Since most of the big announcements and showings at E3 have passed (Activision and Konami are all that's left, meh), I've pretty much made up my mind on what stands out that's coming this holiday season. These are them:

Fallout 3
Easily my most anticipated title as of now. I love Oblivion, and I love every bit of footage that I see for this game. I love post-apocalypse games, and Washington D.C. is one of my favorite cities. VATS is totally chill (although I hope that I won't use it too much), and last night I saw Todd Howard shoot an enemy's torso off of the rest of her body with a teddy bear. Immediate ejaculation. I admit that I've never played a Fallout game before, but this seems like the perfect time to start.

Prince of Persia
Simply put, this game is a piece of art. The first big thing I noticed when I saw this game was the blue in the Prince's scarf. I know that's weird and all, but it was the first time I saw such a beautiful color in a game since Endless Ocean. Plus, unlike Endless Ocean, it has gameplay. Seriously, the color pallette in this game is jaw-dropping. I also really trust this franchise, and the people making it.



Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Again with the color palette. This game isn't a shooter. In fact, it's a platformer, something you haven't seen done well on an XBOX since Psychonauts (someone's gonna correct me on that). Just like everyone else, I'm a little afraid that Rare might make it more about vehicles than classic Banjo platforming, but their going to have a hard time messing this one up for me.

Mega Man 9
I'm getting it on WiiWare. Not much to say. It's a ten dollar game that, between difficulty and nostalgia, is going to blow my nuts off.

Animal Crossing: Village People
I know it's really City Folk, I was just kidding. Village People, get it? I'm getting this because I loved it on Gamecube and I know that I'll have a good hundred hours to spend on it by the time the next one comes out. I'm not, however, getting the thirty dollar "communtiy" voice chat system. Bullshit Nintendo, bullshit.

Mirror's Edge
This is the last time I say the words "color palette" in this article, although it really is something that gets me going. Mirror's Edge is the opposite of every dark, gritty WW2 shooter out there. It's crisp, clean, and delivers a new kind of first-person gameplay. I just hope they nail the combat, or at least it doesn't suck.

Portal: Still Alive
YES!!! I didn't get to play Portal because I got the Orange Box on PC before I got my 360 and Portal was the only game that wouldn't run well on it. Can't wait.

Far Cry 2 or Gears of War 2
I can only fit in so many shooters, as I'm barely a fan of the genre, and Far Cry seems to stand out the most as of now.

In a perfect world, I will have all these games by the end of the year. I probably wont have enough money to get past the first four (and Portal), but who knows?

By the way, I'd like to take a second to laugh about Capcom's conference rather than making a separate post. Haha.