June is the month which sees the longest daylight hours of the year. And that means a lot more games finally got to see daylight in this month. Okay! Poor introductions aside, this was that time of the year when developers were on pins and needles so as to grab the limelight thrown at them by the E3. For starters, Sony’s NGP got rid of its humdrum moniker and was changed to PS Vita which looks promising. Talking about consoles, a new generation was ushered in with the unveiling of the Wii U. Other announcements at the E3 featured mammoth titles slated for Q4 and next year.
The PS Vita appears almost the same as the current PSP. But its front touchscreen and rear touch pad make up for the humungous difference between the two. It’s supposed ‘three dimension-like’ experience should allow gamers to swipe, pull, push and grab items across its display. The handheld has already received a huge title in the form of Street Fighter X Tekken which is also planned for a PS3 debut next year. Another E3 debutant, the Wii U is expected to provide jaw dropping gameplay with a 6.2” touchscreen on its controller. Many Nintendo titles have been announced for the console too.
Know what a Frostbite 2 engine is? Who cares, so long as it delivers swashbuckling graphics in Battlefield 3 this October! Beckoning Hollywood writers seems to be the ‘in thing’ for the gaming industry with a large number of developers taking their aid for story purposes. The next Battlefield is one such example with the developers having introduced two new playables, both being top ranked soldiers from Russia and the U.S. Watch out for the game’s multi-platform beta coming out this September. Moving ahead, Cole ‘inFamous’ McGrath’s Karma levels have been on an all-time high since inFamous 2 hit markets with the game managing to score big in almost all its reviews including ours.
E3 also saw the announcement of a re-mastered Halo: Combat Evolved, but that is not what Microsoft was in the news for. A trailer released by them confirmed that the Halo franchise, which is already being hailed as a classic, will receive another feather to its cap with Halo 4 next year. And don’t worry; we’ll keep you posted with all the latest developments. Moving on, gamers who fancy saving not only the earth, but also the whole galaxy from annihilation can add Mass Effect 3 to their shopping list for March 2012. Now that’s not all. Xbox 360 users can rejoice because the game has been confirmed to be offering Kinect support.
As June chugged along towards the middle, we saw Razer announce Stars Wars: The Old Republic gaming keyboard, mouse, mouse pad and headset. Developed along with LucasArts and BioWare, the hardware will be released before the year’s end. So everyone thought Duke Nukem Forever was going to remain under the title of vaporware owing to the fact that it kicked around in the development phase for the longest time ever. And when we say longest time ever, we mean over fifteen years. But it finally did launch in on a worldwide scale last month and a Mac OS X version is cited to be on the cards for an August launch.
Speaking of titles under development for a patience-testing time stretch, the beta MP of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier which has been in the pipeline for a couple of years is heading out on January 2012 and Ubisoft thought fans should be alerted about this through Twitter. Now here’s a rumor that hasn’t provoked Rockstar Games into retorting with an official announcement as yet. But word has been getting around about Grand Theft Auto 5 being well underway. Apparently, it’s in the final developmental phase and includes mini games. Other unconfirmed news about the title has to do with a 2012 launch date and a version for Wii U too.
‘Something that could destroy the world’ is about to be birthed by Alma Wade. The only ones who can stop this from happening are her sons, Point Man and Paxton Fettel. That’s what the main plot of F.E.A.R. 3 runs along and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment obliged those who were raring to give it a go by unleashing the title for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. As for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, we must mark off four more months on the calendar before hoping to lay hands on it. In the mean time, Sony has been busy revealing pre-order details for a collector’s edition as well as the standard version.
What’s more, PlayStation Plus members were also offered a chance to dig into the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta on June 28. Lately, we’ve been seeing an inordinate amount of interest in the casual and mobile gaming space. Yet again, everyone concerned has been leaning on unofficial sources to elaborate on a story involving EA and PopCap Games, a well known player in the coveted arena. The former has been churning out hardcore titles like Crysis, Madden NFL, Dante’s Inferno and Medal of Honor amongst others. Seemingly, the company will bet over 1 billion USD on PopCap Games in an acquisition deal.
It’s time to wrap up this rundown by telling you that there’ll be more exciting tidbits this month. So we’re not done yet.