Wii

Nintendo had some ridiculously high expectations to meet at E3. Up until the show, only invited journalists could play with the system, under highly supervised conditions where PR hawks monitored every movement and click, making sure the controller stayed within strict usage parameters. E3 was the first time that the general public--well, the general gaming industry--could get their hands on the new controller.

We can only imagine the potential problems a prototype Wii controller, one that lets you play a game by waving the controller around in the air, could encounter. However, Nintendo did a remarkable job putting together solid prototype machines for the show. While not completely flawless, the Wii-mote performed well enough to turn several GameSpot editors into believers. With fully functional hardware, it's no surprise that the Wii was the hit of the show. Attendees queued up in four-hour lines just to get into the Wii display area, and waited in even more lines to try out various games in development.

We were also impressed by the Wii Virtual Console and new Wii Classic controller. Nintendo had a couple of Wii Virtual Console demo units on the floor running classic games including Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog from the Sega Genesis and Bonk's Adventure from the TurboGrafix 16. All the games played great on the Wii Classic controller, making the Virtual Console a fantastic old-school complement to all the new Wii-enabled, motion-sensing games. The Virtual Console will give you something to do while you sit down and rest in between all the arm-waving sessions.

Finalists

Novint Falcon
PlayStation 3 controller