The festivities continue.

Teddman
After a whirlwind courtship on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, we finally tied the knot with Teddman. He promised he'd contribute to this article and we promised we wouldn't put on more than ten pounds of fat.

Game of the Show
Prince of Persia - Wow, a game as good as it was cracked up to be. It's the closest thing to a next-generation Tomb Raider (a good one, mind you) we've seen yet, with a great balance between action and puzzle exploration. Very cool dynamic camera angles and fighting animations. And Ubi Soft took the time-controlling aspect from Blinx and actually made it good! Very intriguing story, too.

PlayStation 2 Game of the Show
Gran Turismo 4 - I'm not the biggest fan of the Gran Turismo series (I prefer more arcade-style racers), but Polyphony Digital impressed me the amount of effort put into the latest installment. All-new physics and handling system, historical cars, real-world tracks, and probably the best graphics achieved on the PS2? "Beginners will spin out less than ever before." Yes!

GameCube Game of the Show
F-Zero GX - Sega's Amusement Vision and Nintendo delivered on this one! Blistering speed, inventive course design, and a great selection of tweakable racers. The king of futuristic racers has returned.

Handheld Game of the Show
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - A new 2D RPG from Squaresoft, and it's an original sequel to FF Tactics on PSone? Say no more!

Best Booth of E3
Ubi Soft. With new titles like Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil, the recently released Rayman 3, and sequels to Splinter Cell and other Tom Clancy games on the horizon, Ubi Soft has emerged as a major third-party ready to compete with the big boys.

Biggest Surprise/Announcement of the Show
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) literally silenced the crowd at Sony's press conference. We suspected it was coming, but we never expected the rumors to hit paydirt this early! Look out, Nintendo.

Most Disappointing Event/Announcement
Mario Kart: Double Dash - Pre-E3 outlook: The Mario Kart series has never done wrong! Post-E3 outlook: Nintendo removed the jump, the power-slide boost, dragging items to block fire from racers behind you, individual skills for each driver, and all sense of speed? Uh-oh.

Best Swag Acquired
The nVIDIA gift backpack from the company's party, complete with three T-shirts, toys, a demo disc, and more. Did I mention it's a stylish, high-quality backpack?

Highlight of the Week
The nVIDIA party featuring Smashmouth and a special "surprise" guest. (Seen the pictures?) Or maybe it was the Max Bikini Magazine party the very next night. Hmm, tough call . . .

Number of Times You Spotted Gary Coleman
Just once, but I took about ten pictures! The guy was mugging for the camera amidst a gaggle of booth babes and grinning like he'd just won the lottery.

Average Amount Spent on Food (Rounded to Nearest $)
Nothing. Zip. Nada. I ate at the media hospitality room every day, and brought a PowerBar on the last day. Who needs a $10 slice of Convention Center pizza?

Estimated Number of Underage Attendees with Badges
I probably saw at least ten. Does Gary Coleman count? For a second I thought the question was "Estimated Number of Kids with Underage Babes."

Number of Booth Babes You Wanted to Take Home to Meet the Folks
None. The "to meet your mom" part killed that question.

Number of Times You Realized That You Had a Snowball's Chance in Hell of Bringing Said Booth Babe Home
Well, there's always all those booth babe pictures I could show Mom. . . . Nah.

Number of Games That Left You Groaning in Discomfort
More than a few. Rare's section of the Xbox booth comes to mind.

Hours Spent in the Media Center
Three or four. There was just never a free computer after Tuesday. If you include the media hospitality, a.k.a. "lunch room," then the number of hours doubles. That place rocked.

Hours Spent Ogling Booth Models
I have waayyy too many pictures. Talk to Bahn for more on that!

Hours Spent Searching for Booths During Appointments
Probably two or three hours all together. I wished a Crazy Taxi directional arrow would appear above the show floor to guide me.

Hours Spent at Actual Appointments
Probably half of each day. Do Bahn's meetings with booth babes count? Because then it was like five man-hours a day. Or is that babe-hours?

Hero
Hero has been following Kirby around the world for the past four years, so it was no surprise he wound up at E3. He shouted his picks in each category to us as he floated away on a fluffy cloud of pink.

Game of the Show
F-Zero AX

PlayStation 2 Game of the Show
Disgaea

Xbox Game of the Show
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix

GameCube Game of the Show
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

Handheld Game of the Show
Sword of Mana

Best Booth of E3
Nintendo. (What else would you expect from me?)

Biggest Surprise/Announcement of the Show
GBA Player free with new GameCube purchases.

Most Disappointing Event/Announcement
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (PS2).

Best Swag Acquired
Mega Man 15th Anniversary pin.

Highlight of the Week
Playing F-Zero on an arcade cabinet.

Number of Times You Spotted Gary Coleman
Zero.

Average Amount Spent on Food (Rounded to Nearest $)
$0.

Estimated Number of Underage Attendees with Badges
One too many.

Number of Booth Babes You Wanted to Take Home to Meet the Folks
Zero.

Number of Times You Realized That You Had a Snowball's Chance in Hell of Bringing Said Booth Babe Home
See above.

Number of Games That Left You Groaning in Discomfort
Five or six.

Hours Spent in the Media Center
Zero.

Hours Spent Ogling Booth Models
Zero.

Hours Spent Searching for Booths During Appointments
Zero. You get to know the terrain after a while.

Hours Spent at Actual Appointments
Thirty minutes per appointment, tops.

Sqoon
We haven't seen Sqoon around much since E3, but if his demeanor during the big event is any indication, he is inheriting the earth right about now (Sermon on the Mount/Rush 2112 reference). Just kidding. Say, Sqoon, may I have Australia? . . . Speak up!

Game of the Show
Maximo vs. the Army of Zin - There are games that'll probably be more fun (Ape Escape 2) but this one was tailored for E3 (five accessible levels) and you didn't have to wrestle the controller away from a Capcom representative.

PlayStation 2 Game of the Show
Maximo vs. the Army of Zin - See above or see the E3 impressions news post.

Xbox Game of the Show
Wallace & Grommit in Project Zoo - Thanks for the DVD, Bam Software!

GameCube Game of the Show
Bombastic - It's hard to resist the pagan puzzle game.

Handheld Game of the Show
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - It's strange how Nintendo would hook up the GBA SPs to an N64 controller. I guess it was only to prove that, yes, there are things more uncomfortable than holding an SP for five minutes.

Best Booth of E3
Capcom. Maximo, Resident Evil Outbreak, Bombastic, cool swag, and a guy stalking you in a Mega Man suit for that element of danger and surprise.

Biggest Surprise/Announcement of the Show
Mojo! Breakout meets Marble Madness on speed-up chip.

Most Disappointing Event/Announcement
Vectorman. I honestly tried to give the game the benefit of the doubt, even after seeing Vectorman redesigned as a contestant in a Transformers beauty pageant.

Best Swag Acquired
The Incredible Adventures of Wallace & Grommit. May not look as cool as a hula-dancing, rave laser-shooting miniature from Japan, but it's funnier and a lot more useful.

Highlight of the Week
Lunch with Prince Planet and Sleeveboy. Fresh air, music below one million decibels, and a beef sandwich.

Number of Times You Spotted Gary Coleman
Zero. If I were that concerned with fleshy round things, I would've spent more time with the booth babes.

Average Amount Spent on Food (Rounded to Nearest $)
$6. And that's after skipping breakfast, dinner, and half of lunch.

Estimated Number of Underage Attendees with Badges
Including me and Hero, seven.

Number of Booth Babes You Wanted to Take Home to Meet the Folks
Zero. If I wanted to do something as unromantic as that, I'd give her radiation poisoning. It'd be faster and I'd also get to wear a styling hazmat suit.

Number of Times You Realized That You Had a Snowball's Chance in Hell of Bringing Said Booth Babe Home
Zero. I have to admit, though, that there was a DoA girl who had this fantastic blue bikini.

Number of Games That Left You Groaning in Discomfort
(Black) 9.

Hours Spent in the Media Center
Three.

Hours Spent Ogling Booth Models
Half.

Hours Spent Searching for Booths During Appointments
Half. I had a hard time finding the NEC booth, but I think it's because I was uninvited.

Hours Spent at Actual Appointments
On average, about half an hour each.

Sleeveboy

Game of the Show
Maximo vs. the Army of Zin - Maximo: Ghosts to Glory was one of my favorite games of 2002, and this looks and plays like a perfect sequel: it fixes the problems of the first game and cranks up what made the first game so good.

PlayStation 2 Game of the Show
Maximo vs. the Army of Zin - See above.

Xbox Game of the Show
Crimson Skies - Plays like a dream, with enormous detail and tons of things to shoot at. The net play is totally lag-free. This will make up for the loss of Propeller Arena on the DC.

GameCube Game of the Show
Pac-Man - I knew nothing about this game before the show, but after playing some heated rounds with AFX, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the final version turns out.

Handheld Game of the Show
Advance Wars 2 - Truthfully I didn’t get to see much that was new from the mission I played, but given the quality of AW, I see no reason why AW2 shouldn't be GotS.

Best Booth of E3
Activision. The True Crime display was pretty memorable.

Biggest Surprise/Announcement of the Show
Secret Weapons over Normandy (PS2).

Most Disappointing Event/Announcement
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. The series deserves better than a simple Devil May Cry knockoff.

Best Swag Acquired
A Maximo mini figurine.

Highlight of the Week
The nVIDIA party.

Number of Times You Spotted Gary Coleman
None.

Average Amount Spent on Food (Rounded to Nearest $)
$60.

Estimated Number of Underage Attendees with Badges
200.

Number of Booth Babes You Wanted to Take Home to Meet the Folks
Five.

Number of Times You Realized That You Had a Snowball's Chance in Hell of Bringing Said Booth Babe Home
Three.

Number of Games That Left You Groaning in Discomfort
Ten.

Hours Spent in the Media Center
Six.

Hours Spent Ogling Booth Models
Six.

Hours Spent Searching for Booths During Appointments
Ten.

Hours Spent at Actual Appointments
Five.