As you all know, the E3 has been in LA this year, presenting some hot titles. Some examples are Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Assassins Creed 2,
Left 4 Dead 2, Uncharted 2 Among Thieves, Splinter Cell Conviction and so on and so on, but was the E3 a success? Microsoft blew the sh*t of out us with their project Natal, an all new form of gaming. Compared to Nintendo and Sony, Microsoft did have the best stand of the E3. Nintendo's problem this E3 was that they made too many sequels for this E3. Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and their strange vitality metre, which can read how stressful you are... But what does that have to do with gaming? Sony was a bit pushed aside with the fantastic line- up from Microsoft, but the battle between these giants rages on, so I think that Sony will punch hard next year, an Microsoft will have a lower line- up. We will see. Overall, this E3 was better then last year, but it hasn't restored it's full glory.
Retail group Game said half-year profits will be as much as 64% lower after figures last year were boosted by blockbuster releases.
In an update on first half trading, Game said like-for-like sales in the 21 weeks to Saturday were down by 15.8% in the UK.
It said this performance was in line with expectations after very strong sales in the comparative period a year ago, when sales were boosted by demand for games such as Mario Kart, Wii Fit and Grand Theft Auto IV.
The company expects profits for the half year of between £13 million and £16 million, compared with £36.4 million a year earlier.
However, it said it was looking forward to a "very encouraging" line-up of software releases in the second half, including Wii Fit Plus, DJ Hero and annual sequels to best-sellers such as Pro Evolution Soccer.
The company said it planned to open 50 to 60 additional stores before Christmas, mostly in its international business. It currently has 1,367 outlets, including 698 in the UK and Ireland.
While Game said it remained confident in the outlook for the year to January 31, shares fell more than 10% as analysts worried that Game had left itself with much to do over the second half of the year.
Singer Capital Markets said: "Against our full year assumptions for full-year profits of £121 million the performance in the second half is now looking quite stretched, and assumes a significant pick up in like-for-like trends and sales transfer from failed competition such as Woolies and Zavvi.
"There is now little room for disappointment," Singer added.
Established American development studio Raven Software will be behind two of this year’s most-talked about first person shooters.
The August-bound Wolfenstein will be the next edition in the popular series and is getting plenty of attention for its PC, XBOX 360 and PS3 release.
Towards the end of this year, Singularity will take players to the mysterious island known as Katorga-12, complete with time manipulation and scientific experiments.
Both games are being published by Activision, already with Modern Warfare 2 in its grasp, so expect more to come from both of these other first person shooters.
A few years back, Ubisoft wowed many with the debut of Assassin's Creed. A large, fully scalable world with the promise of dynamic assassination missions was too good to be true. And as it turned out, the first Assassin's Creed didn't live up to expectations. Two years later, Ubisoft Montreal has learned from its mistakes and is ready to provide a better and more complete experience.
