Not sure what to expect, after 2007's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was condensed from an event open to the public to a more business orientated showcase that included gaming industry folk and media, we showed up at this year's E3 and was thoroughly disappointed.

The 2006 was a huge event with companies spendning mucho deniro for large booths, models, and effects. This year, it was much smaller, with most gaming companies confined to meeting rooms, and if you didn't have an appointment, you weren't previewing any new games.

The big three: Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all held news conferences to make their announcements, nothing crazy though.

Microsoft revealed a line-up of sequels -- Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Fallout 3, and Resident Evil 5. But also introduced a new avatar system for Xbox Live, pitching their console as a family-friendly station. They've redesigned the console's interface, now allowing users to create avatars that can interact with each other and play select games online. They pretty much took the Wii's Miis feature that debuted in 2006.

Nintendo's announced the addition of a new dongle for the Wii Remote that will add more play options to new games, and the introduction of the Wii Music, a new game created to compete with the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises. Using the Wii remote, players will be able to use it as if it was an instrument by tilting it or pressing buttons, instead of using instrument-shaped joysticks like their counterparts. They also revealed news of new developments of the Mario Bros." and Zelda franchises.

Sony didn't announce much. They revealed their video download service for the PlayStation 3, where standard and high definition videos can be downloaded and watched on the console and transferred to Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld system. They also announced the first next-gen version, and third title from God of War.

One new title we were quite impressed with was Capcom's new version, which is slated to drop in 2009. BallerStatus was able to check out and play the arcade build of the game, and it brought us back to our teen years in the arcades. What they've done so far looks great, and should definitely be a fave among competitive fight game enthusiasts.

The fourth installment of game features all the original characters, as well as a few new faces -- Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, and Rufus, as well as a new boss. Characters and environments are rendered in stylized 3D, while the game is played in the classic Street Fighter 2D perspective with additional 3D camera flourishes. Six-button controls for the game return, with a host of new special moves and features integrated into the input system.

The new versions of Rock Band and Guitar Hero were also big hits in the Showcase Pavillion area of E3. Almost everyone who tried them, loved it. Music was a big part of what's to come in gaming.

Other new titles previewed includes popular sports titles from EA including the Madden NFL 09, NBA Live 09; and 2K Games' sports titles including NBA 2K9, and NHL 2K9.

On Tuesday (July 15), Nintendo announced that Rockstar Games was developing a "Grand Theft Auto" title for their portable Nintendo DS system that would be released in winter. One of the biggest surprises of the whole entire week.