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We're live from E3 2012 in Los Angeles!
Well friends, a barrage of gaming glory is about to descend on southern California. The 2012 edition of E3 begins today with a handful of pre-show press conferences from the industry's big three. We're on the ground at the Los Angeles Convention Center and surrounding area to bring you coverage of all the happenings. While we don't anticipate any big console reveals from Microsoft or Sony, we are looking forward to Unreal Engine 4, Wii U news, Smart Glass, some sort of PlayStation news and a dash of mobile gaming. If you're looking to follow along easily, keep an eye on our event hub for all of the latest game-centered coverage.
We're liveblogging Sony's E3 2012 keynote, tonight at 9PM ET!
The PlayStation 4? The Vita 2? Pipedreams for E3 2012, perhaps, but Sony's surely going to put on a show, as always, with this year's E3 press event. A Vita price cut seems like it might be in the cards, to help reinvigorate interest in the company's portable. We'll probably also be getting some more insight into the SOEmote for EverQuest II -- and, of course, games, games, games. Want to join in on the action? Follow along here at 9PM ET. June 4, 2012 9:00 PM EDT
We're liveblogging Microsoft's E3 2012 keynote at 12:30PM ET!
E3's about to get real, y'all. Microsoft's getting this party started with today's Media Briefing at 12:30PM ET. Will we be on hand? You can bet your Smart Glass we will be. Our crew is going to be liveblogging the whole thing, and you can follow along right here. What can we expect from this year's event? Most likely we won't be seeing a successor to the Xbox 360 just yet, but we're sure that Microsoft's got plenty up its sleeve this time out. Stay tuned!
Nintendo's pre-E3 press conference video is now available -- relive the magic again and again
Did you miss any of the magic that was the Nintendo pre-E3 press event? Great news: it's now online in pre-recorded form, so you can watch it to your heart's content. Using the Wii U controller as a TV remote? The Wii U Pro Controller? The unveiling of the Miiverse? It's all there, friends. Experience the magic after the break.
SOEmote brings your facial expressions to EverQuest II, lets fellow gamers know when you stub your toe
So, you love you some EverQuest II, but how much of you is really in that Ogre character of yours? Sony Online Entertainment has unveiled a new way let players put a bit more of their own personal stamp on the game, in the form of the SOEmote. The new feature, unveiled a few days ahead of E3, uses a computer camera to track facial movements, bringing player expressions to the characters themselves. Also new are voice fonts, allowing players to tailor the timbre of their speech, so your character can sound a bit more like the killer in Scream, just as you've always imagined.
Wii U unlocks the key to the Miiverse, Nintendo promises mobile integration to come
As its pronoun heavy name indicates, the Wii U is all about the social. With that in mind, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata unveiled the Miiverse, a coming together of players' avatars that will live on the console's home screen. Log in, and you'll see your Mii, your friends' Miis, Miis on your Wii U system and Miis of folks playing the same game as you in your locality. The Mii Wara Wara features Miis gathered around tiles representing Wii U games, with speech bubbles offering up real messages from other players. There's plenty of social functionality built into the touchscreen controller, as well, users can text with other players to get information -- like gaming tips. Info can be input with a virtual keyboard, smartphone-style or can be handwritten or doodled with a stylus, à la the 3DS. The controller also seems to be a useful tool when using your system to teleconference on the big screen, so you can, say browse the web for info while chatting, tablet-style. Nintendo has also promised more integration with non-Wii devices -- functionality that likely won't hit at launch. Since the information is accessible via mobile browser, you'll be able to carry social functionality over to your 3DS, PC and mobile phone -- it's not Super Mario for iOS, but it's a small step toward a more mobile Nintendo, we guess. Update: Join us past the break to view the webstream for yourself!
Nintendo teases Wii U Pro Controller, black Wii U hardware (update: video)
Aside from officially detailing tweaks to its Wii U Gamepad today, Nintendo has announced a secondary controller for those who'd prefer a more traditional control method. Dubbed as the Pro Controller, the wireless peripheral has a remarkably similar shape and button layout to what comes standard with the Xbox 360 -- albeit with a duo a of evenly-placed joysticks and Nintendo-focused function buttons. You'll also notice that it's the first Wii U accessory to be colored in black, rather the white we've become accustomed to. It doesn't stop there either. While showing more video of how the Gamepad functions, it and the Wii U were also shown in the murdered-out hue for the first time -- eye pleasing to say the least. There's not word on pricing for the Pro Controller or whether the system will be released in both black and white just yet, but we'll be sure to bring you more details from the show floor at E3 when we have them. Click past the break for a look at the console and Gamepad in their darker attire. Update: Join us past the break to view the webstream for yourself!
Nintendo shows final Wii U Gamepad, TV remote app (update: video)
Looks like Nintendo didn't want to wait for its proper E3 press conference to spill some Wii U details early -- it just used its preview event to show the finished version of the Wii U controller, called the Gamepad, as well as a TV remote app. The Gamepad is decidedly wider than what we saw a year ago, with comfort clearly the top priority in other areas: the analog sticks have been moved further outwards and made clickable, while the back grip has been tweaked in the process. There's also no doubt as to where to interact with NFC gadgets, either, as a dedicated spot below the directional pad will take all your device-to-device taps. As for the remote, it looks to be a straightforward number pad navigator with a programming guide, all steering your TV through infrared. Between this and the Wii U Pro Controller, though, it's clear Nintendo hasn't been sitting still in the past year, and has some home theater ambitions in the process. We're curious as to what Nintendo is saving up for its bigger gala on Tuesday. Update: Join us past the break to view the webstream for yourself!
Nintendo pre-E3 press conference liveblog!
We can't wait for the E3 showroom floors to officially open -- and thankfully, neither can Nintendo. The company is upholding its promise to blanket the media with news by kicking things off with a pre-E3 press event, getting the upperhand on Microsoft and Sony by a few days. The company's president Satoru Iwata will be on-hand for an event that will most likely involve some game announcements, for starters. Will Nintendo offer up some more info on the Wii U or some welcome changes to the 3DS? Join us right here at 6PM ET to find out! June 3, 2012 6:00 PM EDT
We're liveblogging Nintendo's pre-E3 press event today at 6PM ET!
Are you ready for E3? Too bad, it's already here, a couple of days early, thanks to the overzealous folks at Nintendo, who just couldn't wait until Tuesday to hold their press event. The company is holding a pre-E3 event, helmed by president Satoru Iwata today at 6PM ET. The broadcast will likely revolve around games, but perhaps Nintendo had more surprises than it could contain in a single event. Find out by following along here.
Microsoft buys every 'Smart Glass' domain it can think of, E3 goers nod approvingly
A wise thing to do right before you launch a new product? Vacation, if we're being honest. But if we're being forced to pick another, we'd say registering domain names germane to said product ain't a half bad idea, either. Microsoft has seemingly snapped up a healthy few "Smart Glass"-related domains, giving us more reason to believe that the whispers we've been hearing about a wireless streaming doodad have some merit. With E3 festivities kicking off this evening, we're guessing it's just a matter of time before the list (shown after the break) stops forwarding to Bing and starts forwarding to... well, awesomeness. Refresh fingers ready?
E3 predictions: what to expect when you're Electronics Entertainment Expoing
Happy June! We're out holding things down in sunny, smoggy downtown Los Angeles, preparing for the on-coming storm of video game goodness. It's shaping up to another exciting year for all things Electronic Entertainment Expo, albeit one a bit less focused on the hardware side. Things unofficially kick off on Monday, with press conferences from two of the big three -- Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo will round things out on Tuesday morning, officially opening the show. So, what sort of action can we expect to see over the week in LA? We've compiled a quick list of what we're looking forward to over the next several days.
Nintendo can't wait for its own E3 press conference, schedules pre-E3 broadcast for tomorrow
Remember that wall of coverage Nintendo promised for next week's E3 festivities? Yeah, well, apparently that extends to scooping itself a bit with a Pre-E3 event, two days ahead of its official, real deal Tuesday press conference. Tomorrow, the company's president Satoru Iwata will be hosting a web broadcast with information about the Wii U. According to Nintendo, the early bird event will offer up some more info with regards to games for the much awaited next generation console -- and we'll be liveblogging the news, for your reading pleasure at 6PM ET, so get those plumber caps ready.
Microsoft Smart Glass coming at E3, AirPlay-style streaming from iOS, Android and Windows Phone?
Windows 8 is coming and it features more and better Xbox integration than we've yet seen in an operating system from the company -- but it looks like Microsoft has something even bigger up its sleeve. We've just seen a presentation indicating the company will launch something called Smart Glass next week, a so-called "companion application" that will act much like AirPlay for the Xbox 360. Using the app, users will be able to play video and other media on tablets and phones and, more interestingly, push that content right to their consoles for playback on the big(ger) screen. But, it gets better: this app is said to be available for tablets and phones running Windows, Windows Phone, Android and iOS. Yes, it'll be about as multiplatform as it gets, and if this presentation proves to be legitimate, we'll be learning a lot more next week when E3 gets underway.
Nintendo plans virtual wall of E3 coverage, wants no eyeball left behind
With E3 2012 right around the corner, Reggie and co. want to make sure your oft-distracted eyes catch every drip drop of the impending Wii U news flood. Much like it did last year, Nintendo's yet again taking to media outlets old and new for coverage of its All-Access Presentation, scheduled for June 5th at 9AM PST, that should prove an unavoidable must-see for any gamer bred on the house that Mario built. Whether you take your news via flat-screen or monitor, the gaming giant's got a solution to sate your preferred means of consumption, making its press conference available ad-free on Spike TV and MTV2, or online with a Facebook-hosted live stream. Of course, you can always set your browser to the Big N's own dedicated site on the big day to keep abreast of its next planned dive into the deep Blue Ocean. Check out the presser after the break for all the necessary informational bits.
Alternative Wii U controller design makes brief appearance on Twitter, goes into hiding
Excited for Nintendo's new tablet-esque controller? So are the kids in TT Games' QA department. An over-excited tester tweeted out an image of a slightly different Wii U slab than the one we laid hands on at E3 2011, teasing "look we what we have at work!" Answering the call does indeed reveal something worth looking at -- a somewhat wider looking Wii U slate featuring two full-sized analog sticks (as opposed to 3DS-like circle pads), a pair of unmarked button-like squares, and a new starboard home for the controller's plus and minus buttons. The tweet was summarily pulled, of course, but not before our friends at Joystiq nabbed a screenshot. Naturally, the rumor mill started right up, churning out speculation of developer specific slabs, early prototypes and late redesigns. The truth? We'll probably need to wait until E3 to find out, but we reached out to Nintendo for a comment all the same. We'll let you know if we hear anything more than the usual "Nintendo doesn't comment on rumors and speculation" line.
Spike TV airing Microsoft's 'Xbox: Entertainment Evolved' from E3, also coming to Xbox Live
Similar to last year's airing of Microsoft's E3 keynote, Spike TV's once again offering gamers who won't be making the trip to Los Angeles a quick way to enjoy a little bit of the show. The famed Major Nelson revealed the news that Spike TV will be showing the entire 90-minute Xbox: Entertainment Evolved event live on its network, which takes place on June 4th at 12:30PM Eastern time -- of course, we'll be there covering it. Unlike in 2011, though, now you'll also be able to check out whatever Redmond has in store for us as it airs on TV straight from your console via Xbox Live. Sadly, we know that won't be some new Xbox hardware...
Microsoft says there will be 'no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon'
Sony has already confirmed that we won't be seeing a next-generation PlayStation at this year's E3 trade show, and now Microsoft has also come out and dampened any expectations about a new Xbox possibly making its debut. In a statement published by Kotaku (following a report on Twitter from Bloomberg's Dina Bass), a Microsoft spokesperson says flatly that "while we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon." The statement goes on to say that "2012 is all about Xbox 360," before rattling off a list of milestones and some of the big titles planned for release this year. That leaves Nintendo with the stage to itself hardware-wise, which will presumably be showing off more of its next-generation console, the Wii U.
Sony's Kaz Hirai: no PlayStation 4 at E3
It looks like you can officially put any hopes of a PlayStation 4 announcement at E3 to rest. In a roundtable with reporters at CES, Sony's Kaz Hirai responded to a question about recent comments attributed to gaming division head Andrew House by stating that "Andy is absolutely right in that we are not making any announcements at E3." As The Wall Street Journal reports, Hirai further added that he's "always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that." That ten-year life cycle would place the PS3's end-of-life around 2016, but as with the PS2 and PS3, we'd expect some overlap between the PS3 and its eventual successor.
Hang out with Massively (and Joystiq) at the E3 2011 reader meetup
So E3 is coming up, and you what that means: games booze! If you've done the convention circuit before, you know that listening to PR reps and watching multiple presentations on the greatest-game-in-the-history-of-games pales in comparison to the opportunity to indulge in a bit of pub-crawling with industry types. If you're over 21 and a fan of Massively, Joystiq, or WoW Insider, you'll want to mark Friday, June 10th on your party-going calendar. The Joystiq crew will be taking over the La Cita bar in downtown Los Angeles for a swag-filled shindig sure to please the most discriminating gamer. And if not, hey, you can always drink with us. Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 6-9, bringing you all the best news from E3 2011. Whether you're dying to know more about Star Wars: The Old Republic, RIFT, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!
