Get your game on: Highlights from the E3 video game expo

Are you ready to play?

If the 18th annual E3 Expo is any indication, you'll have no shortage of extraordinary entertainment experiences to indulge in over the coming months and years.

The world's biggest video game trade show has just wrapped up and once again it served as a window to the future of the multibillion-dollar industry. More than 45,000 industry-only attendees packed the Los Angeles Convention Center to play upcoming games and new hardware.

The sheer size and intensity of the show means it's an exhausting one to cover -- no violins, please -- but after three days of roaming the massive showroom floor and getting hands-on time with games behind closed doors, the following is a look at some highlights of the 2012 E3 Expo:

Canada takes the lead

Whether it's EA Sports from Vancouver (FIFA 13, NHL 13), Digital Extremes in London, Ont. (Star Trek) or Ubisoft in Toronto (Splinter Cell: Blacklist), Canadians dominated this year's E3. Ubisoft Montreal, in particular, stole the show with a number of high-quality titles, ranging from the awesome Assassin's Creed III to Far Cry 3 to Zombi U. The biggest surprise was a brand new Ubi Montreal franchise called Watch Dogs: Set in Chicago in the near future, the game follows a hacker named Aiden Pearce who has tapped into the city's central computer system; this allows Pearce to digitally eavesdrop on mobile phone conversations, toy with traffic lights to slow down a target and access security cameras on demand. Pair this with stealth, agility and marksmanship and you've got an intense sci-fi thriller in an open-world environment. No launch date has been announced just yet.

New console cometh

While their press conference was painful, Nintendo fans will be happy to know the Nintendo Wii U video game console is shaping up nicely — evident after some hands-on time with various games over two days. As you likely know, the Wii U ships with a wireless controller that looks like a small iPad -- but houses some buttons and analog sticks, as well. Gamers will use the 6.2-inch touchscreen GamePad to control the action and see gaming content that compliments what's displayed on the television, such as a different view of the gaming world or a mini-map and vital stats. The strategy-action hybrid Pikmin looked and played great, as did Luigi's Ghost Mansion, one of a dozen multiplayer minigames in NintendoLand. Depending on the game, Wii U gamers can keep playing on the GamePad if someone wants to watch TV. The high-definition console will also play older Nintendo Wii games and supports existing Nintendo Wii Remote controllers, too. No price or launch date has been announced but Wii U will be available by the holidays and will likely ship with NintendoLand.

Call to action

While there were plenty of sports, strategy and role-playing titles, action-heavy games were by far the dominant genre at this year's E3 Expo. More so than any other category, explosive first- and third-person action games drew the most attention — so get your trigger finger ready. Some aren't much of a surprise, such as Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Microsoft Game Studios' Halo 4, Sony's God of War: Ascension and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III, but others managed to impress, too, including EA's Dead Space 3, Square-Enix's Tomb Raider, Bethesda Softworks' Dishonored, Capcom's Resident Evil 6, THQ's Metro: Last Light and Sony's Beyond: Two Souls (though much more than an action game, see below). Even "massively multiplayer" online games are becoming trigger-happy action experiences, including Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide 2 and Trion's Defiance. If you like your action games, you'll love what the next year has in store for you. Just bring your wallet.

PlayStation Nation

Sony had a couple of awesome first-party games for its PlayStation 3 console — and I'm not even referring to God of War: Ascension, the gory mythological brawler that adds multiplayer to the coveted franchise for the first time. Instead, The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls both had spectacular demos behind closed doors. Developed by Naughty Dog, The Last of Us tells of a post-pandemic world, where most of the Earth's population has been decimated by a viral outbreak. You play as Joel, a middle-aged man with a checkered past, who must care for a teenage girl, Ellie, as they traverse the country together and fight against various threats, including scavengers and the infected. Featuring a lengthy single-player campaign and multiplayer modes, the game promises intense action sequences, huge set pieces and very smart artificial intelligence. No launch date has been announced, but will likely be a 2013 title. Beyond, from Quantic Dream (of Heavy Rain fame), is a very unique and visually stunning adventure game with action elements. The protagonist is a girl named Jody Holmes, gifted with an ability to link to an invisible spirit she refers to as Aiden. Players will control both characters over 15 years of Jody's life, from child to young adult.

Screen dream

Along with an emphasis on action games, E3 2012 will likely be remembered as the year of the "second screen." Per above, Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console, for example, ships with a 6.2-inch touchscreen as a controller, which lets gamers see and interact with content that compliments what you see on the television. Or with the Netflix app, kids can watch a cartoon on the Wii U GamePad controller with headphones, while mom and dad watch live TV on the big screen. Both Microsoft and Sony also had a second screen strategy. Microsoft's SmartGlass technology also has movie and gaming applications — on existing on competing tablets and smartphones from the likes of Apple and Android; you could download a movie from Xbox Live, start watching on a smartphone and finish later on an HDTV. Or you can play a video game and the SmartGlass app on a tablet could you show you the overhead map of the world you're in. And Sony announced new content for next LittleBigPlanet game, where the portable PlayStation Vita can be used as an additional screen when used in conjunction with the PlayStation 3.