The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 (E3 2012) was the 18th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 5, 2012, and ended on June 7, 2012, with 45,700 total attendees. It was televised on Spike[1] and streamed online to computers, mobile devices, PlayStation Home[2] and on Xbox Live via IGN's application.[3] This was the last event to be broadcast by G4 along with being the last one to feature a physical press conference by Nintendo which mainly focused on games that were coming to the then upcoming Wii U video game console that launched later that year and was later considered to be a commercial failure.

Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012
The Los Angeles Convention Center during E3 2012, with Medal of Honor: Warfighter occupying entrance advertising.
GenreMulti-genre
BeginsJune 5, 2012
EndsJune 7, 2012
VenueLos Angeles Convention Center
Location(s)Los Angeles, California
CountryUnited States
Previous eventE3 2011
Next eventE3 2013
Attendance45,700
Organized byEntertainment Software Association
Filing statusNon-profit

Press conferences

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Prior to the show, several companies made announcements regarding their products. Nintendo unveiled a new design for the Wii U controller, known now as the Wii U GamePad, along with a slightly modified console. Each of the three major console producers have also held or planned press conferences.

Konami

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Konami held its 2nd annual pre-E3 show on May 31.

Microsoft

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Microsoft's press conference took place on June 4 at 9:30am in the Galen Center. It was known as "Xbox: Entertainment Evolved," in the vein of Halo: Combat Evolved. It was streamed on Xbox Live and played live on SPIKE TV.

At the conference the company showed footage from upcoming sequels Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Resident Evil 6. It also showed new entries in classic franchises, including the games Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and many others. It also announced new intellectual property, including Ascend: New Gods and LocoCycle.

The company expanded its Kinect lineup with several new titles. Entertainer Usher made an appearance to demonstrate the Dance Central 3 dancing game. A castle-wrecking game called Wreckateer was also demonstrated. Matter, an Xbox 360-exclusive title for the Kinect was also shown.

Microsoft also unveiled expanded entertainment and multimedia features for the Xbox 360. The company announced new sports content partnerships, including those with the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and ESPN to bring their content to the console.[4] Xbox Music was also revealed, which will carry the Xbox brand to Windows 8.[5] The company unveiled Internet Explorer 10 for the console, which can be controlled via tablet devices. The console maker also announced Xbox SmartGlass, a technology designed to allow play experiences from mobile devices, including those running Windows 8 and Windows Phone operating systems.

Electronic Arts

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Electronic Arts took the stage on June 4 at 1:00pm, showcasing ten titles or families of titles. Included were games such as Crysis 3, Dead Space 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and SimCity.

Ubisoft

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Ubisoft held a press conference on June 4 at 3:00pm, showing many titles including Assassin's Creed III, Far Cry 3, Just Dance 4, Rayman Legends, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Watch Dogs and ZombiU.

Sony

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Sony's press conference took place on June 4 at 6:00pm at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Sony and its partners showcased existing titles, including first party games such as God of War: Ascension, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and The Last of Us and third party games such as Assassin's Creed III and Far Cry 3.

Sony also announced a new title called Beyond: Two Souls.

Sony provided updates on the PlayStation Suite mobile framework, renaming it to PlayStation Mobile and adding HTC as a partner. It also unveiled the Wonderbook augmented reality reading system.

Nintendo

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Nintendo's main press conference took place on June 5 at 9:00am in the Nokia Theatre. The company showed 23 Wii U titles, including first party games like Pikmin 3, and New Super Mario Bros. U, and third party games like Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition, Scribblenauts: Unlimited, and ZombiU. The company also showed more casual games, including Wii Fit U and Nintendo Land. On stage, Reggie Fils-Aimé stated "I feel just like a Purple Pikmin."[6]

The following day, June 6, Nintendo held a smaller "software showcase" conference based solely on the Nintendo 3DS, showcasing new content and games such as New Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. This was also the last traditional Nintendo E3 press conference as E3 2013 onwards would take the form of a Nintendo Direct (with the exception of E3 2016, which only had Nintendo Treehouse Live).

List of notable exhibitors

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2K Games

Activision

Atlus

Bethesda Softworks[7]

Bohemia Interactive

Capcom

Disney Interactive Studios

Electronic Arts

Harmonix

Konami

LucasArts

Microsoft

Namco Bandai

Nintendo

Sega

Sony

Square Enix

Tecmo Koei

THQ

TT Games

Ubisoft

Warner Brothers Entertainment

  • Note: This is THQ's last E3 appearance before it was filed for Bankruptcy.

References

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  1. ^ "Spike TV and GameTrailers E3 All Access 2012 Coverage Explained". GameTrailers.com. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "Experience the 2012 E3 Show Live in PlayStation Home – PlayStation Blog". Blog.us.playstation.com. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  3. ^ "E3 2012: Xbox: Entertainment Evolved press conference can be watched on Spike or Xbox Live | GamerTell". Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  4. ^ "Xbox Press Center". Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  5. ^ Microsoft unveils Xbox Music | E3 2012 - CNET Reviews
  6. ^ "I feel just like a Purple Pikmin quote". Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br "E3 2012: The Big Games List". IGN. June 1, 2013. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012.
  8. ^ Dutka, Ben (June 5, 2012). "Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two Earns November Launch Date". PSXExtreme.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  9. ^ Martin, Liam (June 7, 2012). "E3 2012: 'Epic Mickey 2: Power of Illusion' releasing November". Digital Spy. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  10. ^ "Star Wars 1313, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 titles leaked ahead of E3 announcements". Joystiq. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  11. ^ Ishaan (June 6, 2012). "Big Screenshots Of New Little King's Story From E3". Siliconera.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  12. ^ Ishaan (June 6, 2012). "Silent Hill: Book of Memories Trailer Shows Overhead Multiplayer". Siliconera.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  13. ^ "Game & Wario (working title) : Nintendo All-Access @ E3 2012". e3.nintendo.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  14. ^ Brown, Nathan (May 31, 2012). "E3 2012: what to expect". Edge. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013.
  15. ^ Road to E3: New Super Mario Bros. 2 - IGN
  16. ^ "Nintendo Network at E3 2012 - Games". Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  17. ^ The Nintendo 3DS at E3 2012 – IGN
  18. ^ McWhertor, Michael (June 6, 2012). "Project P-100 for Wii U saves E3 with a pint-sized team of avengers". The Verge. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  19. ^ "Nintendo Network at E3 2012 - Games". Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  20. ^ "'Hatsune Miku' bringing synthesized vocal music gaming to North American Vita (update: not announced for North America)". Joystiq. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014.
  21. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (June 6, 2012). "Um, Animal Crossing? Where Are You?". Kotaku. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  22. ^ Ishaan (June 5, 2012). "Square Enix's Demons' Score Is... An On-Rails Rhythm Shooter For Phones". Siliconera.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  23. ^ Ishaan (June 5, 2012). "The Mystery Of Square Enix's Drakerider Solved, It's An iOS Game". Siliconera.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  24. ^ Spencer (June 7, 2012). "If You're A Fan Of Final Fantasy V, You Might Dig Final Fantasy Dimensions". Siliconera.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  25. ^ E3 2012: South Park: The Stick of Truth Revealed - IGN
  26. ^ French, Michael. "LEGO Lord of the Rings video game confirmed by new toy sets | Games industry news | MCV". Mcvuk.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  27. ^ "Innovation Unveiled – Confirmed Games To Be Shown at E3 2012". Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  28. ^ Batchelor, James. "VIDEO: LEGO Lord of the Rings finally announced | Games industry news | MCV". Mcvuk.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  29. ^ [1][dead link]