The Best Games of E3: Day 1

July 16, 2:54 AMVideo Game ExaminerDavid Thomas

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Take LittleBigPlanet for a ride

In the ever-shifting dreamscape of E3,a few things are certain:

• ·         The videogame companies that spend thousands, if not millions, to attend his show want you to think everything that they make is the future of all game greatness.
   
• ·         Not everything you see is going to be all that great.

What's the curious game consumer to do? Here’s a list of the games I’ve seen so far that are worth watching. Mind you, E3 is not about playing games as much as it is having someone show you games. So, when the final game discs go through the shrink wrapper, things can change. And with the show only one day old, there are still two more days of things to uncover. With those caveats, I think the follwoing games are cool, or at least worth another look (Including platform and expected release date):

• Infamous (PS3/Spring 2009): From the guys who brought you Sly Cooper comes a mature super hero adventure than challenges you to use your powers for good or evil in an open world.
   
• Fallout 3 (PS3, Xbox 360/Fall)): If you can image Morrowind in a post-apocalyptic Washington DC, you are getting close to this wide open action adventure game from the folks that brought the world  Elderscrolls.
   
• Resident Evil 5  (PS3, Xbox 360/Spring 2009). Despite accusations of a racist overtones of a game set in zombie-plagued Africa and a stilted RE style of play that forces you to push weird button combos to turn around or hop fences, RE5 has shaped up to be a nail-biting, undead-slaughtering equal opportunity joy.
   
• ·Fable 2  (Xbox 360/October: After lots of promises, the open world fantasy game that lets you grow from a kid to a senior citizen as you chose you own path of adventure is finally done!
   
• Gears of War 2 ( Xbox 360/November): Sure, it’s just another Gears of War game. Then again, woo hoo! Another Gears of War game!
   
• Guitar Hero World Tour  (Xbox 360, PS3/Fall): Not happy to let Rock Band run away with the guitar/bass/drums/vocals thing, the Guitar Hero franchise has upped the ante with a semi-pro drum kit, guitar covered with buttons and a mode that lets you create your own songs. \While risking feature over kill, the game does feature such classics as Van Hallen’s Hot for Teacher, so it’s a winner out of the gate.
   
• Shaun White Snowboarding (Wii/Fall): Snowboarding using the the Wii Balance Board? Looks like fun, that’s all.
   
• Spore (PC/September): The create-a-species game goes live this fall. As the successor to SimCity and The Sims, it has a mojo no other game can claim this season.
   
• LittleBigPlanet  (PS3/October): Create your own games or just goof around in this arts and crafts meets platformer fun. I know, that doesn’t make sense. But you have to see LBP to believe just how cool it really is.
   
• · MAG: Massive Action Game  (PS3/No release date): War is hell. But war featuring 256 simultaneous players on a gaming console sounds like lots of fun