Power Up: No stunners, some excitement

I spent the better part of last week in Los Angeles at the video-game industry's annual trade show, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The event is commonly referred to by gamers as E3.

While the show has been drastically downsized since 80,000 game industry and media types streamed past its exhibits in 2006, E3 remains an important milestone on the gaming calendar. It's a time for game publishers to showcase their coming games and maybe even drop a few surprises.

This year, however, the surprises were not quite as stunning as in years past. Chief among the nuggets unveiled at the show was word that the controversial

Grand Theft Auto

series would be coming to Nintendo's DS handheld when

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

was launched this winter. Unfortunately, secretive publisher Rockstar Games showed no footage of the game.

Also newsworthy was Microsoft's announcement that the long-awaited role-playing game

Final Fantasy XIII

will appear on Xbox 360. The series has been exclusive to Sony consoles since the days of the original PlayStation. The PS3 will also be getting its version of the game. But Sony's failure to retain

FFXIII

as an exclusive indicates that the company is still trying to get on top of losses generated by the PlayStation 3 launch.

Speaking of the PS3, Sony announced that it would begin selling its 80-gigabyte model for $399, a $100 price reduction. Unfortunately, the new iteration will have no backward compatibility with PlayStation 2 and PlayStation titles. It seems that Sony has abandoned this promise, most likely due to manufacturing costs associated with the PS3. Another Sony disappointment involved its failure to release much hard information on PlayStation Home, its long-awaited graphical interface for online gaming. The good news about the service is that it will enter beta testing later this year.

Microsoft, which already has the best online interface for console gaming with Xbox Live, announced that it was completely overhauling the look and feel of Live. The update will be more user-friendly, offer improved community features, and allow players to select a graphic avatar to represent them online.

Like its console competitors, Nintendo offered surprisingly little news at E3. Its most notable announcement was that the coming Wii Music would have more than 50 simulated instruments. The easy-to-play game looks perfect for those who are frustrated by the level of dexterity required by music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Nintendo also showed off the Wii Motion Plus, a hardware add-on that improves the accuracy of the Wiimote controller.

So what was most exciting at E3? Here are my Top 10:

1.

Fallout 3

. The post-apocalyptic role-playing game combines campy, 1950s humor with a dose of the old ultraviolence for PC, PS3, Xbox 360.

2.

Spore.

At long last, we get to play the latest creation from Will Wright, famed designer of

The Sims

(PC).

3.

Little Big Planet.

Wide-open game play and endless user creativity highlight this coming PS3 title.

4.

Mirror's Edge.

Dizzying first-person acrobatics highlight this game set in a bleak, government-monitored future. You play as a courier delivering messages to evade official eavesdropping. Inspired by the Patriot Act?

5.

Guitar Hero World Tour

. The

Guitar Hero

series' answer to

Rock Band

features a more impressive drum kit, improved guitar controller, and music studio software that lets players create their own rock-and-roll hits.

6.

Wii Music.

Those who can't read or play a note in real life can still make music just by moving the Wiimote controller.

7.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO.

Not officially an E3 announcement, but the CEO of Electronic Arts let slip to Conde Nast Portfolio last week that the beloved

Star Wars

role-playing series was going the massively multiplayer route, a la World of Warcraft.

8.

Fable II.

Games designed by Peter Molyneux always attract attention, and

Fable II

is no exception. Especially impressive is the ability to invite online friends into the game world you have created for cooperative play.

9.

More games for girls and women.

Publishers are beginning to pay homage to the increasing number of female players. The latest video-game industry figures contend that 40 percent of gamers are women.

10.

Toshiba debuts high-end gaming PC line.

We keep hearing that PC gaming is on life support, but with top titles like

Spore

and

Fallout 3

slated for PC release, I'm not buying it. PC manufacturer Toshiba was on hand at E3 showing off a new line of gaming laptops poised to compete with Dell's Alienware and HP's Voodoo PC systems.