SANTA MONICA  –  A look at some of the most anticipated video games that were announced or displayed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which took place in Santa Monica from July 11 to July 13.  E3 has become an ideal launchpad for the industry’s biggest titles to showcase demos, trailers, and other previews to the media and the public.

 
Halo 3: Perhaps the most anticipated game of the year, this is the next installment in Bungie’s wildly popular futuristic, first-person shooter series.

 
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption : The first game in the long-standing action series to appear on the revolutionary system, Nintendo’s Wii.

 
Assassin’s Creed : Developed by Ubisoft and set in the year 1191, this dark adventure game is being praised both for its interactive world and its historical accuracy.

Screenshot from Super Mario Galaxy for Wii: A new powerup gives Mario the ability to turn into a bee and hover mid-air. Nintendo 2007.

 
Super Mario Galaxy : The video game world’s favorite plumber is back again, and this time is looking to take advantage of the Wii platform’s unique controls.

 
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare : The first installment in Activision’s warfare/first-person shooter series that won’t be set in World War II.

 
LittleBigPlanet : The Playstation 3 game, in which players must solve puzzles and cooperatively manipulate their environments to complete stages, is generating plenty of praise and buzz in its pre-release stages.

 
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots : The highly anticipated fourth installment in the popular stealth-and-survival-skills series, Metal Gear Solid. The series has become highly acclaimed for its unique gameplay, engaging and advanced storylines, and lush graphics.

 
Rock Band : A follow-up to the insanely popular Guitar Hero, in which players rock out to popular songs with a guitar-shaped controller, Rock Band takes the same concept to a whole new level.  Up to four players can now jam together on bass, drums, and microphone controllers.

-