Alright, so E3 2001 was spectacular and E3 2002 was kind of a dud. Well, E3 2003 was somewhere in between. Sony had the big surprise with their announcement of the PlayStation Portable, and there were quite a few blockbuster games to be seen. The talk of the show for most people were actually three non-playable games; Halo 2, Half-Life 2, and Doom III. While those shooters were getting all the attention, there was also this little game at Activision's booth known as Call of Duty. Other highlights included the EyeToy for PS2, Project Ego, True Fantasy Live Online, Gran Turismo 4, sequels to Jak and Ratchet, Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand, Metroid: Zero Mission, Soul Calibur II, Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe, SSX 3, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Final Fantasy X-2, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

I also got to watch Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio play Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. So, that pretty much stole the show.

If you get there early enough, you can basically stand on Figueroa and get some good shots. Here we are entering West Hall's lobby, then taking a 360º view of South Hall's lobby.

Starting this off with the show stopper. Here's the epic 9-minute gameplay footage of Halo 2 that Microsoft was showing in a theater at their booth. I don't think they wanted people filming this, but they never specifically said it, so I sat down in the front row and kept the camera at my side and somehow kept a good angle on the screen for (mostly) the entire time. Most of the videos I've seen of this don't include the introduction by Sergeant Johnson. So, get ready to dance, you pasty bastards!

After exiting the Halo 2 demo, I immediately ran into Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I'm pretty sure that's Greg Zeschuk guiding the demo, but I had no idea who he was at the time. Also featured in this video from Microsoft's booth are people playing True Crime: Streets of LA and Conker: Live & Uncut very poorly. Then there's trailers for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 and Sonic Heroes.

Here's the Doom 3 video that Activision was showing around their booth. I never got into the actual gameplay presentation because the line for that theater was insanely long. Also, there's a trailer for Tony Hawk's Underground featuring a lot of getting off the board nonsense.

Once again, Konami stopped show goers in their steps with a super lengthy Metal Gear Solid trailer. This time it was Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. And, as you'll see in the trailer, "this is no vice city."

Here's a short panoramic view of EA's massive booth followed by a deluge of trailers for stuff including:

• Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII
• Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
• The Sims 2
• 007 Everything or Nothing
• Need for Speed Underground
• Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

And here's the other half of EA's video wall featuring all their sports games set to early 2000's pop music. You know, like the All American Rejects. Games featured here include:

• Madden NFL 2004
• NBA Live 2004
• NASCAR Thunder 2004
• NHL 2004
• MVP Baseball 2004
• NCAA Football 2004
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
• Rugby 2004
• NCAA March Madness 2004
• F1 Career Challenge
• FIFA Soccer 2004
• SSX 3

Remember when someone thought making polygonal Castlevania games was a good idea? Oh...they're still trying to do that? Okay, carry on then. Just don't forget to call Zobek.