Okami (PS2)
This had to be one of the most refreshingly original games at the show. The cool, colorful art style and the ' painting' mechanics of the game made this one stand out... While playing Okami I kept saying to myself how this would make one hell of a DS game as the gameplay mechanics involving drawing\painting would make PERFECT use of the touch screen & stylus! Come on Capcom you' ve got to be thinking the same thing!

Urban Reign (PS2)
This is a 3D beat-em up finally done right! Lots of wicked moves and cool double-team attacks. THANK YOU Namco! Now Hurry up, I want this game, I NEED this game NOW!

Nanostray (DS)
A really sharp looking, extremely smooth, vertically scrolling shooter for the DS. I was impressed by the game' s visual quality and how incredibly smooth the action flowed. The game features 3D graphics but with 2D gameplay. In terms of visual style think Zero Gunner, Ray Storm, Rayforce or Raycrisis. The game also utilized the touch screen in order to switch weapons, which to some may seem cool at first but unfortunately I don' t think the developers took into account how distracting that would be, especially given the amount of concentration and quick reflexes needed in shooters.


Most disappointing show presence: PSP
I went in hoping, praying for some unexpected surprises, I came across one in Namco' s BOUNTY HOUNDS, but the slow-paced nature of the game did nothing for me. GUILTY GEARS blew a big fat one. INFECTED needed a lot more work. MADDEN ' 06 looked more like a DS port.

There were a few good highlights however; Ys, Coded Arms, Virtua Tennis: World Tour, Pac-Man World 3, Dead to Rights: Reckoning, all played pretty well. Wait, if that many games played well then I guess it wasn' t that disappointing. I was just hoping to see more that' s all..