E3 2011 Predictions - What's going down in LA?

June 7^th, 2011 seems like a long way away right now. But once you’ve finished your Boxing Day turkey leftovers, and New Year hits, it will be on you before you can say “Hideo Kojima” three times quickly.

You certainly will!

With that in mind, I wanted to put out my e3 2011 predictions nice and early. And, with a view to keeping things interesting, I’ll split it into four things I think we will see, and a couple of things we probably won’t see.

Four things we will see

1)  Sony PSP2

EDIT: Yes, the PSP2 (NGP) Has been announced. Here's a look at specs, price and comparison to 3DS.

Ok, this one is virtually a no-brainer. Recently this thing has had more leaks than an ocean-liner made of Swiss cheese.

Got enough analogue sticks for yah?

What will be announced? Probably we’ll get a list of features, and a vague release date, like “Holiday 2011”. The leaks so far indicate that it will have dual cameras, dual analogue sticks, a super-HD screen, and possibly even a touch sensitive rear (no pun intended).

2) Mass Effect 3

Again, it’s only logical that we’ll see this at E3. Current murmurings suggest that it is being targeted for late 2011, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a playable version at E3.

SPOILER ALERT - Shepherd's a Spartan

Having recently purchased Kinect, I’d love to see some (BASIC) functionality here, even if it is just controlling the biotic powers with a swoosh of your hand. Just imagine picking your enemies up and tossing them around the room like ragdolls!

3) Respawn Entertainment

Remember that whole ‘debacle’ with Activision and Infinity Ward? If not then I’ll sum it up. The two leaders of Infinity Ward (creators of the CoD: Modern Warfare franchise) were reportedly ousted from their own company by Activision security, and a lawsuit ensued. The result was that a number of staff (arguably the core team) from Infinity Ward started a new company, “Respawn Entertainment”. I like to think of them as “Infinity Ward 2.0”

Well, since the initial furore died down, Respawn has been very quiet. All we know is that they now work (ironically) for EA, and are working on a brand new IP. Its all very mysterious. Just look at their website!

So, I predict that at e3 2011 we’ll likely see a resurgence (pun fully intended) from Respawn, and they’ll be pushing some marvellous new IP. Or at least I hope it will be marvellous.

As a side note, the same is probably going to be true for Bungie (makers of Halo). They have been working on a new IP, and I’m much more confident that that will be marvellous.

4) More Improvements to Xbox Live Services

This one is a complete stab in the dark, but based on the direction Microsoft have been going in over the last 18 months, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see a variety of new XBL services and improvements like:

• ·         Bigger friends lists
• ·         HULU (USA Only)
• ·         Expanded “Games on Demand” Service
• ·         Kinect-controlled Game Marketplace (currently you can't browse the GM with Kinect)
• ·         More crossover /interface with the Windows Phone 7

Who knows what else.

What we will not see at e3 2011

For a start, the next gen of consoles. Seriously, don’t hold your breath for a “PS4” or an “Xbox 720” (I really hope the don’t call it that). Do not think that this is a bad thing; it really is not the right time for a new generation right now.

***FAKE*** Xbox 720

Firstly, there’s far too much going on with the current gen, Sony and Microsoft will want to generate at least a year of revenue from Move and Kinect in order to get return on investment before they commit to more expensive new hardware. They’ll want to gauge the performance of these products to see if it is worth adding the tech to the next generation.

Secondly, although the technology inside the PS3/ 360 is starting to become dated, the latest tech isn’t quite good enough to justify every gamer shelling out another $600 for a new console. It’s not far away, but we’re not there yet.

***FAKE*** Sony PS3

And, for the record, I personally wouldn’t count the Wii2 as a “New generation”.

I also doubt we’ll see an Xbox handheld; at this point it is more logical for Microsoft to continue to develop Windows Phone 7 and follow the business models of Apple and Google in terms of game distribution.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of e3 2011. No matter what your predictions are, I think we can all agree that it will not be boring!