Which Console Maker Will Dominate E3 2009?

2009 marks the 15th year of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. June 2nd will kick off this heavily anticipated trade show. Once again, Sony and Microsoft will state their case for why the gaming public should support their efforts, as opposed to buying Nintendo products.

E3 2008 is but a distant memory in my minds eye. There was some stuff that happened, followed by even more stuff that either bored the half to death, or amazed me so much that it was forgotten shortly thereafter. Probably a little bit of both.

Nintendo is in a pretty interesting position this year. On one hand, they have absolutely nothing to prove. Sales figures will tell you that much. To the long time supporters of the company, E3 2009 will be the statement that will either sustain or break loyalties.

What did Nintendo show off last year? A snowboard game featuring over saturated X Games superstar, Shawn White. They also showed footage of Animal Crossing for Wii, and Wii Music. i remember a loud and drudging lawn occurring during Wii Music's live demo.

If Reggie Fils-Aime doesn't bring a new Mario game, Zelda adventure, or(not likely, but I would love to see this) Kid Icarus Wii, expect some sort of backlash for two straight years of disappointment. Nintendo nerds everywhere will flood message boards, Facebook, and Twitter just to express their disdain for the lack of "hardcore" games from the house that Mario built.

Microsoft showed up at E3 last year with a master plan. instead a bunch of new properties and franchises that lacked familiarity, they bombarded the show with a metric ton of sequels. Gears 2, Fallout 3, Fable 2, Portal 2, Resident Evil 5 and Final Fantasy XII made everyone at least consider buying a 360(or another if you already had one that was still functional.)

As impressive as it was, there were still a few stinkers. Microsoft should get away from this whole everyone plays strategy. Netflix on 360 turned out to be pretty cool, as it helped turn the system into a set top box. showing a karaoke game off at E3 was just a horrid idea. the Lips live demo was bathroom break material. Not everything is E3 worthy.

Last but not least, there was a Sony press conference at E3 2008. aside from Little Big Planet, Resistance 2 and a Lego Batman PS2 bundle, nothing at Sony's presser really stood out. Oh, there was the announcement of a God Of War Playstation 3 game. If there was gameplay footage, I'd most likely care more.

Sony has one goal this year: generate more of a buzz than the other two console makers. To pull this off, there needs be be a release date announced for the online spy game, The Agency. There are rumors of a new Playstation Portable design, but it's pretty much the same rumor from last year.

Who'll come out on top at E3 this year? No idea. I don't want to make a prediction because all three companies are(as always) promising big things. Unless Nintendo showcases their bread and butter franchises, instead of focusing only on casual gamers, it will no doubt be a less than stellar outing for a long time industry favorite.