Time now for part 2 of my adventures at E3. I suppose I really don’t need much more of an introduction than that this time around..

After my Nintendo ventures, I decided to take a stroll down the Sony booths (or did they refer to them as the Playstation booths? I should pay more attention.) I played a little bit of the new Rachet and Clank game, though I just took over immediately after the person in front of me so I was a little confused as to what I was doing, but it was fun. I’ll have to look more into that one. I also saw that they had a new PSP Jak and Daxter game (and thankfully, Daxter’s name is back in the title) called Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier. I liked the other Jak & Daxter games, so I was hoping to get a chance to play the demo for the new one, sadly I never got the chance…So I’ll just have to wait to play it.

I still think they should call it "Clank & Rachet" but that's just me.

I also saw the trailer for the third installment of the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus series, called The Last Guardian. I have to say it looks really interesting. It seems you play as a kid in the familiar Ico/Shadow of the Colossus world and befriend some kind of Griffin-like creature that follows you around and helps you out along the way. I wonder how this all will add up. One thing is for sure, the game looks beautiful.

Hey remember that time when...oops. Wrong griffin.

On the Xbox side of things, it seems Microsoft has big plans for something called “Project Natal.” Project Natal is apparently some kind of magic motion capture device that will allow certain games to be played without a controller! The games will be played using you’re own actions and whatnot.  I’m glad to see Xbox trying something outside the box (no pun intended….really). I wonder what kind of games will be made using this device of wonderment? And will these games use Miis Avatars?

I wonder how Nintendo feels about this? Maybe Shigeru Miyamoto can get started on Super Mario Virtual Reality for Nintendo’s next console (I can dream can’t I?)!

It would be so awesome if 'Natal' could talk to you, and you could customize the voice or something!

And Bungie is currently working on an “expansion” for Halo 3 titled Halo 3: ODST. Unfortunately I only got a brief glimpse of the game, but I’m interested to know what they’ve added for this new installment. It’s already guaranteed to sell like 8 million copies at least.

I thought we 'finished the fight' last time around?

Konami is also in the works on a new Metal Gear title in the works titled Metal Gear Solid: Rising, in which the player will take control of a cyborg, less-whiny Raiden. This will also be the first Metal Gear to also be released on the 360.

Come with me if you want to live.

I also managed to sneek a peek at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up! for the Nintendo Wii, though, like Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, fighting game fans were swarming around it like angry hornets and sadly I was unable to play the demo. But I am excited to see who joins Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatelo, Splinter, Shredder and April O’Neil in the fray (Casey Jones is a given).

Unfortunately, James Avery isn't voicing The Shredder this time around..

Then of course there was the Square-Enix booth, which showed a lot of promise. Not only is Final Fantasy XIII on the horizon (which looks beautiful by the way, though it looks like they still managed to throw in an annoying character just for good measure), but they are also working on Final Fantasy XIV and a multitude of Final Fantasy spin-offs! Final Fantasy XIV will be an all new MMORPG similar to Final Fantasy XI (though more polished, I’m sure) and is sure to garner millions of players. And for the spin-offs we have Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, which is as it sounds, a sequel to the highly acclaimed Final Fantasy IV, as well as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Dark Lord, which sounds like a unique entry in the series in which you play as a villain. Both Final Fantasy IV: The After Years and My Life as a Dark Lord will be downloadable games on WiiWare.

After a zillion remakes FFIV is finally getting a full-fledged sequel!

The colors, Duke! The colors!

The other Final Fantasy spin-offs include Dissidia: Final Fantasy (or is it Final Fantasy: Dissidia?), which I guess can be summed up as the Final Fantasy equivalent of Super Smash Bros. There are two characters from each Final Fantasy (excluding the upcoming ones), one good and one evil. I’ll probably just play as Kefka all the time and beat up on Sephiroth to teach him who the real baddest dude in Final Fantasy really is!

Then we have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, which looks to be some kind of adventure RPG. The original Crystal Chronicles had its good points, but I think missed its mark overall, but I think these upcoming Crystal Chronicles “Spin-offs” look intriguing in the least. I’ll keep an eye out for this one.

Dissidia will be released for PSP while Crystal Bearers will be on Wii.

Meleeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Final Fantasy's whole 'crystal' thing totally comes from Castle in the Sky I just know it!

And then of course, we had Batman: Arkham Asylum, which probably had the best presentation of any game on display at E3. The Arkham Asylum booths were even made to look like prison cells and the like (complete with Joker’s spray paint handwriting on the wall). The game seemed to constantly have people playing it, but thankfully I was lucky enough to fit a few good minutes into it and boy was it worth it. This game looks to have a lot of promise. I absolutely can’t wait to play this one. This is one I’ll definitely be on the lookout for! I just hope it lives up to its promise.

I'm Batman. 'Nuff said.

So all in all I greatly enjoyed my very first E3! There may be a few things I forgot to mention, so I may add an additional post with a few extra notes if I feel I left out anything really good. But I hoped you enjoyed reading about all the wonderment that came from my E3 experience as much as I did writing it.  Hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to go again next year, and see if I can find anything on that ever elusive Pikmin 3…