I'm hardly trying to foment a new generation of system wars, but Sony this year virtually epitomized the "puppet show" motif I discussed a few days ago - and it appears to have worked for the most part, at least as far as non-game media is concerned. I don't believe there is any such thing as a "Playstation 3" yet, and I don't believe in the Killzone video. What I do believe is that Sony harnessed the media and then rode it from place to place, one hand on the bridle while the other waved madly in the air.

It has been an "interesting" show, and we are flush with sketches whose elegance and simplicity may well destroy you. In the intervening period, please enjoy this comic about Guild Wars which is the product of my frustration with my guild. And since my guild only includes one other person, I think you might be able to guess who that could be.

Every time I survive air travel, I kiss the precious Earth and swear grave oaths about ever boarding such a contraption again. I beseech nebulous powers whose existence I remember only when convenient. You would think that after so many successful sky journeys I would become enamored with the convenience and efficacy of it, but the way I actually perceive it is that I have an unknown (but limited!) number of flights total before I die in one, and each trip merely winds that diabolical mechanism.

Gamespot has all the info - and FileRush has a series of images not available there, including strange shots of Sony's boomerang bluetooth controller from the future. There's also a couple shots up of next-gen titles in the same gallery, Devil May Cry 4 and Killzone 2 specifically. Killzone didn't turn my crank, it really felt shackled by the Playstation 2 in my opinion, but even with that said it did some very interesting things with perspective that communicated my place in the world with a sometimes unsettling precision. I can't wait to see what they bring to the (next-generation) table.

I was hoping the content drop would hit before E3, so we could make use of it under optimal conditions - but no, it hits the first day of the show instead. I'll try to find a pocket of wireless data while I'm down there, and urge the device to lap thirstily.

I wasn't aware these were coming out yet, but I saw them, so it must be true: Kiko hooked us up with a new Penny Arcade logo tee, as well as a fresh I Roll Twenties design that I am about to buy from myself.

Robert is with us to make sure we don't sell Penny Arcade again, that is his main purpose, but he is also Gabe's Splinter Cell partner. It's gotten to some weird level with those two, they have a pair of neon green elastic bracelets to signify their unconventional union and everything.

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows looks a little better each time I see it, coming all the way from my initial exposure which never really found purchase. I'll take a look at E3 and see if fully seven sorrows are actually on display - I'm not in a position to know, but I understand that this level of despair is considered somewhat implausible.

Our friend Kiko just put his new shirts, I'd seen the designs and I wondered when they were gong to hit. He's got shirts based on what appears to be some kind of powerglove-type device, and the one I've been waiting for - he's got a new Hadouken shirt that I like as much as I like anything on the face of the earth.

one more time for the ladies.

Everyone has already seen the 1up's Perfect Dark feature, I'm assuming, or at the very least they've seen the muddy, aliased shots that served as our introduction. Seeing it in motion on the MTV thing - at least, what they were willing to show us - was a great deal more impressive. Screenshots have really lost their ability to communicate today's games - it's already true for this generation of 3D acceleration on PCs, and every time I see a game actually moving on a next generation console it really drives the point home. So many visual gains now arise from the behavior of simulated light and the surface contours revealed thereby. Screens just don't evoke it.

There are also some good bits on the new system - including some next-gen footage - in this Gamespot thing as well. I've seen those Ghost Recon 3 shots floating around, but in motion it's another thing entirely.

Imagine that Microsoft has weapons aimed at every market segment.

So how about that Xbox 360? I am assuming that everyone watched the MTV show last night and I am also assuming that we all agree it was garbage. The important thing to understand here is that, much like Twisp and Catsby that show was not for us. When I say us I am referring to the hardcore. The sorts of people who perhaps downloaded a torrent of last nights MTV show. The sorts of people who had to call their cable company to find out what channel MTV was on. The sorts of people who had their Tivo or media PC grab the show for them so that they could watch it at their leisure. Last nights unveiling of the Xbox 360 was not for us it was for the people who were already watching MTV. It's true, there are human beings out there who watch MTV in the same way your mom might watch ABC. Sitting through show after show and watching as rides are pimped and celebrities are punked. Last nights show was for them and when you look at it that way I have to say I think the show was a success. I cannot imagine those sorts of people not being entertained for the entire 30 minutes by the flashing lights and famous people. Gaming is cool now. Isn't that awesome.

A freelancer for GameSpy wrote up a review of Donkey Konga 2 which they did not approve of, but instead of simply doing away with it or directly pasting a press release into the news script, they tarted it up and shoved it out on stage. To hear him tell it, they changed his one point five score to a three, adulterating it further with phrases friendly to the game in question. The review has since been removed, hauled off the Internet - but Google remembers all. Or, at any rate, it did. I didn't care for the review, and I doubt their fiddling made it demonstrably worse - but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I just wanted to post all the information on or E3 appearance again.