Warp Zoned Presents
All Articles: E3 2012
Valve: No new announcements at E3 2012
Speaking to IGN, a representative from Valve has confirmed that the company has no new announcements planned for this year’s E3 Expo. Period. Full stop. No foolin’.
Valve has two previously announced projects in the works: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2. Sadly, it sounds like the much-rumored Half-Life 3 won’t be joining them this year.
Details on the first Skyrim expansion, Dawnguard, coming at E3
Bethesda has announced that the first downloadable expansion to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be titled “Dawnguard.” Per an agreement with Microsoft, the expansion will be exclusively available on the Xbox Live Marketplace at first, before coming to the PS3 and PC.
Want to know more? Well, not today. Bethesda says we’ll have to wait until the E3 Expo in June for more details on “Dawnguard.”
Wii U launch date, price won’t be announced at E3 2012
During their most recent quarterly financial briefing, Nintendo reconfirmed that the Wii U will appear in its “final form” at this year’s E3 Expo. The publisher also revealed that the system’s launch lineup will be announced at the big show.
Nintendo itself has yet to announce any launch titles for the Wii U, but third party publishers such as Sega (Aliens: Colonial Marines), Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed III), THQ (Darksiders II), Tecmo Koei (Ninja Gaiden 3), and WB Games (Batman: Arkham City) all have games lineup up for the system’s launch.
However, those attending E3 (and all of us watching at home) won’t hear anything about when the Wii U will launch or how much it’ll cost during the show. Nintendo is saving that information and will announce them sometime after E3 but before the system’s “year-end sales season” release.
More on Mario for Wii U; Pikmin 3 to debut at E3 too
After confirming that Mario would make his Wii U debut at this year’s E3 Expo, Eurogamer has dug a bit deeper, revealing a not-too-surprising detail about the game.
According to a Nintendo representative, the Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U that the publisher plans to bring to E3 2012 will be heavily based on the New Super Mario Bros. Mii tech demo they displayed at E3 2011. If you recall, New Super Mario Bros. Mii was very similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but it added Miis as playable characters and bumped the graphics up to HD quality. Not exactly groundbreaking, but if it’s half as fun as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I’ll take it.
Pikmin 3 will also appearing at this year’s E3 Expo for the first time. Originally announced by Shigeru Miyamoto as a Wii title back in 2008, the game has been kept hidden by Nintendo ever since. With the jump to the Wii U, it looks like they’re finally ready to show if off.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3
Super Mario Bros. Wii U to debut at E3 2012
This is both the biggest surprise in the history of surprises and a news story so yawn-inducing in its obviousness that it almost doesn’t need to be said. But here goes.
An interview with Shigeru Miyamoto was published in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo this morning. During the interview, Miyamoto confirmed that a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U will make its debut at this year’s E3 Expo. But since it’s not official until it’s in English, Eurogamer asked Nintendo to reconfirm the news… and they did!
“In a recent interview, Mr. Miyamoto confirmed that a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U system will be shown at this year’s E3 Expo,” a Nintendo spokesperson said. “We’ll have more to announce about our plans for the E3 Expo at a later date.”
In addition to the unnamed Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U, Nintendo has another Mario game, a 2D sidescroller for the 3DS, in the works as well.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U
Microsoft: Xbox 720 will not be announced at E3 2012
If you were hoping for an Xbox 720/Xbox Next announcement at this year’s E3 Expo, you can forget it. Microsoft has confirmed (to Game Informer) that the successor console to the Xbox 360 will not be making an appearance at this June’s industry showcase.
Ryan James, Group PR Manager for Microsoft Studios, said, “While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon. For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360—and it’s the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever—a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide.”
Sony made a similar pronouncement in January, so it looks like the Wii U will be the only next generation console at E3 2012.
Critical Mass developing Boondock Saints video game
Critical Mass Interactive has announced that they’ve been awarded a development deal by director Troy Duffy for The Boondock Saints Video Game. The short blurb on their website also confirms that we’ll learn more at E3 2012. But that’s not until June, so let’s start speculating now!
Critical Mass is best known for performing design assistance on games like Rift, Tron: Evolution, Tabula Rasa, and Epic Mickey. If they’re going it alone on The Boondock Saints, I believe it’ll be their first solo developer credit.
As for what platforms it’ll appear on, that was unconfirmed, but the smart money’s on mobile platforms. As fun as the first Boondock Saints film was (I can’t bring myself to watch the second), I don’t know how many people are clamoring for a game adaptation.
But, believe it or not, there’s already an iOS game based on the franchise. Released in 2010, The Boondock Saints Mobile Game is a twin-stick shooter that was actually fairly well received.
So that’s all I’ve got for speculation. Oh, wait, one more. Maybe the MacManus brothers will switch to crossbows in their saintly quest!
Sony’s Kaz Hirai denies PS4 announcement at E3 2012
Round and round we go, where the rumor carousel stops, only Kaz Hirai knows. The Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman took to the stage at CES and shot down all the “PS4 at E3 2012” rumors in one fell swoop.
Once again citing the “ten-year life cycle” that the PS3 was designed with, Hirai hints that the PS3 isn’t going anywhere for a long, long time:
“[W]e are not making any announcements at E3,” Hirai said. “I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that.”
Oh well. It’s looking more and more likely that the Wii U will be the only next generation console to make an appearance at this year’s E3.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]