Over a thousand people crammed themselves into every fire marshall-approved nook and cranny of Room 6B at Comic-Con to witness one of the few true rockstars of the gaming world, Cliff Bleszinski, the creator of Gears of War and the upcoming sequel.  Cliff and Josh Ortega, the lead writer for Gears of War 2, received applause after applause as they described the sequel to the Xbox game that sold over five million copies. 

But who really stole the show in this conference about the brutal, bone-ripping, flesh-tearing, mad, screaming last stand of humanity?  Karen Traviss, a sweet-looking lady with an adorable English accent who sounded like the ideal beloved aunt... until she started talking about Gears of War.  Karen, the author of a slew of Star Wars and other sci-fi novels, was invited to write the first Gears of War novel, and, at Comic-Con, soundly destroyed my hope of ever feeling safe around the tea-sipping gentlefolk of England again.

On Friday, Cliff Bleszinksi bought a terrifying Cthulhu model.  On Saturday, he sat down and talked with me about Gears of War 2.  "Gears Two is a more epic game, but is also more intimate," he told me.  "When I say more epic, it really feels like there is a real war going on.  The characters have a better sense of the world around them," he said, promising "tremendous vistas" and "battle scenes."  And by "intimate," he means that you'll be much more involved with the characters this time.  The game starts with Dom finding a lead on his missing wife.  Marcus and Dom then rev up their Lancers and go to find her.  Oh, and they try to prevent annihilation of the human race while they're at it.

When Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski thinks "classic game," what pops up in his brain?  "Narrative and context are incredibly important to a video game," he told me.  If you have a game that has great gameplay and crappy story, then you have a great video game.... If you have both... then you have a classic."

Well folks, the annual video game pilgrimage that is E3 just wrapped up, and chances are - like every year - you were left out in the cold, shivering and mumbling curses at the attendees of this industry-only event.  Never fear, the gaming industry will have a nice warm fire for you at Comic-Con (Dear Fire Marshal, this is an expression, I have no knowledge of any arsonist plans by the gaming industry at Comic-Con).  Activision, Capcom, EA, Marvel, Midway, Sierra, Sony, THQ, Ubisoft... the list goes on.  They will all be vying for your attention at the Con.

Video game companies even have some plans for you that the lucky punks of E3 didn't get to experience.  You'll be the first ever to test out Sony's new MMO, DC Universe Online.  Firesky will be showing off their MMO, Stargate Worlds, based on the wildly popular TV show.  And, if you don't count the Japanese (our archrivals in the getting-games-first war), you'll be one of the first in the world to try out Street Fighter IV.

Now, to the panels.  Here are my top 10 picks.