UPDATE: Portfoli.com and Riccitiello have confirmed that it is indeed KOTOR and it is an MMO.
The folks over at Portfolio.com dug up a bit of interesting information in an interview with John Riccitiello, chief executive at EA, this week during E3. Riccitiello stated that: "We've got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development...And the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about -- in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it."
Well anyone with half a video game brain can put two and two together. LucasArts, the studio behind anything Star Wars, and BioWare , the studio behind the Knights of the Old Republic series coming together to create an MMO. What could it be?
Fans of the KOTOR series have been yearning for a new game since the second ended and an MMO would bring the game back in style. Bioware has had great success since KOTOR with last years' Mass Effect, and is hitting their full stride this gen. Hopefully an announcement or trailer of some sort is not too far off!
When the devs of The Conduit said they were working on bringing some of the graphical eye candy PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers have been enjoying, I was skeptical. It may not be PS3 or Xbox 360 good, but they have done a decent job. But don't take my word for it. Here are some trailers.
Kotaku and Joystiq have the scoop about a hint in the future of the Pikmin fanchise, quoting Miyamoto at Nintendo's 2008 E3 Developer Roundtable as saying a new Pikmin is in the works. Miyamoto's translator confirms him saying "We're making Pikmin".
You would think a title like Pikmin would have been announced with a little more hype surrounding it but it could just be it is a long ways off.
I finally saw footage of Dark Void and I must say, I was pleasently surprised. The gameplay looks solid and entertaining with a very unique vertical element. Kind of reminds me of a Gears of War with a jet pack. Capcom could have a hit on their hands.
If you are like me, you love to play games cooperatively with your friends. Call of Duty gameplay has always been chaotic and adding your friends to the mix doesn't change that. In fact, it looks to add to the chaos. See for yourself!
Metal Gear Online Expansion First expansion, Gene Expansion, will be released July 17. Konami is planning to do a worldwide tournement.
Castlevania Trailer was shown for Castlevania: Order of Ecclessia (2D Castlevania). Also, a trailer for Castlevania Judgement was shown. Game will have 14 playable characters.
Silent Hill Homecoming Starts out showing the trailer (coming soon). When the trailer ended, they went strait into a demonstration. The game will feature a free-look camera, Havoc physics engine and a quick inventory system. Gun play will be handled by an over the shoulder camera but you can look around the environment in first person. A dialog tree system will be used to interact with other characters in the game. Some of the choices you make can have a direct effect on gameplay. A boss battle is shown where you have to destroy hanging meat sacks. (Try to keep you mind out of the gutter). Destroy enough meat sacks and the boss battle moves on to the next stage of the fight.
Rock Revolution Rock Revolution will be the official video game for Linkin Park's tour. Some band comes out and performs actual song. When they finish, Konami moves over to the game. (Not sure which performance made me more uncomfortable.)
They fail the song and that concludes Konami's Press Conference.
Many people have been clamoring to find out what themes will look like on the upcoming dashboard update for the Xbox 360. Well have no fear, GamePlay Unlimited is on the case. Xbox Live's Major Nelson just made a post on his blog showing what the themes will look like (image below) as well as having a few more in-depth images on his Flickr site. Check them out below! The first image is a theme on the new system, the second is the marketplace, and the third is downloads.
At the Activision press conference (which began at 7 PST NOT 8:45 PST like G4 and IGN listed, which means we missed it) the next Activision games were unveiled. Check out various trailers from the event:
Wolfenstein
Guitar Hero World Tour
007 Quantum of Solace
More to come later! Check out GameTrailers for a ton of Guitar Hero World Tour walkthroughs.
Well, we are thoroughly perplexed. A few days ago the Bungie opening paged teased us with a countdown timer and mix of random sayings that appeared to be shaping up to be a big announcement. Today if you check the site, a letter is up from Harold Ryan (Studio Manager and CEO) saying that:
"We were looking forward to sharing that (reveal of something exciting) with our fan community during the week of E3. However, these plans were just changed by our publishers."
Is this true or just another type of viral marketing? For now it seems as if something came up at the last minute (maybe a surprise announcement of Final Fantasy XIII on 360 took up their time slot?) and we will have to wait a bit longer to discover the nature of Bungie's next project.
Lost Planet Movie David Hayter is on the stage along with Capcom. Capcom talks about the Lost Planet movie. Possible release in 2011.
...time passes and they are still talking about the movie. We know Capcom is excited but this is getting dull.
And, that was it. Hopefully that was not the most exciting thing Capcom has to offer at E3.
UPDATE: Because Capcom's Press Conference was not all that exciting, I'm going to include some trailers they released for some of their upcoming games.
First up, Street Fighter 4, a game that has fans divided on the art direction. Personally, I think it looks cool. Here is the latest trailer. (Note: GameTrailers says the trailer is partially incomplete and they will be getting the full trailer from Capcom soon.)
Ubisoft presented games like Rayman Raving Rabbids TV, Brother in Arms: Hell Highway and Far Cry 2 in the first half the show but we missed the first part. Here is what we saw. (We will add content from the first half the show later. Chances are, that is what you are interested in anyways.)
UPDATE: Here is some of what we missed:
Raymon Raving Rabbids TV Demo of Rayman Raving Rabbids TV using the balance board on the Wii.
Brother in Arms: Hell Highway Game will be released this September. Trailer was shown.
Tom Clancy It is the 10th Anniversary. There has been 55 million units sold worldwide. Endwar trailer shown.
Far Cry 2 Lead designer talks about the game and then demos the game. (footage coming soon) UPDATE: Here is an interview with the developers. Enjoy
Games For Girls Special line of games targeted at girls. Introduction of the new girls sports line for DS, Ener-G. Shaun White Snowboarding Demonstration A few members from the dev team demoed the upcoming Shaun White Snowboarding game. As the game loads, you are able to practice your moves. The level is a massive open mountain. The devs say it is so large, you may not be able to find locations you once visited very easily, so you can set markers on the map to return later. Shaun White talks about how he likes the free roam nature of the game.
Prince of Persia Trailer and Demonstration The devs show a bit of the AI cooperative gameplay. The game world is open and depending on the path you choice to take will effect other parts of the game. Combat consist of you versus one enemy. The devs want you to get the feeling of a great boss fight everytime you encounter an enemy. Also, the gameplay has been made more accessible for new players so they can pull off some of the satisfying moves more easily.
Ubisoft ends their show with a trailer to their new IP, I Am Alive.
Alas, the last of the big three. The Sony press conference has concluded, check this story for the complete wrap-up of all the events and announcements!
Resistance 2 Shown After a bit of information about Sony and it's future, Resistance 2 takes the stage and looks epic. Much bigger scale than the first. New trailer also shown, stay tuned to GPU later for videos!
Little Big Planet Up Next Now from Resistance to Little Big Planet, the games keep rolling. A special level was created for the conference to help illustrate a few key points. Sack Boy is customized with a Celtics jersey and they are running through a special level that is basically an amazing powerpoint presentation.
PS3 Greatest Hits Announced Retailing for $29.99, Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Ninja Gaiden, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and more are coming to the program later this year.
PS2 Getting Lego Batman Bundle A Lego Batman bundle for the PS2 will launch this fall for $149.99.
Rachet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty Announced Rachet and Clank are coming to the Playstation Network in a shorter less expensive blockbuster. The game is set to appeal to new and old fans of the franchise alike and will retail for $14.99 this summer.
Gran Turismo TV Updated GTTV is getting premium high definition programming including Top Gear and looks into major automotive factories. Available through Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, the content will be available August 1st.
Playstation Home Update Many gaming companies have partnered up with Sony to bring fresh content to Home. Producers such as Ubisoft and companies like Nike are set to bring great media and content to the game.
Playstation Video Service Unveiled Sony Pictures, Fox, MGM, Warner, Disney, and Turner are just a few media outlets that will bring content to the store. You can purchase shows and movies or just rent them. Also, you can move the media from your PS3 to your PSP to take the content on the road. The video store is accessed through the Playstation Store and contains standard definition as well as high definition content. The service will be available tonight.
PSP Gets Rachet & Clank Pack For $199 you can on the special edition Rachet & Clank PSP with the game, PSP, and a copy of National Treasure.
Resistance Retribution Announced for PSP The Resistance mania has caught on with the PSP. Resistance Retribution looks to add another layer to the great story Insomniac games has created.
DC Universe Online Shown DC Universe is a MMO for the Playstation 3 in which you can create your own superhero/villain and live out your favorite comic book moments.
80GB Core PS3 announced for $399.99 A core 80GB PS3 that rivals the 40GB has been announced for $399.99.
God of War 3, Infamous, Trailers Shown
Massive Action Game (MAG) Announced A massive multiplayer war game called MAG has been announced. MAG will feature 8 player squads, and 256 player battles overall. The squad leaders will be chosen based on leadership skill in battle. Trailer coming soon!
Welcome again to our semi-live blogging of the E3 events. The Nintendo press event is now over, check out the shorts below for information on what was announced!
Shaun White Snowboarding The newest snowboarding game for the Wii, Shaun White Snowboarding, was demoed and will be out by the end of this year.
New Zelda and Mario in the Works Nintendo's development teams are hard at work on more Mario and Zelda for the Wii.
Animal Crossing: City Folk Announced for Wii The Wii version of the next Animal Crossing game, "City Folk" comes to the Wii in late 2008. The game aims to give a more realistic feel in the characters and cities. There are auction houses, academies, fashion stores, and hair dressers. In communication you can write letters to other players and have them sent to mobile phones or computers. Also Wii Speak microphone was announced. It allows more than one person in a room talk to other players around the world. You can also visit others' towns and make new friends. More on the new microphone and Animal Crossing to come.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Announced Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been announced for the Wii. The game looks to take control of the Wii's innovative controls to bring better gameplay.
Call of Duty: World At War Announced Call of Duty: World at War has been announced for the Wii. The game will contain co-op and use the shooter peripheral.
Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades Announced for DS New Guitar Hero for DS allows people to share share music with one another.
Spore detailed for DS The creature game is focused on for the DS version. The stylus has helped create a very easy creature creator to use. You can also share your creatures with your friends and incorporate their creatures into your game.
Pokemon rangers Coming November 10 The next Pokemon DS game, Pokemon Rangers coming to North America November 10.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Announced for DS GTA on the DS? Yes it is true. Chinatown wars is coming to the DS with the same free roaming gameplay everyone enjoys.
Wii MotionPlus Detailed As we first reported yesterday, Wii MotionPlus was announced. Wii MotionPlus will help make the Wiimote more precise. Every Wii MotionPlus will come packaged with the new Wii Sports entitled Wii Sports Resort. The MotionPlus allows the Wii to read exactly where your arm and hands are pointing.
Wii Sports Resort Announced The next Wii sports has been announced ad will use the new Wii MotionPlus. Resort features Frisbee, jetskis, and sword dueling with much more to come. Resort is set to launch globally next spring.
Wii Music Announced Wii Music has just been announced. Wii Music plans to be something everyone in the family can enjoy. The game allows everyone, including those who can't read music or play instruments to play. You just hold the Wiimote and move your body like you would playing the real instrument. You press the buttons at your preference so you can't make mistakes. Wii Music contains over 50 different instruments played by just moving your body. The game also includes lessons with the drum mode which makes use of the balance board. An orchestra mode has also been included. The game will record videos of your performance and you can play and record each part in a song to create a unique music video. It can be played with up to four players together.
As many of you heard Microsoft has a dashboard update planned for the 360 to add the avatars and help reduce some clutter. You can see the re-invention of the dashboard below. The main question everyone had been asking was what would happen to the blade system. A quote from Marc Whitten on Major Nelson's blog cause a bit more confusion; "For everyone who loves the blades interface, it’s not going away; they are now built directly in to the new Xbox guide. Every feature and option is available right from the guide. You can even access your full games library at all times. No matter where you are (in dash or in game), immediately call up your games played list and directly launch a game. "
This made it seem like the blade system would remain, but few could figure out how, until now. An image of what will happen when you press the guide button after the fall update has been uncovered via Kotaku, and as you can see it is a condensed version of the now implemented blade system. Hopefully we get a demo video soon.
The EA press conference has ended. Here is the re-cap.
Sims 3 Coming in 2009 The Sims 3 has been announced for 2009. Now the Sims will have many more personality traits to make each character unique.
Dead Space Coming October 21st Following an extensive demo, the team behind Dead Space announced an October 21st release date.
Bioware Debuts Dragon Age The team behind Mass Effect has debuted their latest creation, Dragon Age: Origins. Trailer coming soon!.
Left 4 Dead Shipping November 4th The zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead will ship November 4th on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
Rage Shown from id Software Hopefully we can get a video up soon (up now), G4 could not show the footage for some odd reason. Rage is a new game from the team behind DOOM.
Mirror's Edge Previewed A demo of Mirror's Edge was shown along with this trailer:
