As you will have noticed, the Gadget Helpline has really been getting into the spirit of E3 this week. So thought we’d bring you a brief rundown of a few of the good things we’re looking forward to and hoping to see between Tuesday and Thursday next week!
E3 is the highlight of the gaming calendar with all the big guns coming out to play and show off their latest developments, including Nintendo who will be giving the final presentation in support of its Wii U console. Nintendo’s latest home consoles offering is scheduled for release in time for Christmas and will be accompanied by the redesigned HD touchscreen tablet controller which was leaked recently.
Along with the Wii U console itself, Nintendo is expected to announce its starting line-up of gaming titles such as Super Mario Bros Mii and Batman: Arkham City as well as the new Nintendo Network which will connect users of both the new Wii U and the portable 3DS console. Nintendo will be sharing its exciting presentation via Facebook in an All-Access live video stream.
Both Microsoft and Sony will also be in attendance but it’s understood that neither will be unveiling any new hardware in the form of an Xbox 720 or Playstation 4.
Instead Microsoft promises to detail the future expansion of its Xbox LIVE entertainment service which will look to go “beyond the box” and spread to our smartphones, tablets and smart TVs in 2013. The will also be some emphasis on the Kinect motion sensor and its future involvement in both the gaming and multimedia areas of the Xbox experience.
Sony impressed us last year with the debut of its PS Vita portable and this year the company looks to build more on this popular platform, speaking of future apps and multimedia content and maybe address the rumours of potential cross-platform gaming between the handheld Vita and the PS3 home console. Some also speculate that a design concept for the PS4 will be shown off at E3, despite the console being far from consumer ready and expected later in 2013.
The developers and publishers will also be out in force at the E3 and we’re looking forward to seeing more footage from a number of top titles getting refreshed this year. Top titles expected to be demoed on the show floor include HALO 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, WWE ’13 as well as the Tomb Raider and Doom reboots.
