Slideshow: Got Game? Might Need a New PC

Nvidia showed off a demo scene running on a machine with the latest pricey chip sets and graphics board. One scene depicted a demonic Vulcan, the Roman god of the forge, aflame with incredibly realistic fire effects, making weapons in a cathedral-like structure with stained-glass windows. Graphics hardware makers like Nvidia are unapologetic about the fact that new games with eye-popping, almost photorealistic graphics may push some gamers to trash their old rigs and head to the stores for a new PC.

Rise of Nations is a new historical, real-time strategy game where you create cities, improve city infrastructures and expand national borders by conquering foes using everything from slingshots and cannons to stealth bombers and nuclear weapons.

. The game begins 20 years after the original storyline, but includes the same character, Alan Bradley.

Phantom skulls emerge from a Satanic shrine and travel around a Martian base, taking possession of soldiers' bodies in Doom III. Minutes after the doors to E3 opened, spectators were four- and five-deep waiting in front of screens to see the trailer for this upcoming release.

When Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf runs in full 3-D splendor, the game emphasizes the shading and smooth-flowing action permitted by new graphics technologies.

StarCraft: Ghost, Blizzard Entertainment�s upcoming tactical-action console game, refines the epic experience of StarCraft to the level of the individual soldier. With the help of determined allies, follow story-driven missions that take you from massive planetary battles through dangerous solo operations to an unexpected turn of events that leaves the fate of the universe in your hands.