EA’s E3 2012 Press Conference Summary. All The Announcements, Trailers And Details Here!

EA’s E3 2012 Press Conference saw John Riccitiello take to the stage to introduce ten developers to showcase ten games! He discussed the focus on download and the evolution of the experience, discussing that games have evolved from what we originally bought back in the day, a simple boxed product, to the idea of modern gaming experiences where we get much more via downloadable content and updates.

Dead Space 3 was the first gameplay demo on stage, giving us the first real look at the game since the leaked screenshots. – Full post here with more details -. Set on an ice planet, familiar mechanics return such as kinesis and stasis, though a new dynamic cover system is a welcome addition, hopefully not to detract from the scares. While the nice expansive view of the planet was certainly pretty, it was very short lived as one of the huge creatures (end boss) from the first game came to rain on Isaac’s parade. A new Co-Op partner came along for the ride through drop-in drop-out gameplay, and helped greatly with the more frantic battles, as well as with the puzzles. The demo ended as they found themselves in the creature’s stomach, and began to be digested.

Madden 13’s presentation began with an inspirational locked room speech all about ‘Leaving its mark’. The new title is all about intensity with each game a battle, and features the new ‘Infinity’ engine which results in no two plays looking or feeling the same. Things won’t always go to plan, as players will stumble when clipped (along the lines of the euphoria engine). The Career mode returns, along with franchise and online franchise modes, as well as the online superstar mode. Mike Lurvis, an NFL Quarterback discussed that the Career mode will be much deeper this time around featuring a story where you’ll achieve goals and earn XP. Throughout this mode you can choose to play as yourself, or pick from an NFL legend, and you’ll be able to manage your career outside of the game from your PC, Tablet and Smartphone. It’s a new way into the NFL, and they’re aiming to deliver next generation today.

SimCity made a big appearance, as not only did we get to see more of next year’s major retail release of the popular series, but a new Facebook game entitled SimCity Social was also announced.

This new socially integrated title keeps the aesthetic from older titles such as SimCity 3000 where you’ll be working to unlock the secrets of the city. You can choose to be good or evil, and they’re aiming to make it the premiere game of its genre on the platform. It’ll be available in just a few weeks.

The full retail release takes things to a much bigger scale as expected, and is set to offer the deepest and richest entry in the series. It’s all very dynamic, and runs simulations instead of just number crunching, so for example a traffic jam could cause delays in deliveries, meaning you’ll need to make new roads, since they’re actually congested with real vehicles with goals and objectives. Multiplayer is also in, providing different challenges to players, where the choices you make for your city will affect others around you. You can play with friends, or take on a region by yourself. New gameplay possibilities will keep things fresh with updates, and the second trailer shown certainly showcased this with politics, disasters, power ups and more. It’ll be arriving February 2013, exclusively for the PC.

Jason West and Vince Zampella were also in attendance, but not even a hint was given as to what they’re currently working on.

Battlefield 3 Premium was finally unveiled after weeks of rumours, and is pretty much what you’d expect. Offering up a similar service to Call of Duty Elite, you’ll be getting a huge batch of new content early for one discounted price. EA discussed that DICE are continuingly working to push the boundaries to develop games supported by next generation technology, while also dropping some statistics for example that 1.7 trillion bullets have been fired by gamers online. They mentioned that they’ve been humbled by the fans, and are continuing to strive forward to take things to the next level. Battlefield 3 premium will give you exclusive in-game items, more customisation, in game events, dog tags, twenty new maps, ten new vehicles, more modes including Tank supremacy, more assignments and server queue priority among other goodies. The maps will come in various DLC packs including Close Quarters (infantry combat), Armored Kill (large vehicle maps), as well as Aftermath and Endgame (showing an image with motorbikes), as well as Back To Karkand in case you hadn’t grabbed that already. It’s available for $49.99, and can be purchased right now. For PS3 owners, if they sign up now they can start playing the Close Quarters content straight away, with Xbox 360 and PC gamers on the service to join them next week.

Star Wars: The Old Republic was then featured, with numbers thrown around such as the fact that 1 million players logged in on day one making it the biggest MMO launch ever. 520 million hours have been spent on the game, and BioWare are looking to match the enthusiasm from gamers with updates and add-ons to the title. They’ve already released a number of large updates, but soon they’ll be adding other big chunks of content including more PvP warzones, higher level content, a higher difficulty level, new companions and playable species, group finder, ranked PvP, character transfers, a level cap increase as well as entire new planet. They’re looking to set a new standard for a premium MMO service, and starting this July you’ll be able to play up to level 15 for free. This was followed by a new trailer showcasing future content updates.

EA’s other shooter, Medal Of Honor Warfighter then took to the stage with a great looking gameplay demo. In 2010 EA introduced us to the Tier 1 operator – the precise, disciplined and aggressive tip of the spear when it comes to military operations -. This year it’s going global, with every single mission having a dotted line to an actual event or real world hotspot in the world. The gameplay demo showed the team on their way to Somalia to launch an attack on a pirate enclave. Once on the beach however, a sniper surprises the player, knocking him off his feet, and so the beach assault begins. Since the title now uses the Frostbite 2 engine (Battlefield 3), there’s a lot more destruction this time around. The weapons looked and sounded punchy and there were significant improvements to the graphics, lighting and fluidity of combat as compared to the original title. New features such as breaching allows more choices in combat, as you can choose what you’d like to use, explosive or distraction. After a rather intense battle with a sniper in a far away building, ending rather explosively with an air strike, gameplay shifted to a vehicle segment where they commanded an RC car…an RC car with a machine gun and grenade launcher that is. The segment was rather linear, but looked very entertaining. The multiplayer was also discussed, with a new trailer showcasing the twelve different Tier 1 units from around the world (inc. SEAL, SAS and GROM), and was described as more of an experience, possibly straying away from the typical modes seen in most shooters. It’ll arrive October 23rd, 2012.

It was then back to EA Sports, as new features for both Madden 13 and FIFA 13 were discussed. Working across all platforms, a new free to play mobile social game entitled Madden NFL Social was announced, allowing you to start to play via Facebook on your PC and mobile as you’ll be able to move seamlessly between them. EA Sports has been bringing innovations to their sports games to change how you play, from injuries in NHL, to services in NBA live that change all season long, giving a connection to the real world of sports. New additions to FIFA 13 include additions to their persistent online universe, a new animation architecture, as well as big updates to their physics, AI and online play. The FIFA Social Club already has 11 million members, and allows your FIFA experience to stay with you wherever you go. For players of FIFA 12 who will be picking up FIFA 13, they’ll get bonuses to the ingame catalogue such as exclusive items, kits, boots and more. FIFA 13 will also be heading to the iPad and iPhone, with an Android version to follow later. They’ll be connected to the Football Club, allowing you to earn rewards, level up your character as well as partake in live challenges on the go. A new iPhone app will allow you to keep track of your identity and other features, due to launch later this year. FIFA 13 is set to capture the drama and unpredictability or real world football. Lionel Messi will be on the cover of FIFA this year, and EA are looking to make it the best yet with game changing features and new possibilities thanks to their next version of the player impact engine and AI that delivers more freedom and creativity to the player. The AI will now think two plays ahead, and work harder and smarter against you. There will be more details later this year, as the EA team in Vancouver is set to make FIFA 13 their crowning achievement in the series.

Dana White appeared on stage to announce an exclusive multi-game, multi-year partnership with EA with UFC titles. He discussed that it’s the fastest growing sport not only in the US, but in the world, and working with the biggest video game company in the world, they’re aiming to reach the 175 countries and half a billion homes their TV channel is broadcast to.

 

Criterion then took to the stage to showcase Need for Speed: Most Wanted. After a new trailer letting us know that the cops are indeed back, the gameplay looked to be primarily city based with a mix of vehicles. Matt Webster (Criterion) discussed that they put the Need for Speed series back on the map with Hot Pursuit, after which they looked to the back catalogue to revitalise another entry. You’ll be able to race, chase and explore as you compete amongst your friends to become the most wanted in this latest title, providing an open world driving connected experience through the new edition of Autolog. Autolog 2.0 will make competition out of everything ranging from the fastest times, biggest score and biggest jumps among many others. Most Wanted will feature a comprehensive multiplyer experience with playlist bassed multiplayer gameplay. Speed points are the currency this time around, and will give you a clear indicator of how you compare to your friends. Craig Sullivan (Criterion) then took to the stage to showcase some gameplay, and it certainly looked to be another high quality racing game from the studio. The slow motion takedowns return, and the gameplay shifted seamlessly from challenges to freeroam. It’ll arrive October 30th 2012.

To wrap up the conference, a gameplay demo of Crysis 3 took to the stage. Starting with a solid foundation from Crysis 2, Crytek are set to expand on the series offering more of a sandbox environment through seven distinct areas ranging from high rise canyons to deadly swamps through this new urban rainforest. Designed to play the way you want through use of the suit’s powers, the gameplay demo showcased an action packed mission at a Dam, ending up with the destruction of said structure. It looked pretty as always, complete with lots of explosions, and the inclusion of a bow and arrow complete with explosive bolts certainly should expand the gameplay possibilities. It will launch February 2013.

 

John Riccitiello took to the stage again to wrap up, stating that he hopes we enjoy playing the games as much as they enjoy making them.

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