I absolutely can not stop watching the Heavy Rain trailer.

The first time I saw it, I was put off by the lip synching. I mean truthfully, I'm still bothered by the lip synching, and her teeth. Egads. But when it comes to the story, the music, the mood, and the dialogue... fantastic.

I'm not quite sure how this will translate into a game, but I'm really excited to find out. Meanwhile, I can't stop watching the trailer.

[Edit: I have gone on to stalk the actress behind the character. If you'll notice in the videos, she has some pretty stellar teeth, but they seem to work much better on her in real life. So I guess it is pretty Uncanny Valley after all.]

I've never really talked about my Angelina Jolie obsession, mostly because it has kind of dwindled over the years (pretty much since the Billy Bob Thornton blood-swapping episode).

But I do (or did until I ditched all my VHS tapes) own every movie she's ever made, have very many magazine cut outs of her (an old apartment had pictures of her across all four walls--a testimony to both the number of pictures I had and how small that apartment was), may or may not have a cardboard Angelina Jolie standee (that I once took a series of "BFF" pictures with), and a framed picture of her on my fridge. You get the idea...

I just always felt that she was particularly relatable. I too am a formerly-reckless loud brunette that likes to do crazy things in hopes that people will be intimidated. I am not a perfect physical specimen, but that's obviously the least relatable thing about her.

When she was cast as Lara Croft, I cheered, because if I wasn't going to cash in on my acting pedigree (in lieu of this whole video game thing), then I'm happy that the actress I most admire was going to play a role I would have loved to play.

But those of you who may remember the days I went by "Dagny" on the forums will probably find this as ridiculous as I do. Seriously Angelina, stop stalking me!

Man, life just isn't fair. She'll be awesome, but I so wanted that part.

It wasn't until I turned the corner onto 2nd Street this morning and saw the CNET building looming in the distance that I had thought, "Wait, am I really going back to work and is E3 really over?" The past week went by at such an unbelievable pace that by the time I let it catch up with me, I was back at work post-E3, nursing the cold that had been on the verge of breaking for five days now.

Man, being sick sucks.

Fortunately, I have a few weeks to let all the stuff we posted on the site sink in, as we sift through write-ups, interviews, and trailers to help fuel the E3 awards. In fact, for that very purpose, I've now got to go back and read through everything that everyone else wrote up. I have no idea how we got so much on the site in such a short time, but I have to say, it felt pretty awesome being part of what seemed to be such a well-oiled machine. I really hope it came across that way to you guys.

Highlights of the show for me include: playing Super Mario Galaxy, someone recognizing me, Mizuguchi, crazy Warhammer Online interview with the Mythic Guys, hell... meeting all of those developers for the stage demos, they were almost entirely amazingly fun and interesting to talk to, Jeff being so unforgivable.

Forgive my lapse in email/PM responses. It was getting kind of silly before E3 and the show just put everything over the top. I've read most of them though, and I really appreciate all of the comments. So thanks. I'm going to go back to coughing now... and rewatching the Afrika trailer.

AFRIKA.

You shouldn't be reading this right now...you should be reading this.

There have been a surprising number of updates from people who work in every different department at GameSpot including a ton of pictures and videos here from E3.

And if that wasn't reason enough for you to check out what we're doing... then don't let me sway you, let Tim Tracy's superior culinary skills put you over the top.

BECAUSE WE ARE! Consider this my last official "blog" at my "blog" until after E3, because I'm going to do all my "blogging" and "video blogging" over at the E3 "blog" page. That's where you'll be able to find gems like this one: [video=J3c7wWGo5b4KuA] And if I can organize a reunion with Coolio, you can be sure that I'll "video blog" it. If you add all this "blogging" stuff on top of all other video coverage that we have planned, including the live stage show from E3 (which I'll be hosting with Rich), there probably won't be a minute that we'll be down in E3 that we won't be able to show you what's going on. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY! No seriously, I hope you all are as excited as I am.

Check out the wonders of videoblogging as I capture early morning office reactions to the name "Wii". [Explicit Content Warning: As you might expect, there is swearing.]

[video=JHA0xTf55bgMug]

When writing previews at GameSpot, it's important for us to remain fairly neutral, since it's unfair for us to pass too much judgment on a game that isn't yet final. But it was hard for me to remain neutral in my recent Okami preview of the import which I fear reads too much like a love letter in some places.

I once wrote a love letter to Prince of Persia, it went something like this:

Dear Prince of Persia,

I think I'm in love with you. It's an awkward thing to say, but I feel like my entire life would be a lie if I didn't reveal my true feelings. I have been thinking back on the time we had together. I think of those warm evening nights where the only light in the room was the soft glow from your gorgeous levels and the beaming smile across my face. Those were the happy days, when I was first figuring out how to navigate your environments, how to move my hands across the controller, and you were so responsive, well I feel slightly embarrassed just to confess it.

You told so many beautiful stories, I only wish I could be hearing them again for the first time, but I treasure those first moments as equally as I treasure the new ones that we make, every time that I feel compelled to come back to you. I can even forgive you for your flaws, your combat system is at times very aggravating, but there is so much more to your beauty that I can see past that. I love you so much that I'm willing to share you, if that's what would be best for you, just please promise that I'll always be in your mind, like you are in mine.Carrie while slightly intoxicated

In many ways Okami reminds me of the first time I played through (the first!) Prince of Persia. I'm sitting here grinning like I have some stupid crush on the game and it's too difficult to hide it. It's poetic and charming and quite beautiful, and I like to think that the kind of love that went into the creation of Okami was created from the development team's constant exposure to puppies and candy apples and peace all over the world.

Of course, there's all sorts of ways it has yet to go wrong. I'm only a few hours in, and I don't know anything that's going on with the story/text. I imagine if the text is actually telling me how to solve all these puzzles instead of letting me blissfully wander around the environments, stumbling upon answers (or more often than not, using a translated FAQ which is both a blessing and a curse at this point) then the game could be quite distressing.

But you'll all know one way or another, and soon. Okami is supposed to be coming out here later this year; let's hope it's worth the wait. And in the meantime you can tune into On the Spot on Thursday and watch me crush on the import.

You should be watching On the Spot anyway, but if you missed this week, you can see complete and utter silliness right here.

And yes, the Final Fantasy potion is nasty, and yes I can't stop drinking it.

The following is an excerpt from the IM conversation between Jeff and me to determine the name of our upcoming feature series that was tentatively titled "Press Start" (to refer to introductory guides about games and the game industry) for the "Know Your Imports" feature going up next weekend. Jeff hated the name "Press Start" so I challenged him to come up with a better name.

Real IM handles have been changed to protect the innocent.

Jeff: GET YO LEARN ON: KNOW YOUR IMPORTS
Carrie: lol
Jeff: Upgrade Your Gray Matter (Cause One Day It May Matter): Know Your Imports
Carrie: nice
Jeff: Actually, what about something along the lines of it being some sort of "upgrade" for the reader? Like they'll get smarter for reading it.
Jeff: From the GameSpot Memory Banks: Know your Imports
Jeff: Memory Expansion: Know Your Imports
Jeff: RAM: Know Your Imports
Jeff: And ram, in this case, would stand for Radical-Ass Mother****ers!
Jeff: I sort of like "From the GameSpot Memory Banks."
Jeff: Wordy, but it implies that we are imparting knowledge. Dropping it, even.
Carrie: yeah but it's not just any knowledge
Carrie: it's beginner knowledge
Carrie: that's kind of the key difference
Jeff: How about every page in the feature plays the MC Hammer classic, Let's Get It Started?
Jeff: GameSpot BASIC: Know Your Imports
Carrie: I am really enjoying your effort
Jeff: Does GameSpot Basic stir anything deep inside of you? We're not really using that term as a level of membership anymore...
Carrie: yeah it makes me think of that membership
Carrie: as evidenced by the fact that I'm still calling it complete
Jeff: Yeah.
Jeff: Common Knowledge: Know Your Imports
Jeff: Bigg Snoop Dogg Presents: Know Your Imports The Album
Carrie: Im saving this all for a journal entry
Carrie: "you might wonder how we name our features"
Jeff: Go for it.
Jeff: GameSpot Dossier: What You Need to Know About Importing Games
Jeff: Need-to-Know Basis: Import Games
Jeff: Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow: Know Your Imports
Carrie: ooh that's a keeper!
Carrie: so Marble Madness has Press Start in the beginning, and I took the screenshot already
Jeff: OK, well, if nothing I gave you grabs you, then I guess I'm OK with Press Start.
Carrie: I'll stew on it for a few minutes

Jeff: Is there any clever name for a tutorial level or something that we could use?
Jeff: B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth): Know Your Imports
Jeff: Then we could just have a picture of the GZA on the first page.
Jeff: OK, fine the entire Wu-Tang Clan, then.
Carrie: haha
Carrie: The 36 Chambers: GameSpot's Guide to Imports (and smoking)
Jeff: Yes.
Jeff: Done.
Carrie: Thank you for your assistance.

For the record, the feature will be called: Press Start: Know Your Imports.

...and by "yourself" I mean "myself" of course.

I met him at the iam8bit book release party last night, which Rich's very awesome girlfriend, Becca, had brought to our attention last week.

And by meeting him, I mean that Tim Tracy walked up to me outside and said "Tim Schafer is here" and then I dropped everything I was holding and walked inside, and then whined at Rich to introduce me because he had met him previously for On the Spot.

So Rich goes up real friendlylike and starts talking to him and I'm cowering like fifteen feet away until he waves me over and says "This is Carrie." As I shook Tim Schafer's hand, I believe I saw a faint glimpse of recognition in his face as if to say "There's that crazy girl from GameSpot who hangs around outside my office" immediately followed by a look of utter panic.

He was really nice though.

If you want to see more from the book party, it will all be revealed on On the Spot this week.