TSA E3 Bingo: Our Picks

There are but two short weeks to go until the video gaming world goes nuts at E3. Of course we have all been getting a little crazy about it already with plenty of speculation about what will be shown and publishers indulging in pre-E3 reveals to begin building excitement.

As part of the build-up here at TSA we try to inject a little fun into all the pre-E3 speculation with our little game of E3 Bingo.  You all get the chance to play along every year and in addition the staff and contributors get the same chance to get things spectacularly wrong.

This time next week we will be revealing which of the items from this year’s list of picks the collective wisdom of you, our readers, think are most likely to occur.  This week however it is time to set ourselves up for a fall by letting you know what we all chose.

Least surprising was Tuffcub’s twelfth pick…

Alex	–	1, 5, 6, 12, 13, 17, 20, 29, 31, 32, 46, 47
Blair	–	6, 15, 31, 32, 41, 46, 47, 55, 61, 63, 66, 74
Chris	–	1, 2, 3, 6, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 34, 47, 55
Dan	–	15, 16, 17, 20, 23, 30, 36, 39, 46, 47, 63, 67
Greg	–	1, 5, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 65, 66, 74
Josh	–	6, 7, 8, 15, 20, 23, 32, 39, 46, 54, 57, 72
Kris	–	3, 4, 6, 8, 31, 32, 37, 54, 59, 65, 69, 73
Matt	–	3, 6, 7, 8, 20, 22, 31, 32, 34, 47, 48, 50
Peter	–	4, 7, 20, 30, 31, 46, 47, 55, 63, 68, 72, 74
Toby	–	3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 31, 41, 45, 50, 60, 72
Tuffcub	–	3, 6, 7, 14, 20, 31, 32, 41, 51, 55, 58, 69

Now those numbers by themselves do not say much, they simply declare and record what we all picked from the list.  It is far more interesting to use those numbers to show what our own collective ‘wisdom’ predicts are the most likely things to go down at E3 from the available list.

Here then are the items we picked in order of popularity.  The number in brackets at the end is how many times it was picked.

6. ‘Starhawk’ trailer or gameplay footage shown.  {8}
20. Sony reiterate their apology for the ‘PSN Hack’.  {8}
31. Resistance 3 is playable on the show floor.  {7}
15. NGP’s real name is revealed.  {6}
32. inFamous 2 is playable on the show floor.  {6}
47. Forza 4 is played using Kinect at Microsoft’s press conference.  {6}
3. New The Last Guardian trailer or gameplay footage shown.  {5}
7. Resistance 3 trailer or gameplay footage shown.  {5}
46. New WipEout NGP title announced.  {5}
17. NGP’s U.S. release date is announced.  {4}
55. The new 343 Industries Halo title is revealed.  {4}
1. Kazunori Yamauchi appears on-stage to talk about Gran Turismo NGP.  {3}
8. inFamous 2 trailer or gameplay footage shown.  {3}
16. NGP’s U.S. pricing is announced.  {3}
41. ‘Uncharted NGP’ will be a launch-day title.  {3}
63. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword release date announced.  {3}
72. Ubisoft announce Far Cry 3.  {3}
74. EA announce Mirror’s Edge 2.  {3}
4. The Last Guardian played on-stage.  {2}
5. Dylan Jobe appears on-stage to talk about ‘Starhawk’.  {2}
11. ‘Sorcery’ trailer or gameplay footage shown.  {2}
12. ‘Sorcery’ played on-stage.  {2}
13. New MGS game announced for both PS3 and NGP.  {2}
19. PSPgo hailed as a useful experiment that helped guide the development of the NGP.  {2}
23. Kevin Butler does NOT make an appearance.  {2}
30. ‘Starhawk’ is playable on the show floor.  {2}
34. Twisted Metal PS3 is playable on the show floor.  {2}
39. The non-3G NGP’s U.S. price is between $250 and $300 inclusive.  {2}
50. New Kinect unit sales numbers revealed.  (Newer than MS’ Q3 figures.)  {2}
54. Halo: Combat Evolved HD playable on the show floor.  {2}
65. A 3DS can be used as a ‘Wii HD’ controller.  {2}
66. Like the Dreamcast’s VMU, the ‘Wii HD’ controller will enable you to take elements of your game ‘on the move’.  {2}
69. Super Mario Galaxy 3 will be a ‘Wii HD’ launch title.  {2}
2. Kazunori Yamauchi plays Gran Turismo NGP on-stage.  {1}
14. New MGS game will feature significant cross-platform (PS3/NGP) functionality.  {1}
22. The Xperia Play gets a mention or makes an appearance.  {1}
29. Q Games announce the first of their second series of PixelJunk games (i.e., PixelJunk 2-1).  {1}
36. PS2 software emulation finally working and will be delivered before the year’s end.  {1}
37. PSP-4000 announced.  PSP will live on as Sony’s low-end handheld.  {1}
45. New Killzone NGP title announced.  {1}
48. Crytek’s Codename: Kingdoms played at Microsoft’s press conference.  {1}
51. Xbox 360’s successor announced.  {1}
57. Shadow Complex 2 is announced.  {1}
58. Alan Wake 2 announced.  {1}
59. MGS Vancouver’s Kinect shooter announced.  {1}
60. Monster Hunter 3DS announced.  {1}
61. Pikmin 3DS announced.  {1}
67. A side-scrolling Metroid game is announced for the 3DS.  {1}
68. Super Mario Galaxy 3 is one of the playable ‘Wii HD’ games.  {1}
73. Activision wait for E3 for their Modern Warfare 3 reveal.  {1}

It is probably no surprise that we are expecting Sony to be apologetic over PSN at their press conference or that Starhawk and Resistance 3 will feature heavily in Sony’s show presentations.  It will be quite shocking if those do not come true.

It is surprising that more of us (3) are hoping to see a sequel to the ground-breaking, wall-running, potentially non-lethal FPS Mirror’s Edge than have dared to predict the U.S. price of the NGP (2) even though the price ranges on offer are quite broad.

[drop2]Perhaps that suggests the conflict between our hopes and fears for the NGP’s price point leaves us too uncertain about which way Sony will go.  However the two votes on its pricing are in agreement.  Both Dan and Josh have the Non-3G NGP pegged between $250 and $300, which would put its début price above that of the PSPgo and we all know how that turned out.

On the less-conventional controller front it is curious that we expect Forza 4 ‘Kinect Edition’ in all its accelerator- and brake-free glory to get some screen time more (6) than we do Sony’s wizard-training-for-muggles title, Sorcery (2).  Given our general disdain for the former and enthusiasm for the latter when we’ve seen both previously it is an odd result.

The first of us to lose a chance at a ‘full house’ was Kris, with Activision launching the Modern Warfare 3 trailer last night and scuppering his hopes by ruining number 73.

Just for completeness here are those items none of us picked:

9. Teaser trailer shown for Bungie’s new EA-published cross platform title.
10. Splinter Cell: Conviction announced for PS3.
18. Jack Tretton plays one or more NGP games on-stage.
21. The Sony tablets ‘S1′ & ‘S2′ get a mention or make an appearance.
24. PlayStation 3 160GB console MSRP dropped to $249.99 ($50 cheaper than now).
25. PlayStation 3 160GB console dropped from range. 320GB MSRP drops to $299.99.
26. New firmware update announced that introduces a streamlined in-game XMB.
27. Agent trailer or gameplay footage shown.
28. At least a tentative release window (season & year or better) announced for Agent.
33. ‘Sorcery’ is playable on the show floor.
35. The Last Guardian is playable on the show floor.
38. The non-3G NGP’s U.S. price is less than $250.
40. The non-3G NGP’s U.S. price is more than $300.
42. Final Fantasy NGP announced.
43. Syphon Filter NGP announced.
44. Monster Hunter NGP announced.
49. GTA 5 revealed at Microsoft’s press conference.
52. Nokia-made, Xbox-branded, gaming-focused Windows Phone revealed.
53. Milo returns from his time in the media wilderness to star in a new Lionhead game.
56. Crackdown 3 is announced.
62. Kid Icarus Uprising release date announced.
64. ‘Wii HD’ controller looks remarkably like the bottom half of a 3DS in terms of features and appearance.
70. Ubisoft announce that an Assassin’s Creed movie will be Ubisoft Motion Pictures’ first production.
71. Assassin’s Creed 3 (the game after Revelations) announced.
75. EA show a version of Dead Space 2 running on the ‘Wii HD’.

Next week we’ll see how your own predictions compare…