e3-2014
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Watch Ubisoft's E3 2014 press conference stream here [Update: It's over!]
Bonjour, everyone! Ubisoft's E3 2014 press conference is happening at 3:00 p.m. PT (6:00 p.m. ET) today, and we expect plenty of tasty tidbits and news from the French developer/publisher. In fact, we'll be voicing said expectations, as well as analysis and commentary via our liveblog, so feel free to garnish this stream with a dash of Joystiq personality and pop open a tab next to this one. The Los Angeles Staples Convention Center is plastered with a giant Assassin's Creed: Unity poster, but we also expect to hear more about the recently-announced Far Cry 4 too. Ubisoft has featured surprise announcements the past two years as well - Watch Dogs in 2012 and The Division in 2013. Could we have another big surprise this year? If you close your eyes and wish hard enough, Beyond Good & Evil 2 could still happen! Update: Ubisoft's conference may be over, but you can re-live its many announcements in old-fashioned text form. [Image: Ubisoft]
Xbox E3 2014 press conference round-up: Halo, indies, more
The internet is a wonderful thing - it allows us to reminisce and wax nostalgic about things that just happened. Case in point: the Microsoft E3 2014 press conference. Maybe you missed it, maybe you skipped it, but either way, we're ready to look back on what Microsoft has in store for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Okay let's ride.
FIFA 15 kicks off September 23
EA's next soccer sim FIFA 15 will hit store shelves in North America September 23, with a European release following on September 26. The game will launch across the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PS3, Xbox 360, and PC platforms. The PC version of the game will use the publisher's Ignite Engine, unlike FIFA 14. Those that pre-order the game's Ultimate Team Edition will receive roughly $40, (£30) in FIFA Ultimate Team goods. That includes items and game celebrations from the publisher's catalog of digital perks, EA Sports Football Club. [Image: EA Sports]
E3 2014: The Division will get content updates on Xbox One first
While The Division has been delayed until next year, players will have their choice of platforms on which to play it. Unless, of course, those players really want to have the newest updates every time, in which case they're going to need to play on the Xbox One. At Microsoft's E3 opening presentation, developers revealed that content will come to The Division on the console first, prior to the PlayStation 4 or the PC. The announcement was accompanied by a brief gameplay trailer and some recap of the game's mechanics and setting. While it was originally scheduled to launch this year, the game was officially delayed until 2015 last month. Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 10-12, bringing you all the best news from E3 2014. We're covering everything from WildStar and Landmark to Skyforge and H1Z1, so stay tuned!
EA's BioWare touches on new Mass Effect, new IP at E3
Fans hoping to learn more about the new Mass Effect didn't have much to go on from EA's E3 conference, although BioWare did reveal it's working on a new IP. In a short video on the sci-fi follow-up, BioWare devs talked about new worlds, characters, and potential lovers in a "whole new region of space," rendered by the power of the new consoles. While BioWare Montreal is working on the new Mass Effect, the team at BioWare Edmonton is developing a "completely new IP." Again the discussion was nebulous, but the studio said it wants to take on "very contemporary stories" while realizing worlds that compare to the scopes of previous BioWare games. Along with those two projects, BioWare also has Dragon Age: Inquisition in development, and it's set to launch on October 7.
See the Mirror's Edge sequel in action
Though EA failed to offer a release date, gameplay details, or really any solid information on the in-production, as-yet-unnamed Mirror's Edge sequel, the publisher did send over the above video. Keep in mind though, this is all conceptual footage, and is thus subject to change.
Battlefield Hardline beta launches today on PC and PS4
EA announced today that players can get an early look at its team-based FPS Battlefield Hardline via a public beta launching today on the PlayStation 4 and PC. Players who own the PlayStation 4 version of Battlefield 4 can download the beta via the PlayStation Store, and PC signups are available at EA's website on a first-come, first-serve basis. Battlefield Hardline was additionally confirmed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and a beta will be available this fall for all platforms. Beta players will receive access to exclusive in-game items and other content in the full version of Battlefield Hardline, which premieres October 21.
EA's E3 2014 Liveblog on Joystiq
EA is sure to kick off its E3 showcase with FIFA, get us punch drunk with UFC and regale us with tales of the Dragon Age: Inquisition. There's also sure to be a few surprises in there too. So join us tomorrow at at 1PM PST for all the kicks, fists and dragon splaying splits. We'll have our liveblog right here, so just run on back to this page at 1PM PST for all the latest from Electronic Arts at E3 2014.
EA shows Criterion's new first-person racer with all kinds of vehicles [Update]
At today's E3 conference, EA gave us a first look at the new game in development at the new-look Criterion Games. Going by what we saw, it's focused on first-person racing across a wide range of vehicles, taking in everything from jetskis to paragliding, and helicopters to snowmobiles. There's no name yet for the Burnout studio's new game, which isn't a shock because it's only in a prototype stage. Criterion said it's been inspired by extreme real-life videos shot first-person, and the British studio hopes to channel that through first-person racing - "We're not ever going to take you out of that," said one of the developers - with the idea being to provide that sense of really being on the vehicle. The game also looked like it might be an open-world affair, something that should prick the ears of Burnout Paradise fans. Update: Check out Criterion Games' presentation at E3 for yourself in the video above.
The Sims 4 debuts September 2 [update: trailer]
EA has another entry in its fan-favorite virtual life simulation series The Sims en route to PC. Though EA offered scant new gameplay details on The Sims 4, the publisher did reveal a September 2 release date.
Fore! EA Sports PGA Tour brings golf out of the Woods
EA announced EA Sports PGA Tour, a new golf game that drops the Tiger Woods label, during their E3 2014 press conference today. While details are scarce, a teaser trailer revealed courses which appear to take place inside of other EA games. One course, for example, looked to be set on a tropical island with a beached Navy ship. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. The game is even rendered in DICE's Frostbite 3 engine, making it one ridiculously pretty game of golf. [Image: Joystiq]
Watch EA's E3 2014 press conference right here [Update: It's over!]
Find out what new games are coming from EA with us on our liveblog and in video form on this page. The action begins at 12:00 p.m. PT (3:00 p.m. ET). The publisher's E3 2014 press conference in Los Angeles will feature games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Battlefield Hardline, spotlight the latest entries in the Madden, FIFA and NHL series, and maybe dish out some fresh information on the next Mass Effect game from BioWare or Mirror's Edge 2. Update: Show's over, folks! Feel free to check out all of EA's big announcements and rewatch the press event above. [Image: Electronic Arts]
Everything in Halo: The Master Chief Collection
When the franchise shepherds at 343 Industries say they're collecting all of Master Chief's Halo games to preserve his many accomplishments on Xbox One this year, it's tempting to dress the talk down to something practical. 343's general manager, Bonnie Ross, says "it is about his past, it is about his future," but what you hear is, "Okay, Halo 5 won't be out this year, and there has to be a Halo game for Xbox One like, yesterday, so how about these old ones?" Halo: The Master Chief Collection inspires cynical thoughts at first, but from what I've seen it's one of the most comprehensive and smartly organized efforts in the realm of remakes. Here's everything you get in the package, and it all runs at 1080p, 60 frames per second, and approximately 17 covenant deaths per minute:
Warframe brings the free-to-play pain to Xbox One later this year
Developer Digital Extremes has announced that free-to-play shooter Warframe will make its Xbox One debut at some point in 2014 as one of the first, self-published ID@Xbox games. Warframe, which is currently available on the PlayStation 4 and PC, sees players strapping on "exo-skeletal" armor and gunning down futuristic ne'erdowells, either solo or in groups of up to four like-minded, trigger-happy warriors. Along with the standard Xbox One features like Game DVR, this latest iteration of Warframe will feature a Smartglass companion app dubbed the "Warframe Nexus" which offers mission alerts and other crucial information during gameplay. "Bringing Warframe to Xbox One is a no-brainer," said Digital Extremes creative director Steve Sinclair. "Our players have been asking for Warframe since the debut of the console and with the ID@Xbox Program, now we can make it happen. Having the freedom to develop and publish Warframe on our own terms is the true definition of independence to us. Warframe is a passion project for our team and building it alongside our players is a reality now with digital distribution." [Image: Digital Extremes]
E3 2014: SOE's evil ways on display in this H1Z1 teaser
SOE has taken the wraps off "My Evil Ways," a new trailer for zombie sandbox H1Z1. The clip is comprised of gameplay footage and seems to endorse the kill-or-be-killed mentality that typically permeates apocalyptic fiction. View it in full after the break!
Crackdown returns as open-world Xbox One exclusive [Update: Trailer added]
Microsoft has revealed a new entry in its Crackdown franchise, one "powered by an army of dedicated servers" that offers the sort of open-world superheroic police warfare the series has been known for. Series creator David Jones introduced a short vignette, before confidently stating that "we have the right team to build the game." Scant gameplay details were offered, but the game features both the de rigueur open-world campaign, as well as multiplayer and co-op. So far there's no word on when Crackdown might arrive, though when it does it will be exclusive to the Xbox One.
Platinum invites you to battle monsters in Scalebound, exclusively on Xbox One [Update: Trailer]
Platinum Games director Hideki Kamiya has announced his studio's next game: Scalebound. The Microsoft Studios published game will arrive exclusively on the Xbox One. A rendered trailer for the game was a mash-up of a fantasy world with some modern twists. A giant dragon lands with a thunderous thump near a young man who dons a pair of headphones. Suddenly, it's an all-out war of monsters and the trailer comes to a quick end. We hope to learn more at E3, which officially kicks off tomorrow.
The Division splits off 'new content' on Xbox One first [update: trailer]
"New content" for upcoming Tom Clancy game The Division will launch on Xbox One first. The news was announced in a new gameplay demo at Microsoft's E3 conference today, this time with a team of three storming an opposing group of enemies in the snowy streets of New York on Christmas Day. As we've seen before, the team of players communicated as coolly as a clan of cucumbers while dispatching with one gun-toting foe after another. The Division is based around a group of "self-supported tactical agents" operating in The Big Apple three weeks after a deadly virus took out the city. It's based around a persistent open-world and multiplayer, and even the game's development engine, Snowdrop, is always-on. The online open-world game is due on Xbox One, PS4 and PC next year. It was announced for 2014 initially, but Ubisoft re-positioned it last month.
Phantom Dust being resurrected for Xbox One
Phantom Dust will be brought back for Xbox One, Microsoft announced during its E3 press conference. The original Phantom Dust was an online-focused arena combat game for the original Xbox, created by Yukio Futatsugi, the mind behind Panzer Dragoon. [Image: Joystiq]
Threes, Plague Inc. and tons of friends on Xbox One
Microsoft's ID@Xbox program is bringing a slew of independent games to Xbox One, including mobile tile-slider Threes, adorable cosmic platformer Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, pandemic simulator Plague, Inc. Evolved and 1930s cartoon simulator Cuphead. These are a few games previously unannounced for Xbox One, but Microsoft ran through a packed montage of independent titles during its E3 conference. Limbo studio Playdead's next project, Inside, is due out on Xbox One in 2015.
