In an email sent out first thing this morning. It was announced that Epic Mickey 2, will be releasing November 18, 2012. If you saw the news earlier it will be cross platform and looks phenomenal! More to come.

E3 is here!!! This is like Christmas in June for those of us that follow video games. We’ve got at least three ‘bots on the scene and BSR! will be bringing some extensive coverage. As per usual with VGQH, I’ll link you to their stories for all the details, but you can get the basics right here. Starting with Sony’s press conference which I watched live last night on G4.

For me, the highlights were Beyond from Quantic Dream and the announcement of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation for PS Vita. Seriously, anything from Quantic Dream and David Cage has my attention immediately. Also, I really enjoyed AC: Bloodlines on PSP. So a white Vita packaged with our first female (French-African) assassin probably just sold me on Sony’s new handheld in October. Which, by the way, will start supporting PSOne Classics this summer.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Click the link above and read Zombietron’s full report, I’m just handling highlighting:

• Jack Tretton loves “exclusive” – he also had the best suit of the night (it’s a weird thing I notice).
• PSOne Classics are coming to Vita, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII were mentioned specifically.
• Call of Duty: Declassified was shown for Vita. Looks like Call of Duty, on a Vita. Yawn.
• Quantic Dream’s Beyond, starring Ellen Page looks fantastic, but how and what do you actually control?
• Actual PS All-Stars Battle Royale gameplay was shown. Looks chaotic. Nathan Drake (duh) and Big Daddy (huh) were announced.
• ACIII and Liberation were both discussed. Hardware bundles for PS3 and PS Vita, respectively. Captaining a ship as Connor looked boring.
• PS+ is getting some more love. inFamous 2, LBP2, and Saints’ Row 2 will be available today. For free it appears. Look for more awesome stuff for the service soon.
• Something about Far Cry 3. I went to make more margaritas.
• Wonderbook and some spell-casting Pottermore thing was shown for Move. Live demo controls were fail. Ha ha.
• God of War Ascension: Kratos kills things. Gore and combos. Sound familiar? March 2013.
• Gameplay of Naughty Dog’s Last of Us was shown. I literally turned my head and shuddered at the violence. Not the gore, the brutality. Zombietron has the video.

Microsoft’s press conference was a little too early for me to catch. G4 ran it again after Sony’s but by this point I was a little drunk and more than a little tired. Honestly, all I really gathered from it was that Halo 4 is still their only superstar. And something new in Gears of War (Judgment). Seriously, I was half falling asleep at this point. My recollections are completely unfair. I’m sure they showed a lot more that I would have found interesting if I could keep my eyes open. I’ve done a little digging and I can give you the basics that I missed but no details:

• Splinter Cell: Blacklist debuted.
• Forza Horizon coming in October.
• XBox Live: better Bing functionality, more languages, Nickelodeon, Paramount, Machinima, Univision, NBA, NHL, ESPN, XBox Music, Internet Explorer
• SmartGlass: some kind connectivity between TVs, tablets and other devices. Potential, but I need to to know more. Watch movies or play games
  on XBox with maps or play calling on your tablet.
• Tomb Raider gameplay
• Resident Evil 6 has timed exclusive DLC.
• Dance Central 3 (surprise).
• Black Ops II timed exclusive DLC (surprise).
• South Park: The Stick of Truth (March 5, 2013) timed exclusive DLC and Kinect functionality.
• New Games: Ascend: New Gods, Lococycle, and Matter
• Fable: The Journey is October 9, 2012.

Nintendo’s event is today. I’ll miss it but you can follow along with Zombietron’s live blog.

From here out it’s going to be a little helter skelter with things from pre-E3 and during in the most reasonable manner I can construct. I apologize in advance if it looks like lunacy.

Injustice: Gods Among Us brings NetherRealm back to the DC realm. Batman, The Flash, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Superman, Wonder Woman, and more will have their own, large-scale fighting game in 2013. Ed Boon shows some excitement, and you should expect to hear more about this throughout the week.

Two more games have been announced for Move that just scream hardware bundle. Sports Champions 2 and Dance Star Party are planned for later in 2012. We’re all still waiting for something else along the lines of Sorcery to convince us that our lollipop controllers were worth the purchase.

Naughty Bear had a good concept that didn’t really come off smooth. Kind of disappointing, but it looks like Behavior Interactive wants to give it another go, albeit on a smaller scale. Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise will be coming to PSN and XBLA later this year.

We’re still awaiting confirmation on the Premium service that’s expected to be shown at E3, but it should also be mentioned that Battlefield 3 had a huge title update coming this week. The list of patches and tweaks is extensive so I’m not listing all of them. If it goes the way of most updates, just know that everything has been fixed except the one glitch you hate the most.

How big of a fanboy shill are you for Assassin’s Creed? Big enough to drop $100 on the Ubiwokshop Edition of Assassin’s Creed III? Yeah, me too. This version comes with a hardcover encyclopedia, and the 200+ page graphic novel about Subject 4. This novel combines the complete run of AC: The Fall and AC: The Chain from Daniel Cross and Nikolai Orelov. You can pre-order now, and you’ll want to do it before the Fourth of July. After that it goes up to $110. The game still launches on October 30, 2012.

SEGA also announced a collector’s edition for Aliens: Colonial Marines. This one comes with a resin figureine of a xenomorph fighting a powerloader, a USCM dossier, schematics for the USS Sephora, recruitment card, recon photo, USCM patches, graduation certificate and extra DLC – all in a special “xeno hive” box. The bonus DLC includes Cpl. Hicks, Sgt. Apone, Pvt. Hudson and Pvt. Drake; Ripley’s Flamethrower, extra Marine customization items, USCM Acadamy Firing Range level, Phase Plasma Rifle and Sonic Electronic Ball Breakers. Not a bad haul, though a price hasn’t been announced. Thos figurines are tricky. Sometimes they can produce them cheap enough for an $80 bundle, but they usually go for $100. Most of the DLC is also available as a GameStop preorder bonus. You should also expect it as paid DLC at a later date. The game releases on February 12, 2013.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was announced prior to E3, but the details were sparse and we’re expecting more at the show. For now, know that you’re playing as Gabriel Belmont again, the Belmonts are seeking to finish Dracula for good, and this is the “shocking conclusion” to the Lords of Shadow arc.

Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot has finally been dated, March 5, 2013. This game looks a little better every time I see it. I’ve gone from completely bored with the concept to wondering how long it will take to reach March.

An Italian retailer had a Hitman HD Collection listed for a short time last week. This isn’t the first I’ve heard of this rumor, but it is still only rumor. With Hitman Absolution coming in November it probably makes sense to revisit Agent 47’s past sometime at the end of Summer.

The Lord of the Rings isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. With The Hobbit returning the characters to the big screen this holiday season and the Guardians of Middle Earth MOBA coinciding with it you probably think you’ve seen all of their current plans. Wrong. Isn’t this franchise ripe for Traveller’s Tales to brickitize it for LEGO The Lord of the Rings? Of course it is. And it’s further along than you might expect, as it’s set for release this Fall. That’ll be two LEGO games this year (including LEGO Batman 2). They also had at least three last year, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter Years 5-7, and Star Wars III. Can they keep up this level of releases? Development should be fairly easy since you’re just skinning the engine and only need to focus on level design. But how many more franchises can they milk?

Game Informer has revealed the first game from Robotoki, Rob Bowling’s new studio. It’s zombies. That’s a good and a bad thing. Zombies are an easy sell, but they’re also getting a little tired. Human Element is going to have to bring something new to the table to really stand out. To listen to Bowling describe it, he’s got that covered. “Their greatest strength is the fear that [zombies] instill in us, the survivors, that unreasonable fear. Unreasonable fear that leads us to do unreasonable things to survive.” You’ll have three different classes from which to choose: Action, Intelligence, and Stealth. You’ll also choose your scenario: survive alone, with a partner, or with a child.“How you choose to start in the world will determine how you can engage and impacts the scenarios you will be presented with on a physical and morality level.” Excited? Too bad, you’re waiting until next-gen consoles in 2015.

Preorder bonuses for Bethesda’s Dishonored have been announced for the major retailers. GameStop has Arcane Assassin DLC and a deck of tarot cards; Best Buy will give you a whale oil USB lamp and Shadow Rat DLC; you’ll get the Backstreet Butcher pack from Amazon; Wal-Mart has the Acrobatic Killer pack; and Target will give you a decal for your smartphone. Good job Target. The game launches on October 9, 2012.

EA’s Press Conference Highlights – they need to work on their information security:

• Dead Space 3, February 2013. Drop-in/out co-op. Leaked info was right. Footage.
• Battlefield 3 Premium: Leaked info was right.
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted officially announced. This was leaked a while ago.
• EA now has the UFC license instead of THQ.
• Crysis 3: February 2013. Again, leaked ages ago.

Ubisoft’s Press Conference Highlights (also could use some leak protection):

• Spec-Ops: The Line getting free DLC.
• Announced Avengers: Battle for Earth. Spider-Man, Wolverine, Venom, Storm, Magneto. Fall 2012. Kinect functionality.
• Assassin’s Creed III footage. PS3 exclusive DLC
• Watch_Dogs: Techno-conspiracy thriller. Control electronics in the city for open world destruction. Total surprise. Want to hear more.
• Far Cry 3 trailer. Four-player co-op. PS3-exclusive DLC.
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist footage.

That’s all for now. Definitely keep a BSR! tab open all this week though. I’ll have highlights again on Friday, but for details as they happen, watch for Zombietron and company’s live coverage.

The E3 Nintendo Conference starts in an hour, please enjoy our humorous quips before it begins.

Fans of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions should be happy to see the same development team coming back for a second round with the ol’ Web-Head, and bringing Spider-Man 2099 along for the ride again.

The new trailer for Spider-Man: Edge of Time debuted at E3 and you can check it out above. This game will feature some pretty creative and dynamic game play where in you will see how the actions you take as Spider-Man in the past affects the world of Spider-Man 2099 simultaneously.

Playing the roles of Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man: Edge of Time propels gamers on a high-octane, adrenaline-fueled adventure in which the two versions of the heroic web-slinger must urgently work together across time to save each other and prevent a disaster that ultimately leads to the death of Amazing Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time will be hitting game shelves later this year.

At E3, Bioware released their latest cinematic for The Old Republic, their forthcoming MMORPG set in the deep history of the Star Wars universe.

I’m going to have a very hard time staying away from this game. My life has been incredibly productive to this point and I don’t want to ruin my streak, but this game might just do it.

It looks incredible.

My only wish is that I’d be able to play it on a Wii… Could you imagine a full MMO on a Wii? Especially Star Wars? I played The Force Unleashed on a few different systems and none were as immersive and fun as the Wii. Nintendo’s E3 presentation is starting soon, let’s hope their new platform will make something like that possible.

Best estimates say that this new game will be released next year.

Along with the announcement of Halo: Anniversary came a teaser from Microsoft and 343i that answered a question many fans already knew the answer to: Halo 4 is on its way!

While no details were released about the game that will be coming in Fall of 2012, a short CG trailer was shown teasing all sorts of different aspects and goodies we may be seeing in the next installment made popular by Bungie (zero-g combat? Jet packs? Weapon attachments?).

Check out the trailer below and share your thoughts and theories in the comments!

Few people around the super-secret base that is Big Shiny Robot HQ know more about Halo than our web-programmer guy, Chris. No doubt his ears and eyes have been peeled for all things Halo at E3 which kicked off today. He’s here with some details that were revealed about the remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved:

The long rumored remake of the original Halo has finally been revealed at E3. We don’t know all the details yet, but we do know enough to get hyped about it!

The remake is called Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversaryand it drops November 15 of this year, which is exactly 10 years from the original’s release date and will cost $39.99. Anniversary features all new art assets, but keeps the underlying physics and mechanics as they were. This is good news and means that the game will play as we remember it, but will look great.

Don’t like the new assets or wish to experience the originals? The game also ships with the classic graphics with a way to switch between them at a press of a button (confirmed by 343i’s David Ellis). I assume (and hope) this means full widescreen finally [Edit: It does]!

Anniversaryis being developed in conjunction by Timeshift developer Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity, with oversight from 343 Industries. 343 is over-seeing everything Halo these days, as the transition from Bungie is nearly complete. You may remember Certain Affinity from the most recent Halo: Reach map pack as well as Halo 2 map packs and former Bungie developers. I am guessing Saber is doing the backend/heavy lifting while Certain Affinity is creating the art assets as well as the new maps.

With this update we also get 7 new Classic multiplayer maps. Those wanting the original multiplayer experience will be saddened as the maps look to be for Halo: Reach. The graphics, player models, and animations all confirm this. The maps shown in the trailer were Hang ’em High, Damnation, and Battle Creek. It is assumed that Anniversary will ship similar to ODST, which had 2 discs. We’ll most likely see 1 disc for the remake and 1 disc with the full Reach multiplayer experience and the new maps. If so, I am glad to see actual remakes instead of blocky-gray Forge maps. While all parties may not agree on this, it really is the best approach so as not to split the player base, and give Reach new life a year after its release date. This will also make for a clean break when Halo 4 (also announced!) comes out in late 2012.

Halo Waypoint has some goodies to checkout:

Halo: Anniversary Trailer

Halo: Anniversary Exclusive (343 discussion)

Halo: Anniversary Gallery

Also watch for a new Sparkast to drop today on Halo Waypoint to discuss both Anniversary and Halo 4!

Microsoft doesn’t present at E3 for about another 15 minutes, but anyone visiting who was visiting xbox.com around 7:30 MT this morning may have caught a glimpse of what they will be presenting – including Halo 4!

For a brief moment this morning the xbox.com was giving a recap of what Microsoft “had” presented at E3 and on that page was a mention of Halo 4!

When clicking the link though, visitors were just directed to an error page and then xbox.com was shortly reverted back to a page not containing any of this information. In short though, it looks like we will be hearing about Halo 4 at E3 this morning! (Kotaku)

You can keep up to date with all the E3 goodness, including a liveblogging of Microsoft’s E3 presentation by Zombietron right here on BSR!