I'm surprised how little has been said about the economy's effect on all this. I'm expecting fairly restrained showings from most of the third party companies. I wonder about these often-rumored new control schemes for the 360 and PS3 and if they'll be more interesting than the failfest that was Sixaxis.

As a PC/Nintendo gamer, I'm most interested to see what will be coming out for Windows in the near future, so I guess that likely includes stuff that will come out to the 360 soon as well. I bet Valve will have something good, but I bet it's just as likely to be some new title as it is to be HL2: Episode 3.

-And for Nintendo, I don't know what to expect at all. I'm prepared to be as disappointed as I was last year, but at the same time, I've got a sneaking suspicion they're going to at least tease an A-list franchise title of the non-casual variety. I think Pikmin 3 is a strong possibility too, but I bet they'd keep that under their casual gamer umbrella.

-I know I shouldn't expect it, but I would be pleased as punch for news of a proper Wii Zelda game. It's the most likely A-list title, considering they haven't built one up for the system yet, and Mario, Metroid, Mario Kart and Animal Crossing have already come out. I would be entirely surprised if they released news about a new Zelda that wasn't tied directly too Wii Motion Plus.

-I bet there will be some new feature/addition to the Virtual Console or Wiiware service. A bunch of people have already guessed it might be a Virtual Console for the DSi, and I'm inclined to believe them.

-Mother 3 localization? Just kidding.

Can't wait for next week!

Microsoft: Not expecting anything too major, they will probably try and cater to the "casual" gamers.

Nintendo: Well, they can't do any worse than last year....

Sony: I agree with what you said Phil, I think Sony will steal the show.

I'm going to imagine that Pikmin 3 will be there in some form. Last year, later into the show and after word got out that Nintendo conference sucked, Miyamoto did say they're working on Pikmin 3. Now, as to how far along it was at the time, that's another question all together.

Zelda is the safest bet of all Nintendo's classic franchises to be there. I seriously don't expect to see anything like F-Zero, Kid Icarus, Star Fox to be there at all. Like you said, there hasn't been a "proper" Wii Zelda yet, and considering Twilight Princess was delayed a year just for the Wii leads me to believe that some sort of development on the next game in the series must have started years ago. Then again, it's also been two years since the Mario Galaxy guys have done anything, so maybe they're cooking up another Mario game. I would be completely shocked to see a new proper Mario though. It just seems impossible to me at the moment.

Speaking of Zelda, I was listening to IGN's Nintendo podcast and they mentioned a rumor that they know for a fact Retro was working on a Zelda game that has been canceled. This sucks because it tells me that Retro will seriously have nothing to show at E3 for their second year in a row outside of Prime Trilogy. It makes me want to cry.

On the Valve front, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a L4D2 and HLE3.

I'm hoping to hear about Kingdom Hearts 3, more Left4Dead content, Half-Life 2 Episode 3, and the next Ghost Recon game. I definitely want to know what Sony is up to... this feels like its their last chance to get some serious footing.

I'm really expecting some kind of wild card games that I wouldn't even expect to ever come out. I know I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment, but I'm hoping for a Mother 3 localization on DS and Kid Icarus. I think Sony is gonna kill the other presentations, but I'd be happy to see nintendo step up and deliver. I think they've ridden the casual cash cow pretty hard, and would like to see them focus on some stuff for core gamers at e3.

I dont really follow gaming news besides stuff that pops up on this message board but I usually check out the conference videos while at work. I remember watching Ravi Drums last year and loving it (and hating it at the same time).

Make sure someone posts links when the conferences start because I'm sure I'll forget they're happening.

Will do.

And yeah, as bad as Ravi Drums is, he's great.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH thank you. I was going to go looking for it.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I imagine that .gif will be showing up more and more over the next several days.

Thank god for that spastic bastard .

Never forget

Oh the conference times are:

Monday - Microsoft - 1:30 pm est
Tuesday - Nintendo - 12:00 pm est
Tuesday - Sony - 2:00 pm est

I feel like they've already shown everything, and I like to think this so that I'll be even more surprised if they show something new. "They" meaning all 3 companies.

AHHAHHAHAHHAHA This is all I need. I don't think anyone will ever be able to top this.

As always I don't really care unless they mention Shenmue 3.

Though I would like to see some footage of God of War 3.

I love that .gif! But Seriously DJ Ravi Drums is unbelievably good!

I feel pretty excited about E3 this year. I dunno. Maybe it's because I'm trying to pay more attention to it.

If they announce Shenmue 3 I'll eat one hat every year for the rest of my life.

i alwys get pumped for e3. as for a new wii zelda game, i wonder how pissed the fanboys will get when its not 'steampunk' hah

The fanboys will jizz in their pants if zelda is announced regardless.

Gametrailers just posted a ton of E3 trailers. The Joker trailer for batman arkham asylum was awesome! (here: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-batman-arkham/49778)

The Mass Effect 2 and Lost Planet 2 trailers were great as well!

That's not true. Everyone seems to be pooping all over Spirit Tracks.