The Metal Gear grab was nothing short of spellbinding. I'm nearly positive it's not exclusive and, by default, I'm also pretty sure we'll see actual footage or a deeper look at the game at Sony's conference tomorrow, but, as far as spine tingling, e3 press conference lore, Microsoft nailed it by bringing a smiling Hideo Kojima on stage. The fact that it's apparently a Raiden game doesn't hurt either.

Left 4 Dead 2 was also a significant surprise, as was good looking footage of real time Alan Wake gameplay. Crackdown 2 was a welcomed announcement, even with the bizarre zombie angle. Forza 3 managed to hold my attention with full-roll over in cockpit view, and being able to look over left and right was also intriguing. Not too keen on the weird ass replay modes they featured. Coordinating cars to barely miss each other, spin around, and blast through tunnels certainly looked awesome, but I'm not quite sure how they're going to be able to do that in real time, or set it up in any way that resembles fun. It's also possible that I'm not smart enough to figure out how it all works, so hopefully we'll see a reasonable demonstration of that process on the show floor.

The Facebook and Twitter integration to Live was huge. Not something I especially care about, but adapting a massive existing social network, rather than build your own from the ground up, is a fantastic idea. People are going to love browsing through their friends' pictures, even if the Facebook's mangled picture quality is going to be horrible looking on huge televisions. I see Twitter as more of a supporting activity for Live, rather than something that requires total dedication like Facebook (but instantly being about to tweet about your in game triumphs is sort of cool).

Microsoft certainly did a fantastic job of "selling" Natal, their new motion capturing camera. Ricochet looked fun and the canvas painting tech (well, throwing paint) demo was impressive, but I question the long term viability of a product. Wii Sports, for example, has, for most people, devolved into a toy you bring out whenever you have company over. Natal's long term appeal is reliant on attaching itself to endearing gameplay, not tech demos. Peter Molyneux's vision for the device was quite ambitious and provided a certain amount of credence for the hardcore audience, but, I have to ask, is interacting with AI characters really what people want from gaming. In a way, I sort of understand the viewpoint behind wanting to eschew the traditional controller, but without a precise method of input, I don't understand how it can maintain a long term, rewarding interactive experience. Then again, I'm wrong roughly 75% of the time, so they'll probably pull it off.