So you might've noticed not too many updates last week, well that was because we here at Killer Betties was attending our first Game Developers Conference out in San Francisco so we can bring you some excellent news and previews. It would've come earlier, but well, Wi-Fi sucked out there. So to kickoff coverage let's start with a look back at the show and some of our favorites in this The Best of GDC Awards as determined by Killer Betties.

BEST GAMES

I hate MMORPGs…or at least I thought so, but after checking out GDC this year, I'm wondering what has took me so long to get on the bandwagon, and now I'm scuttling around, trying to get taxes paid off so I can invest in a better gaming rig, all for the love of MMORPGs. We didn't see a terribly large amount of games, as most of them were at the seminars that were frankly quite boring from a press standpoint, so we didn't see those, but we still got the goods on a few big games and have some to look forward to.

1. Pirates of the Burning Sea

What? A pirate game that doesn't have the word "Caribbean" written anywhere in it? Surely not? You'd be surprised, because one of the best games we saw at the show was Flying Lab Software's Pirates of the Burning Sea. We got to play the game from several different gameplay points, most specifically the tutorial – but we got to experience the character creation system, hand-to-hand combat, and naval ship to ship battling. You'd think steering a giant ship around would be choppy or unrealistic, but by just using your fingers the process of gliding your ship around on the open waters was silky smooth and realistic. We aren't sure if we want to be pirates yet or not, but we do know we want this game…NOW!

2. Age of Conan

When I think Conan I think of Arnold, and that is all I know about the franchise. However, though that was all I knew, I was still immensely impressed with how Age of Conan is coming along. The graphics (though some hiccups cause early build) still looked amazing, with lush landscapes, vast deserts, and expertly crafted characters. Perhaps the best thing was the battle system, which isn't your typical "click and wait" approach of many MMORPGs, but rather you click directions to perform swift attacks, which can sometimes lead to these great fatalities like cutting off someone's head or stabbing them through the chest. We saw this game at two different occasions, and though we saw the same stuff for the most part each time, we still couldn't get enough.

3. Tabula Rasa

We were going to include this in the next section, if only because it had seemed to fly under our radar, but after seeing the game in action we couldn't help but think, "How freaking cool?!?" Tabula Rasa is an upcoming MMORPG featuring a space conflict between humanity and aliens bent on destroying us. The big thing that drew us in were the story based missions, such as these utterly epic battle that had drop ships landing, disposing their troops, and the imminent battle that resulted. The great thing was how fast it played, like imagining World of Warcraft meets Halo. Very cool and pretty to look at. Also loved how battles would rage without you, so you felt like you were part of an ongoing world battle instead of personal skirmishes.

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BIGGEST SURPRISES

Game surprises seemed to come everywhere, because though some like Forza 2 you know would be big, you didn't really have an exact idea how intricate and even more detailed they could get. However, Forza 2 didn't make it on this list, not because it wasn't an amazing looking game (cause it was) but we feel there are some more that might need your attention more than Microsoft's Gran Turismo killer.

1. Brooktown High

At GDC I found out I'm a nerd, and it was all because of Foundation 9's upcoming dating sim Brooktown High. Dating sims haven't really had a big showing in America, but they are huge in the Asian markets, and this one looks like it just might break the mold for more of the same games coming here. In it you play as a senior in high school as you go to school, talk to perspective dates, go to dances, and ultimately try to go to the prom with your sweetie. I don't know what it is, because the graphics were rather simple and cartoony, but this upcoming game for the PSP had me hanging around their booth and asking question after question because it fascinated me so.

2. Shadowrun

At E3 I wasn't too impressed with Shadowrun, and I had never experienced the franchise before, so I had nothing to get upset about when I saw the game wasn't a RPG but rather a FPS frag fest. I didn't care then, but I care now, and this slick looking magic meets technology first person shooter frag fest looks like it might be the defacto Live game of choice once it is released, thanks in part to its fast action, interesting game tactics, and dazzling feats of fancy (such as transportation and sicking one of those giant minions on someone).

3. SingStar

Not sure what it was, but when you saw that crowd of people hanging around the booth, you had to go over to see what all the fuss was about, and the fuss this time around was SingStar. I'd never thought karaoke would have been so popular with people, but everyone seemed to want to take their turns belting out their favorites and in the case of Blur's "Song Two" (Woohoo) you couldn't help but get caught up in the sea of people screaming at the top of their lungs "WOOHOO!" The only thing missing was a single cry of "Freebird!"

TURN TO PAGE TWO FOR THE REST OF THE AWARDS