For those of you that have been waiting anxiously for the viral marketing site Origenxbox360.com to drop leaves and grow fruit, you can relax now. The site finished its countdown to September 27th today, a countdown that\'s been punctuated over time by minute changes such as a bunny rabbit that came and went, and occasional fruit that appeared on the tree. Speculation has run wild on what was going to happen on September 27th, with people throwing out gems like the announcement of Halo 3 or an updated Halo 2 for the 360. The truth behind the countdown is not nearly so exciting, and apparently led to the opening of a European contest for an invite to some sort of Xbox 360 launch party. That whooshing sound you just heard? That\'s the sound of thousands of gamers sighing in disappointment.

Nintendo has pulled the Revolution controller from its magic hat, and the gaming community is now reeling in surprise. Initial responses around GamesFirst have ranged from, \"Wow,\" to, \"That\'s the ugliest thing I\'ve ever seen.\" How well the controller works depends on the quality of games Nintendo and third party developers can produce. Another question, though: After months of fan mock-ups and fake Revolution photos, did any of them get it right? Did anyone get even close? Turns out one or two did.

Sony\'s Eye Toy is one of the coolest innovations we\'ve seen in gaming controllers. Of course, the original EyeToy Play disc was a bit shallow and remains more of a tech demo. However, EyeToy Play 2 is a really wonderful improvement, offering much deeper gameplay and more enjoyable multiplayer.

There\'s nothing better than waking up at 6 in the morning after a night out at a Midway party. Our GF crew is in the process of getting ready for the media breakfast served at the start of each E3. Today\'s E3 twoplayer comic, Too Ugly for E3, refers to the fact that I was the only person on the GamesFirst crew that didn\'t receive my media badge in time for the trip down. While it all worked out, I felt hurt and rejected. Why was I turned away? Twoplayer provided my answer.

Twoplayer comic is published every Sunday at http://comics.gamesfirst.com

Need a new controller but you're a little nervous about buying a 3rd party product? You're not alone. Hey, we've all been burned by inferior 3rd party products at one time or another. Lucky fo us, Pelican Accessories is looking to change all that with their new Chameleon controller“and it's a winner. Click here for the scoop

Need a new controller but you\'re a little nervous about buying a 3rd party product? You\'re not alone. Hey, we\'ve all been burned by inferior 3rd party products at one time or another. Lucky fo us, Pelican Accessories is looking to change all that with their new Chameleon controller?and it\'s a winner. Click here for the scoop

Need a new controller but you\'re a little nervous about buying a 3rd party product? You\'re not alone. Hey, we\'ve all been burned by inferior 3rd party products at one time or another. Lucky fo us, Pelican Accessories is looking to change all that with their new Chameleon controller?and it\'s a winner. Click here for the scoop

After an E3 full of glamorous parties and hoity hobknobbing, our man Aaron thinks he\'s figured things out: E3 parties aren\'t about greasing up the press so they\'ll write about your latest device. On the contrary, The Truth About the Party Kings is that these events are the real deal revenge of the nerds. And us nerds like it very much. Click here for the editorial.

While there were many points of interest at E3 this year, the most consistently really crowded booth was Nintendo's, where gamers flocked, nay swarmed, to see the GameCube. For those skeptics out there who think the general mediocrity of the N64 experience has soured gamers, witness the intense interest shown for the new system. Let's face it, the N64 has suffered from a general lack of titles, and some companies have released really terrible games for it, further causing pain to gamers who have been forced to pursue the "any port in a storm" strategy (Big Mountain 2000 comes to mind, er, flashes painfully across my memory). However, there have been some very good titles, and it's no mistake that the best titles on the system have been made by Nintendo and it's 2nd party developer, Rare. Nintendo is, in many ways, the Disney of the gaming world “ they have created and continue to create incredibly popular and lasting characters, who appear in all sorts of games and have firmly lodged themselves in the hearts of mainstream USA (as well as mainstream everywhere else).

Peter Moore, President and Chief Operating Officer for Sega of America, held a press teleconference this morning to detail Sega of America's plans for 2001 and to comment on Sega's worldwide strategy. In addition to announcing a new $99 price tag for Dreamcast beginning February 4 (the Sega Smash Pack will now be priced at $119), the company has decided on some strategies to move Sega from a lagging hardware manufacturer, to a "top of the heap" software developer and publisher. Moore outlined a three-pronged approach that will go into effect April 1 this year and continue through at least March of 2002. The basic approach involves the following:

Sega is now a "platform agnostic" third-party game developer/publisher.
Sega will license the DC chipset.
Sega will focus on network strengths.

Well, this week GamesFirst! will be featuring even more E3 coverage, this time covering the PC side of the street. Over the next several days, I\'ll be listing my E3 Best Ofs, starting today with Best Party, Booth, and Awards Presenter, and ending this weekend with my Best Games of E3 list. In the meantime, we\'ll continue to preview this year\'s upcoming PC and console titles from E3.