About the big 3 consoles…

• Microsoft still has money to burn – Microsoft is throwing money around at an atrocious rate and are continuing their agenda to buy out as many Sony exclusives as they can.
• Sony is still incompetent – The base price for a PS3 is still too high and, despite superious hardware and more, better game exclusives, Sony is playing catch-up on too many things Microsoft is getting right — e.g. online integration, Netflix.
• Nintendo is still content to mint money – Ever since the Gameboy came out, Nintendo hasn’t had to succeed on the home console front to make gobs of money.  The additional runaway successes of the Wii and Wii Balance Board have only reinforced their corporate mentality to ignore conventional wisdom.  The results of their lackadaisical approach have mixed results but pretty much universally infuriate Nintendo fans.  However, Nintendo showed no interest in changing their ways as indicated by the announcement of the mind-numbingly pointless Vitality Sensor device.  That said, they have another monster success in the making with the Wii Motion Plus.

On the “Wii is eating us for breakfast” hardware side of things…

• Sony Wand – In its attempt to compete with Nintendo, Sony wants to add a Wii to it’s massive collection of underutilized features instead of trying to compete with games.  Attempts to seize the award of “Worst Accessory Name” from the Wii-mote but loses to the other hardware upstart…
• Microsoft Natal – Not content to mimic Nintendo, Microsoft tries to out-do the Wii with a whiz-bang, controller-less device.  End result: Microsoft throws a lot of money into advertising Natal.  It amazes at some things and fails at more.  No one writes games for it and ultimately becomes a pointless afterthought like the Live Vision Camera.  Microsoft throws more money at it and incorporates it into the XBox 360².  It does, however, take the title of “Worst Accessory Name” from the Wii-mote… seriously?  Natal?
  

Wait, weren’t there games there, too?

• 360 is still for shooters, PS3 is for variety – Despite Microsoft’s best efforts (see above), the PS3 still has a larger variety of games, more exclusives, and shares all but a couple of the must-have games with the 360.   On the other hand, the 360 will continue to churn out FPS’s at a mind-numbing pace and benefit from the best online multiplayer experience.
• It’s a good time to be a Wii owner - After a bit of a drought, the next year is set to be amazing for the Wii.   Tales of Monkey Island, Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. (2 new Mario games?!), BoomBlox Bash Party, Punch Out!, Swords & Soldiers, Little King’s Story, Overlord: Dark Minion, The Conduit, and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories are all on my radar as must-play games. In addition, Wii Sports Resort will be a monster success and …
• Unlike Natal & Sony Wand, the Wii Motion Plus add-on is taking motion-control gameplay to the next level now - If they are ever released in a functional state, Natal & Sony Wand may supersede it eventually but they are each at least a year or more away from release.  Wii Motion Plus integration with games like Tiger Woods and Grand Slam means that for the first time in a very long time, sports games on a Nintendo console are now the best ones to get.
• Monkey Island! As far as I’m concerned this was one of the biggest announcements of E3.  Not only is LucasArts creating an updated version of the Secret of Monkey Island with updated graphics and voiceovers but TellTale Games, the same development company that makes the excellent Lego Star Wars games, is creating Tales of Monkey Island, all new episodic adventures in the Monkey Island storyline.  I’m giddy and practicing my sword fighting insults now.
• For non-Wii/DS gaming, Assassins Creed 2 is the game I’m most looking forward to. The first AC was a brilliant game marred by repetitive missions.  If AC2 can maintain the same quality of gameplay while fleshing out some of the missions, it will be an instant classic.
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat 2 looks amazing but… I’m finding myself lacking enthusiasm for a sequel.  I think I’ve played one too many shooters on the 360.
• The 360 is looking mighty thread-bare these days.  Other than the aforementioned Secret of Monkey Island SE and Assassins Creed 2, there are very few 360-specific games on my radar.  Overlord 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Bioshock 2, and Dragon Age Origins are the only games I can think of that look interesting off-hand and most of those are available on PS3 as well and, other than Dragon Age, not necessarily more compelling than a rental.
• If Scribblenauts is half as good as it sounds, it’s going to be amazing.  A game limited by only your imagination, it’s no wonder many publications are declaring this game the best in show.  The legend…
• Speaking of DS games, is there any more successful product than the DS that is as under-appreciated?  The stable of truly compelling, great games on the DS is massive, still growing, and puts every other video game system to shame.  Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and Golden Sun DS were, rightfully so, crowd-pleasers on display at E3.