Ready for this year’s E3? We aren’t, but we’re getting there! We thought we’d help you too with a look at the Big Three. Today, we’re taking a look at what Sony could have in store.
What we know
The company’s new portable, codenamed Next Generation Portable, is slated for a holiday release. This means we’ll hear an actual name, price and release date at the show. We’ve seen blockbuster franchises in the works for the system, including versions of Uncharted and Killzone. Speaking of Uncharted, Drake’s Deception is also slated for the holidays, and we’re also prepared for releases of a new Twisted Metal, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and Resistance 3.
What we think we know
Sony doesn’t just sell games and systems. They also sell TVs. That in mind, we’ll see more support for 3D TVs in almost every release. They’ve gotten flack for just tacking it on in games, and they’re out to prove that it’s a thing people want. We also expect anything simple they can do to make fans happy, as they’ll still be crawling back from the PR nightmare that was the PlayStation Network data breach and subsequent outage.
What we want to know
We haven’t seen the second generation of games for the PlayStation Move peripheral. Will we? It’s make-or-break time for the Move, and we’ll see either a full push or radio silence. Mostly, though, this will be the NGP show, and just like the 3DS, there’s a difference between the games in development and the games available at launch. What will the holiday season lineup look like? More importantly, will this device launch at a reasonable price?
We’ll know for sure next week, as we keep you informed from L.A. Let us know what you want to know about!
Ready for this year’s E3? We aren’t, but we’re getting there! We thought we’d help you too with a look at the Big Three. Today, we’re kicking things off with Microsoft.
What we know
Gears of War 3 is releasing September 20 and will anchor the company’s pre-holiday lineup. Turn 10 Studios is working on Forza 4, and last year we saw some added Kinect functionality to shake up the simulation racing series. Besides that, what we know is mostly about the system’s multimedia capabilities. Hulu Plus functionality was just added, and Microsoft’s purchase of Skype seems like it would result in Kinect support.
What we think we know
Activision’s Modern Warfare 3, out in early November, will likely follow the series’ trend of making downloadable content available first on Xbox 360. Microsoft likes making a big deal out of that, as, well, it makes them quite a bit of money. 343 Industries, the developers taking over the Halo franchise from Bungie, have been working on something, and most think it’s a remake of the original Halo. Whether that’s ready for this year or not, Microsoft doesn’t want to go a year without at least showing it off.
What we want to know
Where are they going with Kinect? We expect Dance Central 2, but this is really the year they need to show the camera peripheral has staying power. Is the technology shown in Lionhead’s Milo demo, where players could talk to a little boy, ready to be used in a full product? Could they also make a hardware announcement? There are faint rumors of a system upgrade, but we think that’s unlikely. They’re going to need to fire off quite the software lineup to keep the mindshare from going totally to Sony’s new NGP and Nintendo’s hardware announcement.
We’ll know for sure next week, as we keep you informed from L.A. Let us know what you want to know about!
Dying for more news on when the next chapter of Starcraft II will be released? Is the urge to release the Zerg swarm on an unsuspecting campaign getting irresistible? Well, if the answer to those questions is yes, then we can’t help you. However, we can make things worse for you, with this short teaser trailer Blizzard released yesterday for Heart of the Swarm. READ MORE
Ronimo Games, those guys behind the student project that later became de Blob, unveiled the team’s followup effort to side-scrolling RTS Swords & Soldiers. The game, titled Awesomenauts, is an arena battling game for PSN and XBLA. With a focus on online play and an aesthetic reminiscent of 1980s cartoons, it should be one to watch.
We’ll have an in-depth look at Awesomenauts at E3, so we’ll be sure to snag all the details.
Sony’s long-awaited “Welcome Back” package of free content for the return of the PlayStation Store has been detailed. PS3 users can choose two of the following five games: LittleBigPlanet, InFamous, Dead Nation, Super Stardust HD and Wipeout HD + Fury. PSP owners can get two of LittleBigPlanet PSP, ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force and Killzone Liberation.
Players can redeem these within 30 days of the service returning. There are also some other free perks, including free movie rentals. The full list is after the break, and you can check out Sony’s blog post for more. So what will you get? READ MORE
