E3 2011: Electronic Arts Press Conference Roundup

Electronic Arts’ E3 press conference opens with a dramatic trailer for the hugely-anticipated Mass Effect 3. After tantalising footage of a stricken Earth in the series’ recognisable palette of blues, greys and hot oranges, the trailer fades out to uproarious applause. This conference is called “GameChangers”, and if this entrance is anything to go by, we should be in for quite a show.

As the audience recover from that first trailer, Mass Effect 3’s director Casey Hudson assumes the stage and gives the audience a brief re-cap of the events of the previous games. He explains how the series was always meant to be a trilogy, and that the third game in the series will draw on all the decisions that the player has made in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

Hudson announces the release date as March 6th 2012, and waits for the audience to recover.

We are then treated to some gameplay footage. The most noticeable thing about the stunning footage is the scale of the battles in comparison to previous iterations of the game. We see Shepard (the default male version, chiseled as ever) use a gatling gun on an enormous mechanical beast (possibly a Geth), and a battlefield that looks more dynamic than ever before.

Earth has been taken by the Reapers, and it’s up to Shepard to save it. Interestingly, it looks like London will make an appearence as a longer trailer, “The Fall of Earth” follows, featuring a British voice-over. It’s rather exciting to finally see Earth feature in the Mass Effect universe as it has been mentioned so much throughout the series.

The vast screens fade to black and John Ricotello, CEO of EA, takes to the stage, explaining that the presentation will not feature “random celebrity appearences” (not entirely true, but the Mass Effect 3 footage was so exciting that we’ll let him off the hook) and that they have nine games to show us during this conference. He also introduces Origin.com, a source for media, footage and trailers by EA and their partners. GodisaGeek have already had a look, and we can confirm that the Mass Effect video on the front page is well worth a watch.

Next up, it’s Need for Speed: The Run. This section opens (rather ambitiously) with a live gameplay demonstration that shows off the gorgeous rain-soaked neon visuals that we’ve come to expect from the Need for Speed series. Along with the racing, there appear to be several instances in which the player controls the character on foot. There are definitely some “press X to not die here” quicktime events, but these look hair-raising and well-executed, with one in particular that’s genuinely exciting to watch.

Developed by Black Box, Need for Speed: The Run looks like an action-packed title, with all the explosive car-stealing, rubber-burning action you’d hope for. The UK release date for this game is apparently November 18th, 2011.

As soon as the screen fades out, the most familiar movie theme in the world fills the auditorium and everyone cheers. Yes, it’s time for Greg Zeschuk from Bioware to announce details of their long-awaited MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Aware that he is speaking to perhaps the largest collection of nerds in the Western hemisphere, Zeschuk speaks for a good minute about Star Wars’ monumental legacy, and the sheer scale of the project in relation to anything else Bioware has attempted. “Play it, get lost in it, live it”, he says, before standing aside to let a gorgeous-looking trailer take centre stage.

Almost as soon as one trailer ends, another one begins. Unlike Star Wars, there’s no recognisable fanfare, so the audience have a few moments of uncertainty before the snowboards arrive and give the game (no pun intended) away. It’s SSX!

Although the trailer doesn’t look like it’s in-engine, there’s still plenty here to be excited about. Peter Moore arrives to tell us that the game has utilised NASA’s satellite imaging technology to scan real-life environments. This means that the game will allow players to snowboard on “every major mountain range on the planet”. Further to this, he explains that there are three distinct ways to play SSX, “race it, trick it and survive it”. We assume these do what they say on the tin, so watch this space.

Next up is another of EA’s big guns. It is here that John Ricotello’s promise about the lack of celebrities seems to fall by the wayside, as a rather lengthy trailer runs, featuring  shy and retiring rapper Lil’ Wayne talking about how FIFA (yes, FIFA 12, everyone!) allows him to live out his “passion for soccer”. After the trailer, Matt Bilbey arrives to talk about FIFA 12’s new features.

Rappers aside, there are some really exciting things on the horizon for FIFA 12. Bilbey shows us how the game’s challenges mirror real-world events, and that you can choose a club and “avenge” real-world defeats. Doing so adds to your progress and reputation, as well as giving you the chance to live out your footballing fantasies. The game also features improved dribbling, especially at close quarters with other players, showing steady progression from previous iterations.

Next up, we cross the football pond for Madden 12. The presentation features American footballers Ray Lewis, Payton Hillis and Clay Matthews, and suggests the game will have an emotional edge. The trailer is rather more dramatic that you might expect for a sports title.

After this rather intense video, the tone changes dramatically, and it’s time for a Facebook game, The Sims: Social. This game is described almost entirely by the trailer, which seems to suggest that Facebook users will control their own Sim and interact with the Sims of other players. The trailer features a slightly odd scenario whereby a woman lives out her romantic liasons through her Sim. Still, it doesn’t seem any sillier than most of the other activities you can perform on Facebook, and it’s still likely to be a huge success.

Next up, it’s a couple of new IPs, the first of which is introduced by excitable 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling. It’s Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a single-player RPG designed by The Elder Scrolls’ Ken Rolston and written by fantasy author R.A. Salvatore. Players will be able to “change the fate of every living creature, including the world itself”. With such an interesting creative team behing it, Reckoning is looking extremely promising.

The other new title is Overstrike, and comes from Insomniac games, creators of Ratchet and Clank. The trailer is presented by Ted Price (President and CEO of Insomniac), and focuses on character and story rather than gameplay. The game has a distinctive visual look. Whilst the characters look slightly more realistic than in previous insomniac titles, they have slightly stylised, almost cartoonish facial features. The short segment of script we’re treated to is light and witty, so it will be interesting to see how this multi-platforn title develops.

Saving its big guns (quite literally) for last, EA wrap things up with an astonishing Battlefield 3 gameplay demo, allowing the footage to speak for itself. The video introduces the multiplayer tool “Battle Log”, which enables players to manage their friends lists, squad up and check stats. Interestingly, they make a point of stressing that the Battlefield 3 multiplayer is “100% free”, a statement that elicits almighty cheers.

That’s it for EA’s big E3 press conference. Nine games, some old friends and some new faces, all presented with the kind of slick professionalism we’ve come to expect from the great video game behemouth. Watch this space!