The summer months between E3 and Christmas are a very trying time for me. The buildup to E3 by Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo is usually incredibly extravagant as each company competes to grab the attention of every gamer around the world, and in most cases they actually deliver on that buildup. Combine that with all the game developing studios that show off their exciting big name titles, and you have yourself an expo worthy of this nerd's undivided attention. Likewise, Christmas is the make it or break it season for each companies' triple AAA titles and latest consoles, and the resulting media blitz is paralyzing for most gamers. Well, paralyzing in a good way, if such a thing is possible. And so the "off season" for videogames surely comes from June to October, a period of time I regrettably find myself in at the moment... Luckily the news from E3 is vast indeed, and so June is a helpful time period where I can regroup after the initial onslaught of breathtaking news has hit, and delve thoroughly into those matters which concern me most, leaving enough time for me in the end to glaze over those matters which concern me least. But now that July is here, I begin to feel the sting of abandonment as each company recedes into their ivory tower (except of course for the Microsoft tower, which is made solely out of fire, brimstone, and the souls of those who are still using Windows 95) to plan best how to deceive me into buying their games and consoles at Christmas time. In July I cling to the hope that soon November will be here, and I will be delivered from my sad state into a realm of joy and wonder I barely conceived before. While gaming is not a religion (yet), I would say these next few months will surely be my test of faith (an annual occurrence I'm none too pleased with). Like Moses and the Jews entering the great abyss of the desert, so too do I go through a dark trial of sorts, where no news or sign of my once very visible and demanding gaming gods can be seen. I have the promises made to me at E3 of the great games that will come to keep me warm at night, while my soul traverses that proverbial hot, bright, wasteland known as summer.

     But choosing which promises to believe in, undeniably to sort out the true god among the golden idols is no easy task. Choosing which games contain true enlightenment and which games hold empty promises does take, in my estimation, a good fortnight of thought and soul searching. I offer to you now only the conclusions I have been able to make thus far. Keep in mind that all views and opinions expressed forthwith are subject to change at any time and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those affiliated with egameaddiction.com. But now that all the dust has settled, even the black plumes of "dust" that emanate from somewhere within the Microsoft tower, this is the overall impression that E3 2006 left me with. 

     This year was a particularly difficult one for me, as each company seemed to bring a pretty good milkshake to the yard. Going into E3 this year I was expecting to fill the meager bandwidth I can afford with streamed videos of PS3 game footage for months afterwards, but alas I have found that the reality of the situation is quite the opposite of what I had expected. While the PS3 has incredible promise for providing some intimate video gaming experiences, I have seen very little, if any evidence to show that this will be achieved within a reasonable timeline. The promising games that were shown still did not really look that good, and although I can appreciate that they were just demos and not the final version, I do not think the developers have enough time to upgrade the graphics to "jaw-dropping" for the PS3 system launch. Sony really failed to impress me in any substantial way, and for the $600 price tag that they announced, I demand to be very impressed. In all fairness Sony may be able to "turn down the suck knob" in the next year or two, come out with some really mind-blowing games, and force me to eat my words (luscious, succulent, words).