E3 11: Pre-show buzz

June 5, 2011

We’re on the ground in Los Angeles! Our East Coast-based E3 team has a rough case of jet lag, but we’ll be ready to bring you the news tomorrow! In the meantime, we thought we’d get you caught up on some of the last few days’ developments.

The NGP has a lineup

While we won’t know the system’s actual name until Monday night (though there are rumors it’ll be called the Vita), we’ve already gotten a look at some of the PSP successor’s launch titles. Uncharted: Golden Abyss seems to be the headliner, and besides a few touch controls, it stays very close to the original. Wipeout 2048 offers cross-platform racing with PS3 owners of Wipeout HD, while having new content of its own. Bigbig Studios’ Little Deviants is a minigame collection, but it’s one of the few offerings showing the full capabilities of the NGP’s motion, touch and analog controls. Also on tap are versions of Hustle Kings and Hot Shots Golf, among others.

Call of Duty Elite is a thing

Rumors have been swirling that Activision would look to make more money from active Call of Duty players, and now we have Call of Duty Elite, a combination of a stat-tracking service and a subscription to all downloadable content. It seems supplemental at this point to the main game, but that hasn’t stopped players from making a fuss about it.

Insomniac incoming

As if it weren’t enough that big Insomniac Games titles Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and Resistance 3 are launching this fall, the company confirmed that it would be revealing its multiplatform project at Monday’s EA event. Third-party conferences are usually heavy on gameplay and light on new announcements, so this debut could be interesting. 

Random thoughts

  • We think that, if Konami hadn’t paid Mega64 to do the Transfarring reveal video, they probably would have made something like that anyway.
  • While the big guys will grab the headlines, we’re always most interested in the smaller projects. There’s nothing quite like the developers themselves showing off their game for the first time and hoping for the best, and it’s a sharp contrast to the mega-projects shown off by hired booth attendants.
  • Did we mention that we’re exhausted? The show hasn’t even started yet! We may be in trouble.