14th June 2010 - Well dear readers, that blessed time is upon us again. When, every year we wish we weren’t in Australia but rather lapping it up in the mid summer of an LA Convention Centre. Whether it’s booth babes, Blezinksi or just some plain bad-ass games on display, everyone likes to get a piece of E3 action.
All Age Gaming can’t be on the ground ( we will be by no lesser an extent at our own Supernova Games Show), so instead, to counter the slew of information out there already, we present some real and not-so real rumors that we hope, pan out. Some are confirmed, others, we will just have to wait and see. We’ve waded through the sea of unending media releases and dug up some of the more ‘interesting’ information.
RUMOR: HALF LIFE EPISODE 3
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
Dear Subject Name Here,
Aperture Science is pleased to inform you that we have partnered with Valve to announce the gala CANCELLATION of the June 14 Portal 2 event at the Regal Theater. The event will be replaced by a surprise. And even though the cancellation of the event certainly counts as a surprise, we are pleased to further announce that the cancellation of the event is not THE surprise. However, per International treaties regarding the definition of the word "surprise", of which both Aperture Science and Valve are signatories, the time, date and content of the actual surprise will only become available as you experience the surprise.
If you'd like to ask fruitless questions about the E3 Portal 2 surprise or, more fruitfully, schedule an appointment to attend a Portal 2 screening at the Valve booth during E3, please contact Valve's Special Envoy to Surprises, Doug Lombardi.
Thank you for <>
PS: The surprising record scratch is also not the surprise.
WISHFUL THINKING: That Half Life Episode 3 or even a full Half Life 3 game makes a showing. Things seem to be pointing to a non Portal 2 announcement, and while any information on the rise and rise of GLADOS is welcome, people are more than tired of not hearing anything about Episode 3. That said even a small announcement may not see the game out before the end of 2010. Lets hope that this rumor pans out and that the cake is not a lie: Another box of goodies- Episode 3 and Portal 2, together at last?
RUMOR: MASS EFFECT 3 CO-OP RPG, MMO or MASS EFFECT 2 MULTIPLAYER
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
A job listing reveals that Mass Effect developer BioWare Montreal is looking for a multiplayer programmer.
WISHFUL THINKING: Is a backwards compatible mod for Mass Effect 2 out of the Question? Would anyone play the whole game again if they gave over control to other players as companions? Could you initiate ‘romance’ scenes with your best friend? More than likely, it has to do with Mass Effect 3 of which none will be shown at E3, but it is unlikely it has nothing to do with Mass Effect at all. A Mass Effect MMO is not the way to go though Bioware.
RUMOR: GOD OF WAR NOT DEAD
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
You’d think that God of War III Director, Stig Asmussen would know if the game’s main character, Kratos, was dead or alive since it was his team who crafted the game’s story. Well that’s not the case. Not even he knows what the heck is going on with Kratos.
WISHFUL THINKING: GOD of WAR IV? The next God of War is heading to the PSP as a full prequel and definitely some screens and gameplay at E3 would be nice. Could another play through with Kratos somehow fighting his way OUT of the underworld and into the light be on the cards? One thing is for sure, the spirit of Kratos is alive and well, just how it will appear is yet to be seen.
RUMOR: BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLYM 2 + NIGHTWING
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
Critical Gamer writes: This year’s MCM Expo had plenty of great media guests, including voice actor Yuri Lowenthal – who can also be seen on – screen in The Sarah Connor Chronicles as Christopher Garvin. He is also, among many other things, the voice of the Prince in the latest Prince of Persia game and the classic Sands of Time. Wikipedia has him down for the role of Nightwing in Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 so, when Critical Gamer spoke to him at the expo (full interview coming soon), we quizzed him on the matter.
WISHFUL THINKING: Hands on with Batman AA 2 …please. Some more information on the game besides voice actors would be very very nice. In theory the game could be not very far off. Co-op missions aside, I would much prefer to play as Robin over Nightwing, but given the city local for the next game, it makes sense that some of the more nocturnal heroes make a showing than before; Nightwing, Batgirl, the Golden Lariat and a few more vigilantes. There were a lot of enemy in Batman AA and not so many allies, so a few more to even the fights would be nice. Heck, throw in a wave mode with 4 player co-op ….
RUMOR: EPIC MICKEY NOT SO EPIC
WHAT WE KNOW:
Epic Mickey, The game will put us in the shoes of the famous mouse will be present at E3, which takes place next June. The rubbery appearance of the game, presented on the first images, had disappointed many people, after distributing the artwork of the game, which gave a steam punk style to the world of Disney movies.
WISHFUL THINKING: This game is a shoe-in for showing at E3 even if no one notices and/or cares. The original artwork was rather epic with sweet steam punk sets and a darker gritty setting. Keeping it this was would go a long ways to grabbing a new audience. If Tim Shafer and American Mcgee have shown us anything is that high- quality adult animations can be both cute and suitably epic at the same time. Don’t sell out to the kids!
RUMOR: METAL GEAR MICROSOFT
WHAT WE KNOW:
Metal Gear Solid mogul Hideo Kojima tweeted and photographed a meeting with two Microsoft employees.
“Mr. Urata and Mr. Yonekura from Microsoft, Kojima Productions visit. I have a presentation to do,” Kojima posted on Twitpic. What kind of presentation? Perhaps, showing them Metal Gear Solid: Rising or Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Both of those are multiplatform games coming out of Kojima Productions.
WISHFUL THINKING: Finally Metal Gear IV on the XBOX. …or not. MS is definitely in the works to get their own Metal Gear on the Green and White, but when and how this will be done is anyone’s guess. It is nice to see both sides sharing ideas; the likely hood of it being a system exclusive buy out is very unlikely though. Don’t expect any announcements at E3
RUMOR: CRACKDOWN 2 NOT ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
CVG: I'm seriously worried about the team's state of health, says producer
WISHFUL THINKING: Hands on with Crackdown 2. Turns out the game is not as good as expected (surprise, surprise) the cool different nations of soldiers from the first game are replaced with faceless soldier grunts that level up but do not change appearance in anyway as they grow. Prove me wrong. The game ranks up there with Prototype last year but is not no better or worse than the previous entry. Multiplayer is fun, but cheesy and full of bugs and glitches to exploit. Wishful thinking is that they DO bring back the many nations faces of the different agents. The way they morphed as they leveled up was the best bit of the game.
RUMOR: PSP 2 FOR REALZ
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
"With E3 just around the corner and the rumor mill churning even harder than it usually does, there’s one bit of news that troubles me more than most. Allegedly, Sony plans to release the successor to the PSP and have it compete with the IPhone and the IPad in the mobile gaming/cell phone market. Apparently Sony decided that the IPhone has been successful as a mobile gaming platform/cell phone hybrid, so they will once again attempt to emulate another companies success years after the install base has grown to a level where it’s almost pointless..."
WISHFUL THINKING: In a perfect world Sony releases a 3D capable touch screen ready version of the PSP to rival the Nintendo 3DS. It has wireless Bluetooth and still supports UMDs. But hackers can un-brick it easily to allow for modding and custom downloads. Does not require 3D glasses to play and finally comes with 2 thumb sticks. Unlikely but Sony announces that the PSP Go is a waste of money and will stop production ASAP. PSP 2 supports VoIP chat and has an inbuilt camera.
RUMOR: ALPHA PROTOCOL >cough< ‘2’
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
An alleged and anonymous Obsidian developer has blasted his company's latest RPG, Alpha Protocol, barking on the internet that the game 'should've been cancelled'.
Posting in the comments section of Joystiq's Alpha Protocol review (which calls the game "a technical nightmare"), the anonymous Obsidian man - known only as 'a tired dev' - backs up the US site's negative comments.
WISHFUL THINKING: Apparently the good people over at Obsidian still think that AP has legs though, if you read through the full article. I think Wishful thinking gets thrown out the window with the booth babes here, that there are any redeeming features and that besides a next KOTR Fallout 3: Vegas are their next big thing. Anyone with doubts over it should not sweat as they did help create the rather wonderful Fallout 2.
RUMOR: BOOTHBABES THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
SOURCE: LINKY
WHAT WE KNOW:
An ad on Craigslist is calling for models for a red carpet event on June 15, 2010. What makes us think the ad is posted by THQ you ask? Well for one, the party takes place during E3 in LA. Second, the event features a WWE videogame.
WISHFUL THINKING: Mud and Jello wrestling booth babes. I mean what’s next? Advertising on Craigslist for a date to the prom; stranger things have happened. The specifics of this rumor a pretty standard industry stuff, and its no surprise that these hire-a babe services don’t actually hire models, nary the cheapest thing with legs to reply to the post, still Dante’s’ Inferno takes the cake from last year with their ‘date a booth-babe’ “sin”.
Well, that’s really about the sum of it, the good, the bad and the not so ugly. No doubt we can expect a slew of videos and interviews and demos including the much anticipated, Halo Reach, Fable 3 , Killzone 3, Metroid other M and that nefarious Zelda Game on everyone’s radar. The party has kicked off early with stunning trailers of exciting games like Deus Ex 3 trailer, Killzone 3 trailer, Gran Turismo 5 and a bunch of Gears 3 pics and a prequel animated adventure for Crackdown, not to mention Infamous 2.
All Age Gaming will be keeping our finger on the pulse the next few weeks and on top of all that, stay tuned for our exclusive wrap-up of Supernova 2010, live from Sydney!
Article By Ian Crane