Giant Bomb @ E3 '12
Pre-E3
Day 00
- Bombcast featuring guests Michael Pachter, Jeff Green, Ben Gilbert, and Alexander Sliwinski.
- Giant Bomb at E3 2012: Day 00 Recap - The guys talk about Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and Sony.
- Best of Xbox Showcase - Jeff hits the MS event after the press conference for to play Gears of War Judgment, talk to Jeremiah Slaczka about Hybrid, drop by the Lang Zone for Wreckateer, randomly run into Tony Hawk to talk about Tony Hawk HD and Marble Madness, and ask John Drake about time travel and Usher's friendliness.
Day 01
- Bombcast featuring guests Jake Solomon, Garth DeAngelis, Mikey Neumann, John "Cowboy" Bellomy, Chris Tilton, Max Temkin, Will Smith, Norm Chan, and David Jaffe.
- Giant Bomb at E3 2012: Day 01 Recap - The guys discuss the Nintendo press conference, John Carmack, Star Wars 1313, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Forza Horizon, Assassin's Creed III, ZombiU, Rayman Legends, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist.
Day 02
- Bombcast featuring guests Geoff Keighley, Ed Boon, Rich Gallup, Rocco Botte, Eric Baudour, Dave Lang, Adam Boyes, John Vignocchi, Stephen Totilo, Chris Harvey, Graham Smith, Jake Kazdal, John Ricciardi, Justin Calvert, and Nathan Vella.
- Giant Bomb at E3 2012: Day 02 Recap
- Forza Horizon Demo - Jeff & Alex get a live demo of Forza Horizon at the Microsoft booth.
Day 03
Interviews
Press Conferences
Konami

Thursday, May 31st - 10:30 PM PDT / 1:30 AM EDT (June 1st) / 6:30 AM BST (June 1st)
- Tomoyuki Tsuboi (President of Konami Digital Entertainment America) introduced everyone (via hologram?) and highlighted the 25th anniversary of Metal Gear.
- John Coligan (Director of Social Publishing) talked about the new Konami studio in San Francisco that focuses on mobile and browser games. They have partnered with Zynga to publish new titles in the next few months.
- A video of Cristiano Ronaldo was shown promoting Pro Evolution Soccer 2013.
- Masuda Kei (Lead Developer, PES Productions) talked about the enhanced player individuality and full control over the ball as the two main focuses for the team on the latest version of the game. Their social networking app "My PES" has also been revamped for the new season.
- Hideo Kojima talked about inspiration for the Zone of the Enders franchise and the detail that's been added to the HD Collection.
- Kojima went on to discuss Metal Gear's 25th Anniversary, Snake's evolution through the series, and the games being accepted as art at the Smithsonian.
- A new trailer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was shown with a release date of "Early 2013."
- Yuji Korekado (Creative Producer, Kojima Studio) spoke about how players will finally be able to control Raiden in situations like the cutscenes that fans loved in the past.
- Atsushi Inaba (Producer, Platinum Games) talked about how they believe their studio is the best action game studio in the world and how they will do the franchise justice.
- Kenji Saito (Game Director, Platinum Games) and Etsu Tamari (Lead Writer, Kojima Studio) spoke about how important the control over directional slashing is in the game and how that and the speed of the game affect many of the encounters.
- A new Mega64 video was shown featuring Raiden going through the unemployment process after being away for four years.
- The debut trailer for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was shown.
- Tomoyuki Tsuboi thanked everyone for watching and promised more to come during E3.
Microsoft

Monday, June 4th - 9:30 AM PDT / 12:30 PM EDT / 5:30 PM BST
- The show began with a brand new trailer and first-ever gameplay footage for Halo 4.
- Don Mattrick welcomed everyone and spoke of how Xbox is expanding to other forms of entertainment.
- Ubisoft Toronto's Alex Parizeau and Maxime Beland introduced Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist with a trailer and gameplay.
- EA Sports' Andrew Wilson and NFL legend Joe Montana announced Kinect integration for Madden NFL 13 and FIFA 13.
- A new trailer for Fable: The Journey was shown.
- Phil Spencer (Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios) took the stage to introduce the debut trailers for Gears of War: Judgment and Forza Horizon.
- Yusuf Medhi (Head of Marketing and Strategy at Microsoft) came out to talk about Bing and multimedia on Xbox 360 including Nickelodeon, Paramount, Machinima, Univision, NBA, NHL, and Watch ESPN.
- Stefan Olander (VP of Digital Sport at Nike) introduced Nike+ Kinect Training.
- Marc Whitten (Head of Xbox Live) announced Xbox Smart Glass, an app for phones and tablets that compliments games and media on Xbox 360. He also announced Internet Explorer is coming to Xbox 360 in 2012.
- Daniel Bisson and Darrell Gallagher from Crystal Dynamics came on to show new gameplay from Tomb Raider.
- Phil Spencer returned to debut Ascend: New Gods, LocoCycle, and Matter.
- Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Executive Producer) and Eiichiro Sasaki (Game Director) from Capcom showed new gameplay from Resident Evil 6.
- Alex Ruiz from Xbox Live introduced Wreckateer for Xbox Live Arcade.
- A new trailer for South Park: The Stick of Truth was presented by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
- The debut trailer for Dance Central 3 including a live performance from Usher.
- Don Mattrick returned to the stage to recap the show and to introduce new gameplay footage from Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Once again, all DLC will come first to Xbox 360.
Electronic Arts

Monday, June 4th - 1:00 PM PDT / 4:00 PM EDT / 9:00 PM BST
Ubisoft

Monday, June 4th - 3:00 PM PDT / 6:00 PM EDT / 11:00 PM BST
- The show opened with a montage of dance sequences performed live on stage leading up to a live performance from Flo Rida.
- Aisha Tyler welcomed everyone to the show and spoke to Flo Rida about the popularity of Just Dance 4.
- Dan Hay (Producer) took the stage to debut a new trailer for Far Cry 3 followed by a live gameplay demonstration.
- Max Beland (Director) introduced a trailer called "Welcome to Fourth Echelon" for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist.
- Aisha Tyler returned to the stage to introduce a trailer for Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth.
- Michael Micholic (Senior Game Manager) came out to give a live demonstration of Rayman Legends on the Wii U.
- A trailer was shown ZombiU, which is a first-person shooter survival horror game for the Wii U.
- A montage of Wii U titles was shown including Rabbids Land, Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2013, Sports Connection, and Just Dance 4.
- Aisha Tyler then introduced a brand new trailer for Assassin's Creed III.
- Francois Pelland (Producer) took the stage to discuss the historical significance within the game and then gave a live demonstration of AC3's wilderness gameplay. He then presented a new trailer focusing on action within the cities of the game.
- ESLTV's Joe Miller and Miss Harvey came on stage to moderate a live demo of ShootMania.
- Aisha Tyler returned to speak of the importance of free-to-play and online games. She then introduced a trailer featuring Trials Evolution, The Settlers Online, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online.
- Yves Guillemot (CEO) came out to introduce a brand new game from Ubisoft Montreal called Watch Dogs.
- Jonathan Morin (Creative Director) took the stage to speak about the inspiration and background for Watch Dogs. He then picked up a controller for the first-ever live demonstration of the game.
- Aisha Tyler thanked everyone for coming to the show.
Sony

Monday, June 4th - 6:00 PM PDT / 9:00 PM EDT / 2:00 AM BST (June 5th)
- After a montage of many PlayStation titles, Jack Tretton (President/CEO of SCEA) welcomed everyone to the Super Bowl of the gaming industry.
- David Cage (Founder, Quantic Dream) took the stage to announce his next project, Beyond: Two Souls. A trailer, running in real-time, was shown to announce Ellen Page's portrayal of the main character in the game.
- Jack Tretton returned to speak about the "Michael" commercial from last year and introduced PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale with a brand new trailer.
- Chan Park (Superbot Entertainment) and Omar Kendall (Director) presented a live demonstration of PlayStation All-Stars as well as announce that the game will come to PlayStation Vita. A teaser was shown to announce that Nathan Drake and Big Daddy have been added to the roster.
- Jack Tretton spoke of the importance of Cross Play between PS3 and Vita. Cross-Controller DLC was announced for LittleBigPlanet 2.
- It was announced that PSone Classics, YouTube, Hulu, and Crackle will soon be coming to the PlayStation Vita.
- Jack Tretton announced Call of Duty: Black Ops - Declassified is coming to Vita in 2012.
- The debut trailer for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation was shown featuring an African-American, female protagonist. A "crystal white" Vita bundle with the game will be available at launch.
- Alex Hutchinson and Philippe Ducharme (Ubisoft Montreal) took the stage for a live demo of Assassin's Creed III's sea battles.
- A PS3 AC3 bundle will be available this holiday.
- Dan Hay (Producer) introduced a live demo of 4-player co-op for Far Cry 3 developed by Ubisoft Massive.
- Andrew House (President & Group CEO of SCEA) came out to discuss the importance of PlayStation Move and to announce Wonderbook, a physical book that uses augmented reality to enhance storytelling.
- Wonderbook: Book of Spells will be the first title released and is in partnership with J.K. Rowling and Pottermore. Dave Ranyard took the stage to present a live demonstration of the game.
- Todd Papy (SCE Santa Monica) took the stage to introduce a live demo of God of War: Ascension. The release date was announced as March 12, 2013.
- A live demonstration of The Last of Us was presented by Naughty Dog.
- Jack Tretton thanked everyone for coming to the show.
Nintendo

Tuesday, June 5th - 9:00 AM PDT / 12:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM BST
- The show opened with a video featuring Shigeru Miyamoto in his green room followed by an army of Pikmin.
- Miyamoto (Senior Managing Director) and Bill Trinen (Director of Product Marketing) took the stage to talk about the inception of the Wii U console.
- Miyamoto introduced everyone to Pikmin 3 for Wii U and spoke of its new features including Rock Pikmin, an overhead map on the Wii U GamePad, a challenge mode, and multiple captains/leaders.
- Reggie Fils-Aime (President & COO of Nintendo America) came out to talk about how Wii U revolutionizes your living room. Reggie said it would be impossible to explain it all today, so he would focus on the games here at E3.
- Reggie confirmed the Wii U will now support two separate GamePads simultaneously.
- A video was shown to highlight the technology built into the Wii U GamePad including stereo speakers, headphone jack, microphone, gyroscope, touchscreen, stylus, Home button, analog sticks, and dual triggers.
- Reggie highlighted the features of Miiverse and how Miis congregate around trending topics around the world. Miiverse will act as a social network that's active whenever the system is on.
- A trailer for New Super Mario Bros. U was shown featuring a new boost mode which allows players to place helpful blocks using the GamePad touchscreen.
- Martin Tremblay (President of WB Interactive) joined Reggie on-stage to talk about Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition. A trailer was shown highlighting the new touchscreen features. Reid Schneider (VP of Production at WB Montreal) narrated a separate trailer that highlighted more of the exclusive features in the Armored Edition of the game.
- Martin Tremblay introduced Jeremiah Slaczka (CEO of 5th Cell) to announce Scribblenauts Unlimited for the Wii U, which includes a new multiplayer mode.
- Reggie returned with a video montage including Darksiders II, Mass Effect 3, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, and Aliens: Colonial Marines.
- Reggie then announced the all new Wii Fit U with a trailer.
- Reggie also announced SiNG, a karaoke game from FreeStyleGames.
- Scott Moffitt (VP of Sales & Marketing) took the stage to talk about 3DS and New Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and Luigi's Mansion. A third party montage was shown featuring Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
- Reggie returned to introduce a trailer for LEGO City Undercover for Wii U and 3DS.
- Yves Guillemot (CEO of Ubisoft) joined Reggie on stage to talk about the importance of the Wii U.
- Xavier Poix (Managing Director at Ubisoft France) joined Reggie for a demonstration of Just Dance 4 and a trailer for ZombiU.
- Ubisoft then showed a montage featuring Assassin's Creed III, Rabbids Land, YourShape Fitness Evolved 2013, Rayman Legends, Sports Connection, and Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth.
- Reggie then introduced NintendoLand welcomed Katsuya Eguchi (Wii U Software Producer) to discuss this virtual theme park featuring Nintendo character-themed minigames for Wii U.
- Reggie thanked everyone for coming. No price or date was announced.
Game Critics Awards

The Game Critics Awards are decided by an independent group of North American media outlets. They have selected the most promising games of each Electronic Entertainment Expo since 1998, and have thus become recognized as the most respected "Best of" awards that come out of the annual show. Games qualify for nomination by having hands-on playable versions of the game at the show.
Nominees for the 2012 Game Critics Awards were announced on June 19.
Halo 4, Dishonored, and The Last of Us led the nominations with four each and Sony was the most nominated publisher with twelve.
BEST OF SHOW

The Last of Us - Naughty Dog / SCEA
BEST ORIGINAL GAME
The Last of Us - Naughty Dog / SCEA
BEST CONSOLE GAME
The Last of Us - Naughty Dog / SCEA
BEST HANDHELD/MOBILE GAME

Sound Shapes - Queasy Games / SCEA
BEST PC GAME
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Firaxis / 2K Games
BEST HARDWARE/PERIPHERAL

Wii U - Nintendo
BEST ACTION GAME
Halo 4 - 343 Industries / Microsoft Studios
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME
The Last of Us - Naughty Dog / SCEA
BEST ROLE PLAYING GAME
South Park: The Stick of Truth - Obsidian Entertainment / THQ
BEST FIGHTING GAME

Injustice: Gods Among Us - NetherRealm Studios / WB Interactive
BEST RACING GAME
Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Criterion / Electronic Arts
BEST SPORTS GAME
FIFA 13 - EA Canada / Electronic Arts
BEST STRATEGY GAME

XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Firaxis / 2K Games
BEST SOCIAL/CASUAL GAME
Dance Central 3 - Harmonix / Microsoft Studios
BEST MOTION SIMULATION GAME
Dance Central 3 - Harmonix / Microsoft Studios
BEST ONLINE MULTIPLAYER GAME
Halo 4 - 343 Industries / Microsoft Studios
BEST DOWNLOADABLE GAME
The Unfinished Swan - Giant Sparrow / SCEA
SPECIAL COMMENDATION FOR GRAPHICS
SPECIAL COMMENDATION FOR INNOVATION
SPECIAL COMMENDATION FOR SOUND
Exhibitors
- 345 Games
- 38 Studios
- 3D-Bee by VEFXi
- 505 Games
- Activision
- Alienware
- appMobi
- AVerMedia
- Behaviour Interactive
- Bethesda
- Bigben Interactive
- Blitz Games Studios
- Bloober Team SA
- Bohemia Interactive a.s.
- BradyGames
- Capcom U.S.A., Inc.
- Chase Paymentech
- City Interactive
- COG Publish Limited
- Creative Mind Interactive, Inc.
- Crytek GmbH
- CTA Digital
- D3 Publisher of America, Inc.
- Deep Silver Inc.
- Deuce Entertainment, LLC.
- DICEplus
- Disney Interactive Studios
- dreamGEAR
- Dynamics Inc.
- Electronic Arts
- En Masse Entertainment
- Epic Games, Inc.
- Focus Home Interactive
- France @ E3
- Future US
- G4 Media, Inc.
- GAEMS, Inc.
- Gaikai
- Game Informer
- GameChurch.com
- Gameloft
- GameMaster
- GameSpot
- GAMEWORLD DISTRIBUTORS
- gamigo
- GREE
- Havok
- Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC)
- HORI (U.S.A.)., Inc.
- Hyperkin, Inc.
- IGN Entertainment
- InComm
- Index Digital Media, Inc. (ATLUS)
- Innex, Inc.
- Jack of all Games
- Jersey Jack Pinball
- Kalypso Media Group
- KEMCO
- Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
- KOTRA
- Level 5 International America
- Little Orbit
- LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd.
- MACHINIMA
- Mad Catz
- Majesco Entertainment
- Mecca Electronic Ind. Inc.
- Meyers
- Microsoft
- MULTIPLAYER.IT
- NAMCO BANDAI Games America
- Natsume, Inc.
- Nintendo of America, Inc.
- NVIDIA Corporation
- Nyko Technologies
- OnLive
- Paradox Interactive
- Perfect World Entertainment
- Performance Designed Products
- Plastic Piranha
- Playseat
- Pole To Win
- Power A
- Prima Games
- Proximo Games LLC
- R.D.S. Industries Inc.
- RaptorFire.com
- Razer
- Realta Entertainment Group
- Rebellion
- Savtira
- SDL
- SEGA of America, Inc.
- Snail Games USA
- Sony Computer Entertainment America
- Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
- Sony Online Entertainment
- Square Enix, Inc.
- Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
- TECMO KOEI AMERICA Corporation
- Telltale Games
- THQ
- T-Mobile
- Trion Worlds, Inc.
- Turtle Beach
- TwitchTV
- U.S.GAMES DISTRIBUTION INC
- Ubisoft Entertainment
- UNI-ART PRECISE PRODUCTS LTD.
- Video Game Voters Network
- Virtual Piggy
- Virtuos
- ViviTouch - Feel the Game
- Wargaming
- Warner Bros. Interactive
- WILL TECH
- Wizards of the Coast LLC
- X-Games Inc.
- XSEED Games
- Xsolla
- Zynga
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