E3 2012 Recap: It’s a Battle Royale of Cities,Zombies and Mexican Wrestlers

E3 2012 is in the pipeline and this will mark the 18th Electronic Entertainment Expo. Nintendo had some goodies for the audience by showing off a newly redesigned Wii-U controller and slightly modified Wii-U console design. Microsoft showed off their big titles for the Xbox 360 such as Halo 4 and Resident Evil 6. Also, the company discussed new content partnerships with the NBA and NHL and focused heavily on their X-Box smart glass technology. It’s a companion application that connects with the Xbox 360 and allows mobile devices to become more interactive and to control what you’re seeing on your television screen. One example shown to the public is to view a film or television program on your mobile device , pause the media temporarily, and then continue watching the media in your living room on the big screen TV. Sony’s press conference highlighted some new first party titles such as God of War: Ascension and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as well as the development of the PlayStation mobile network and Wonderbook interactive digital book service that will deliver digital content to the entertainment console very soon.

As is customary on this website…Here’s a look at some of the more original game properties that we saw at this year’s event.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

-South Park: The Stick of Truth is an upcoming role-playing video game based on the American animated television series South Park. The game is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by THQ in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios. South Park Co-Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker will be writing the script for the game, overseeing development and providing the voices for the characters in the game. The extreme input from the duo is based on the frustration by both over the lower quality and poor reviews that previous South Park games have received. The game will be using motion-sensor technology on the Xbox 360’s Kinect device as well as voice recognition technology that will allow gamers to yell stuff at Cartman during certain points in the game. Gamers will get to create their own custom character, and part of The Stick of Truth revolves around you trying to become the 5th member of the crew. Matt and Trey worked very closely with the developers to make sure that the game’s graphics closely resemble those of the television program’s 2D cutout style. We’re hoping that this game becomes a neat change of pace from the first-person action shooter sequels that will be overcrowding the gaming market in 2013.

SimCity

-SimCity is an upcoming city-building/urban planning simulation computer game in development by Maxis. The game is a reboot and is technically called ‘SimCity 5’ since many consider it to officially be the 5th major sequel to the game since its creation way back in 1989. The game has so far only been announced to launch on the PC and will feature an all new simulation engine called ‘Glassbox’ which will render specific outcomes such as pollution or traffic in real-time and in more detail then ever before. In addition, the game will feature multi-player online connectivity once again and the ability to mod game features at a future undisclosed date. This game is one of the shining beacons of video game development and is sure to be a success and not only is this game entertaining but it can also be an educational experience that teaches children how to micro-manage many important tasks at the same time.

Watch Dogs

-Watch Dogs is an open world action-adventure and stealth game that is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The gameplay mechanics in Watch Dogs will feature many stealth-like components such as tapping into cellphones, hacking into computer surveillance systems or even redirecting traffic lights to distract bad guys. The game is based on the concept of information warfare and how technology is controlling many people’s lives. In the game, you play Aiden Pearce who is a hacker that can also use his fists when he needs to get out of a tight jam. Aiden attempts to assassinate a media mogul in the E3 demo as he’s a vigilante that’s trying to get revenge on the corporations that are mining data from a massive supercomputer that knows everything about anyone living within city limits. This game looks to be very ambitious yet also creates many moral dilemmas on whether the character that you play is really doing the right thing or isn’t as morally fair as he appears to be.

Beyond: Two Souls

-Beyond: Two Souls is a dramatic video game set to launch on the PlayStation 3 console. The game is being developed by Quantic Dream. The game is similar in tone to another Quantic Dream game called ‘Heavy Rain’ whereby the game almost feels like an interactive film because of the numerous cut scenes that force the gamer to choose different outcomes with the use of quick time events or motion-sensing outcomes. There is never a ‘game over’ scenario as the game has many different outcomes with many possible endings. The gamer can always go back to an earlier sequence and play the game differently and change what happens to the plot of the game. This new game’s plot involves actress Ellen Page doing motion captures for the lead character and the game centers around the question of what comes after death as you play the lead character for 15 years of their life to try and discover what is the true meaning of the entity alongside her throughout the story. This game will mainly appeal to a certain crowd as some gamers will be put off by the lack of real-time gameplay and the use of too many cinematic sequences in the game.

ZombiU

-ZombiU is a first-person shooter video game from Ubisoft Montpellier to be released exclusively for the Nintendo’s Wii U console. You get to play as a survivor of a zombie outbreak in London, England and must do your best to survive the apocalypse. Gamers must rely heavily on the Wii U Gamepad which will aid in shooting weapons or carrying items and weapons in a bag. If you get bitten by a zombie, your character dies and you start over as a new survivor. You can then play as a new survivor and kill your old zombie-like self in order to retrieve items that you previously stored in your bag. The game will incorporate an online multiplayer feature whereby other players can be notified of another player’s death in order to try and steal their bag full of weapons and other goodies. This game looks to be a major first-person launch title that will try to shed Nintendo’s image of being a kid-friendly console in order to try and lure back some older hardcore gamers that abandoned Nintendo a long time ago.

The Last of Us

-The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic third-person survival action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3. The lead character named Joel is a black market deal within a quarantine zone after a 20 year fungal disease has wiped out much of the USA. He is given a dying wish to help save a 14 year old girl named Ellie and help her escape the quarantine zone. Joel and Ellie proceed to head West as they encounter many hostile infected people and even more hostile survivors who want to do harm to the both of them. The game will involve both gunfighting and melee combat, and it will have a cover system. Another new gameplay mechanic involves a stealth mode as you get to decide how to encounter a hostile threat. The game will let you decide whether you want to take a friendly approach with the other character or a more deadly approach – the choice is yours.

Guacamelee!

-Guacamelee! is a side-scrolling beat em up that is being developed by Drinkbox Studios. The plot follows a down-on-his-luck agave farmer Juan Aguacate as sets out to rescue El Presidente’s daughter after she’s kidnapped by an evil Charro skeleton. There are light and dark worlds that the fighter must compete in and the game features the ability to play in Co-Op mode. The game is being funded through Sony’s Pub Fund program and will be released exclusively on both the Vita and PS3 versions of PlayStation Network. The combat consists of melee attacks, uppercuts and (our favorite) the ability to turn into a chicken.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

-PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is an upcoming fighting game that is being developed by SuperBot Entertainment. The game will be closely monitored by Sony’s own Santa Monica studio and will be published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita video game consoles. You’ll have the ability to fight with some of your favorite Sony characters such as Kratos from ‘God of War’, Nathan Drake from ‘Uncharted’, PaRappa from ‘PaRappa the Rapper’, Sweet Tooth from ‘Twisted Metal’ and many more colorful characters. Game play will be similar to Nintendo’s popular ‘Super Smash Brothers’ series and will feature 4 characters fighting each other on screen. The levels that characters will compete in are said to be a mixture of two different environments from a popular Sony video game. For example, ‘Dreamscape’ (based on LittleBigPlanet and Buzz!) will be one of the over 14 stages in the game. It will be interesting to see all of these characters from the Sony universe in one game but we hope that the game will be a little more original and not try to be a Nintendo fighting game clone when the game is released sometime in Mid 2013.

Once again, we are a small operation and can’t possibly review or highlight every single game that is about to launch soon. We picked some of our favorites as well as games which we think will be widely popular as well as some games that are unique and stand out from most generic sequels. Here is our list of other games which will probably make an impact once they’re launched sometime in late 2011 and the 2012 calender year.

Resident Evil 6
DmC: Devil May Cry
Halo 4
Far Cry 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Borderlands 2
Dishonored
The Elder Scrolls Online
Command and Conquer: Generals 2
Crysis 3
Dead Space 3
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Lego City: Undercover
Assassin’s Creed III
Rayman Legends
Gears of War: Judgement
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Silent Hill: Book of Memories
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
New Super Mario Bros. 2
New Super Mario Bros U
Metro: Last Night
Tomb Raider