How does the world's biggest video game company preview its latest games to the press? Well, here's a hint: It starts with a U.S. Army Huey helicopter landing in the soccer field between two buildings at Electronic Arts' sprawling Redwood City, CA campus. That stunt kicked off EA's annual Studio Showcase event, where about 100 journalists from around the country got a first look at EA's holiday lineup and a sneak preview of what's in store for 2008. Since EA is the biggest company out there - even though Activision generated more revenue in the first six months of 2007 thanks to Guitar Hero - its lineup is always a good bellwether of what's to come over the next six to eight months.

First, you're probably wondering what the helicopter had to do with an EA game. It was a stunt to introduce the world to Battlefield: Bad Company, due out in 2008 from Digital Illusions. In the past, the Battlefield series has been largely a multiplayer-focused effort on the PC, with dozens of players fighting in battles circa World War II, Vietnam, and even the future. EA tried to transition the game to the consoles a few years ago with Battlefield: Modern Combat - you may remember the "hot swap" concept, where you could possess different soldiers on the map with a click of a button. Bad Company, however, is a complete reinvention of the franchise. This is a first person shooter that looks as good as Killzone 2 does on the PS3, and tells the story of U.S. Army soldiers who go off in search of gold in Eastern Europe. The coolest feature? Fully destructible environments. Imagine commandeering a tank and then blowing the wall off a building, or using your sniper rifle to "chip away" at walls to find enemies.

The EA Studio Showcase began with the arrival of a Huey helicopter.

The Simpsons Game parodies dozens of games including God of War.

Need for Speed: Pro Street drifts into action later this month.

More near-term, another first-person shooter I spent quite a bit of time with was Half-Life 2: Orange Box from Valve. It comes out this month for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Although Half-Life is another game better known on the PC than the consoles, the Orange Box edition has to be one of the most comprehensive game collections ever released. Not only do you get the seminal shooter, Half-Life 2, but you also get two additional episodes of single-player content plus the cel-shaded multiplayer game, Team Fortress 2. And if that's not enough, they throw in another game: An experimental first-person shooter called Portal, which basically takes the portal concept from the game Prey to the next level, letting you magically teleport around a game level. Half-Life 2: Orange Box will likely be overshadowed by the release of Halo 3, but it's definitely worth adding to your GameQ. My hunch is this is a game you'll keep out for a few weeks because of its size and scope.

One area EA has put less focus on as of late is licensed movie and TV show games (it's all part of a strategic shift to make more original games like Army of Two and Boogie). But that didn't stop EA from picking up the Simpsons game license a few years ago, which has led to the release of The Simpsons Game later in October. While there hasn't been much buzz about this game, I love the concept: It's a parody of the gaming industry and some of the most popular games out there. For instance there are levels called "Medal of Homer" and "Grand Theft Scratchy." During the game, Marge goes on a quest to have "Grand Theft Scratchy" banned because it's harmful to children. Sound familiar? There's even a God of War send-up called "God of Wharf." The cel-shaded graphics look great, all the voice actors are involved, and you can play as all the members of the family. If anything, The Simpsons Game should deliver something we so rarely see in today's games: a sense of humor!

One genre that EA has always dominated is racing. In the past, the difference between Need for Speed and Burnout has sometimes been hard to discern, but this year Need for Speed is going in a more sim direction while Burnout maxes out the action. Need for Speed: Pro Street (also due out in late October) moves away from illegal nighttime street races toward more organized, legitimate street racing in cars like a 2008 BMW M3. And the biggest news? Car damage is back, allowing you to wreck cars, instead of just watching them magically "bump" the curb. Burnout fans will have to wait until early 2008 for Burnout: Paradise, but it should be worth the wait. Burnout is now an open-world city and crash mode is gone, replaced with Showtime mode that lets you pull off stunts anywhere you want. It remains to be seen how Burnout fans like the unstructured, open-world concept, much like Test Drive Unlimited. Based on my playtime, the fast-paced, 60-frames-per-second action is exactly what the Burnout faithful want to see.

So what did I think of EA's lineup overall? I was impressed, although I don't see one game being able to break out to compete against Halo 3 in terms of sales. Exceptions might include the music game, Rock Band (which is Guitar Hero on steroids), or the already-released Madden 08 (which sold nearly a million copies on the Xbox 360 in August alone). It's also a little puzzling to see that EA hasn't made more of an investment in new original games for the Wii, since it is the hottest selling game system out there right now. Still, when you combine sports titles like NBA Live 08, NHL 08, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 with all of EA's entertainment games, chances are you'll probably be renting an EA game at some point or another this Fall.