GBAtemp E3 presentation writeups 2011- EA
Today is the start of E3 and this is our writeup of EA's presentation.
EA seemed to want to go in for the anti “big console company” going so far as to say so (presumably a reference to Microsoft's presentation just before). Something they quickly forgot with a bunch of people (apparently well known in football) and later some people noted in American football as well being paraded in either video or on the stage.[/p]
The games
Mass effect 3
Although some things were seen in the 360 presentation earlier (mainly the kinect bonus features from the 360) EA added some more. This is the third in the trilogy and the game to feature the galaxy (universe?) wide war that everything was hinting at appearing. The enemy was unsurprisingly the reapers and choices from previous titles carry over (there was a mini comic type game so presumably that will be updated).
A trailer was shown although it was mainly CGI and if there was gameplay it featured no HUD stuff making it harder to tell what was what. A nice mounted gun sequence did feature though.
6th of March 2012 is the release date.[/p]
Need For Speed- The Run
Blackbox developed this one which some are probably excited by (Slightly Mad Studios who did the others are not favoured by some apparently). Those that are still able to stomach buzzwords apparently it is “action racing experience”. The game itself is set in a sort of cannonball run from San Fran to New York except apparently this is also a country until military lockdown as speeding cars get shot at with helicopter mounted guns.
The autolog feature is back and apparently tied tightly to the game story. How that plays out for offline players remains to be seen.
Someone more cynical than us might have it said the game looks more or less the same as those that came before it. Pretty but compared to the games to come nothing all that new.
The big news as it were is that you can now get out of the car which made our mind jump directly to the driver sequel but video managed to dispel a bit of this with some running, some quick time chase sequences, fighting and escape.
Apparently there is more than just the token story this time around as well.[/p]
Star Wars- The Old Republic
Bioware are making a star wars themed MMORPG in case you were unaware. First shown in 2008 this is possibly in danger of suffering the “curse of being shown at many e3 conferences” but some interesting things were shown.
Current dominant MMORPG World of Warcraft should be mentioned at this point as there have been many pretenders to the throne that have all more or less failed. The idea that if anything is going to shift it then Star Wars can is not new and this did something to add credence to that notion. Gameplay (at least what might be inferred- this was another entry into the gameplay light videos) appeared to possibly be a more natural/modern style vs the more traditional RPG type engine most MMORPGs seem to feature, maybe not MMO fighting/FPS game but somewhere close. One could mention Jade Empire at this point.[/p]
A new SSX title was then shown.
Although there have been a handful of decent snowboard games over the years SSX is often considered one of the pillars of the genre.
Loads of open levels (said to be “massive” although for a snowboard game that is quite a claim), set worldwide apparently using satellite images to help generate). The developers seem to thing people care about characters in this game (has there ever been a story in a SSX game?) as they said they would reveal a new character before the end of E3.
Set for release some time in January 2012.[/p]
Fifa.
Apparently the worlds chosen football (soccer) game and available on many platforms although the rest of this section was given over to the big consoles (at least when gameplay was shown) rather than handhelds, phones and other things.
Buzzwords came thick and fast with advanced, authentic and other such words being used before new features were even mentioned.
Apparently the big three features this time around are
“Tactical defending”- skillful, meaningful and positioning being some choice words used to describe it. Apparently defence was a bit weak in previous titles and this aims to rectify that problem.
“Precision dribbling”- fiddle with the ball until you can fiddle no more.
“Player impact engine”- injuries apparently happen, realistic damage (wonder how they might cover the acting football is noted for) and players can fight for the ball.
A video of people talking up FIFA then took most of the rest of the section.[/p]
Madden NFL 12
Another year, another madden game (apparently still not in DLC form although for what it is worth patches are set to appear to “tune” things). Much like FIFA (indeed one might even say they wandered across to FIFA and borrowed a bit of their code) defence and collisions being noted.
August 30th.[/p]
Sims social
Although many consider flash and other embedded games to be amusing distractions at best there is a lot of effort being made on them these days and apparently EA wanted to get in rather than be swamped. Facebook is apparently the API of choice here.[/p]
Kingdoms of Amalur- Reckoning
Heavyweights in art design (Todd McFarlane), story and universe ( R. A. Salvatore who did a lot of Forgotten Realms works), RPG games (morrowind and oblivion lead designer) look to be making what the devs hope might be the definitive fantasy RPG.
2012 (no month although some places seem to think first quarter)[/p]
Overstrike
Spy thriller of a sort with themed/ability driven characters
High/cheesy action with a fair bit of humour is what the presentation seemed to want to bring across and a nice surprise after the events of earlier in the day. Not much gameplay but do give the trailer a spin.
Insomniac are now also developing for the 360.[/p]
Battlefield 3
Gameplay featured heavily in the latter part of the presentation although mostly vehicle section.
Frostbite2 is the new engine and although on occasion that says as much as a gameplay light trailer something to be said for lack of story but this might be an exception to that. Interestingly the main platform appears to be the PC and the demo video showcased graphics consoles have yet to come close to. This does appear to herald the end of the directX9 era as well.
Multiplayer is a big focus but then for this series and FPS games in general it tends to be.
The autolog option from need for speed seems to have spread to this game and apparently features heavily. Metrics as they are known to most others are nothing new though.
An open beta in September
Release date is 25th of October[/p]
That was EA. Over to you to discuss things.
Discuss
Today is the start of E3 and this is our writeup of EA's presentation.
EA seemed to want to go in for the anti “big console company” going so far as to say so (presumably a reference to Microsoft's presentation just before). Something they quickly forgot with a bunch of people (apparently well known in football) and later some people noted in American football as well being paraded in either video or on the stage.[/p]
The games
Mass effect 3
Although some things were seen in the 360 presentation earlier (mainly the kinect bonus features from the 360) EA added some more. This is the third in the trilogy and the game to feature the galaxy (universe?) wide war that everything was hinting at appearing. The enemy was unsurprisingly the reapers and choices from previous titles carry over (there was a mini comic type game so presumably that will be updated).
A trailer was shown although it was mainly CGI and if there was gameplay it featured no HUD stuff making it harder to tell what was what. A nice mounted gun sequence did feature though.
6th of March 2012 is the release date.[/p]
Need For Speed- The Run
Blackbox developed this one which some are probably excited by (Slightly Mad Studios who did the others are not favoured by some apparently). Those that are still able to stomach buzzwords apparently it is “action racing experience”. The game itself is set in a sort of cannonball run from San Fran to New York except apparently this is also a country until military lockdown as speeding cars get shot at with helicopter mounted guns.
The autolog feature is back and apparently tied tightly to the game story. How that plays out for offline players remains to be seen.
The big news as it were is that you can now get out of the car which made our mind jump directly to the driver sequel but video managed to dispel a bit of this with some running, some quick time chase sequences, fighting and escape.
Apparently there is more than just the token story this time around as well.[/p]
Star Wars- The Old Republic
Bioware are making a star wars themed MMORPG in case you were unaware. First shown in 2008 this is possibly in danger of suffering the “curse of being shown at many e3 conferences” but some interesting things were shown.
Current dominant MMORPG World of Warcraft should be mentioned at this point as there have been many pretenders to the throne that have all more or less failed. The idea that if anything is going to shift it then Star Wars can is not new and this did something to add credence to that notion. Gameplay (at least what might be inferred- this was another entry into the gameplay light videos) appeared to possibly be a more natural/modern style vs the more traditional RPG type engine most MMORPGs seem to feature, maybe not MMO fighting/FPS game but somewhere close. One could mention Jade Empire at this point.[/p]
A new SSX title was then shown.
Although there have been a handful of decent snowboard games over the years SSX is often considered one of the pillars of the genre.
Loads of open levels (said to be “massive” although for a snowboard game that is quite a claim), set worldwide apparently using satellite images to help generate). The developers seem to thing people care about characters in this game (has there ever been a story in a SSX game?) as they said they would reveal a new character before the end of E3.
Set for release some time in January 2012.[/p]
Fifa.
Apparently the worlds chosen football (soccer) game and available on many platforms although the rest of this section was given over to the big consoles (at least when gameplay was shown) rather than handhelds, phones and other things.
Buzzwords came thick and fast with advanced, authentic and other such words being used before new features were even mentioned.
Apparently the big three features this time around are
“Tactical defending”- skillful, meaningful and positioning being some choice words used to describe it. Apparently defence was a bit weak in previous titles and this aims to rectify that problem.
“Precision dribbling”- fiddle with the ball until you can fiddle no more.
“Player impact engine”- injuries apparently happen, realistic damage (wonder how they might cover the acting football is noted for) and players can fight for the ball.
A video of people talking up FIFA then took most of the rest of the section.[/p]
Madden NFL 12
Another year, another madden game (apparently still not in DLC form although for what it is worth patches are set to appear to “tune” things). Much like FIFA (indeed one might even say they wandered across to FIFA and borrowed a bit of their code) defence and collisions being noted.
August 30th.[/p]
Sims social
Although many consider flash and other embedded games to be amusing distractions at best there is a lot of effort being made on them these days and apparently EA wanted to get in rather than be swamped. Facebook is apparently the API of choice here.[/p]
Kingdoms of Amalur- Reckoning
Heavyweights in art design (Todd McFarlane), story and universe ( R. A. Salvatore who did a lot of Forgotten Realms works), RPG games (morrowind and oblivion lead designer) look to be making what the devs hope might be the definitive fantasy RPG.
2012 (no month although some places seem to think first quarter)[/p]
Overstrike
Spy thriller of a sort with themed/ability driven characters
High/cheesy action with a fair bit of humour is what the presentation seemed to want to bring across and a nice surprise after the events of earlier in the day. Not much gameplay but do give the trailer a spin.
Insomniac are now also developing for the 360.[/p]
Battlefield 3
Gameplay featured heavily in the latter part of the presentation although mostly vehicle section.
Frostbite2 is the new engine and although on occasion that says as much as a gameplay light trailer something to be said for lack of story but this might be an exception to that. Interestingly the main platform appears to be the PC and the demo video showcased graphics consoles have yet to come close to. This does appear to herald the end of the directX9 era as well.
Multiplayer is a big focus but then for this series and FPS games in general it tends to be.
The autolog option from need for speed seems to have spread to this game and apparently features heavily. Metrics as they are known to most others are nothing new though.
An open beta in September
Release date is 25th of October[/p]
That was EA. Over to you to discuss things.
