When the shock and revelations of Microsoft's E3 conference finally abated, we sat down and thought about the key things that didn't make an appearance at this year's event.

Alan Wake

Firstly and perhaps most notably, is the disappearance again of Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake. Last surfacing in September 2006 at X'06, doubts and uncertainty have continually surrounded Remedy's psychological thriller, with some reports that the game has been canned completely.

Where is Alan Wake? We wish we knew, but we're hoping it's still on Microsoft's agenda.

Darwin

If rumours leading up to E3 were anything to go by then we'd all be waving our arms at the prospect of six-dimensional motion-sensitive games on the Xbox 360 by now... it didn't happen.

Again we're not entirely sure what's happened to Darwin or whether or not it was all merely a smokescreen to hide Microsoft's true intentions. Either way it seems they managed to prompt Nintendo into upgrading its own controller.

Halo Chronicles

Exactly what Peter Jackson and Wingnut Interactive are up to is beyond us. Can Jackson really achieve the holy grail of a movie that thinks it's a game and a game that thinks it's a movie?

Given the continued absence we're inclined to believe they're struggling a little with Jackson's busy schedule.

Halo 4

Yes, yes, we know Bungie will be making an announcement of colossal proportions tomorrow afternoon, but we're not entirely convinced this will be the Master Chief's return that Xbox fratboys are hoping for.

In a manner that could only follow a Bungie title, rumours have ranged from a heavily stylised animated appearance to a grittier, edgier game in the Halo universe.

Seems we'll just have to wait a few hours...