Now that final game announcements are coming in from major players in the gaming industry, I’ve compiled a list of the major titles being shown by each of the big players, and what they’ll need to have in their booths to secure the coveted "Company of the Show" award. I’ve also stumbled upon a half-finished article I began writing shortly after last year’s E3; my favorite moments from the show. Enjoy!

We’ll start with the company that got my "Best of 2000 E3" nod. Unfortunately for Sega, it appears that their 3^rd party support has packed their bags and gone home. However, with the exception of Capcom, Sega has always been their own number one supporter, and that’s no different this year. Sega has confirmed most of the titles I want to see, such as Outtrigger, 18 Wheeler, Shenmue II, Crazy Taxi 2, Alien Front Online and the interesting online multiplayer game Ooga Booga. It’s a strong line-up, but there are no surprises. I also can’t help but notice that Samba de Amigo 2000 is not listed among their planned titles. For Sega to rock my world next week, I’m going to need to get some hands-on time with Toejam & Earl 3 and Phantasy Star Online ver. 2. Otherwise Sega will have a strong showing, but sadly not enough to make them a contender for my "Company of the Show" award.

Like it or not, Sony is going to have some mighty tasty games in their booth this year. Even Sony themselves have a couple of hot prospects to show this year in Gran Turismo 3 and Twisted Metal Black. Capcom weighs in next with the highly anticipated Devil May Cry, their action-oriented trip into survival horror. Crave’s The Lost might be worth checking out as well; early press seems to indicate a strong game experience based heavily on past games like Silent Hill and the Resident Evil series. Electronic Arts is looking to repeat their PS2 performance from last year – it looks like the only quality title they have to show in Sony’s booth is SSX DVD, a rehashed "director’s cut" version of the game many people called the only reason to own a PS2 in 2000. Man, I hope this director’s cut nonsense doesn’t catch on… moving along, Eidos will show two new games in the Legacy of Kain series, and you know what? I couldn’t care less. I think that the first game was okay, the second was overrated, and Eidos is going to run Kain into the ground just like they did Tomb Raider… Koei has Kessen 2, which seems to take a fantasy-based approach to military tactics (with spells and flying soldiers), and could be fun, as long as it’s not as freaking boring as the original. They’re also going to show Gitaroo Man, their first foray into musical rhythm, which stars a guitar-wielding superhero. I am so there. Konami doesn’t need to do much more than rest on the assured success of Metal Gear Solid 2 this year, but they’ve upped the ante by throwing Silent Hill 2 into the mix as well. I’ve heard rumors of a PS2 Dance Dance Revolution being shown, but they haven’t officially announced it. Yet. Majesco (Majesco?) is bringing two solid PC first person shooters over. Soldier of Fortune and Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force are headed to PS2, where the mouse and keyboard deprived can attempt to play them with PS2 controllers. And claim that they like it. Namco is all about Klonoa 2 this year. The first game was fantastic (and also kind of nostalgic for me, as it was my first job for Tips & Tricks) and I have high hopes for the sequel. I just hope that Namco doesn’t pull out a surprise Tekken 4 shoeing, as that game will surely drain my lifeforce and send me running from their booth. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Half-Life for GameBoy Color, but Sierra will have the PS2 version at the show. Squaresoft. Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XI. I don’t think anything more needs to be said here. I think that Sony has a solid lock on Company of the Show, based on the merits of the games listed above. However, they could practically lock it in with playable Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 kiosks.

Yeah, it’s looking kind of bleak for the old Playstation. Infogrames has the new Alone in the Dark title, always a safe bet, and Squaresoft is dusting off Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger for their Final Fantasy Chronicles. Namco has Time Crisis: Project Titan, and entirely derivative entry into the GunCon series which nonetheless still manages to provide some fun.

Like Sega, Nintendo has always been their own best friend, and they’ve announced new titles in the Metroid and Zelda series for GameCube. Unless they suck (and what are the chances?), those two games alone could secure a Best Company nod for the Big N. But wait, there’s (not much) more! A sequel to my favorite snowboarding game, 1080º, is also in the works, and Capcom will show Resident Evil Zero…again… this time for GameCube. Oh yeah, Lucasarts will have a little something called Rogue Squadron 2 there as well. Five solid games, maybe a surprise or two? How about Super Smash Brothers 2? It’s announced, but not certain to be at the show.

Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 and Atlus’ Super Dodgeball Advance are where you’ll find me in the GBA portion of Nintendo’s booth. I’ve seen video of the new Hawk game running, and all I can say is "Sweet mama it looks good." As for Super Dodgeball Advance, well, just say it out loud with me – "Super Dodgeball Advance. SUPER DODGEBALL ADVANCE!" We’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time. Capcom will have some cool stuff to show as well ,and I’ll be scooping out Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Final Fight One and Mega Man Battle Network. I’m not sold on the new direction of Mega Man as virtual pet, but Capcom has yet to let me down with a Mega Man game… well, all right, they let me down once with Legends…I’ve heard mixed things about Konami’s Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, but this game is still up there on my list of must haves for the GBA, along with a new Contra title. Could it happen? Could it be at E3? Who knows? Namco is busting out a Klonoa game for the sharp portable, and that’s never a bad thing. Nintendo themselves have what you’d expect – Super Mario Advance, Mario Kart Advance, and God help us all, they’ve announced a new Pokemon game, so I can look forward to hordes of little kids (who are absolutely, positively, strictly not allowed into E3 but somehow always manage to get in) keeping me from getting to all the good GBA games. Jedi Power Battles from THQ? Those of you who thought that LucasArt’s PS version sucked, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Nobody does "suck" like THQ.

Dropped like an ugly baby.

Microsoft is the dark horse in this year’s E3. Nobody has really gotten a feel for the games or the system, and this is the first opportunity for many of us to really check XBox out. Activision’s Tony Hawk 2X is as good a start as any. The game’s gonna feature all of the levels from both the first and second PS Hawk games, and add some new stuff to certain levels, like a control tower to Hawk 2’s Hangar stage. And it’ll look better. It’s a good time to be a Tony Hawk fan. To be honest, though, in looking down the lists of announced XBox titles, nothing is really jumping out at me. Halo is one I have to play, but it’s been coming for so long now that I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed. LucasArts is foisting their "not good enough for the PC" Obi-Wan onto the XBox, because console gamers are used to lousy Star Wars games, I guess. They’re also pulling a "special edition re-release" with Starfighter. Sega has a couple of interesting prospects in Jet Grind Future and Gun Valkyrie. Of course, Tecmo’s Dead or Alive 3 is going to be a showstopper for me. There are also a couple of games I haven’t seen anything on, which could easily go either way – Midway’s Mortal Kombat 5 and Ubi Soft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon. I’d love to see Mortal Kombat go back to its 2D roots, but I seriously doubt that’ll be happening… as for the Clancy game, well, let’s just say that Clancy’s Rogue Spear remains one of my favorite PC games to this day, and I’d love to see something along those lines. Microsoft also snagged that juicy Matrix license, and they’re going to show something. I don’t think that Microsoft has a shot at Best of Show this year. Looking at their lineup, I see a lot of older games getting makeovers and being trotted out for XBox. It’s going to take something truly innovative, groundbreaking and, get this – unique, to make me think of XBox as anything other than Microsoft’s "me-too" game platform at this point.

Actually, I had more fun soaking in the atmosphere and meeting some of the people at the E3 than I did playing the games. Kind of funny, really. Here are my top 10 moments from the show, once again, in no particular order:

Meeting Bruce Campbell – From the size of the line waiting to meet him, I figured that pretty much everyone at the show was a Bruce fan. Luckily, some guy from Segadojo spotted me just as I got into line, so I had someone to talk to during the hour plus wait. As I expected, Bruce was a great guy, and even after signing autographs and posing for pictures for as long as he had, he was nothing but nice when my turn rolled around. Bruce was kind enough to pose for me (if you want a print of the picture, just let me know).

Shigeru Miyamoto sighting – After meeting Bruce, that guy from Segadojo and I headed over to a bathroom. As I washed my hands, I looked to my right and spotted Miyamoto heading past me toward the restroom exit. He was alone, which is unusual, and headed straight back to the Nintendo camp after leaving the facilities. I basked in the glory of the creator of Donkey Kong and Mario! Woo!

Gary Coleman Beatdown – UGO held a "Beat Gary Coleman" contest, which many spectators were hoping to take literally. However, instead of taking pipes and 2X4s to the diminutive television personality, contestants were offered the opportunity to play Dead or Alive 2 (PS2 version) against Coleman. I have to say, Gary was polite and surprisingly into the game. On the day I jumped into line to take my chances against the man, Gary continued playing well past the announced cutoff time. Even more surprisingly, Gary is good at the game. Aparently, the guy’s really into his games. I took my Jann Lee into the arena against his Helena and he held his own, taking a 2-1 victory.

T-Games – Okay, this wasn’t really a part of E3, but it was a part of my experience in L.A. over the weekend. After the show, Ara Shirinian, longtime pal and co-worker at Tips & Tricks, a couple of other guys and myself decided to make some import game runs. This was mainly so I could scratch my "must buy Guitar Freaks" itch. We hit a little hole in the wall shop called T-Games, which turned out to be an incredible place. Imports for just about every system were in huge supply, and I was bowled over by the quantity of games packed into the tiny store. I found my Guitar Freaks, missed the opportunity to pick up Tobal 2 for $30, and we were on our way.

Meeting "ECM" from GameFan – Upon arriving in L.A., my T&T co-workers informed me that some of the editors at GameFan were really, really pissed off at me for some things I’d said about their magazine in an old fanzine of mine. I was kind of surprised, since none of them had ever approached me with their complaints, although they had apparently called up some of the editors at T&T to complain about me. I found this behavior to be rather cowardly, so I made it a point to introduce myself to Eric Mylonas (aka "ECM"), the head ed at GameFan. I ran into George Ngo (aka "Eggo") at Sega’s party the night before E3 started, and he was very friendly and talkative… until someone told him who I was, and then his demeanor toward me turned icy. See, I’d e-mailed him some time before asking how he could recommend import RPGs to his readers without at least warning them of the language barriers they’d be facing after they shelled out upwards of $80 to buy the games. Apparently, rather than respond to my question in a mature fashion, George also ran crying to the guys at T&T. Oh well. Anyway, I found Eric at the GameFan booth, shook his hand, and chatted a bit about pseudonyms, the differences between constructive and malicious criticisms, and asked him if we couldn’t just put the whole thing behind us. His reply was more rolling of the eyeballs than I thought humanly possible, but he seemed like a nice enough guy.

Sega! – Sega’s booth smoked all others. Although it was a little bit on the crowded side, they had so much stuff packed into it that you couldn’t complain. A huge stage where they rolled out dance shows, Space Channel 5 dancing girls, and the games! This was easily Sega’s best showing of games, ever. And easily the Best Company of the Show. Nobody else came close.

Tony Hawk 2 – If there was one console game I walked away from E3 just itching to play the heck out of, this was it. Luckily for me, I got that chance just a couple of months later when I was chosen to do the strategy for the game. I’m going into E3 2001 with similar feelings about Tony Hawk 3.

Diablo II – This was the only PC game I was interested in at the show. It came out about a month and a half after E3 and I’m still playing it on almost a daily basis, now that Kristie has discovered a passion for the game. We’re anxiously awaiting the expansion due later this summer.