Hollywood's Huge Gaming Expo! Five Reasons to Geek Out Over E3

Which consoles will you be playing in the future? Which games will be worth your $60? Which stars will get their nerd on?

Hollywood is being invaded this week by thousands of gamers and game designers, as the annual E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) gets underway. Microsoft and Activision and Sony and everyone showcase their latest goodies, and it's like a peek into the future:

Which consoles will you be playing? Which games will be really worth  $60? Which stars will get their nerd on? What's the next Angry Birds?

We're all over the geeky goodness, so here's the big stuff you'll be hearing about this week:

1. Nintendo Launches a Wii Sequel: Last year's E3 was the big debut for Nintendo's new Wii U. Now is the time for the final design, features and (hopefully) at least one new game starring an Italian plumber. Aside from the full 1080p HD and a more powerful processor than both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, the new console sports a controller that looks like an iPad with a colorful touchscreen. But what exactly that means for the future of gaming we're itching to find out!

2. Celebs Get All Geeky: At night when the expo's festivities leave the showroom floor, the real fun begins. Expect an endless array of celebs making appearances, playing the new demos and even starring in some titles. We hear that a few very A-list stars will be helping the big names get the word out this week.

3. So Much Grand Theft Auto V Dish—or Maybe Not: Game developer Rockstar is fiendishly secretive about the GTA series. All we know so far is that their new open-world crime epic takes us back to the Los Angeles-inspired metropolis Los Santos. From the looks of all the foreclosures in the trailer, V will be as topical as ever. We are the 99 percent! We predict no playable demo, but a presence at one of the big press events? Some new scenes? Maybe!

4. Halo, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty—All the Faves: The real reason anyone goes to E3 is for games. The Tomb Raider reboot, Halo 4, the just announced Dead Space 3, a new God of War and a Call of Duty that's quite literally in the future...Black Ops II.

5. The Next Angry Birds: If an indie-minded fanboy like Quentin Tarantino curated E3, you'd instead be buzzing about Cid and The Unfinished Swan and a bunch of other titles you've never heard of. More and more indie games are showing up, though, and blowing up. And mobile-phone timesucks are taking center stage. Expect Angry Bird-size hype on some of these.