E3 "coverage"

So E3 is happening this week and while I won't pretend to be your comprehensive news source, I've kept an eye on a few blogs in Reader and I can tell you what I'm looking forward to. Keep in mind that I'll be renting most everything from GameFly, since I have a fear of commitment. And of spending a ton of money on games that I'll only really play for a few hours. Anyway, here goes.

Halo 3: ODST comes first since it was already on my list (as a draft in Gmail called "games to get") and just got some more information released. I'm not a rabid Halo guy, but I was extremely impressed w/ what they did w/ 3 and I'd like to see more.

A bunch of 2's are next. Red Steel 2 was entertaining enough the first time around and I'm interested to see what they can do with MotionPlus.

Crackdown 2 should be a blast. I didn't even make it through the whole game the first time since it got pretty tough, but I loved jumping around in the open world of the city and destroying stuff. It was pretty much GTA on steroids. The Hulk game had a lot of this too.

Left 4 Dead 2 should be fun. I had a blast with the first and I could use some more. I was sort of curious just to see what they'd name it since there was already a number in the title. I think the whole minimal storytelling part of the game really works for it. You can have an endless number of settings of 4 people all around the world just trying to survive despite the zombies.

Mario Galaxy 2 makes sense. Why wouldn't you make a sequel to the best platformer in 10 years or so? Super Mario Brothers Wii is even more interesting. Now you can finally make Mario jump higher when you lift the controller like we've all been doing for 20 years (you know you have). Nintendo completely understands its roots. And how to make money off them. I can't complain when the games are so dang fun, though.

Metroid: Other M seems like an odd title, but it's a good direction for the franchise to go. 2-D Metroid games are still fun. I enjoyed the heck out of Zero Mission and Fusion.

Finally, and XBLA game that piqued my interest: Shadow Complex. Mention Metroid and Contra in the same breath and you've got my attention.

I've certainly missed some things, but these are just what stood out from the coverage I saw. Enjoy!