Roughly an hour after Microsoft wrapped up their keynote with that unexpected Halo announcement, EA walked onto their humble stage to present us the tricks they have hidden up their sleeves. Hello, my name is Saber, and this is me covering an E3 press conference for the first time ever - only on UFO Gamers.

 

I'll probably be more than a bit shit, but does it really matter? Seeing as most (if not all) of you will find a decent recording of the conference, my write-up will more-or-less serve as a guide on what to look for and what to avoid at all costs. Here it is then, behind the "Read more..." link, but beware - it's not quite spoiler-free.


EA opened their conference with a pre-rendered and very viral-looking new trailer for Mass Effect 3, showing news channels informing the people of Earth of an impending alien invasion. Once the video fades a visibly agitated Shepard into black, the game's executive producer Casey Hudson takes the stage to reveal the release date - March 6, 2012. After a brief monologue on the game's vast scale, Hudson asks one of Mass Effect 3's developers to demo a level from an unspecified point in the game where the goal is to destroy a Reaper base. The things I seem to have written down as relevant observations are the usage of an omni-tool 'dagger', a new feature previously unseen in the series, and the lack of Kinect hardware. Legion, Garrus and Liara are shown helping Shepard out through an on-rails turret segment that takes place while fighting a live Reaper. The ME3 set closes down with a new cinematic trailer - "The Fall of Earth" - and an announcement that the game will be made available on EA's Origin service.

 

John Riccitello, Electronic Arts CEO, walks onto the stage to greet the audience and introduce Need for Speed: The Run, which is then presented by EA Black Box executive producer Jason DeLong. DeLong tells us about the growing importance of Hot Pursuit's autolog feature in The Run and how every second of a gamer's playtime is instantly tracked in the autolog service for comparison with friends and similar social 'interactions'. DeLong also reveals that this installment in the series will also be the first to feature "high action moments on foot", something fans have desired ever since Need for Speed went open-world with Underground 2. He then proceeded to demo the game, which is running quite smoothly on the DICE's Frostbyte 2 engine. A portion of the 'on foot' part of the gameplay is shown and it seems to be centered around quick time events. Despite that, Need for Speed: The Run didn't get any less of an applause than Mass Effect 3.

Once DeLong left the stage, Bioware creative manager Dr Greg Zeschuk greeted the audience with a short monologue on Star Wars: The Old Republic, telling attendees how they've prepared various raids, boss battles and a couple of 'quests' on Tatooine to be tried out at their booths. His segment ends with a new cinematic trailer for The Old Republic and, unfortunately, no on-stage demo.

Once the SW:TOR trailer ended, the smoke machines kicked in and a trailer for EA Canada's SSX (previously known as SSX: Deadly Descents) was shown - its ending suggesting a January 2012 release. Peter Moore came on to talk about the game's open world and the developers' usage of NASA's globe scans to create the most accurate representation of every major mountain range. Moore also mentioned the game's three game types: "Race it", "Trick it" and "Survive it". No demo was shwon, but Moore noted that more information on the character's featured in the game can be found on the official Origin website as well as on the game's Facebook page.

 

Now followed the EA Sports segment, introducing FIFA 12 and Madden 12. FIFA 12 was presented by EA Sports vice president Matt Bilbey who introduced the game's newest features: tactical defending, improved positioning, improved ball control for more precise dribbling and an all-new player impact engine. This was topped off with a FIFA 12 trailer starring all kinds of celebrities ranging from Lil' Wayne to Wayne Rooney. Next up was a demo of the EA Sports Football Club - a live service which tracks all relevant statistics and introduces an element of the real world into FIFA 12. Matches played in real life now have an impact on your virtual team's career and give you a chance to either make it to the top or stick to the bottom of your league. It should be noted that the EA Sports Football Club has complete social networking support.

Madden 12 kicked it off with a trailer and an NFL-star riddled presentation which included Ray Lewis, Payton Hillis and Clay Matthews. Peter Moore introduced the game as being built "by fans, for fans" and told us about some of its new features, such as a more intelligent defense system.

Riccitello took center stage again to show us a trailer of The Sims Social - a Facebook version of the popular simulation game. It was actually quite sad to see two people hooking up by watching a virtual television instead of going to the movies.

Two more titles remained until the last reveal. First up was Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning as presented by 38 Studios founder Kurt Schilling. This single-player fantasy RPG promises fast and fluid combat and boasts a star-studded cast of developers including the Morrowind and Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and fantasy author R.A. Salvatore. Schilling wrapped it up with a very combat-oriented trailer which teased a 2012 release.

Insomniac CEO Ted Price came on to reveal that non-PS3-exclusive title they've been working. It's called Overstrike, it'll be available on both Xbox Live and PSN at an unannounced point in time and I don't think it impressed much. There was a single "wooot!" somewhere in the audience, but the rest probably still holds a grudge against them for 'leaving' Sony. Anyway, Overstrike is a game about four unconventional agents and their mission to take down a shadowy organisation using gadgets, gizmos and, of course, teamwork. A 'character profiles'-type trailer was shown which seems to have featured a Terminator at the end and then the shit hit the fan.

The last and most amazing presentation of all was, of course, Battlefield 3. The show began with a new trailer, after which DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson presented a video showcasing the Frostbyte 2 engine's abilities such as advanced lighting, improved environment-dependent audio, destruction physics and more. A short video of a multiplayer match taking place in the centre of Paris played before an equally short announcement of an open beta for the multiplayer component to be set up in September. A demo of the game set in the Teheran desert was presented and - you know what? - it looked absolutely STUNNING. The best thing I've seen at E3 so far. The demo required the player to clear out an enemy base in a tank and featured both tank and UAV gameplay. It was short, satisfying and the Frostbyte 2 engine made it look gorgeus. Battlefield 3 is happening on October 25, 2011.

And that wrapped up this year's E3 for Electronic Arts. What I didn't tell you, though, is how much they pushed Origin. After every game announcement or showcase, they urged attendees to "check out Origin for more information." I guess they're really going for it.