Concerning E3

Today marks the beginning of what is akin to a holy week in the nerd community. The week of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is like Ramadan for gamers: You can call is Ramadork or maybe Ramendan, but I digress.

E3 is, for those few of you who are, as yet, uninitiated, the most celebrated domestic video game conference in existence. The trade show is (on paper) strictly for game industry professionals and journalists, but each year it seems more and more about the fans and celebrities who find a way to skeeze entrance into the hallowed halls of the LA Convention Center.

There is a plethora of coverage of said event, which belies its industry focus. As usual, IGN promises a crush of E3 related links, feeds, and features, as does television network G4 with their E3 Insider site. Likewise, several smaller sites offer up their own unique brand of E3 news and views. CheapyD (over at CAG) assures us a post-E3 wrap-up CAGcast, and he’s even set up an E3 moblog/picture gallery for attending CAGs. RawmeatCowboy and his team from GoNintendo, all aflutter concerning their first invite to the event, pledge to keep fans of the big N abreast of all important developments concerning Iwata and company.

The big stories this year, as with every year in recent memory, concern Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, and their offerings for the foreseeable future. The big questions: Will the Playstation3 be playable? Will the Xbox 360 offer up any truly next-gen goodness? Is Nintendo serious about that fuckin’ “Wii” thing?

For me, though, it comes down to one question: When will North America see the release of the DS Lite in additional colors? Last week Nintendo let us know that the Lite will drop on June 11th at a price of 130 bones, but only in Crystal White. When can I expect to see that handsome Enamel Navy model here in the States?

Sure, it’s a bit sad that I’m wishing away all the earth-shattering game news afforded by the event for a simple matter of color, but what can I say? I’m a slave to aesthetics!