E3 2009 Thread

The EA conference was brought forward by two hours (either that or IGN just fucked up) so it finished some time ago. Here's IGN's summary of it:
E3 2009: EA Live Blog
Check here for all the updates from Electronic Arts' press conference.
by IGN Staff

US, June 1, 2009 - (3:15:58 PM): The show is ending now. Big applause and that's a wrap for the EA Press Conference for E3 2009.

(3:13:52 PM): Very cool looking acrobatic lightsaber fight. Sith leader battling the Jedi leader who skillfully dodges a lightsaber throw in slow motion. The Jedi loses the fight and falls to the Sith leader. Sith's voice "Your republic shall fall." Trailer ends.

(3:13:00 PM): Working with the Sith. Ship crashes through the front of the building the sith just broke into. Shows dozens and dozens of Sith battling against Jedi.

(3:12:09 PM): Shows a ship heading to Coruscant. Sith walking up and quickly killing three guards. Boba Fett-style female shown.

(3:11:17 PM): They're bringing story elements to the MMO genre. They're now revealing the first cinematic trailer for the Old Republic.

(3:09:53 PM): First ever, fully voiced MMO. Every character in the world will have its own voice. Gameplay will differ depending on the type of player you choose.

(3:08:53 PM): Ray from Bioware is one of the Jedi, Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts is the other. Star Wars: The Old Republic logo is on the screen. Set thousands of years before Darth Vader.

(3:07:52 PM): Jedi Knights and Sith Lords are now walking on stage. Group of about 25 of them. Raising their lightsabers to salute two Jedis walking down the center aisle in the middle of the audience.

(3:07:05 PM): Usual open world gameplay. Shows cops chasing a huge gang of thugs. Lots of players shown gathering in the downtown of the city. Video ends. Star Wars music is playing now. Black screen.

(3:06:09 PM): Looks a lot like Saints Row 2 in terms of visuals.

(3:05:04 PM): 100 players participate at one time with the goal of gaining fame and fortune in that city. Every detail is cuatomizable in APB so no player is the same. Showing a video of APB.

(3:04:19 PM): Announcing a new partnership with GTA Creator Dave Jones for APB. APB will introduce an online city with thousands of citizens going about life.

(3:03:34 PM): Showed a few screenshots of the game. One looking up with sunlight streaking through branches. One of a wrecked wooden ship in sea at night.

(3:02:34 PM): Announced they're working on Crysis 2. Bringing the franchise simultaneuously on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Using CryEngine 3 for all versions of Crysis 2.

(3:00:27 PM): Showing a video called Brutal Thoughts with Jack Black. Showing footage from the game. Blowing stuff up with guitars, driving crazy cars. Coming in October. Otherwise known as Rocktober. Crytek President and CEO Cevat Yerli is taking the stage.

(3:00:00 PM): 2600 lines of dialogue for Jack Black.

(2:58:23 PM): Ozzy Osbourne is in Brutal Legend! Lita Ford, Benny Killmeister in the game.

(2:52:01 PM): The hero dawns a Nazi uniform, plants an explosive in a base. Bomb explodes. Not very impressed with the graphics at this point. Hero hops in a car and is now trying to evade pursuers. The hero runs into a store in the red light district called SexeSale. Walks out and zips up his fly.

(2:51:07 PM): You can run, climb, drive anywhere. Even climbing the Eiffel Tower is possible. Can wear Nazi disguises.

(2:50:36 PM): Cool looking color palette. Stylized black and white world with notes of color at points of interest. Sandbox style gameplay.

(2:49:45 PM): Shows him scaling a building, killing a guard, grabbing a sniper rifle and taking out a Nazi leader as enemy soldiers make their way towards him. Now they're going to start a live demo of The Saboteur.

(2:48:31 PM): Showing a trailer of the game. Showing a WWII bar with Nazi soldiers hanging out, groping women. Hero gets a note and walks out, camera pans up to reveal that they're in Paris.

(2:47:31 PM): Sampras says the game is much easier than real Wimbledon. Shocker. Pete winds up losing to the EA Sports developer, but just barely. Now The Saboteur is taking the stage.

(2:46:27 PM): EA Sports developer is now going to teach Pete how to play. Pete's actually pretty damn good.

(2:45:36 PM): Big smile on his face. Peter Moore still hasn't acknowledged him.

(2:44:36 PM): John McEnroe playing against Pete Sampras. Peter Moore is playing as Pete. Peter Moore is getting whooped. Pete Sampras just took the stage. Standing right behind Peter Moore.

(2:43:47 PM): EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis taking the stage.

(2:42:40 PM): 600,000 units of EA Sports Active sold thus far. Announcing the first expansion pack. It's in development and will be in stores this fall. 30 new exercises and activities. Water skiing, squash, more core exercises.

(2:42:05 PM): EA Sports Active is apparently God's gift to fitness according to the two talking on-stage.

(2:41:21 PM): Peter Moore is back talking about EA Sports Active. Allison Swede (sp?) just took the stage. Talking about how she got rid of baby fat with EA Sports Active in her bedroom.

(2:40:02 PM): Madden Online Franchise announced. Showed a trailer with the famous "If it's in the game, it's in the game" speaking in the background.

(2:32:31 PM): Peter Moore is announcing EA Sports MMA. Coming in 2010. Well under development at EA Tiburon in Orlando. Peter Moore just made a joke about getting another tattoo.

(2:32:17 PM): Fight Night Round 4 is now launching on the 25th rather than the 30th.

(2:31:33 PM): They're using FNR4's new replay mode to show off the cool muscle flexing and sweat and blood spray.

(2:30:50 PM) : Tyson just went down in the first round.

(2:29:40 PM): They're going to play with Tyson against Ali on-stage.

(2:28:36 PM): Starting with Fight Night Round 4. "One of the most anticipated games of the year," so says Moore.

(2:27:58 PM): Here comes Peter Moore.

(2:26:38 PM): Showing action scenes, new weaponry. Big sniper rifle and huge, A-bomb style rocket launcher. Produces a huge mushroom cloud on impact. Now it's EA Sports' turn to take the stage.

(2:25:44 PM): Shepherd's voice is heard saying he's gathering people for an "impossible mission." Shepherd is believed to be dead by some. Based on the footage, he's anything but.

(2:25:11 PM): Xbox 360 and PC getting the game early next year. Showing a trailer of ME2. Normandy shown coming out of hyper drive.

(2:23:56 PM): Now Ray and Greg are back to show Mass Effect 2.

(2:23:15 PM): Rock track running behind lost of violence on screen. Definitely going to be a sex scene in Dragon Age. And lots and lots of blood. No real gameplay was shown but it could have been using in-game assets. Launching October 20. Now Ray and Greg are back to show Mass Effect 2.

(2:21:31 PM): Darkest and most mature game ever released by Bioware. Showing a trailer of Dragon Age Origins.

(2:20:38 PM): I all of a sudden want to swing by EA's booth. Dragon Age Origins taking the stage. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk take the stage. "Going to reinvent the fantasy genre." Showing the game for the first time on consoles here at E3.

(2:19:56 PM): He just slammed head-on into a wall at 240 KMH. Holy crap, they're giving away a BMW at EA's booth.

(2:18:46 PM): Now they're showing a live gameplay demo of NFS: Shift. Racing through Downtown London. Using the cockpit view is pretty awesome. Gives a good sense of speed and collisions.

(2:17:34 PM): More points for mastering corners. You level up your profile. Points are also given for being aggressive, htiting other drivers. You'll also develop rivals over time. Leveling system will extend to at least level 50 where you'll earn the title "Dominator."

(2:16:59 PM): Profiles earn points for Clean Passes and Overtakes. The video is frozen. They had to restart it. Owned.

(2:15:29 PM): Now Need For Speed Shift is going to be shown by Patrick Soderlund. This is the first game to launch with the new Need For Speed development strategy. Two-year development cycle. Multiple studios working on each title. Cockpit view will apparently redefine the way you play racing games. Unveiling the new driver profile in NFS: Shift.

(2:15:00 PM): The crowd is mocking a trailer for Charm Girls Club.

(2:13:39 PM): My Fashion Mall, My Fashion Show, My Perfect Prom - all for DS - and one additional one for the Wii. Showing a mini-game where the girls shake the Wii Remote to brush their hair. The person with the highest hair wins.

(2:12:43 PM): It will have some sort of subscription service. But it said "subscription is optional." Jason O'Campo just "wooed" at the end of the trailer. Four young ladies just took the stage with Dyan Williams to show off Charm Girls Club. is is the first time I've felt totally out of place at a videogame event. Four Charm Girls Club coming.

(2:11:34 PM): Now they're showing a trailer of Littlest Pet Shop online. Saying it's, "every girl's dream come true."

(2:10:16 PM): 2 million girls are playing Littlest Pet Shop. Country City and Beach versions of Littlest Pet Shop coming to Wii and DS. Littlest Pet Shop Online is also coming this fall. Create and customize your own pets, take them on adventures, and play dozens of mini-games.

(2:09:38 PM): Chip Lang is now on the stage. With two creatures on-screen behind him that are entirely too cute for their own good. Talking about Littlest Pet Shop.

(2:09:00 PM): Riccitiello is now talking about how awesome the Wii is.

(2:08:03 PM): It looks like... The Sims. EA is going to show 12 games from 12 game creators.

(2:07:17 PM): The Sims 3 is being released at midnight tonight in several countries. Now we're watching a trailer of The Sims 3.

(2:06:45 PM): John Riccitiello, the CEO of EA just took the stage.

(2:06:13 PM): Now he's fighting dozens of undead soldiers using magic and powerful melee attacks. No gameplay was shown in the trailer. It was all pre-rendered CG.

(2:05:40 PM): Dante is battling a massive woman to get to Beatrice.

(2:04:52 PM): It shows an apocalyptic setting. Fire and ash is swirling in the air with a royal looking cruisader atop some sort of beast. It's Dante's Inferno.

(2:04:28 PM): The beginning of a demo from Visceral Games is being shown.

(2:04:08 PM): The lights are darkening and the music just got a little louder. Now it's totally dark.

(2:02:38 PM): The same reel of EA properties keeps running with club music playing in the background.

(2:01:00 PM): The conference is one minute behind schedule.

(1:58:52 PM): The same booming voice is now reminding us to turn off our cell phones. I'm not turning mine off because I'm a rebel like that.

(1:56:45 PM): The press conference is scheduled to start in under five minutes.

(1:55:44 PM): A loud voice booms over the speakers system saying, "Locate emergency exits, aisles must remain clear, smoking is not prohibited." I feel like I'm on an airplane.

(1:53:54 PM): I'm wondering what celebrities EA will pull out since Microsoft already stole Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for Rock Band Beatles at their conference.

(1:43:04 PM): Remember you can watch the EA press conference live on streaming video at our E3 hub page.

(1:42:04 PM): Seated at the Orpheum Theater in downtown LA. Giant screen in front of the audience is running through all sorts of EA characters and franchises. Not a whole lot of EA garb around. Pales in comparison to what was seen at Microsoft's conference.

(1:22:13 PM): The EA press conference begins in just over half an hour. Intrepid IGN editors Nate Ahearn (at the show), Jason Ocampo (on the scene) and Ryan Geddes (behind the scenes) will be bringing you all the latest. We can has maddenz? If you're hungering for some liveblog action in the meantime, check out our Microsoft Press Conference liveblog from earlier today.

I missed the start of Ubisoft but from what I saw, and what I'm hearing from others, it was just people talking about movies and concepts and shit, including an enormous dull monologue by James Cameron about his upcoming movie, Avatar. The new Splinter Cell looks good but it's taken auto-aiming to a new level. You highlight enemies from cover, a little tag appears over their head, and then you press another button to automatically headshot them all.

They then moved onto shitloads of casual crap. The less said about that, the better. They more or less made up for that by announcing No More Heroes 2. Sadly I was making beans on toast at the time, so I missed all of it but the very end. They ended by announcing Assassin's Creed 2 but all they showed was a cinematic.