This week we’re focusing on rumors for game announcements.

Current scores:

Andrew Passafiume: +85 

Graham Russell: +5

Shawn Vermette: +100

LittleBigPlanet 2 to be announced at E3

Yes, one of the developers of LittleBigPlanet has said that they have zero interest in making a sequel to LittleBigPlanet despite its huge sales numbers. However, recently a musician posted on his website that he had been hired to do the music for LittleBigPlanet 2. That post has since been removed, but it leads us now to this question: Was the musician in error about what game he was hired for? Or did Sony pressure Media Molecule into making a sequel to their breakout game?

Andrew: It’s been practically confirmed in several news stories and by Media Molecule (or people working with MM on the sequel), and E3 seems like the most logical place to announce it. Media Molecule originally stated that, aside from the PSP version, LittleBigPlanet would be its own thing and a sequel would never be required, but it seems like they do have plenty of new ideas in store for one. 90%

Graham: I feel like backwards compatibility is key here. All this created stuff should be compatible with the sequel, or there are going to be some unhappy people. That said, this is probably happening.  There’s just some stuff you can’t do with patches and updates, and LBP fans want more. (Personally, I’m hoping for another LBP-driven conference. The first one was fun.)  90%

Shawn: I think the fact that despite having a number of high profile exclusives lately, the PS3 still lagging in sales has convinced Sony that they need to make a sequel to LittleBigPlanet. They need as many strong titles as they can get in their fight with Microsoft. 85%

Dead Space: Extraction to be ported to the Xbox 360

Dead Space: Extraction was released to critical acclaim and poor sales. Now, rumor has it that to make up for the lack of sales on the Wii, EA is looking into porting it onto the Xbox 360. This is intriguing for a couple of reasons. First, EA is already at work on Dead Space 2. Second, while Dead Space sold well on the 360, I don’t know of any rail shooters that sold well on the 360.

Andrew: This is something else that seems to be almost confirmed by many sources at EA, but it’s not been made official yet. I’ve heard that it may even be getting an Xbox Live Arcade release as opposed to a full retail release, which seems a lot more likely to me. And considering the popularity of Dead Space with the 360 crowd, it would seem like a good thing to do to hype people up closer to Dead Space 2’s release. Although I can possibly see EA not wanting to even bother with this spin-off/prequel after how badly it did on the Wii and the fact that it is not exactly a “true” Dead Space game in terms of gameplay. 80%

Graham: Here’s the new formula: release a core game on Wii. Have critical praise but low sales numbers. Then release it on 360. This seems like it’s following the formula pretty well, and gamers will try it out. Unless, of course, it doesn’t happen, in which case they won’t be able to. 70%

Shawn: EA has been all about trying to grow their business with new and different games lately. Unfortunately, few of them have been commercial successes despite everyone agreeing they are great games. Because of this I definitely believe EA will take advantage of the popularity of Dead Space and rerelease Dead Space: Extraction on the 360. 75%

New James Bond game to be shown at E3

There’s been talk for a while about Activision working on a new James Bond game, but nothing else is known about it. Will we finally see it at this year’s E3?

Andrew: I remember hearing rumors about Bizarre Creations working on a new Bond title for Activision, but that never seemed to come to fruition. But I can see either that, or a new Bond title being revealed sometime soon. It’s been a while since the last Bond game, after all.  70% 

Graham: Activision has been surreptitiously picking up domains and trademarks for various Bond things over the past few months. Will we see the game released this year? I have my doubts. It’d be hard to avoid a game trailer or something this June.  75%

Shawn: Last I heard about a James Bond game, it was being built using the Modern Warfare engine. I have no idea if that rumored game is still being worked on, but I think it’s definitely time for Activision to finally release a James Bond game. 75%