Hello fellow gamers, it’s me Tom. After nearly a year of silence I am back to bring this year’s E3 announcements and big news from each day.
As usual this year’s lead up to E3 has had some “leaks” which we all know is just fuel for our hunger for knowledge about what will be announced. Such leaks being screenshots of ‘Dead Space 3′, a prequel to Gears of War entitled ‘Gears of War: Judgement’ along with a new DC Comics inspired brawler called ‘First Justice: Gods Among Us’ from Netherrealm studios (who brought us last year’s ‘Mortal Kombat’).
As you read this, day 2 of E3 will be commencing with more announcements being unleashed upon the audience who would no doubt in my mind be tweeting it and blasting it all over the net, such as I am doing right now. But let us commence with the stuff that was revealed upon the first day of E3 by starting with the Microsoft stage announcements.
Microsoft
On the Microsoft stage, after the expected updates on Microsoft’s two mega franchises ‘Halo 4′ and ‘Gears of War: Judgement’; ‘South Park: The Stick of Truth’ – Obsidian’s new RPG produced in partnership with South Park Studios was shown off and finally given a release date of March 5th 2013 along with some preorder incentives in the form of a DLC pack called “Good Time With Weapons” based upon the popular episode. A further three DLC packs have been announced each with their own standalone story.
Next up announced on the Microsoft stage was ‘Fable: The Journey’, given a release date of October 12th in Europe.
This was then followed up by EA taking the stage to announce the following:
‘Dead Space 3′ was officially confirmed with a gameplay trailer which shows that this time Isaac isn’t alone with his new buddy James Carver supporting with drop in, drop out co-op to feature in game, with a release slated for Feb 2013.
DICE then officially announced ‘Battlefield 3 Premium’, the content subscription service for the game. Which will be priced at 4,000 Microsoft points.
EA announced a reboot of the famous 2005 racer, ‘Need for Speed: Most Wanted’. Which will be an open world racer, with massive environments filled with ramps and destructible items. Coming to consoles October 30th.
Also EA confirmed ‘Crysis 3′, which was shown off with an on stage demo. Slated to hit stores Feb 2013.
Ubisoft
Next up Ubisoft hit the stage and revealed the following.
Ubisoft announced ‘Avengers: Battle for Earth’ for the Xbox 360 Kinect.
Ubisoft also released a new trailer for the highly anticipated ‘Assassin’s Creed III’, which looks insanely good with new moves that enable players to hang targets from the trees.
A new Splinter Cell game was unvield by Ubisoft entitled ‘Splinter Cell: Blacklist’ and sees the return of Sam Fisher. A demo was shown on stage and Ubisoft called it “their most ambitious Splinter Cell yet” though a dark cloud hovers over the game as screen legend Michael Ironside will no longer be voicing Sam.
Ubisoft also revealed E3’s first true surprise announcement in the form a techno thriller called ‘Watch Dogs’, which will be an open world game where your character can take control the city’s technology such as cameras, comunication hubs and other bits of tech as you chance the trail of a man named Demarco.
Sony
Then finally Sony hit the stage to make it’s announcements.
First up Sony officially announced and demoed Quantic Dream’s ‘Beyond: Two Souls’, brought to us by the studio that made ‘Heavy Rain’, it features the same mo-cap and amazing facial graphics are there previous game. Starring Ellen Page as Jodie, the game is about her abilities as a ghost whisperer and psychic and it’ll take us through her first 15 years of life. It looks rather stunning but will it hold up to expectations when compared to Heavy Rain? Guess we’ll find out at the end of the year.
Up next from Sony were a few Vita announcements, starting with confirmation of their brawler ‘All-Stars Battle Royale’ was coming to the handheld device. Looking somewhat like a Sony own version of Super Smash Bros but will it be as good? well you get to play as a Big Daddy from Bioshock, does that answer your question?
The Vita is also getting PSone Classic entitled games from the PSN Store later in the month, including such fantastic games as the original ‘Tomb Raider’ and the legendary Square-Enix (back then Squaresoft) title ‘Final Fantasy VII’.
A Call of Duty game was announced for the Vita in the form of ‘Black Ops Declassified’, said to be “a complete Call of Duty experience” the game will feature a story campaign and multiplayer. Expect it to be released around the same time as ‘Black Ops II’ in November.
Sony then revealed that ‘Assassin’s Creed III’ will be getting some PS3 only exclusive DLC in the form of skins and a few other things yet to be annouced, but the PS3 DLC will tie into the newly announced Vita game ‘Assassin’s Creed: Liberation’. Featuring a female character and set in New Orleans this is set to give us an open world adventure that will take full advantage of the Vita’s abilities.
Sony then announced the release date for the new God of War title, ‘God of War: Ascension’. Set to be a prequel to the original games, it sees us taking control of the forever angry Kratos and to involve battles of monsterous sizes. Set to be released March 12th 2013.
That pretty much wraps up day one at E3 but along with these big announcements a few new trailers were shown for such games as ‘Far Cry 3′, ‘Tomb Raider’, ‘Black Ops II’ and ‘Medal of Honor: Warfighter’.
Stick around tomorrow to see the round up of E3 Day Two.
