CNET - E3 and the video game bubble.
This year promises to be another all-out spectacle, but is it really necessary? And, more importantly, is the show again getting too big for its own good? The key piece of evidence is that the majority of newsworthy announcements come not from E3 itself, but from a trio of large-scale press conferences held by Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft before the show formally begins (and these press events are not officially part of the E3 show). By the time the doors of the Los Angeles Convention Center open, the major news is already out there, and easier than ever for everyone to see, as the three major press conferences are now streamed live via Web video. It's also worth noting that every video game publisher does a separate press tour with its new games either before E3 or after, or sometimes both.

Salon.com - Are video games turning against the U.S. Army?
The first is called "Homefront," which -- not surprisingly -- comes from John Milius, the director of the 1980s rogue classic, "Red Dawn," and (appropriately!) the real-life inspiration for Walter Sobchack from "The Big Lebowski." Milius' game is not groundbreaking in its graphics or gameplay but in its portrayal of a post-imperial America bereft of power. The depiction is a direct affront the first half of The Complex's assumption -- that America is always The Most Powerful Nation On Earth. No doubt, that renders the game unpatriotic in the eyes of some or at least "disturbing," as the New York Times claims. Why? Because, writes the Times, the game means "the inkling that America might not necessarily be the most important place in the world forever" may be "finally sinking into our national consciousness... no matter what the politicians say.