Predicting what will happen at E3 is futile. I have a choice of shooting in the dark and likely missing, or playing it safe by making mundane, broad statements. I've settled on the latter.

Sure, speculation is fun. But over the years I've learned not to go into E3 with many expectations. It's best to simply wait for whatever happens and react/evaluate what is seen, heard, and played-- and not what you wanted to see, hear, and play. Just like when writing a review, it's important to evaluate the games shown for what they are.

This is a pitfall I think many traditional gamers have fallen into lately. If you hype yourself up by saying Company A is going to announce X and Y, and they instead announce M and N, you're going to be disappointed and annoyed with that company for no terribly good reason. This seems to happen a lot with Wii, a system many traditional gamers wish had more games aimed at them. Would I like to see a new, more action-oriented Zelda game (think Zelda II) that uses Wii Motion Plus for sword combat? Absolutely. But it's unrealistic of me to expect that.

What's really important is whether or not an E3 lineup, whatever it may be, looks promising and has some sort of appeal to multiple audiences. Last year it didn’t—at least not for Nintendo. The NWR staff was flabbergasted by how sparse its press kit was…to say nothing of Nintendo's presentation itself. Will things be different this year?

To be honest…yes, but not by much. E3 is about big announcements; these days, Nintendo is not. Nintendo continues to enjoy staying mum and dragging its feet with localizations in North America. Nintendo's press conference will focus on Wii Sports Resort and perhaps another first party Wii Motion Plus game, pimp one or two third party Motion Plus games, and perhaps showcase Sin & Punishment or whatever Retro is working on as the token "hardcore" game. They'll pound their chest about sales, say very little about WiiWare and DSiWare, and spend an inordinate amount of time on a novel concept for the DSi cameras. There will be a handful of solid Nintendo-published titles glazed over during the presentation like Wario Land: Shake It was last year, but hopefully they will be on the showroom floor this time.

Third parties will give us more of the same: lots of budget games and a few standouts on Wii, kick-ass variety and quality on the DS, and a deceptively good-looking Sonic console game. If we're lucky, there will be some interesting new WiiWare games on display. I'd love to see more throwback releases like Mega Man 9.