E3 is right around the corner, and the big publishers are rolling out lists of what they’ll be bringing to the show. Ubisoft’s list includes Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Shaun White Skateboarding, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, the next instalment of the Driver series, and “many other titles” that haven’t been revealed yet. Keep an eye on Kotaku on Monday, June 14, when Ubisoft’s annual press conference kicks off.
Cliff Bleszinski tried to fill Brian Crecente’s podcasting shoes last week. This week: Bleszinski has passed the guest-hosting loafers to Amy Hennig. The creative director of Uncharted 2 will guest-host our live podcast this Wednesday. Call in!
I have a found a man who can fill in on the Kotaku podcast tomorrow for a vacationing Brian Crecente. A man who will take your calls live. That man is Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski.
World-renowned PC strategy developer and publisher Paradox Interactive is getting ready to bring their A games to the Games Convention 2008 is Leipzig this year, with a host of new titles and one mysterious mystery project. Probably their biggest title (so far) to be announced for the show is Majesty 2 – The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, the follow up the hilarious Majesty from 2000, which combined RTS gameplay with the most clichéd fantasy role-playing world ever created. They’ve also got Dark Horizon, the space combat sim I am more than a little excited about, Mount & Blade, an action RPG featuring realistic mounted combat, and Elven Legacy, a fantasy RTS.
They will also be revealing something they call Project Mayhem, which they simply describe as the “Next title developed by Paradox development team and their biggest production to date”. Got to love the big reveals. Looking forward to seeing exactly what Paradox has up their sleeves when McWhertor and I hit the show next week!
Don’t expect me to sum up Electronic Arts’ E3 2008 presence in a couple of paragraphs. It’s far too huge for just a quick rundown, so I’ll just give you the pertinent points. The line up includes soemwhere around 38 games, including four games for the iPhone, three for the iPod, and four mobile games – including the upcoming Wolfenstein RPG.
They got a demo room filled with top-notch titles like Dead Space, Warhammer Online, Mirror’s Edge, Mercenaries 2, and Madden 09, as well as the EA Software Showcase booth, which will be showing off even more games – The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Crysis Warhead, and Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 to name a few. Throw in partner games like Rock Band 2 at the MTV booth and Valve’s Left 4 Dead and you’ve got a whole lot of real estate for the gaming press to cover in a very short time. Hit the jump for the full monty, including listings of which games are up for coveted E3 awards.
SouthPeak Games has revealed their line up for E3 2008, where they’ll be showing a wide variety of games in all shapes and sizes. Most prominent is their just announced reinvention of the Brave series, which started with Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer on the PS2. Brave: A Warrior’s Tale for the Xbox 360, PSP, and Wii has a now elderly Brave telling tales of his youth, with a new character named Courage who uses Brave’s wisdom to stop a current-day threat. Meanwhile Brave: Shaman’s Challenge for the DS is a platforming tale starring Brave himself.
Aside from the new Brave title, SouthPeak will be showing off their anime action game X-Blades for the PC and “next-gen consoles”, Igor The Game for PC, Wii, and DS, the RTS/FPS hybrid Raven Squad for PC and 360, Big Bang Mini for the DS, and the PS3 version of Monster Madness. The game I am most looking forward to? Going to have to go with Ninjatown for the DS. Have to represent my deadly peeps, yo.
Majesco is bringing it’s ‘A’ game to E3 this year, with a strong line up of titles for the Nintendo Wii and DS ranging from the quirky and curious to the deep and involving. By far the most intriguing game in my opinion is Major Minor’s Majestic March for the Wii, which reunites the Parappa the Rapper team of Masaya Matsuura and Rodney Greenblat. Along with Major Minor, Majesco’s Wii line up includes Cooking Mama World Kitchen, the house remodeling title Our House, and Zoo Hospital, which is a bit like Trauma Centre for the arguably less-evolved set.
On the DS they’ll be showcasing the recently announced Mistwalker RPG AWAY Shuffle Dungeon, featuring the combined talents of famed RPG creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, character designer Naoto Oshima and composer Nobuo Uematsu. Trying desperately to outshine that title on the DS will be Wonder World Amusement Park, Babysitting Mania, and physics-based puzzler Marker Man Adventures.
Between Major Minor and AWAY, this is shaping up to be the most exciting Majesco line up in years. Hit the jump for more info.
So what does RPG giant Square Enix have in store for E3 2008? Why RPGs, of course. The publisher’s lineup doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been following the company since last E3. Starting on the portable side of things they’ll be showing the remake Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS, along with Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen and the Final Fantasy IV remake, with the PSP represented by their two Star Ocean remakes First Departure and Second Evolution. In console land we’ll get a look at Xbox 360 exclusives Infinite Undiscovery and Star Ocean: The Last Hope, as well as The Last Remnant for the 360 and PlayStation 3. Topping things off will be Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, the company’s new iPod game.
Also represented will be two DS titles from Square Enix subsidiary Taito, EXIT DS and The Legend of Kage 2.
Notice anything missing here? Not one mention of any of the Final Fantasy titles for the PlayStation 3. This could mean there is something special in store from PS3 FF fans, or it could simply mean they aren’t showing anything, which would make me very sad. Hit the jump for more info on Squeenix’s E3 08 line up.
