Vagusnet

Time for a couple of more trailers from E3 and this time it’s from EA who are trying something a little bit different instead of just the same sports update.

The trailers in question are for the uber scary and gory survival horror game Dead Space and for the gorgeous looking Mirrors Edge.
So tell me what you think and enjoy the trailers.
*the following trailers are from gametrailers.com

Well it looks like i will not be able to put up the press conferences for each one of the big three so instead I’ve decided to do the top 3 announcements from each one of them.

As Microsoft had there press conference first it seems fit that they should get the first top three so without further ado here is my top 3 announcements from Microsoft at there E3 conference this year.

3. Avatars.
We knew they were coming and not many people thought it was a good idea but Microsoft decided to put there middle finger up and announce them anyway.
The avatars for the 360 lie somewhere between Nintendo Mii’s and Sony’s characters from home and it will give you the chance to create your own little character that will be playable in some games (the new 1 VS 100 for example) and they look like they are replacing the gamer pics.
The reason where people are pissed of with this is that money has already been spent on a lot of gamer pics so what happens to them and the fact nobody wanted avatars as it copy’s what Sony and Nintendo are doing with 360 owners wanting to have a different experience instead of each one of the three doing the same thing.
Whether the avatar system will catch on we will have to wait and see but one thing is sure the avatar system is the new thing and people are going to have to deal with it.

2. Final Fantasy 13 For 360
Getting to the end of the press conference somebody from Square Enix decided he want to come on stage and bore us by speaking so slowly once he finished we were so happy however 30 seconds later he decided to come back on stage with an announcement, the lights went down and the camera zoomed out so much that we could only see a basic view but as soon as the music kicked in we knew it was Final Fantasy 13 and sure enough at the end of the film the announcement was made that Final Fantasy 13 is now no longer a PS3 exclusive but will also be gracing a Microsoft console for the first time.
Now the reason that this was a big surprise was the fact that nobody had guessed that there would be a 360 version of the game and it was the only thing at there press conference that came as a surprise.

1. New Dashboard
There could only be one top announcement and that came in the form of a redesign for the 360 dashboard, now i know that i predicted this but the new design came as a big surprise to me.
Taking the form of a windows media centre look the new dashboard with show off you avatar, give you the chance to have an 8 way private chat (not the four that i was thinking), Add some new features including the ability to play quiz games with your friends etc, but overall give the dashboard a bit more of a clean look and make it bit more professional than the one we have right now.

The new dashboard is expected to be a part of the autumn update so we only have a couple of months left with old style before we welcome a new look 360 experience.

Well that’s it for the top 3 for Microsoft later on today Nintendo and Sony will be have there conferences so we will have the top 3 for each one soon after.

Now seeing as there doesn’t look like I’ll be able to bring you the press conference from Microsoft tomorrow i will post up a quick recap of what was said plus 3 of the biggest trailers from the conference.

Now if there is still a chance that i can get a hold of the press conference i will just post up my thoughts about it instead but either way you will still get to know what was announced at Microsoft’s E3 press conference.

Here is a couple more trailers for you to get you teeth into from this years E3 and don’t worry as soon as the press conference is ready to put up i will post it straight away if not there will be a summary tomorrow.

As like last year i put up some trailers for games that have caught my eye and to kick things off this year is the new trailer for Project Origin that thrusts you into another nightmare thanks to that weird little girl Alma (F.E.A.R).

So check out the trailer and tell me what you think.

So E3 is just around the corner so what do we expect to see at each one of the big 3’s press conference, well below is my guess at what i think they might show.

Nintendo
Since the last year Nintendo has shocked the gaming world with how well the Wii has done however of the 3 Nintendo is the hardest to predict as they like to keep there cards to there chest but i’m going to give it a try and predict what i think they might say and show.
1 - We know that Nintendo plan to show a big mystery game off at E3 but we don’t know what it will be and i think it could be a new Zelda game.
2 - There is a chance that another version of the DS will be shown as there have been hints but Nintendo have ruled it out but you never know.
3 - Could they throw a spanner in the works by showing off a new home system this early in the lifespan of the Wii.
4 - People have been crying out for a hard drive for the Wii and i think they would be silly if they did’nt announce one.
5 - As you can expect they will also show off a lot of games whether it be for the Wii, DS or Wiiware and we might even have a few more companies announced to be releasing more classic games for the virtual console.
6 - Finally i predict that there might be some new Wii channels announced but in what form they might take that is what i’m unsure about.

Microsoft
Out of the 3 last year Microsoft had the worst press conference as they only showed games that were coming out over the 6 months leading up to the christmas rush so what can they do this year to make up for the lack luster approach of last years.

1 - The obvious place to start is a blu-ray add on for the 360, Now we know that they have said there will not be one but they way blu-ray has been going over the last 6 months since they won the format wars Microsoft would be really stupid if they did’nt hint at one.
2 - Could a new home console be shown as Microsoft were first out of the door with there next gen console and they could beat the other two to the punch again with there next console.
3 - Rumors that they have been working on a handheld has been going around for a long time so is it time to own up and finally show us that they are going to be making one.
4 - Every year since the 360 came out they have announced a new scu so it might be a dead cert that they announce a new one with the fingers pointing to a 60GB model.
5 - We know a lot of games will be shown off with Gears 2, Fable etc being a dead cert but do they have a secret few games up there sleves that nobody knows about.
6 - More new features will surely be shown off but in what form and what can we expect with rumors hinting that there could be a little bit of a redesign of the dashboard.
7 - Finally going around the internet lately have been talk about a motion controller for Microsoft that will be better than the Wii’s so could this rumor be true.

Sony
It hasn’t been a good year for the once rulers of the console war but over the next year could see a big change in fortune with Sony as they now have started to find there feet and they have start to pull back some ground for the other two but what can we expect from them.

1 - Home should be shown off agin but this time hopfully in it’s final for with a concrete release date finally announced.
2 - Another redesign of the PSP could be on the cards as there handheld has been failing quicker than there home console and it needs something big to bring it back from the brink of the gaming abyss.
3 - We know Sony will show off Resistance 2, Motorstorm 2 and Killzone 2 but what other new games do they have up there sleves and could we finally see the next gen reborn of Jak and Daxter.
4 - New features are bound to come out for the Ps3 but in what form and will we see a bit more of a simple aproach to things from them.
5 - Sony have announced that they plan to have a movie service for the PS3 like the 360 but how is this service going to work and how much will movies cost well we know that they will have something to say on that matter.
6 - A price cut seems to be on the cards for them again but how much will be cut off and when can we expect this to happen should also be announced at there press conference.

Well thats it those are my predictions as what we might expect to hear from the big 3 at there press confernece at E3 next week.

The times and dates for each press conference are as follows:-
Microsoft - Monday 14th July 5:30pm
Nintendo - Tuesday 15th July 4:00pm
Sony - Tuesday 15th July 6:30pm

We will have each press conference on here as soon as we can but if you wnat to watch them live go over to Gamespot.com as they will be streaming each one of the 3 live.

Well as you know it’s E3 next week and though it has gotten smaller for the second year that still doesn’t mean there will be no news coming out of there, there will be a shit load of stuff to report on.

So what are we doing well I’m about to tell you
1 - We will try and have all three press conference for you in full off gametrailers.com but if they don’t have them me and James will blog on the main points of each press conference.

2 - Leading up to E3 i will do my prediction on what i think each one of the big 3 will say

3 - Any game that interests us will get a separate preview.

4 - Finally when the dust settles on this years E3 we will give you our thoughts on what we thought.

So that’s it as you can see over the next few weeks we are going to be a bit busy and have some interesting stuff for you to cast your eyes over.

One last thing just to keep everything nice and tidy there will be a separate E3 section for two weeks just for stuff coming from the event.

It seems somebody has made a little mistake by saying that Rock Band 2 will not hit our shores this year instead it will come out in November only in America and will also grace the 360 first and will eventually come out on the other systems.

A spokesperson from EA said that “There was a misunderstanding and there is no confirmed date for Europe.”

With Guitar Hero 4 out this year over here it would of been silly of EA to go up against it but it is EA and I’m surprised they haven’t gone up against Activision this time.

As soon as we get a release date for Rock Band 2 i will let you know.