly deliver that realistic racing experience.

8.) Sony’s keynote. Their last two keynotes fell somewhat flat, but I have a feeling this year is going to have a few interesting surprises. Most of that is because Sony is in third place this generation and needs a strong keynote presentation to a) get people excited about the future of the PS3 and b) counter Microsoft and Nintendo’s expected huge keynotes. I have a feeling Kaz and Co. realize this as well, which is why I expect some huge announcements to come rolling out from Sony at E3 2008. A new Jax and Daxter, Shadow of the Colossus II, Patapon 2, and God of War III are just going to be the iceberg. I expect we will also see the next game in the Uncharted franchise and some brand new IPs from Sony.

7.) WiiWare, wave two. With WiiWare off the ground and running, Nintendo will take the time to tantalize us by showing off the cream of the upcoming WiiWare crop and by announcing a few new WiiWare titles. The two big name grabbers will be the already-known Mega Man 9 (which will have traditional and Wiimote control styles) and the out-of-nowhere announcement that a new 2-D Super Mario Bros. title is coming out… on WiiWare.

6.) Spore, Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space (a.k.a. EA’s keynote). I think this is the first time I can ever remember being excited about EA’s keynote, but they have three games I am incredibly interested in. While I could care less about the latest versions of EA Sports’ games, and while Rock Band 2 is coming out, I have been eating up every bit of info on Spore, Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space. I expect a lot of news on all three, especially the latter two, coming out of this E3. I’m also sure there will be a Spore demo and limited demos of Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space (approx. 5 min in length) at EA’s booth.

5.) Animal Crossing Wii being unveiled to the public for the first time. I have been praying for this to be a MMO for quite some time, and if rumors are true, my prayers have been answered by the gaming gods. Yes, there will be friend codes, but I’m interested to see how Nintendo brings one of their biggest franchises for hardcore and casual gamers alike to their current-gen console. Will there be motion controls for actions like fishing, digging up treasure and catching insects? Will friend codes be pervasive in all areas of the game? Will Tom Nook come after you with a shotgun if you don’t pay up on time? The answers are probably yes to all of them.

4.) The surprises. Everyone loves E3 surprises. You know, the tiger uppercuts that get thrown out of nowhere and connect with the audience for massive damage. Okay, maybe the analogy doesn’t work, but E3 is known for its big surprise reveals, even with smaller crowds and fewer participating companies. Expect some huge haymakers from the Big Three, and maybe some from the bigger third parties like Capcom and EA.

3.) More Street Fighter IV. I’m still bitter Capcom left a number of fighters, including Cammy and Fei Long, out of the arcade port, but all can be forgiven if they announce at E3 that those two characters will be in the console version. Plus, can we see a few more stages and maybe get a demo of the game in action? That would be swell, Capcom. Get to it.

2.) More Fable 2 news and perhaps even more game play videos. Peter Molyneux has made big promises with Fable 2, enough to catch my attention. Now, I want to see if Fable 2 is going to deliver on those promises. The first Fable was a fun, albeit linear title on the Xbox. If Fable 2 turns out to be what good ol’ Pete says, it has a good shot of walking away as a surprise Game of the Year winner, snatching victory from the likes of Fallout 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4.

1.) F-Zero Wii finally being announced. I hope. It’s been five years since we saw a console F-Zero, and almost four since we’ve seen a new F-Zero game, the last one being the Japan-only F-Zero Climax on the Game Boy Advance. My favorite franchise of all time, the game that got me hooked on racing more than Super Mario Kart did, has been left to collect dust while Nintendo’s other big franchises march on.

I’m sick of waiting. Excite Truck was only a temporary fix. I don’t just want a F-Zero game announced at E3… I demand it. I know I’m not alone on this, and I hope Nintendo hears our voice. Ship customization, 30 player simultaneous racing online, the ability to save and share our best racing videos: all these are possible, and no F-Zero Wii game would be complete without them. The Wii lacks a strong racing title right now. If they want us racing fans to stick around, they’d better act on this soon.