Predictions for E3 2012

By BlueZeroBlueZero
02 Jun 2012 19:47

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With E3 2012 about three days away (you see what I did there), I figured it was time to discuss what could be possibly announced next week during the show. E3 has been sneaking up on me and I haven't had much time to prepare as I would like. I'll break down the chances each of these games will receive some sort of screentime starting with the most obvious.

Halo 4

The Microsoft marketing department is doing a superb job so far of "leaking" screenshots of the new game to build up expectations. The leaked screenshots are only a positive push to rally the Halo fanbase in expectation of the new Halo 4.

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With the Halo 4 release date confirmed for November 2012, there is a 100% chance Microsoft is going to show off or heavily tease Halo 4 during next week's press conference. As their flagship product, not presenting the game during their conference would be making a huge mistake. Halo along with the Gears of War franchise and Call of Duty helped Microsoft sell the 360 to millions of homes; without Halo 4, there is no Microsoft Game Studios.

Grand Theft Auto V

Last year in November, Rockstar released their first trailer for the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto. Set again in Vinewood, GTA V looks to be taking GTA San Andreas' world and smashing it into the "immersion" of GTA IV

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I'm highly anticipating seeing actual hands-on gameplay during either Microsoft or Sony's press conference. Rockstar could try and get some more controversy by only doing the hands-on demonstration on the Wii U during Nintendo's press conference. Either way, I expect about 2 minutes of gameplay showing off a new game feature. I would like to see cars be able to travel faster than 20 MPH in the next game and bring back planes/helicopters/jetpacks from San Andreas.

Bioshock: Infinite

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I'm not expecting much more being announced about Bioshock: Infinite during the big three press releases. 2K Games will have the game setup in a private viewing area where they will probably do another closed-doors 15 minutes presentation of gameplay from a new section with a new plasmid type power.

Based on their marketing strategy for Bioshock 1 and the single-player nature of the game; they won't let any media play the game directly, they will only allow their employees to show off the game. Since Bioshock: Infinite is now planned on being released in February 2013, this signals to me that 2K Games felt there were too many AAA titles being released in November so to wait until after Christmas for further development time.

Next Gen Consoles

Sony just released their PS Vita last year and is not ready to announce a PS4. It's too risky to introduce another new product the following year. Also Sony need the PS3 to be their financial safe net to bring in the dollars while they nurture the PS Vita. Announcing the PS4 effectively will kill future console and game sales for the PS3.

Microsoft could use this E3 to unveil their next console but this would compete against their big Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 announcement.

The only next-gen console we will be seeing is Nintendo talking a lot more about the Wii U. Nintendo should rename the WiiU to something casual gamers will be able to identify when they walk into a Gamestop wanting to buy it. A typical exchange will go something like this for Grandma, grandpa and alpha-mom come November:

Casual: "My child wants the new Wii (thingy)"
Clerk: "Oh, you mean the new Wii-U that Nintendo just launched?"
Casual: "No, I want to buy the new Wii for my family"
Clerk: Uhh… Do you want the one with the remote or the screen controller?
Casual: "I want the new one. My children want to play the new Nintendo"

Clerk: Ok, well we are currently sold out and there is a waitlist. You can put some money down to reserve the console and then pay the full $299.99 when it's available."

Casual: "$300 is too much money and I need a Christmas gift now. I'll just get my children some Wii games. What are most people buying now?"
Clerk: "Mario and Zelda are always popular…"
Casual: "Ooo, there is a new Carnival Games, I'll get that…"

Personal E3 2012 Coverage

Please let us know what games or events you would like covered, recorded, tasted, pried, spied or what have you in the comments or on Twitter. Biased Gamer will be in the thick of E3 at the LA Convention Center and maybe this year we will stop living in the Nintendo booth area.


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