E3 Expectations

With June now upon us, it’s again the time of year where the entire game industry goes absolutely bonkers as they descend upon Los Angeles to announce their biggest and boldest plans for the rest of the year. More than ever this year the weeks leading up to the event, which starts on Monday, have been punctuated by dozens of leaks and rumours surrounding the myriad announcements that are due to be made.

Sony, in particular, seem to have lost their proverbial cat-in-the-bag several times over, with some details of a new slimline PS3 already leaked, and a complete set of press photos for the completely redesigned PSP Go! prematurely released into the wild. Even the game that one must presume to be their headline reveal: the new PS3 exclusive from Team ICO, suffered from its trailer being released onto Youtube from an unknown source. Which is a shame, because being the one game that I most want ever, it would have made me squeal inexorably loud if revealed at the climax of the Sony presser.

With the pre-E3 press conferences due to get underway in just over 24 hours, here’s what some of us are looking forward to seeing:

#### What Will wants:

Even though I own both a PS3 and an Xbox 360, I’m a Microsoft fanboy through and through. I’m hoping they’ll steal the show this year and, unlike Sony, not much is known about what they’ll be showing.

Details of the new Zune HD have been surfing in the previous week but little is known about it’s gaming capabilities. If I can get my Gamercard on there, I’ll probably buy one (it’s about time I got a new music player anyway). So expect that to possibly show up at the Microsoft press conference.

It’s also expected Microsoft will reveal some sort of motion control device for the 360. As opposed to the motion sensitive controllers (see Sony’s SixAxis and the Wii), rumour has it that Microsoft have developed some crazy video camera that detects movements, which can then be used in game. If it actually works and has decent support (not like the Xbox Live Vision Camera) then this should be an interesting addition to the 360.

Microsoft, hot off the success of last year’s collaboration with Netflix (a video rental service) in the US, are also rumoured to have scored a deal with Sky for the UK. Considering I’ve got Sky at home, I’m really hoping that they’ll announce some sort of on-demand video service, free of charge if you’re already a Sky customer.

Apart from the above I’m also looking forward to seeing a load of games, both announced and unannounced. Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, DJ Hero, Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Halo 3: ODST, Blur and Dark Void, to name only a few. It’s the stuff I don’t know about that always gets me excited about E3. I’d love to see Microsoft announce Metal Gear Solid 5, 360 exclusive; you never know, it could happen?!

Microsoft’s Press Conference usually focuses around real games, that I want to play, not half-arsed experiences and kids entertainment. That’s what I’m excited about the most this E3.

#### What Nathan wants:

I really hope that Nintendo can put on a better show this year. Whilst their billion-selling Brain Training and Wii Fit franchises are all so very good, they really don’t set the heart alight. I’d also love to see some decent DS games announced, particularly details of a Western release for Dragon Quest 9 and a new Mario title.

Peter Moore has a new tattoo. It’s of Ronaldo, who’s endorsing FIFA 2010. PES will cry a bit more.

Whilst the big Sony announcements seem to have already been leaked, I’ve got really high hopes for their press conference. Whilst revealing a huge, immediate PS3 price cut would be nice and would do wonders to Sony’s market position, I will be genuinely surprised if this is announced. With the PS3 slim probably due soon, I’d expect they’ll just do a like-for-like swap with the slim taking the PS3’s present pricepoint and SKUs. I really would want them to announce a price-cut on the original console though.

TRICO will be released next week. Exams are overrated.

A precise western release date for Final Fantasy XIII, hopefully as soon as possible, with the PS3 version being released sooner than 360 so I don’t have to sit around twiddling my thumbs waiting for the 360 port to be completed.

Sony announce a PSN API for web support.

Rockstar announce GTA4 DLC coming to PC. For free!

Valve will announce Half Life 2: Episode 3. It will be bundled with Portal 2 and released over the summer. (In your dreams – Will).

Hideo Kojima announced Metal Gear Solid 5. Betcha didn’t see that one coming.

Details on Mass Effect 2, DJ Hero to be well received by the press (it does look rather good…), Star Wars: TOR, Dead Space 2, MAG and Red Dead Redemption to all put in a strong showing.

Once again, it seems to me that the onus is on Sony to prove that they’re capable of overhauling Microsoft’s dominant market position (Nintendo has taken to pandering to a completely different market). If they can announce drastic price cuts and an amazingly strong software lineup that no one sees coming, then perhaps they can do this.

#### Summary:

All will be revealed within the next few days so keep an eye on [theboar.org/games](https://theboar.org/games) for news and opinions. We really are sad enough to watch all the press conferences live, as they happen, and, even more depressingly, I’m looking forward to them way too much… Forget revision, it’s all about the games.

What’s everyone else looking forward to? Post in the comments!