Whew. Has E3 started? No it hasn't- not officially. But judging by the terrifying amount of new games announced, new footage, screens, and whatnot, the E3 season is in full swing.

On the site this week we've had new info on so many games, its impossible to list them all.

Of particular note is the new gameplay footage of Mario Kart which is downloadable from the news story on the main page- clearly, play is going to be very similar to, well, every other Mario Kart. But kudos to Nintendo for bravely introducing what could be the make-or-break feature of the game- dual character control, of course. I don't really doubt that it will be great- and neither should you, frankly. Miyamoto has given this game a lot of his time and thoughts- he once said that 'Mario Kart is one of the titles than most occupies my time and most bothers my heart' � this is not quick update. Lets hope the finished product reflects that, eh?

Let's take a brief look at the week's news, then:
-Haven: Call of the King resurrected for the GameCube
-Free Radical Design announce their next game- called Second Sight, it'll be a third-person stealth-em up with action elements. Or something.
-Players's choice range of budget games to be extended in America: Resident Evil, Rogue Squadron II and 007: Agent Under Fire providing the highlights there- expect a repeat performance in Europe sometime soon.
-Zelda sells 300,000 across Europe in less than a week and shoots to top of UK charts.
-Enter the Matrix launches this week- May 15th, specifically. Should be interesting.
-Ikaruga delayed until 23rd of May. Another Metroid title for GBA at E3? We'll know soon, but it's looking good.
-The Sims: Bustin' Out comes to the GameCube. Which is either going to send you into fits of joy, or leave you thoroughly unmoved.

-Fifa 2004 is going to be the most realistic Fifa game ever! This doesn't need any explanation. (Import Winning Eleven right now everybody)
-New EA James Bond game on the way. And no, it isn't another so-sp FPS. Mr. Brosnan is now in a 3rd person view. What concrete gameplay changes it'll have are unclear. James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (snigger) could be one to keep just half an eye on. As ever, E3 holds the key to this one.
-Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup- first screens released this week. It could be interesting- provided of course, its sufficiently developed from the mini-games in the last HP games. Here's hoping EA can recreate the atmosphere from the films and particularly the books in this one.

E3 of course is just on the horizon- expect a veritable mountain of media from all of the above and a lot more. Put simply, E3 is going to be amazing- and Nintendo's stand will be as good as ever.

-Mark Cullinane