The trailer doesn’t really tell us much about the game, but it does have that cinematic flair that made Halo such a groundbreaking game when it launched on the original Xbox. If the actual game can pull this off, Destiny may just be a keeper.

We still don’t have any gameplay, but Bungie announced in the above trailer that that the gameplay will finally be shown off at Sony’s E3 press conference on June 10. It’s a pretty big win for Sony when you consider that Bungie was owned by Microsoft just a few years ago.

Beyond the Sony presser, expect a lot more Destiny news at E3. Besides Call of Duty Ghosts, this is Activision’s other big game for 2013. There’s a lot of expectation riding on it so Bungie has to get it right, and I have no reason to doubt them yet.

Sony announced today that it’s E3 2013 press conference will be taking place on June 10 at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST. To hype people up for the press conference, Sony has also released a short teaser that kind of shows what the new PS4 will look like if you squint really hard:

Of course, we’ll have to wait until June 10 to see what the final PS4 hardware will look like. Well, that is unless somebody decides to leak pictures of the hardware before then. Sony isn’t exactly known for being leak-proof.

In other next-gen news, we’re likely to see the next Xbox hardware tomorrow at its unveiling event. We might even see the next generation of Kinect hardware. Just don’t expect it to be cheap.

[ORIGINAL:]
Yesterday, Nintendo posted its annual earnings, which were a bit disappointing due to slow sales of its newest console, the Wii U.

Buried inside Nintendo President Satoru Iwata’s statements about Nintendo’s financial standing is something of great intrest to gamers who are looking forward to this year’s E3. It turns out that Nintendo will not be hosting a huge press conference at the event, which is common for console makers and large publishers.

Since Nintendo does not have a new console to launch the way Microsoft and Sony do, the company will use its presence at E3 to show off upcoming Wii U games. Iwata stated that the company will be working on a “new presentation style for E3″ that includes smaller events focused on Nintendo’s U.S. software lineup. For Japan and the rest of the world, Nintendo will be releasing Nintendo Direct presentations to show off its software.

Iwata’s statement on E3:

In the past we invited reporters, investors and analysts, industry partners, such as software publishers, and distributors who attended E3 to our large-scale presentations. We also used them as a communication tool in which we broadcast our presentations on the Internet to reach out to video game fans around the globe. I believe that many are expecting us to host a similar event this year.

On the other hand, since we set out on new endeavors such as Nintendo Direct two years ago in October, we have been paying special attention to the fact that different people demand different types of information from us. For example, as video game fans are looking for information about games, it seems that they are less interested in sales figures that investors and analysts on the other hand attach much greater importance to, and distribution partners are looking for information on how we are going to market our products in the immediate future. At previous financial briefing sessions we announced information about our products, showed videos and even uploaded the recording of these events onto our website, but given that we now have an established method such as Nintendo Direct, we feel that we will be able to deliver our messages more appropriately and effectively by doing so individually based on the various needs of different groups of people.

At E3 this year, we are not planning to launch new hardware, and our main activity at E3 will be to announce and have people experience our software. Many people are certainly very interested in learning more about the Wii U titles that we are going to announce. We will use E3 as an ideal opportunity to talk in detail mainly about the Wii U titles that we are going to launch this year, and we also plan to make it possible for visitors to try the games immediately. As a brand new challenge, we are working to establish a new presentation style for E3.

First, we decided not to host a large-scale presentation targeted at everyone in the international audience where we announce new information as we did in the past.

Instead, at the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media. Also, I did not speak at last year’s presentation, and I am not planning to speak at these events at the E3 show this year either. Apart from these exclusive events for visitors, we are continuing to investigate ways to deliver information about our games directly to our home audience around the time of E3. We will share more information about them once they have officially been decided.

During the E3 period, we will utilize our direct communication tools, such as Nintendo Direct, to deliver information to our Japanese audience, including those who are at this financial briefing, mainly focusing on the software that we are going to launch in Japan, and we will take the same approach outside Japan for the overseas fans as well.

(via Endless)

Speaking to Chilean tech Web site, Emol, Sony’s VP of Home Entertainment, Hiroshi Sakamoto, might have said more than he should have in regards to the PS4 reveal. When asked if Sony would have anything to show this year, he said that the company will have a major announcement ready for either E3 in June or even earlier in May.

Now, it makes sense for the reveal to happen in June at E3. It’s the biggest gaming show on the planet, and there will be plenty of press present to spread the word that new consoles are on the horizon. The only thing that makes me think a May reveal is more likely is that game publishers are increasingly turning to private events for major announcement. Why? It’s easier to control the message and they get exclusive press coverage. At E3, Sony would be competing with Microsoft for press coverage and might even be labeled as the loser if the unveiling fails to impress.

That all being said, E3 is still going to be huge this year. Most likely, both Sony and Microsoft will announce their next consoles before the show and then focus solely on games at E3. This is the best possible scenario for both as software sells hardware. Sony and Microsoft have been pretty bad about exclusive software as of late with only hits from each company’s major franchises doing the heavy lifting. Expect plenty of new IP as well as both companies can’t rely on the likes of Uncharted and Halo to sell new consoles to everybody.

We’re still half a year away from E3 so all of this is still speculation. More information about the PS4 and next Xbox will surely be leaked between now and then as the hype machine for the next generation of consoles gets underway. 2013 is going to be a huge year for games, and not just for the big guys. Sony and Microsoft will have to floor the general public with something they’ve never seen before to distract them from the allure of cheaper consoles with a variety of cheap and free-to-play games.

[h/t: Trusted Reviews]

The Japanese blogger pointed out that the 3rd redesign of the Playstation 2 features a top-loading design and made the console look cheesy. It actually did make the console look cheaper when they went back to the design used for the Playstation 1. Speculation has it that the new design will be thinner, yet longer than the current Slim.

Some analysts are guessing that Sony is going to announce the redesign at this years Gamescom. I would bet money that at next years E3, when they announce the new Playstation, that they will simultaneously announce this and the massive hundred dollar plus price drop that is sure to come with it. The huge price drops on the PS2 over the years has led to massive amounts of profit for the 11 year old system still to this day.

Here is the CECH-3000 which is the current Slim:

Here is the new CECH-4001 which is the redesign:

Today, Bethesda has released even more gameplay footage from their upcoming steampunk assassination simulator, Dishonored. Around a month ago a gameplay trailer was released to show off the different supernatural powers that players would be in control of. The videos below expand on this footage, showing multiple ways for players to solve in-game problems and hunt their targets.

The first video demonstrates the silent, stealthy approach where a player can accomplish his or her mission by eavesdropping, sticking to the shadows near the ceiling, and choking out henchmen. The second video shows how players can get things done more quickly by simply killing everything in sight. Powers such as a supernatural backhand sends guards flying, while others are eaten alive by a summoned hoard of diseased rats. The narrators of the videos, Co-Creative Directors Raphael Colantonio and Harvey Smith, warn, though, that quicker isn’t always better. Killing more innocent people will affect the “story beats” in the game, as well as the ending. Check out the videos below to see all of the action, but beware that they contain spoilers for what I am guessing is the first mission of the game, as well as some very bloody violence:

The first was released a couple of weeks ago during the E3 fun, and it focused on the character Zero, who belongs to the sniper class, courtesy of GameTrailers.com:

No word as to whether or not Gearbox will try to break its own Guinness World Record of most guns in a video game, but it’s a safe bet they’ll give it a run. The next, and most recent walkthrough focuses on the Commando character. While the Zero walkthrough had a lot of talking and in-studio footage over the gameplay, the second does not feature any cutaways to the studio. Instead, there’s much more gameplay to be seen.

Keep in mind there’s about nine minutes of gameplay on display here, so if you want to remain spoiler-free, skip the next video:

Larry (Major Nelson) Hryb announced on his blog this morning that Microsoft would be skipping out on Germany’s Gamescom and Japan’s Tokyo Game Show this year. For those unaware, Gamescom and TGS are by far the largest gaming events in their respective region drawing thousands of people who want to try out the new games in store.

Previously, Microsoft would use Gamescom to display the new content they had in the works from their European studios. The departure of Peter Molyneux, who headed Microsoft Game Studios Europe and Lionhead, may have had something to do with their absence this year.

The absence from TGS, however, isn’t surprising in the least bit. While the Xbox 360 has enjoyed continued success in the U.S. and Europe, it has never found much of an audience in Japan outside of hardcore otaku who love the console’s selection of visual novels and shmups. It could be a sign that Microsoft has finally given up on trying to reach any kind of success in the country.

Hryb realizes that this news may be a bit saddening for Xbox fans in these regions who were looking forward to the events. He says that Microsoft will be “focusing on smaller, more localized promotions and experiences for press, partners, retailers and customers around the world.” In a way, it’s pretty smart. Gamers appreciate smaller events instead of the large industry events that are harder to get into. Sony has seen massive success out of its PlayStation meetups and Microsoft could be hoping to achieve similar success.

The lack of Microsoft and Nintendo at Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show gives Sony a major advantage. They will be the only big player at both of these events so they will be able to grab all of the attention without having to compete. Of course, gamers may flock to Nintendo’s and Microsoft’s smaller events since they promise to be more intimate.

If all these publishers start skipping out on these big trade shows regularly, it may put them at risk. Gamescom’s relevance is already being questioned and Japan’s games industry is shrinking to the point where TGS might not even be worth it. It’s good to remain optimistic and hope that these trade events stick around, but the industry seems to be heading for what Microsoft and NIntendo are doing now – small, localized events tailored for gamers.

Epic Games Senior Technical Artist Alan Willard shows off the engine’s lighting, reflection, and particle effects the engine can handle. The remarkable part of the presentation is made clear at around the five-minute mark, when Willard reveals that everything is taking place within the editor that game developers will use. The editor interface has gotten a makeover, allowing toolbars to be docked and resized as needed. In addition, the engine allows developers to compile code on-the-fly, making it easy to modify aspects of the game and immediately see their affects. Take a look at the demo yourself, and see what developers will soon be using to create the next generation of games:

Obviously, this is a sales pitch to developers, but it’s a fairly impressive demonstration of Unreal Engine 4′s capabilities, one that is certain to lure plenty of developers into licensing the engine. Hopefully the changes to the engine will lead to shorter development cycles of more impressive games, which is what this software could really mean to gamers.

Now, Epic Games is showing off the newest version of the Unreal Engine with its own trailer. While Square Enix’s trailer seems to focus on showing off Luminous Studio’s capabilities when it comes to rendering flesh and the movement of living things, it also features quite a bit of shaky-cam, which seems odd for a tech demonstration. Epic’s trailer, while not as immediately impressive, shows off Unreal Engine 4′s modeling and lighting capabilities with lingering camera movement punctuated by quick, dynamic events that demonstrate the engine’s abilities.

While Luminous Studio at first looks more impressive, a closer look at the Unreal Engine 4 trailer below will show that it has great variety of lighting sources and matches Luminous’ detail in some places. There is no denying, though, that Square Enix’s trailer is a lot more fun to watch. Take a look for yourself at the “Elemental” trailer for the Unreal Engine 4 and enjoy the flowing lava, crumbling rock, and variety of the landscape.