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"Dead Space Guy" takes a break between monster fights.

Those who follow the video game business know that it will be a long time before we get another season like Fall 2007. This time last year, gamers were literally buried under best-selling A-list projects, including BioShock, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Rock Band and Portal. By comparison, this year is shaping up to be solid, if unexceptional, with few break-out hits.

The lack of competition may be one reason why one of the most anticipated new games right now is not a sequel, spin-off, brand extension or movie tie-in. It's EA's scary sci-fi shooter, Dead Space. After playing through the 16-plus hour campaign, I can also say it's easily one of the best games of the year.

A slow buzz has been building on this one for a while, and has been intensified by a strong showing at this year's E3 video game trade show. But the reason the game scored so well with critics has little to do with the setting or plot. The game is, to be diplomatic, an homage to many threads of pop-culture influence, from Alien to Doom to Resident Evil to H.P. Lovecraft, and the claustrophobic space station interior-design aesthetic has been done to death in movies and games for decades.

Instead, what makes Dead Space stand out from the crowd is its level of polish. It's shocking that in a multibillion-dollar industry, where big games can gross as much as Hollywood movies, even high-profile titles can be filled with awkward jumps to prerecorded cutscenes, missed dialog cues, wonky controls, tons of tiny bugs and mistakes, and a general lack of attention to detail that would be unacceptable in a direct-to-cable low-budget flick (some recent offenders include Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Saints Row 2, and Alone in the Dark)

Instead, every inch of Dead Space feels like it's been checked and rechecked, from the lighting to the in-game menus to the voiceovers. The controls are easily the best implementation of the third-person over-the-shoulder view we've ever experienced. Poor controls pull you out of the game experience faster than anything else, and it's the ultimate compliment to say that Dead Space's controls just "feel right."

Of course, this violent M-rated action/adventure isn't for everyone (and about halfway through, it really starts padding the plot for running time--I'd rather have a solid six-hour game than a plodding 12-hour one), but we hope it will inspire other game makers to spend more time polishing and finalizing their products--at least on the level of a made-for-TV Sci-Fi Channel movie.

Read the Dead Space review.

This year's smaller, quieter E3 video game trade show may well mark the end of an era, with no solid plans announced for next year's show, and many participants lamenting the stripped-down vibe. Despite powering a multi-billion-dollar industry, the big game companies collectively decided that the massive shows of previous years were too expensive to put on anymore--but the pared-down version of E3 that started last year failed to inspire the industry or generate much significant media coverage.

Despite the melancholy feel, the big stories driving the gaming business were clearly visible (even if almost all of the games themselves were demonstrated from behind the closed doors of meeting rooms, rather than on the small show floor.) We see the major trends coming out of E3 2008 as threefold:

Rocking out just before The Who took the stage at a Rock Band 2 promo event.

(Credit: Michael Mullen)

First, the big console makers have sold pretty much all the consoles they can to "core" gamers, and now have to appeal to mainstream entertainment consumers based on price and nongaming features. To that end, Microsoft has cut the price of its standard Xbox 360 model to $299, and added support for the popular Netflix online streaming service. Sony has similarly cut the price of its step-up PlayStation 3 model to $399, hoping to capture users who are interested in both hi-def Blu-ray movies and just-announced downloadable movie and TV content.

Second, there's increased competition for noncore gamers: families, women, young children, older gamers, and even core demographic males who just don't have the inclination to learn and play complicated games that require massive commitments of time and brainpower.

To that end, Nintendo is continuing to serve the casual audience, announcing a sequel to the Wii console's original pack-in game, Wii Sports (which was easily one of the most-played games the last few years), along with a new music game, Wii Music, that doesn't even require the rudimentary note-matching skills of Guitar Hero. Microsoft and Sony are following suit, betting heavily on smaller, simpler games, some of which can be downloaded directly to consoles. Pixel Junk Eden for the PlayStation 3 and You're in the Movies for Xbox 360 are a couple to watch out for.

Finally, there wasn't a lot of high-profile original IP on display at E3 this year. Instead, we'll be seeing a lot of sequels to popular franchises going into the all-important holiday season and into next year, including Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, Resident Evil 5, and others.

At the end of the week, Bethesda's Fallout 3, a modern take on a cult-favorite role-playing game from the '90s, was the clear audience favorite, with an especially strong showing from Rock Band 2, the sequel to last year's mock-rock hit, as well. Here's a roundup of my E3 2008 highlights:

E3 2008: Fallout 3
E3 2008: Dead Space
E3 2008: EA and BioWare working on a new Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO
E3 2008: Resident Evil 5
E3 2008: Toshiba is a lonely hardware vendor
E3 2008: Trend alert--cooperative gameplay
E3 2008: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
E3 2008: Spore
E3 2008: Rock Band 2 set list revealed
E3 2008: Game over for the Electronic Entertainment Expo?

For a different take on the events of this past week, check out this post-show report from News.com's Daniel Terdiman.

Every year, E3 has one game on display that's almost universally tagged as the critical favorite, despite not having the big-name pedigree of a Halo or Grand Theft Auto. Last year, it was the underwater adventure BioShock, which -- thanks to a steady drumbeat of positive press coverage--went on to sell a few million copies and become a true sleeper hit.

This year, it's Fallout 3, a post-apocalyptic RPG set in the ruins of Washington DC. The original Fallout games were PC titles from the early '90s, so the franchise can't rely on the faded memories of aging fans to sell big holiday numbers when it's released this fall. Instead, developer Bethesda has modeled the game on its previous big hit, the popular 2006 sword-and-sorcery RPG Oblivion.

That game was a hit because it offered deep, immersive gameplay that overcame the genre limitations of elves and wizards by offering a landscape dozens of square miles in size, where players could largely wander everywhere and talk to anyone. Fallout 3 follows the same path, as our protagonist steps out of a '50s-era atomic bomb shelter after a couple of decades underground and discovers a ruined world filled with feuding groups of survivors.

Our hands-on time with the game was mostly spent exploring the outskirts of Washington, D.C, and finally making our way to a settlement built inside the ruins of an unexploded atomic bomb. There, we could talk to the denizens, make deals, and get jobs, while outside, we had to fight off violent scavengers, who shot at us on sight. The appeal is that there are multiple solutions to every problem, and you can choose to handle most situations by shooting your way through, sneaking by, or even talking to people and convincing them to help (rather than fight) you.

The game is filled with quirky references to mid-century Atomic Café bomb-shelter culture, with amusing ads for retro products and references to classic duck-and-cover education films of the '50s, and was clearly one of the most buzzed-about games of the show.

Look for Fallout 3 for Xbox 360 and PS3, sometime this holiday season.

At E3 in Los Angeles this year, the main themes were cooperative games and music games. But the crowds that used to flock the Los Angeles Convention Center before the convention was moved to nearby Santa Monica last year are no longer. This, of course, is by design, as the industry made the decision that E3 should be an invite-only event for press and analysts to meet with publishers and developers.

The upshot is that the convention show floor, which in the past was known for its mind-bending noise and energy, is now a small hall with mostly uniform booths and a dearth of the full-throttle marketing that used to be in evidence. Whether that's intentional or not, it makes for a less-than-thrilling experience and one that can be completed in an hour or two instead of days. See my photos above to get a sense of this year's game expo. And click here to see an earlier batch of E3 photos.

In space, no one can hear you frag -- or at least that's what we imagine EA is saying about its new sci-fi horror game, Dead Space. Mixing bits of Doom and Resident Evil, we've been eager to get our hands on this genre-bending action title, if only because the "survival horror" genre (essentially creepy haunted house games named after an awkward Japanese translation) has been pretty quiet lately.

The plot is fairly standard scary sci-fi fare -- an unlucky guy arrives on a space station to find it deserted (well, except for the monsters, naturally). Even though EA says the game is heavy on creepy psychological terror, every trailer or game footage video we've seen up to now has been heavy on the combat, with our hapless protagonist shooting various big ugly space monsters in generic-looking sci-fi environments.

Fortunately, after getting a more extensive hands-on session with the game, we're now much more on board with the fright-flick-in-space vibe. The claustrophobic feel comes through, and the controls feel especially natural and easy to get used to. While our demo was still heavy on the man-on-monster combat, the developers assure us the emphasis is largely in exploring the derelict space station and its creepy corridors, but that kind of low-key gameplay doesn't make for an eye-catching trade show display.

Look for Dead Space on the Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year.

Not mentioned at any of the E3 press conferences, we were surprised to see that Portfolio.com had gotten a very interesting admission from EA CEO John Riccitiello, who says EA and developer BioWare are working on a new version of the Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic. To compete with the very successful World of Warcraft massively multiplayer online game, EA plans on adding MMO-like online multiplayer elements to the new Star Wars game. Riccitiello says:

"We've got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development...the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about--in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it."

The 'Prince of Persia' series found much success in the previous generation of video games. Now Ubisoft is back with a new 'Prince of Persia'--complete with a unique art style and a brand-new fighting mechanic. You'll also be joined by a Elika, a female character who helps you fight enemies and solve puzzles. 'Prince of Persia' is set to release by year's end for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

We first saw Resident Evil 5 at last year's E3, and for a while, we thought there was a chance we'd see it again next year's show--but Capcom has now announced a release date of March 13, 2009, for the latest installment in this best-selling series.

This 13-year-old Japanese horror franchise--about people battling undead monsters created by a huge multinational corporation--has inspired a big-screen movie trilogy and tons of copycat games, but also seemed to be losing steam until 2004's Resident Evil 4 put it back on the map with an updated action-oriented vibe, and controls and camera angles that weren't a bigger health hazard than a room full of shuffling zombies (the previous Resident Evil games were infamous for a flaky camera and stiff controls).

Playing through a couple of sample levels of the game, we liked the use of bright sunlight in the game's outdoor areas, which makes the hordes of murderous villagers even more jarring. There's still some tweaking needed on movement and navigation, as it's especially difficult to maneuver and aim in tight spaces.

The newest installment keeps the over-the-shoulder RE4 gameplay style, but moves the action to Africa, where once again the evil Umbrella Corporation is up to no good. The most surprising new addition may be the game's cooperative mode, where a friend can join your game via Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network and play along as a second character. It seems a bit out of place at first, but co-op gameplay is clearly the biggest buzzword trend of the show, and is turning up in several surprising places.

Resident Evil's Japanese creators are infamously tone deaf when it comes to translating the series' stilted dialog into English, and early footage from the game sparked controversy last year with a Caucasian hero blasting away at zombified Africans--many called it culturally insensitive. Eagle-eyed observers tracked the game's stylistic influence to a cult-favorite series of cheap Italian zombie films from the early '80s shot in the Caribbean, but expect to hear more about this controversy as the game nears its release date.

We talked to Evan Narcisse, an African-American freelance journalist who has written about video games for outlets including The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and CrispyGamer.com. He says, "The sense of trepidation I had when I first saw the trailer two years ago has diminished, especially after playing the game myself. But, there's still an undercurrent of unease I feel at shooting poor, black people being portrayed at monsters, especially when such portrayals haven't always been relegated to fiction."

As one of the only PC hardware vendors at this year's stripped-down E3 video game trade show, Toshiba at least hasn't had to compete with bigger names such as Alienware and Voodoo for attention.

The company is here at the Los Angeles Convention Center to show off some of its latest laptops, including the just-announced gamer-friendly Qosmio X305-Q701--a 17-inch Best Buy exclusive. (Matt Elliott has previously blogged about Toshiba's direct-sale version of the redesigned X305).

It's not exactly cutting edge, with an Nvidia GeForce 9700M graphics card and an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 CPU, but at around $1,500, it's a decent deal on a dual-purpose gaming and multimedia rig. Gateway has had a lot of success recently with similar midrange gaming systems designed for retail shoppers.

We've always liked the Qosmio line for its attractive designs and excellent build quality, and Toshiba has recently expanded the line to include its gaming laptops (now decked out in a fiery red chassis), which previously were part of the more pedestrian Satellite line. Stay tuned for a full review of this new X305, which we expect in the CNET Labs shortly.

'Resident Evil 5' is finally on display at E3 2008. After the blockbuster 'Resident Evil 4,' Capcom is back with a new terrifying tale of an African village during a bioterrorism scare. Now offering online co-op as a major feature of the title, 'Resident Evil 5' looks to appeal to loyal fans of the franchise as well as attract new gamers to the horror genre. 'Resident Evil 5' will ship March 13, 2009, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.