If last year's E3 was the battle between the game consoles, this year it's all about the games. E3 2007, however, is taking on a different form for the first time in twelve years. Previously, E3 always happened in May. It welcomed north of 70,000 attendees and was a study in excess, with huge multi-million dollar parties and booths the size of football fields. This year's show, July 11-13, is a markedly more subdued affair with a few thousand attendees and a smaller exhibition floor at Santa Monica's Barker Hangar. The pomp and circumstance may disappear, but based on what I'm hearing, this may be the best E3 in recent memory when it comes to games. Just think about it: Halo 3; Grand Theft Auto 4; Super Mario Galaxy; Call of Duty 4; Rock Band; and so many more. Here's my take on what to expect for each of the big console systems at E3.

Microsoft

There have been a number of solid Xbox 360 games so far this year, and the lineup for this fall is truly spectacular. So, look for Microsoft to put a big focus on its holiday games at E3, obviously led by Halo 3. The big question is - what will we see from Halo 3 at the show? After the multiplayer beta - which received a bit of a polarized reaction - the onus is on Bungie to really wow the audience. How will they do that? I'm betting we'll see a single-player level that shows off a more epic battlefield with better graphics than the beta. But it remains to be seen if that will be enough to help Bungie win the coveted "Best of Show" award.

One of the hottest games at E3 will be Call of Duty 4 from Activision and Infinity Ward.

At E3, we'll find out if Killzone 2 for PS3 will match the famous CG trailer.

Could Nintendogs be the next franchise to arrive on the Wii?

Beyond Halo, look for Microsoft to focus on games like Halo Wars - the real-time strategy game from Ensemble Studios, the creators of Age of Empires. Also, perhaps they will provide updates on games like the next Project Gotham Racing and the new Banjo-Kazooie game from Rare. What we know we won't see is Gears of War 2 from Epic - at least not yet. Third party games should also factor into the Microsoft press conference in a big way, with stunning titles like Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed, BioShock, and Rock Band (from the creators of Guitar Hero) all coming to the 360 later this year. Sounds like a few too many games to buy this holiday season, right? Good thing you have GameFly!

One of the challenges Microsoft faces is figuring out how to respond to the Wii, which is currently outselling the 360 by a 2:1 margin. How will Microsoft attract more mainstream consumers this holiday season? Could a motion controller be in the works? A cheaper Xbox with more family-friendly features? I'll be curious to see what Peter Moore has to say about attracting the mainstream consumer at E3.

Sony

In the wake of sluggish PlayStation 3 sales, the company with the most to gain at E3 is Sony. Will Sony drop the price on the PlayStation 3 at E3? Most of the speculation is that a PS3 price drop of up to $100 has to happen sooner rather than later. It remains to be seen if Sony will decide to pull the trigger at E3, or wait until early fall. But since the $499 20GB version of the machine has been discontinued, would a $499 60GB version really make a difference?

Of course the game on everyone's lips will be Killzone 2. Back in 2005, Sony debuted the next Killzone via one of the most amazing game trailers I've ever seen. The only problem? It was a computer-generated movie (think Pixar), not real gameplay. Ever since, we've been waiting to see if the game's developer can match that movie. E3 is reportedly when Sony will unveil a fully playable version of the game, and either it will match the video, or Sony will have to take its lumps for over-promising.

Beyond Killzone, I expect Sony to unveil a couple of surprise games (perhaps a God of War III teaser?), and focus on a solid lineup of first party titles, including: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune from Naughty Dog, Ratchet & Clank: Future Tools of Destruction, and Heavenly Sword. As I wrote last month about Sony's Gamer's Day, the surprise of the show could be LittleBigPlanet, a game which unleashes user creativity in a big way. The other big PlayStation 3 game that should generate a fair amount of buzz is Metal Gear Solid 4 from Hideo Kojima and Konami. Lately, it seems like almost all the exclusive games are going to the Xbox 360. Metal Gear is one of the last holdouts, and that means it's vitally important that MGS4 wows the crowd. A fully playable demo might just do the trick, but I'm expecting nothing more than a new trailer.

The other Sony E3 news is probably related to the long-rumored re-design of the PSP. From what I'm hearing, the new version will be more of a re-fresh than a re-birth, with a sleeker form factor, some on-board flash memory and perhaps a slot-loading UMD drive for game discs. If Sony's smart, it will highlight some of the great PSP games due out this fall, including God of War: Chains of Olympus, which may finally be the PSP's killer app.

Nintendo

The Wii continues to sell at a blistering pace, and Nintendo is promising that it will have three blockbuster games out by the end of the year: Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Metroid Prime 3 (which is coming out in late August). For a company that has been through its ups and downs, it's hard to imagine Nintendo not having a great E3. The real question is whether or not Nintendo will introduce more games to attract the casual gamer. Metroid and Mario are great for the hard-core, but a Wii version of Nintendogs might actually be more exciting to casual players who seem to be buying the Wii in droves. The good news is that if any company knows how to surprise us at E3, it's Nintendo. All it will take is the unveiling of a new Zelda or Donkey Kong game to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

There are also rumors floating around that we might hear some more news from Nintendo about: Online play for the Wii; Wii-DS connectivity; and perhaps even a new hardware product, which is rumored to either be the Wii with a DVD drive or another redesign of the Nintendo DS which ties it more directly to the Wii.

Those are my predictions, but check back next month for my full report from E3. I'll let you know which games you'll definitely want to have in your GameQ this fall.