The show doesn't really get going until Monday's suite of conferences, but that doesn't mean companies don't get a bit overeager and release things before then. Here's a roundup of the early news.THE PLAYSTATION BLITZ
It's been a busy week for Sony. The company finally brought its Store online and made its Welcome Back package of free content available on Friday. (Though not without some server hiccups.) Along with it came Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls, a revival of the old-school dungeon-crawling classic, and Under Siege, a real-time strategy game, among others.
They also took the opportunity to announce some interesting PSN projects coming down the line. Among the offerings are Payday: The Heist, which lets you act out Ocean's Eleven-style robberies, and Papo & Yo, an indie title that is sure to be a favorite of beleaguered veterans looking for something new and fresh.
Most prominently, the first crop of games for Sony's new handheld, still codenamed NGP, were revealed in a series of videos and posts. The lineup, which includes racing games, minigame collections and billiards for some reason, is anchored by Uncharted: Golden Abyss.
Speaking of Uncharted, more information was revealed about big brother Uncharted 3's co-op campaign. Three players can join together to take on a special story. (Check out this video for more.) We're getting a closer look at this later in the show, and we'll have a full report next week.
KONAMI DOING WHAT KONAMI DOES
Of all the publisher events during E3, Konami has always been a bit offbeat. This year, instead of a live conference, they opted for a pre-recorded, heavily-edited video with green-screen moments and an appearance by comedy team Mega64. The full video is here, but here are the highlights:
- New high-definition collections of the Metal Gear Solid, Zone of the Enders and Silent Hill series are in development. The Metal Gear collection releases first later this year, and will include the second and third games in the series, as well as PSP title Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. All collections will release for Xbox 360 and PS3, though the PS3 version includes a transfer system called Transfarring, allowing Peace Walker players to share one save file between portable and home versions.
- Also showed off were NeverDead (a zombie game), Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, Silent Hill: Downpour, Metal Gear Solid 3D (a 3DS port of the third game) and others.
- While there were no new announcements on highly-anticipated Metal Gear Solid 5 and Metal Gear Rising, producer Hideo Kojima indicated that the games are still in development.
SOME OTHER THINGS
- We saw some big reveal trailers surface, like SSX, Soul Calibur V, XCOM, Prey 2 and Tomb Raider.
- Call of Duty Elite, a premium subscription service that gives players access to advanced stats and includes downloadable content, was announced. There's some confusion about everything, but Activision has stated that this doesn't affect the base product, and the standard offering still includes free multiplayer play.
- Nintendo unveiled the launch lineup of the 3DS eShop, the system's online storefront that launches tomorrow. Everyone can download a 3D version of the NES classic Excitebike, as well as a free 3D Pokedex for fans to look up statistics and information on the little creatures. While almost all DSiWare games are available to purchase, only three Game Boy titles are added to the mix: Super Mario Land, Alleyway and Radar Mission.
