When E3 kicked off proper, it was obvious that Wii was the show's major attraction (or curiosity?) and anyone wanting to go hands-on with Nintendo's new console had to endure a four hour wait. 27 playable Wii titles were on show, including Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Sonic Wild Fire.
But while Nintendo was relying heavily on an extensive roster of familiar icons to draw the crowds - exemplified nowhere better than in its Super Smash Bros Brawl trailer - elsewhere on the show floor there was a real sense that publishers and developers were making a concerted effort to deliver more original titles and 2006 was definitely the year that sequels literally took second place.
Above: The Epic Games-developed Gears of War for Xbox 360 would have to be our game of the show
The fresh faces on display helped to salvage what would otherwise have been considered a disastrous show for Sony, with PS3 titles like Assassin's Creed, Heavenly Sword and Resistance: Fall of Manshowing a reassuring amount of promise.
Microsoft - which, it should be noted, enjoyed an extremely solid E3 - also boasted a generous helping of attractive exclusives, with Xbox 360 titles Gears of War, Blue Dragon and Mass Effect all making a big impression.
Xbox 360 had a greater presence on the show floor thanks to it being the console used to demo the majority of multi-platform (ie, Xbox 360 and PS3) next-gen titles. Army of Two, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway and Indiana Jones were all shown on Microsoft's machine.
