If the E3 of yesteryear was the equivalent of gaming's Woodstock with flashing lasers and monolithic booths, this year's E3 Media and Business Summit felt more like a stripped-down, acoustic concert by the beach. Dramatically downsized to 3,000 participants from the usual 60,000, there were no hour-long lines to play games and nary a booth babe in sight. Parties were even kept to a minimum, with the lone bash being a concert by Queens of the Stone Age in support of MTV Games' Rock Band. The message was clear: This year the games were the stars at E3.

The centerpiece of the re-jiggered E3 was the press conference showdown between the Big Three console companies. All three companies used their briefings as a way to highlight the biggest games for the holiday, break a little news, and do a bit of chest-pounding about their recent successes. Who won and who lost? Who had the best surprises? Below is my take on the Big Three press conferences, along with some insights into the hottest games you'll want to add to your GameQ for this holiday season.

Killzone 2 for the PlayStation rocked the Sony press conference.

Shigeru Miyamoto introduced the Wii Balance Board at E3.

The Arbiter is back as a character in Halo 3, due September 25.

Microsoft: Happy Holidays!

The E3 press conferences began outdoors with Microsoft's briefing at Santa Monica High School. Peter Moore took to the stage just after sunset to highlight what he called the "best holiday lineup ever for a video game console." For the next 75 minutes, Moore went through that lineup, focusing on titles like BioWare's Mass Effect (coming in November), MTV Games' Rock Band (think Guitar Hero, but with drums, bass, and vocals), Activision's Call of Duty 4, and Ubisoft's Assassins Creed. Microsoft even spent time crowing about how EA's Madden NFL 08 runs at nearly twice the frame rate on 360 compared to the PlayStation 3.

What about Halo 3? Although the crowd was expecting an extensive demo of the single-player campaign, we were instead treated to a two minute trailer that cobbled together a bunch of gameplay footage. The big reveal is that the Arbiter is back and he will fight alongside Master Chief as a co-op AI buddy. Frankly, I was disappointed that Bungie didn't show off more of Halo 3 at the press conference, although the good news is that I did get to see the first level of the game running backstage. It's definitely coming in September, but it looks like Bungie is going to keep most of the single-player secret up until release.

There's no question that the Xbox 360 has the best and widest lineup of games this holiday season, including, of course, Mass Effect. The problem with Microsoft's briefing was that it didn't break much news about the future of the platform, besides showing a brief trailer for Resident Evil 5. This holiday season will be great for Xbox 360, but an E3 press conference is also supposed to tease the future potential of a system. Have no fear though: I'm pretty sure you can count on Gears of War 2 for Holiday 2008.

Nintendo: Wii Domination

The next morning was Nintendo's media briefing at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. One thing I've always come to expect from Nintendo is a tight, well-written presentation and once again Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime delivered just that. He opened the 60 minutes by simply saying, "My name is Reggie...and I am happy." There's little wonder why: So far the Nintendo Wii is the best selling console system in 2007, outselling the 360 by 2:1 and the PS3 by 4:1. But how is Nintendo planning to make sure the Wii motion control gimmick doesn't get old? Easy - introduce a new gimmick!

The big reveal at the press conference was the Wii Balance Board, a scale that also measures your balance and center of gravity. Shigeru Miyamoto took to the stage to demonstrate the device, which can be used for Yoga workouts, to measure your Body Mass Index, and to play fun exercise games like heading a soccer ball while you shift your weight left and right to hit balls with your virtual head. Although it's not due out in the US until 2008, Wii Fit will help refresh the buzz around the Wii. Also, imagine the game possibilities with the Balance Board such as a boxing simulator where you use the Nunchuck and Wiimote for your gloves and shift your weight on the balance board to move your feet.

For hardcore gamers, Nintendo finally gave us release dates for three huge games. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is out at the end of this month (but unfortunately with no online), Super Mario Galaxy arrives on November 12, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl will arrive on December 3. Also, Mario Kart Wii was announced and is expected to arrive in 2008.

Sony: Gaining Ground

Unquestionably, Sony had the biggest challenge at E3. In the wake of disappointing PS3 sales it was up to CEO Jack Tretton to outline exactly how Sony plans to get back on track. The big question leading into the press conference was whether Killzone 2 would be shown and if it would match the spectacular computer generated trailer first shown back at E3 2005. I was skeptical, but proven wrong when Sony exec Phil Harrison showed a real-time in-game demo that blew away the crowd. While Killzone 2 isn't coming until 2008, the detailed environments and character animation clearly show that the PlayStation 3 has a lot of untapped potential. The game can't come soon enough for Sony.

Otherwise Sony's briefing was exactly what we expected: A re-designed Sony PSP was shown, although it's really the same old PSP, just slimmer and lighter. As for big games for the holidays, Sony focused on Heavenly Sword (due in September), Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (October), and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune from Naughty Dog (November). All three games look good, but it's hard to imagine any of them really breaking out to compete against Halo and other 360 exclusives like Bioshock. In terms of third party exclusives Sony spent time talking up Ubisoft's futuristic first-person shooter, Haze, and Epic's Unreal Tournament 3, which will not appear on the Xbox 360 until next year. Also, Hideo Kojima unveiled a new trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4 while also quietly announcing that the game will not be released until early 2008.

To me, however, the real hit at E3 for Sony was LittleBigPlanet, a game that debuted at GDC (I wrote about it back in April). This cute side-scroller is deceptively simple but rich in terms of possibilities for user-created content. You don't just play the game, but actually build it and then upload your creations for others to play online. LittleBigPlanet was by far the most original game I saw at E3.

Overall Sony did what it needed to do at E3: Prove that Killzone 2 will live up to the hype and showcase some games that will differentiate the PS3 from the 360. The only problem is that three key games -- Metal Gear Solid 4, LittleBigPlanet, and Killzone -- won't be out until 2008. PS3 owners and potential buyers will have plenty of games to play this fall, but it looks like next year is when the PS3 will finally hit its stride.

Next month I'll be back with a look at all the biggest games for the fall including, of course, Halo 3, which arrives on September 25. Make sure to get it in your Q right now!