EA‘s CEO John Riccitiello took to the stage to proclaim that for EA the main focus at E3 this year would be on 10 games. In that respect EA can consider their press conference a success. Below you can check out some brief descriptions of what games EA had on offer as well as some trailers revealed last night.
- First up was Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit from Criterion Games, best known for their work on the Burnout franchise. With some slick graphics and fast gameplay it looks to reinvigorate the Need for Speed franchise while integrating some interesting social network and leaderboard modes. It’ll be available November 16th of this year. You can watch the launch trailer here.
- Next up was Dead Space 2, the sequel to 2008′s cult hit survival horror game, which sees space miner Issac Clarke trapped on a gigantic ship know as The Sprawl which will act as fully functional city overflowing with Necromorphs waiting to be dismembered. The game promises to offer a more action-packed experience with some more footage to be shown at Sony’s press conference later today. Dead Space 2 is set for release January 25th, 2011.
- Medal of Honor will see the franchise finally moving away from a World War II setting and into modern day Afghanistan. With EALA working on the single player campaign, the main focus of the show was the multiplayer mode being worked on separately by DICE. After showing off a short but interesting 24 player match EA announced that the multiplayer beta will star June 21st though players who bought Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will get early access on June 17th. Medal of Honor is set for release October 12th, 2010. You can watch the multiplayer trailer here.
- Next up was EAs new initiative called Gun Club. The service is set to launch later this year and in a continuation of EA’s efforts to reward players for purchasing their games will offer exclusive content, beta access and demos for players of EA’s first person and action shooter games.
- Also announced was an expansion pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, titled Batltlefiled: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. Due for release Winter of this year it will offer four maps, Vietnam-specific weapons and vehicles,as well as new achievements and trophies. Only a very brief trailer was shown but you can see it here.
- Peter Moore then took the stage to show off the various EA Sports titles including EA Sports MMA, EA’s unlicensed mixed-martial arts game set for release October 19th which offers players the ability to cut their own promos before and after a fight and share them on the internet via the EA Sports Live Broadcast service.
- Next up was EA Sports Active 2 which moves the successful Wii fitness franchise across all three platforms including support for Microsoft’s Kinect. The game is set to offer a much more robust workout for those wanting more exercise and will be released November 16th,
- Finally for the sports section legendary American Football player Joe Montegna took the stage to introduce this years entry in the Madden NFL franchise, the main addition being the ability to have constant commentary streaming through a players headset to help them make the best decision during a game.
- The Sims 3 will be making its move to consoles this Fall with a promise to match the experience on the PC for all gamers.
- Next up Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek Studios, took the stage to demo Crysis 2 on the Xbox 360. Crytek Studio’s first game on consoles, Crysis 2 promises to match the graphical effects delivered on the PC while also offering the most intelligent AI to be seen in a First Person Shooter. With no solid release date the game is set for release Holiday 2010 with the added bonus of being the first game available in stereoscopic 3D for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
- Epic Games including Cliff Bleszinski took to the stage to show off some gameplay footage of the over-the-top shooter Bulletstorm. A bloody mature game with tongue firmly in cheek, the game rewards players for pulling of more stylish and insane kills, including points for setting an enemy’s ass on fire. It’s set for release February 22nd 2011 and while no new gameplay footage was shown you can check out the E3 trailer here.
- And finally Bioware took to the stage to show off a visually impressive trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, an upcoming MMO set within the Star Wars universe. While there was a promise that each player will have their own unique ship while traversing the game no gameplay was shown.
Come back later this evening where we’ll have updates from both Nintendo and Sony’s press conference which should hopefully offer some more surprises.
