The press discs are empty, the t-shirts are on eBay and our fingers are beginning to heal; E3 2009 is definitely over.
Just before last week's events we trawled through the blogs and twitters of the gaming world to bring you 8 Big E3 Rumours.
So now that the Los Angeles Convention Centre has been cleared for the Boat Show or whatever it's making a home for next, we thought we'd revisit the big rumours to see what came out right and what was wide of the mark.
Rumour: Kojima's new game We said: "Old Hideo's been busy teasing his next game on the internet this month, and there's a lot of talk that it could (finally) turn out to be an updated version of Metal Gear Solid 4 for Xbox 360. Kojima's not heading just one game at the moment though, and increased speculation has spiralled from his discussions over working with a Western developer. Could we see two games from the MGS man in the next year?"
Did it happen? Yes and no. Predicating a new game from Kojima at the show wasn't a risky bet considering he was plastering teaser sites with big Es and 3s all over the internet. We didn't get MGS4 360 (again) but we did see the reveal of Metal Gear Solid: Rising for all platforms, MGS: Peace Walker for PSP and the heavily rumoured Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Verdict: Score!
Lords of Shadow
Official trailer
1:50
Lords of Shadow
Official trailer
1:50
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Rumour: XBLA Retro Explosion We said: "Xbox Live Arcade's 2009 line-up is already off to a brilliant start with Monkey Island and Wolfenstein both having leaked onto the net. But we've heard that even more retro goodness is due to grace the service, with internet reports claiming that the original Perfect Dark - and perhaps even more Rare classics - are on the way. We're holding out for Killer Instinct like the rest of you. Until then keep your eyes on Microsoft's press conference for anything to do with this."
Did it happen? It was more of a fizz than an explosion. Perfect Dark XBLA was confirmed but even that was saved for an underwhelming announcement on Major Nelson's Twitter. We've got a feeling that there's still plenty more retro goodness hitting XBLA in 2009 that's still under wraps... we're just going to have to wait a bit longer until we hear about it.
Verdict: Yes but there's more to come.
Xbox Live Arcade
Official trailer
1:35E3 2009 video
Xbox Live Arcade
Official trailer
1:35E3 2009 video
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Rumour: Crackdown 2 We said: "Speculation's been mounting that Microsoft could be plotting a follow-up to its rooftop-hopping cop game Crackdown. The chatter began when many of Crackdown's original developers left to form Microsoft-linked studio Ruffian games, and MS only fuelled speculation further with the release of a Premium NXE Crackdown theme this month. A new dashboard theme for a two year old game? Why on earth would they do that? Unless..."
Did it happen? In a word; yes. A teaser trailer for the yet-to-be-dated Crackdown sequel was showcased during Microsoft's E3 press conference, with Ruffian Games at the helm. Well done internet, you've done yourself proud.
Verdict: Bang on the money.
Crackdown 2
Official trailer
1:18Better than Night Cops?
Crackdown 2
Official trailer
1:18Better than Night Cops?
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Rumour: PSP Go! We said: "The impending PSP redesign is perhaps the worst kept hardware secret yet. Reports citing the revision have been cropping up all year, but the most recent claims that 'PSP Go!' will be unveiled at E3 with 16GB of built-in flash memory, a new sliding screen and the removal of the UMD drive entirely. This sounds on the money to us, keep your eyes on Sony's E3 press conference."
Did it happen? SCE boss Kaz Hirai also called it "the worst kept secret of E3". PSP Go leaked onto the net days before Sony's press conference, where the platform-holder confirmed the redesigned handheld will be released in North America and Europe on October 1 for $249 and 249 Euros. Watch OPM play with PSP Go in these videos (or see the first below).
Verdict: So right it hurts.
PSP Go Hands-On
Original production
1:18OPM shows off Sony's newborn
PSP Go Hands-On
Original production
1:18OPM shows off Sony's newborn
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Rumour: Nintendo's big guns We said: "Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has gone on record in an interview with Forbes that the company's disappointing E3 2008 showing may have been "misunderstood" by hardcore gamers. This is a sure suggestion that we might see more swords and guns, and less drum kits and balance boards from Nintendo's 2009 showing. Both Mario and Zelda teams have been busily working for over two years - will we see new instalments? (PLEASE GOD YES)"
Did it happen? New franchise games from Nintendo are as guaranteed as the fat kids loitering around their E3 booth. It's hardly a tricky bet, although one killer Nintendo franchise we didn't expect went under the spotlight; Metroid Other M from Team Ninja. Zelda too made an appearance via this piece of concept art. We'll pretend the Vitality Sensor never happened.
Verdict: Woohoooooooo!
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Official trailer
1:32E3 2009 reveal
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Official trailer
1:32E3 2009 reveal
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Rumour: PC - Same old faces We said: The familiar PC heroes are set to fly the mouse and keyboard flag next month, with Blizzard likely to announce a final release date for StarCraft II (and perhaps Diablo). Meanwhile Valve will no doubt wow with well overdue Half-Life: Episode 3 and whatever else it's been working on, and Crysis developer Crytek is also due a game reveal. Crysis 2?
Did it happen? Crysis 2; check. StarCraft/Diablo release dates; no. Valve's new game; check. Half-Life 2: Episode Three; no check.
Verdict: Two out of four isn't bad.
Left 4 Dead 2
Official trailer
1:16E3 trailer right here, right now
Left 4 Dead 2
Official trailer
1:16E3 trailer right here, right now
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PS3 Slim We said: "Sony's second hardware vision is this suspicious-looking 'slim' PlayStation 3 that supposedly leaked from a hardware factory in Asia. They look dodgy but a barrage of mysterious cease and desist orders that've since been mailed out to websites hosting the pictures suggest there's more to this story. After all, you don't send legal warnings over fake photographs, do you?"
Did it happen? Well... no. Despite turning out to be a complete no show at Sony's E3 press conference, the PS3 Slim is still looking very real indeed. We reckon Sony's likely looking to clear out its remaining stock of fat PlayStations over the summer, before dropping the PS3's skimpier sister later in the year. After all, announcing an updated piece of hardware last week would hardly have done current PS3 sales any favours.
Verdict: Down, but not out.
Rumour: Xbox Motion We said: "The Xbox 360 'Wii Remote' is the rumour that just won't die. Last year industry chatter suggested that Microsoft was set to unveil its own motion-sensing aspirations at E3 - but it didn't happen. This year looks far more likely though, with even the Wall Street Journal reporting that the platform holder will show a motion-sensing camera in Los Angeles. It's going to be an interesting Xbox press conference."
Did it happen? The general rule is if it's a 'leak' on the internet that's supposedly come out of Microsoft, then it's definitely real. The Xbox 360 motion cam, or 'Project Natal' as we can now call it, is no exception. See the ambitious bit of kit in action here.
Verdict: Smile - you're on camera!
Xbox 360: 'Project Natal'
Official trailer
1:35Xbox's motion control
Xbox 360: 'Project Natal'
Official trailer
1:35Xbox's motion control
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If you bothered reading the whole article you'd find that there are numerous references to Nintendo games and Sony kit. True, not much mention of Sony's PS3 games but all three contenders seem to have gotten a decent sized slice of the proverbial pie here.
There was rumor of Thief 4 making an apperance but in all the videos and news i didn't notice it. Does any one know if it was revealed or just another vaporware rumor?
Isn't it more worrying that almost all the prediction came up true? Is the games industry becoming predictable? I hope not, bring on next year I say. With any luck there will be fewer leaks and, therefore, more surprises, right? Right?
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