Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014

Eurogamer.net wrote:
Microsoft names E3 2014 press conference date and time

Microsoft will hold its annual E3 press conference on Monday, 9th June at 5.30pm UK time.

Titled Xbox: Game On, you'll be able to watch the show live online at Xbox.com, via Xbox Live and on Windows Phone, or you can log on to Eurogamer and accompany your viewing with our usual commentary on how lovely the speakers' shirts are and complaints about how loud the dubstep is.

The presentation will be preceded by a half hour pre-show event, also streamed online, while the conference itself is expected to last 90 minutes.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has recently taken to Twitter to discuss Microsoft's plans and said that hardcore gamers will be the show's main focus. "Both new IP and new sequels" will be shown off, and there will be announcements about "some new studios we are working with".

We expect to hear more about the new Halo game for Xbox One, plus Fable Legends and, quite possibly, Forza Horizon 2. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, for which Microsoft has another exclusivity deal, will also likely feature.

Microsoft's conference will be the first of E3 week. EA will hold its shindig a few hours later at 8pm UK time, followed by Ubisoft at 11pm here. Sony usually does its thing after that, meaning a late night again for those watching at home.

Nintendo will show its E3 wares the following day, 10th June, via a broadcast set to go begin at 5pm UK time.

EA to unveil six new games at E3

EA is planning to reveal six new games at its E3 press conference, Spike TV's Geoff Keighley has revealed.

"One hour press conference with six new game reveals as part of our E3 All Access," he teased on Twitter.

EA confirmed the event to us, noting that it begins on 9th June, the eve of E3, at noon PST (that's 8pm for UK folks). It will be hosted at the Shrine Expo Hall in LA and is expected to last an hour.

While much of EA's E3 showcase is shrouded in mystery, EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed in a financial call earlier today that DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront reboot would be featured at the colossal trade show. "It's coming along very, very well," he said of the Battlefield developer's take on the Star Wars license.

EA also teased an unannounced title that it's confident will be a major contender during Q4. "If you don't have a Battlefield in a year, you've got a hole there that you have to fill," the publisher said in a Q&A during today's earnings call. "The way we're filling that hole is essentially new titles along the lines of FIFA: World Cup, UFC, a golf game, The Sims and Dragon Age. I would say that fills about two-thirds of the hole and the rest of the hole we would assume is being filled by this new, unannounced game."

"We're highly conscious of the crowded slate in the back half of the year. What that means is it's gotta do great and it's got to do really well, particularly on the new generation. The box is going to have to be unique. I think you'll see all of that at E3 when you get a chance to see the game."

Xbox One getting a Sherlock Holmes game

Focus Home Interactive (Bound By Flame) announced today that its upcoming Sherlock Holmes game, Crimes & Punishments, will be released on Xbox One. Previously, the game was confirmed only for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Developed by Frogwares, creators of various Sherlock Holmes game for PC, Crimes & Punishments features Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson investigating crime scenes. Three new screenshots for the game were also released today and you can see them in this post.

Spoiler:

Activision wants Call of Duty to be talked about as much as Game of Thrones

Upcoming action-shooter Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is really going to focus on story, studio heads Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield said in a new interview. Speaking with Game Informer, studio cofounder Michael Condrey said his ambition for the Call of Duty series overall is for it to permeate popular culture in a similar way to Game of Thrones.

"Our goal as entertainers is to deliver a Red Wedding scene through interactive entertainment, and have people talk about Call of Duty on that sort of level one day," Condrey said. Other cofounder Glen Schofield added: "I want people to go 'crap, it's over'. 'Wow…There was a great story in a video game. It can be done.' And that's a big deal."

Schofield went on to say that while Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will have large-scale set-piece moments, including a scene where San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge comes crashing down, the game will also focus on more subtle emotional scenes.

"It's not just about the big moments; it's about the emotional moments," Schofield said. "And they can still be big and bold, but it's to me, right now...at this point in our career and I think in video games, with the new consoles and the amount of fidelity you get with the characters, it's about emotional connections. Narrative is extremely important to us. Not that it isn't to others, but we pay an awful lot of attention to that."

"I just feel that video games is the next medium to be talking about a story," he added. "We need to be telling a story."

Condrey echoed Schofield's comments, saying it's been a "core focus" for Sledgehammer Games to create a "rich narrative." Sledgehammer isn't yet saying much about the story Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will tell, but unlike past entries in the series, there will only be one protagonist, a soldier named Private Mitchell.

"It's not just a military story; this is about family, and camaraderie, and pain, and loss," Schofield said. Mitchell is described as a "normal" guy, an "anybody." He is voiced by prolific and celebrated voice actor Troy Baker (The Last of Us, BioShock: Infinite), but Mitchell only speaks during cinematics, never during gameplay.

Could that be jarring for players, not hearing the protagonist talk during gameplay?

"We've talked an awful lot about it. And it just feels like once we're in game, we want you to feel like you're Mitchell," Schofield said. If you hear someone else's voice as your character during gameplay, you might lose a feeling of immersion, Schofield says.

Finally, Schofield explained that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's dramatic new gameplay features, including the super-ability EXO suit that players can use to climb walls and dodge with great speed, are not going to make the game feel any less like the Call of Duty fans have grown accustomed to.

"Maybe we change it up as much as possible but there's something in it that people can say 'Ah, it's still Call of Duty,'" Schofield said. "Because we know there's still millions of people who play it and they don't want a completely different game; they want Call of Duty, but better, different, innovative."

"This is Call of Duty from the spirit of everything you loved about it, but it is a different Call of Duty and we think that's going to be pretty fun for the fans," Condrey said.