I really think MS and Nintendo play it pretty smart with revealing their lineup where Sony does not.  How many years now has Sony been promising GoW3, Gran Turismo 5, and some others (Killzone 2 was in that category until just recently) with absolutely no in game footage up until this year's E3?  And some of these games are  STILL not going to come out for the 2009 holiday season.  If I were a PS3 owner, I would be insanely pissed. 

I've only been re-introduced to the console world in the last year and a half, having been mostly a PC gamer for most of my life.  Before I bought my 360, I didn't care about any of this stuff, but once I bought my 360 and started getting acquainted with the software, I unfortunately discovered that console wars are a big part of being a console owner.  I immediately had buyer's remorse after reading some "the 360 is doomed" and some "20-- is going to be the year of the PS3" articles.  I thought, "I have chosen.......poorly."  I wasn't yet very familiar with the nature of this particular console war and all the BS that constantly gets posted about ALL THREE consoles.

Then I decided to just start enjoying the games and not worry about it.  But my first E3 in a long time as a console owner came around, and Microsoft blew me away with the FFXIII and all the other JRPG announcements as well as all the other things they announced.  This year for E3, I thought they were going to pull a Sony and just announce a bunch of stuff for 2010.  Instead, in the space of one press conference, they completely bolstered their position again and once again made me very happy that I have a 360.

My point--MS and Nintendo are better at holding their cards close--the rumors do fly around, but you don't find out what's really going on until the gaming conferences.  Sony seems to actually try to perpetuate the rumors, and then just confirms all of them at E3 (which is why their announcements seem kind of old hat by the time they're confirmed.)

And to those of you crying about Nintendo getting a bum rap this year--it's always popular to hate the guy in the lead.  They announced some good software this year, and I'd venture to say that most of it is going to sell like hot cakes.  Who cares what the media says?

I really agree with this. Thats why it always bemuses me how people can think Sony won E3. Sure, Sony has a great line up coming up on the PS3, but I think the real news is actually bad - the fact that God of War 3, GT5, Heavy Rain, WKC are all delayed till next year. For the last few months, I have been hearing so many PS3 fans chirping on about their amazing 2009 lineup but Im sorry, Sony dropped the ball a little bit you have to admit in terms of their E3 announcements as far 2009 and promises are concerned. Even their FF14 exclusitivity had to be slightly revoked by SE and The Last Guardian was leaked. 

The bright spot is the PSP which imo had a miles better show than the DSi (although slightly tainted by the PSP Go price). 

I think 2010 is shaping up to be an excellent year for the PS3, but I think MS will match them by bringing out their defining IPs - Halo and Gears, and show that Natal is indeed a big player in the motion controlling space.

Unfortunately, this is looking at the conference, not E3 as a whole. The fact that Natal and the PiiMote were not hands on undercuts their credibility as a near-time threat to Nintendo. The "maybe not as exclusive as you were led to believe" seriously undercut Sony, as were the vague (or nonexistent) arrival dates on their software (and really, Agent has nothing more than a developer and a name at this point). Nintendo largely ignored third parties to focus on their own announcements (and they were, as noted, big ones), but the showroom made up for it.

The problem is that there is a clear pattern for Sony. 2008's awesome lineup became 2009s awesome lineup, which is now slipping into 2010, and perhaps beyond. Really, how long have fans been waiting for GoW3, GT5, FF13, etc? Sony also has a bad history of obfuscating what is and is not an exclusive, to the point that eyebrows are immediately raised any time they mention the word. They are undercutting their credibility with anyone who has a memory of past E3s.

Say what you will about MS, Natal aside, they tend to focus on what I think E3 should focus on - what's coming NOW.

Haha true that.  Personally with NATAL and Sony's motion sensing controller, I think that is more of a win and points for Ninty considering they are the ones that caused that to happen.  I mean they win when they other's confirm their strategies to not be the future while Ninty's was... according to them of course. Really I think Nintendo should get bonus points for that and they shouldn't get any but oh well.

But yea you can see them already in love with NATAL and for no apparent reason whatsoever.  I still see E3 as a tie right now and that's good enough for me. 

Huh? Im actually quite pro 360 if you havent noticed and my point was that it was another 'wait next year' E3 for the PS3. 

But it wasn't even close to wait next year for the Ps3...

Understood. My point (initially, anyway) was that the awesome 2010 lineup could easily slip into being an awesome 2011 lineup.

Actually, it pretty solidly was... Looking back, it kind of felt like Sony was saying "Hey!  Remember all those awesome games you guys have been raving about leading up to this?  Yeah, those will be out...  someday."

The line-up they showed is kinda stretched over the next two years...  "diluted," if you will.  In their defense, though, last year it was more like "We'll have games...  someday" instead of "We'll have THESE games, that you'll actually WANT...  someday."  MAJOR improvement, but I still don't think Sony "gets it."