The third parties won E3’12

With all the kerfuffle over which of the big three won E3 this year the reality is that whilst Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all showcased new wares and services, the third party game support has blown through the roof. What’s more, the reaction to those games has been positively glowing.

Microsoft did show off some Halo 4 campaign gameplay at last which was nice, but ended their conference with Black Ops 2 which is coming from Activision and heading to all formats. They also demonstrated Tomb Raider from Square, Splinter Cell Blacklist from Ubisoft and Resident Evil 6 from Capcom. The other games were either trailers or not giving too much away – Gears of War Judgment, Matter and Lococycle being stand out titles.

Sony’s conference faired much better in terms of showing off first party games with new IP Beyond looking great and The Last of Us showing what can be achieved with current consoles. The Playstation All Stars was demoed as was the new God of War game, and let’s not forget the Wonderbook. But Sony also demonstrated Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed III’s naval battles, Far Cry III.

Nintendo were all about the Wii U and 3DS and did show off some fresh experiences with Paper Mario, Super Mario Bros etc. but relied also on Ubisoft’s ZombiU and Warner Bros. Batman Arkham City to entice core audiences.

What was perhaps the most surprising was Ubisoft’s presentation which highlighted that third party support for both consoles is very high and offering a wide range of gaming experiences. Ubisoft has some key franchises under its wing and had no shame showing them off even during each of the big three press conferences. With Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed 3, Splinter Cell Blacklist, and newly revealed Watch Dogs, there really are a slew of cool games coming to owners of either console, so no need to miss out – and this sentiment is share via the others such as Capcom,Konami, Bethesda, 2K Games, THQ, Square, Activision and SEGA etc.

  • Tomb Raider
  • Hitman Absolution
  • Sleeping Dogs
  • Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
  • Far Cry 3
  • Crysis 3
  • Black Ops 2
  • Medal Of Honor Warfighter
  • Watch Dogs
  • Assassin’s Creed III
  • Splinter Cell Blacklist
  • Resident Evil 6
  • Lost Planet 3
  • Dishonored
  • Colonial Marines
  • Borderlands 2
  • Dead Space 3
  • Spec Ops: The Line
  • XCOM – Enemy Unknown

to name but a few…

 

Written by: Rob Cram

Rob Cram has hundreds of video game reviews, thousands of articles under his belt with years of experience in gaming and tech. He aims to remain fair and free from publisher/developer influence. With his extensive knowledge, feels his gaming opinions are valid and worth sharing. Agreement with his views are entirely optional. He might have a bias towards cyberpunk.