Trade Shows Previews

Our friends over at Astro showed us the new A50 wireless headsets that are coming out in a few weeks during E3. For those of you unaware, Astro is made up of many talented people who have created many amazing products. These products go back to the iPAQ from Compaq, all of the iconic Alienware desktops and laptops before Dell acquired them, the Xbox 360 controller, and even the micro console and controller from OnLive.

Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, and some consider the father of the JRPG, is on to his next project, The Last Story. My first thoughts of the game are based around the title. What exactly is Sakaguchi's fascination with titles that speak of the finality of his games? How could there be a Final Fantasy sequel when it was final? If there is another the Last Story, how can it be the last one?

CVGames, in a closed doors interview with Epic Games design director Cliff Blezsinski and People Can Fly founder Adrian Chmielarz, receive a peak into the new design decisions of Gears of War: Judgment.

Dishonored is a non-stop thrill ride and we had the chance to find out why in a live demo of the title shown behind closed doors during E3 2012. As the second part of the Bethesda presentation, Dishonored showed us stealth, assassinations, all out action, magical skills, and more over our time with the title. The best part is, unlike most other titles, this one will be in your hands this year!

As our journey through E3 2012 continued, we ended up at our appointment for Square-Enix. Although we enjoyed seeing Tomb Raider, I quickly made my way over to the Hitman Absolution live demo where we got a chance to take a closer look at Level 9 in the game. At this point in the story, Agent 47 has gone rogue and is looking for a lady named Victoria. We learn that a character named Lenny has info on Victoria and Agent 47 needs to get that information. Unfortunately, getting to Lenny isn't going to be as simple as dropping in to say hello.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2 brings Developer Treyarch back to the helm of one of the most successful, if not the most, franchise of all time. The title was used as a showcase piece for Microsoft to end its 2012 E3 Press Briefing and is one of the standout titles of this years show. We sat down for a more in-depth demo session at the Activision booth. They treated us in style with really comfy leather chairs that made me feel like I was playing at home. 

Skylanders was a game that nobody really saw becoming a success. Plastic toys you put on a cylinder base to make them come alive on your television screen? Adults didn't get it but the kids did. Some see the release of Skylanders as the start to a next generation toy market. Activision is hoping to continue the magic and with the release of Skylanders Giants. The villainous Chaos is back from the first Skylanders and he is desperate to still take over all of Skylands. Fortunately there are the Skylanders standing in his way to stop him.

After wowing attendees and those watching over Xbox Live and Spike TV, Resident Evil 6 wasn't done. No, the team had more tricks up its sleeves for their behind closed door showings of the upcoming Survival Horror title. Specifically, they were ready to show off the multiplayer cooperative play modes. 

During the course of the game, players will be playing one of three teams: Leon and Helena, Chris and Piers, or Jake and Sherry. At predetermined points during the story for each duo, you can interact with one of the other teams of two in order to take down a big boss. 

For multiple years, 2K Games has been busy showing us an entire reboot of the XCOM series as a First Person Shooter. Each year, we return and the concept and content have been reworked. This year, the long anticipated shooter has been indefinitely shelved as they continue to retool the troubled project and begin to look for a release possibly by 2014. In its place, 2K is teaming up with Firaxis Games to bring an updated strategy version of XCOM.