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This year, Microsoft dedicated a fair portion of its E3 conference to actual game coverage, including a number of new game announcements. Here are the games that premiered at the Microsoft presentation: Splinter Cell: Blacklist Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell franchise will receive a new entry in 2013, titled Splinter Cell: Blacklist. It stars Sam Fisher, complete with a new voice actor, who will be taking out a terrorist organization called Blacklist. Along with the single-player campaign, the game will feature both cooperative and competitive “Spies vs. Mercs” gameplay. Kinect voice recognition was also featured in the presentation, allowing the player to command troops and distract enemies, presumably with colorful anecdotes about their mothers. Gears of War: Judgment Although previously leaked, Gears of War: Judgment officially premiered at Microsoft’s conference. It’s a prequel starring Damon Baird that will be created by Bullestorm developer People Can Fly. The game will be an Xbox 360 exclusive and is scheduled to release in 2013. Nike+ Kinect Training Nike is teaming up with Microsoft to create Kinect-powered fitness software titled Nike+ Kinect Training. The focus of the software is on athletics training rather than on general fitness, so it may appeal to more hardcore fitness fans than the more casual titles currently on the market. 
Developed by Signal Studios of Toy Soldiers fame, Ascend: New Gods is a fantasy-themed game that looks to feature some rather colossal creatures. The exact nature of the gameplay is currently unclear, so we’ll be waiting on coverage during the show proper to report more about the game. LocoCycle Of all the various game protagonists in history, we’re fairly sure that this is the first game starring a motorcycle assassin. Not an assassin on a motorcycle; the motorcycle is the assassin. Developer Twisted Pixel is known for its unusual ideas, so this one should be an interesting ride. Matter Apparently Gore Verbinski is getting into video games, as he’s credited as the mind behind Matter, a Kinect game starring a robotic eye. The eye appears to be navigating an endlessly shifting metal maze. There is of yet no announcement of whether this will be a Live Arcade or retail title, or of which studio is actually developing the game. Wreckateer This game appears to be Kinect’s answer to Boom Blox, or perhaps Angry Birds. It features a set of goofy cockney knights instructing the player to toss cannonballs into goblin-infested medieval castles. Wreckateer will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade this summer. By Becky Cunningham |