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LOS ANGELES -- The Electronic Entertainment Expo has celebrated its tenth loud and proud year of showcasing the next year's hottest digital games. Whether you prefer consoles, handhelds, or the good ol' PC, plenty of great stuff was on display here (plus the usual abundance of cheesy crap). Our intrepid editors were there to take it all in, and here's their take on the whole noisy mess.

Best of Show

DS Not BS: Nintendo's dual-screen DS portable sounded like more of a publicity stunt than a game play enhancer, but after getting my hands on the device, I'm sold. I played a four-person wireless match of "Metroid Prime: Hunters," where the upper screen displayed the map and the lower screen showed first-person action. Looking and firing with the stylus took some getting used to, but it is worth the learning curve. --Joel Strauch

PSP Looks PDC: Sony's upcoming handheld looks Pretty Darn Cool, offering beautiful graphics plus stellar video and audio playback capabilities. Not only will you be able to play slick-looking games on this bad boy, you'll also be able to watch movies and listen to music. But why can't Sony roll out a product this awesome without trying to cram a new format down our throats? About the only thing universal about the new Universal Media Disc seems to be Sony's hold on licensing rights. Still, if I can eventually burn shows from my TiVo onto UMDs to view during my commute, I'll be among the first in line to buy the PSP when it ships early next year. --Tom Mainelli

Get a 'Still' Life: I'm looking forward to the holiday release of Microids' "Still Life," a point-and-click adventure where you track down a serial killer. Microids produced the exquisitely beautiful "Syberia" and "Syberia 2" adventures, and the "Still Life" demo looks like a highly cinematic homage to the hit thriller "Seven." Also on my list of games to check out when they arrive: "Myst 4" from Ubisoft, "Missing," from Dreamcatcher's The Adventure Company, and Activision's "The Movies." --Yardena Arar

Phantom of the Set Top: Infinium has been talking about its online (broadband-only) gaming service for some time, but at E3 the company finally unveiled the hardware it plans to give away to subscribers. A fairly robust PC inside a smooth-looking case, the unit seems a tad big for the living room--but the service interface is polished and the included lap board is kind of sweet. Subscribers will get a handful of games with their $30-per-month subscription, but must pay for the latest and greatest apps. The biggest drawback is that the unit offers no hardware enhancements to view high-resolution PC games on a crappy TV. --Tom Mainelli

Intriguing Idea, Weird Name: Gizmondo, a 400-MHz Bluetooth-enabled gaming handheld plays music and movies, takes pictures, sends messages, and lets you find other gamers with GPS. --Steve Bass

Those Were the Days: Kudos to the guys at Intellivision Productions for sponsoring the Classic Gaming Expo's "The History of Video Games" exhibit on the show floor. It included working examples of every home system from the dawn of the video game era to the present, including the Magnavox Odyssey, Intellivision, Colecovision, the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and--of course--the Atari 2600. Also on display were some 30 stand-up arcade classics, including "Galaga" and "Pac-Man." They may not measure up to today's sophisticated graphics and audio, but the oldies sure were fun to play. --Yardena Arar

Coolest-Looking Game: Ion Storm's "Thief: Deadly Shadows" is a first-and-third-person stealth action game. Its top-notch graphics drew oohs and aahs from the demo spectators that were almost loud enough to drown out the deafening noise of the show floor. --Steve Bass

Newcomers and Refreshed Entries

Those Were the Days, Part 2: On hand at Intellivision's press breakfast to promote the "The History of Video Games" exhibit were David Carr and David Comtois, who made the two-hour movie "Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obssession." It follows the industry from 1958 (when scientist Willy Higgenbotham created the first electronic game, a Pong-like affair using an oscilloscope) to the present. You can catch it on cable TV's GSN. --Yardena Arar

Sprint's Got Game: To prove it's serious about gaming, Sprint is offering a game pad accessory for its Samsung A-680 phone. Snap the $40 device onto the phone and you're set to go--it even provides force-feedback "rumble" effects. Of course, you might never use the phone for voice calls again, but it's still cheaper than Sony's upcoming PSP. --Yardena Arar

Get Over Here (and Play This Game): Midway could have made its latest "Mortal Kombat" title more of the same--and it does feature Midway's signature excellent graphics, enjoyable fighting, and clever animations. But it's also so much more than previous games. By adding Tetris-esque "Puzzle Kombat," Archon-homage "Chess Kombat," and role-playing elements into the mix, the company ensures this game won't be just another stale entry in a genre "Mortal Kombat" helped create. --Joel Strauch

The Doctor Is In (Your Taskbar): VoodooPC--maker of super-fast, super-pricey PCs ideal for gaming--will soon offer a service to ensure your desktop has always got game. The Voodoo GameDoctor service, scheduled to launch later in May, resides in your taskbar and keeps an eye on your PC to make sure it always has the latest hardware patches installed--because there's nothing worse than running an old driver with your pricey graphics card. Better still, it ensures the games on your hard drive are always updated--important when half the apps out there ship before they're really done. Buy a PC from the company and get the software and service free; otherwise, it's a reasonable $15 per year. --Tom Mainelli

Good Ol' Boys Are Back: A big banner outside one of the Los Angeles Convention Center exhibit halls bore the likenesses of three people I never expected to see at E3: Tom Wopat, Catherine Bach, and John Schneider of "The Dukes of Hazzard," in a still clearly taken during the show's 1979-1985 heyday. The banner promotes UbiSoft's upcoming game (for Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2) based on the hit series, and featuring voiceovers by the original stars. --Yardena Arar

Freeze or I'll Click You: While gun-shaped peripherals have been done, the PistolMouse from MonsterGecko felt comfy and offered easy-to-reach extras such as a thumb wheel for changing weapons and a zoom button at the crux of the device. I tried it running on Quake II, so it felt a little old school, but it definitely had some new levels of class. --Joel Strauch

Commendations for Creative Thinking

Your Own Best Friend?: In Frontier Development's PlayStation 2 game "A Dog's Life" (available now in Europe and arriving here soon), you live the life of a dog. Really. The game pits you against computer-controlled pooches to complete canine-themed missions (such as marking your territory or digging up bones). The clever game also features a "smell-o-vision" mode, where the first-person view changes to visually represent a dog's keen sense of smell. --Andy Brandt

Get Those Rebel Scum: LucasArts' new "Star Wars: Republic Commando" makes you the squad leader of a crack Stormtrooper outfit. The first-person shooter hybrid lets you lead your four-trooper group through 15 single player missions and at least 10 online multiplayer maps. Due out this fall for Xbox and PC, it looks like a fun play for anyone with a soft spot for the Empire. --Andy Brandt

Is That My Phone?: Wildseed's Identity phone acquires a whole new look and sound when you slip a new plastic shell (called a SmartSkin) onto the base unit. It's not a plain plastic cover; SmartSkins contain a chip that communicates with the phone's electronics, customizing screens, ring tones, and access to online content such as mobile blogs--It's the ultimate cell phone fashion statement. --Yardena Arar

Restart, Try Again

Most Ignored Booth Award: The Entertainment Software Association pitching its Anti-Piracy Training program. Maybe if they had hired a couple of "booth babes" to lecture us on ethics .... --Steve Bass

Best Swag: For many E3 attendees it's not about seeing the best games--but about bringing home the best tchotchkes. This year's winner: Radica's Q20, a handheld about the size of a hockey puck that accurately guesses the animal, vegetable, or mineral you're thinking of after asking you a series of queries. When it came up with "rutabaga" on my test run, I was sold. --Joel Strauch

You Want How Much? Through day two of the show here at the Los Angeles Convention Center, attendees enjoyed free Wi-Fi access. But when I tried to take advantage of that sweet deal on Friday, a signup screen announced 24 hours of service cost ... $125. Talk about playing games. --Andy Brandt

Not Kid Stuff

Nice Pixels: While Konami promises "deep game play" from its "Rumble Roses" wrestling game, a company rep was quick to note the high level of graphics detail of the barely-dressed, well-endowed female wrestlers. Turns out these bodacious babes are rendered with 10,000 supple polygons per character. If she were a gamer, Gloria Steinem would have a fit over this. --Andy Brandt

Games for Grownups, Really: Already available overseas, a game called "Singles: Flirt Up Your Life" has reportedly earned an AO (adults only) rating from the Electronic Software Ratings Board--the video game equivalent of NC-17 in movies. In the Sims-like game, players become matchmakers to male and female roommates; the "Singles" Web site promotes "realistic depiction of the human body" and "romantic-erotic situations." According to CNN, Eidos plans to get around retailer problems with AO-rated games by distributing "Singles" online. Meanwhile, CNN reports Vivendi-Universal may have to tone down the content of "Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude" in order to avoid an AO rating. Could the video game industry be getting as preoccupied with sex as it is with violence? --Yardena Arar