E3 2008 has finally come to a close. You’ve read the hands-on reports and saw the trailers for your most anticipated games, but now it’s time for us to play the waiting game.

This year’s E3 was far from extraordinary, but you have to admit, there were some astonishing games being shown off at the expo. Mirror’s Edge, Fallout 3, and Resident Evil 5 topped my “DO WANT” list — how about you? What games are you most excited about?

For the time being, we’ll just have to settle on playing games that have already been released. A sad thought indeed, but Friday Night Fights is here to ease the pain.

Hit the jump for tonight’s hosts.

[Thanks, CaffeinePowered, Demios, EuroFNF, insomnia, Mushman, Qraze, Team Fortress 2, and Y0j1mb0]

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We’ve already heard the complaints about Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe — how can DC super heroes like Superman go head-to-head with the likes of Sonya Blade or Sub-Zero? I mean, it’s Superman. Without kryptonite there’s no contest, right?

Well look: he’s apparently also vulnerable to magic, and with the number of mystic projectiles and resurrections found in the Mortal Kombat universe, they’re going to find a way to make it work. You didn’t hear anyone bitching when Capcom’s universe collided with Marvel, now did you? While they wouldn’t go into details, they’re promising that it will all make sense as told through the game’s narrative.

But regardless of how many random plot points they have to shoehorn into the game to make it work, all of it’s worthless without some solid gameplay. Because let’s face it — who’s playing Mortal Kombat for the story? I had a chance to get some first hands-on time with the game, and was pleasantly surprised at what I came away with.

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Talk about a palette clenser after playing 30 or more minutes of Killzone 2. Sony are classiying thatgamecompany’s upcoming PlayStation Network title Flower in the “Zen Gaming” genre, which could also be applied to the developer’s last title, flOw.

It may seem like a silly marketing tag, but it’s surely appropriate — Flower is more of a decompressing and relaxing experience than it is an actual game. The goal of the title is to enter and restore beauty to dream worlds, acting as the wind to sweep up flowers and petals that cause different reactions in the environment.

By tilting the SIXAXIS left and right, I was able to control “the wind,” targeting blooming flowers in otherwise dead fields of grass. Sweeping over yellow flowers would cause red flowers to bloom, and I’d have to tilt the controller around to touch them in order to cause the grass to bloom and have that area come to life.

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In case you haven’t heard yet, you can’t lose in Wii Music. Sure, you can bob your head around and make notes higher or lower, but there are no real constraints to the game. Recently, it came to Joystiq’s attention that there’s a new mode in Rock Band 2 called “No Fail Mode.” As the subtitle plainly recommends, there is no way to fail out of a song while utilizing the mode. Sounds like Wii Music, doesn’t it?

From personal experience, I think this mode is a bit ingenious. Like Jim, I’ll never be able to get over the fact that a game like Wii Music will exist, but not being able to lose in a mode for Rock Band seems like a good fit. I’ve been to a couple of celebrations with older, unhip adults scrambling to comprehend the fine art of holding a plastic guitar. After finally getting the strap appropriately around the shoulder, playing the game is a near impossibility. While, I, the trendy one in the room can master the medium difficulty, there’s no chance someone who hasn’t seen a console since the Atari is going to be able to get through a single song.

Perhaps it’s all about accessibility. What state you, Destructoid community? Is this mode a good idea? Do you think it will help launch Rock Band 2 even further into the stratosphere when it hits?

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Would it not be awesome to be rewarded for your endeavors with shiny things on the PSP platform as well? This may soon be a possibility. Gamespot recently sat down for a presentation of Buzz! Master Quiz for the PSP, where producer Emerson Escobar may have accidently unveiled a cross-platform Trophy system.

We’ve also implemented a trophy system. Let’s say you answer a question within one second, you get a lightning finger trophy. If you answer a question within half a second, you get a supersonic trophy.

Escobar was unwilling to elaborate if the PSP was actually getting trophy support. The trophies in Buzz! may only be in the context of the game itself, which isn’t exactly unheard of. Notice how he says “a trophy system” as opposed to “the Trophy system.” Regardless, PSP Trophy support is certainly a very interesting proposition. It would probably require Sony to open up the entire network for Trophies. Imagine playing a downloadable PS1 title for points. That’s certainly an area that Microsoft won’t touch with its Xbox Originals platform.

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I wouldn’t be posting about virtual water unless it was astonishing, so trust me when I say that Hydrophobia’s physics-based water technology is exactly that.

I hadn’t heard much about the survival-adventure game before, but apparently the storyline has you thwarting a terrorist attack on a ship the size of a city while the rest of the world is completely flooded. Also, you’re character is afraid of water, hence the game’s title. How convenient.

Very little of Hydrophobia has been revealed thus far, but if the effort that went into making sure the water acted realistically is anything to go by, it’ll be a game to look out for.

You can find the teaser video after the break.

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I want to marry this game.

I don’t know if that is legal or even morally right — ya’ know, marrying a videogame — but I would like to spend the rest of my life with Mega Man 9. Which sounds better? Mega Man Concelmo or Chad 9?

Anyway, sorry about the slightly perverted distraction. I was going to try to save my excitement for this Capcom masterpiece-in-the-making until after the jump, but I can’t hold back my adoration.

Obviously you know how I feel. Hit the jump to find out why.

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Usually the first thing I think about when someone mentions Valkryia Chronicles is how Sega wants us to spell it for the week. While the spelling may have varied in the past, Sega has never wavered from the game’s release on the PlayStation 3 this November. At the Sony press conference yesterday, Sony showed off a snippet of the gameplay. The only problem, as the perceptive eyes at Kotaku caught, is that the video was shown during the PSP demo.

This kind of mistake is not exactly the worst thing that could have happened. Imagine if Sony showed it off as a downloadable PS1 title. Sony has yet to comment on the mess up, and we wonder if any video editors have suddenly found themselves in the job market again. Fortunately, there was little kickback from the gaming community for the mess up.

This has got me thinking about other blunders that could have happened during the show. Imagine the God of War III trailer airing during the PS2 segment at the Sony conference, or accidental Mii shots during the Avatar bit at Microsoft’s show. What other potentially epic failures or miscues can you think of?

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THQ’s Darksiders: Wrath of War is shaping up to be a really interesting action game. What we’ve seen so far hasn’t made it out to be particularly creative or innovative, but it sure does sound like a fun time filled with plenty of hacking and slashing.

Darksiders puts players in the role of WAR, the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who is apparently such a badass that his name is spelt in all caps. The Horsemen’s master decided to jump the gun on the whole ‘ending the world’ thing, sending hoards of demons to ravage the earth while stripping WAR and co. of their powers.

The game’s new CG intro (viewable after the jump) shows demon-bearing meteors raining down on an unsuspecting populace. WAR shows up a moment later looking very pissed — which is pretty understandable, seeing as he was just betrayed — and starts taking out his anger on the nearby demonic forces.

Darksiders: Wrath of War is coming out for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with an estimated March 2009 release.

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Closing out last night’s Activision ‘not, E3′ press conference, Neversoft performed and confirmed Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” in Guitar Hero: World Tour.

The track, with its blindingly fast drums intro and blazing guitar solo, looked mesmerizingly difficult. Also confirmed (via in-game menus and music) were Smashing Pumpkin’s “Today,” The Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn,” and Paramore’s “Misery Business.”

Talking of Paramore, lead singer Hayley Williams was on hand to prove that she’s both short and young, in addition to announcing that she’d be included as a “playable” avatar in the game. She joined drummer Travis Barker, who will also appear in the game, along with other unannounced celebrities and musicians.

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