Posted December 31, 1969 by Matt Wetsel

So, E3 hasn't even officially began and already we have some of the biggest announcements that we're probably going to get. Grand Theft Auto IV, Halo 3, PS3, and a whole bunch of Nintendo announcements. Where to begin?

I'm as excited as anyone at the prospect of the inevitable next-gen GTA, but until today I was expecting it to be one of the most important games for Sony's new console. The announcement today that it will be released for the 360 and PS3 at the same time was surprising, but the fact that Rockstar has a deal with Microsoft to exclusively (at least, for right now) release additional content is quite a blatant shift of loyalty. Let's face it: GTA has always been a system seller, and it's one of the many reasons that the PlayStation 2 has shipped over 100 million units as of November 2005. So why the shift, Rockstar?

It probably has to do with the mysteriousness that Sony has been treating the PS3, since they know that such a loyal fan base will take more than a few delays to do any significant damage to. I have to admit, seeing all the PS3 hype at last year's E3, it seems kind of strange that it took an entire year for them to release anything significant. Let this not be confused with Nintendo, since they've both been releasing information little by little and have also stated that they don't see themselves as directly competing with Microsoft or Sony. I've had faith in Sony's ability to maintain it's market share, but with the pricing points announced earlier today, that faith is losing a little steam. $599 for the fully functional version of the console? And I thought the 360's $399 was absurd.

It's been rumored Microsoft might be planning a price drop to counteract the PS3 launch, and if they do, it's hard to say what will happen. Also, if the Blue-Ray format ends up failing to HD-DVD (something this gamer has little to no opinion on), then it could become just another format that only Sony is supporting, like UMD or Memory Sticks, and in turn costing everyone more money.

With the stakes this high, I can't help but feel like Nintendo has the right approach. Unlike the N64 (and the GameCube which suffered because of it), we're already seeing great 3rd-party support for the Wii, with launch titles from Ubisoft, Activision, EA, and some heavy-hitters from the Big N itself, like Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Nintendo has already said they don't want to charge a lot for it's new console, and has insisted game prices will never exceed $49.99. Between that and the Virtual Console, Nintendo has the potential to pull a very strong 2nd place among the new consoles. It's going to be affordable, innovative, and you can play over 20 years worth of wonderful games that many haven't played in years, or that younger gamers have never even had the opportunity to play. While I still don't know if I want a 360 or PS3, the Wii is the 1st console that I've ever planned on reserving.

No matter what, prices will eventually come down and its the games that'll decide who comes out on top. In the next 3 days, that's exactly what we're going to get to see, so keep checking back with GamePlasma for our impressions of what could be one of the most significant E3's for a long time.