E3 2008 was on the whole a rather lame affair. A lot of what was shown was great of course, but given the number of brilliant-looking games currently teetering perilously close to release, we got a miserable amount of content in terms of new unveilings. You've no doubt by nowread a lot of articlesquestioning the future relevence of the show, and those articles have a good point, but we want to take a more positive angle on the whole situation.
You see, there is a great big hope on the horizon, and that hope is the Leipzig Games Convention, which happens next month in Germany. And these days it's bigger than the old E3.GamesRadar will be there, lapping up everything we can lap, and in preparation for the onslaught we've put together our predictions for the games we think just might turn up. If even half of this list turns out to be accurate, Leipzig could well cement itself as the number one games show this year. It's been growing in status and industry preference rapidly over the last couple of years, thanks to its massive scale and party atmosphere, and in 2008 there's a very real chance it could become the centre of the industry's calendar.
Aliens: Colonial Marines
We were clammering to get our hands on Gearbox's scarily faithful looking Aliens game at E3, but alas, Sega felt it needed "a little more time" before a large scale press showing. But Leipzig happens a little more time after E3, so here's hoping.
WipeOut HD
SCEE's favourite racing series showed off its neon-drenched, high-def update at last year's GC, so it can't be far off ready by now. And WipeOut is made in the UK, so it's not asking too much for the team to make a small trip over to Germany, is it?
Bungie's new (Halo?) game
After Microsoft pulled Bungie's new game (the smart money's on it being a newentry to the Halo series)from its E3 press conference at the last minute, the only reason it wouldn't turn up at Leipzig is if it was being saved for a special MS event.
Heavy Rain
Reportedly it was at E3, reserved for very select, behind-closed-doors audiences. The hype on this one has been quietly building since E3 2006 when it was first revealed.Leipzig would be the perfect place for the game's French developer, Quantic Dream, to give us a long overdue update.
Alan Wake
Alan Wake's series of no-shows is becoming a little tiresome now. But developer Remedy is based in Europe and its profile has been boosted a little recently by news of the Max Payne movie, so maybe now's the time. Remedy has recently quashed a rumour of regarding the game's appearance at the Tokyo Games Show, but nothing has been said either way about Leipzig.
Half-Life 2: Episode 3
Theartworkhas started to trickle through, the fanboys are going rabid, and yet still Valve didn't take Episode 3 to E3. PC gaming is traditionally a lot bigger in Europe though, so we'll be going to Leipzig with crowbars at the ready.
Doom 4
Okay, so this one is a bit of a long shot, but consider the following. id professes not to like talking about a new project until something is ready to show. Both John Carmack and Todd Hollenshead have been mentioning Doom 4 a lot in interviews lately. id is going to Leipzig, which is in Europe, hotbed of PC gaming.
Imps and demons. We demand our imps and demons.
Wolfenstein
Same deal as Doom 4, except that we've already had an E3 trailer. Demo please!
Timesplitters 4
TS4 is definitely coming from UK-based Free Radical Design, who could do with a crowd-pleasing hit after the ungodly mess of Haze. Showing off a new 'Splitters game would make us forget all about it in exactly 0.47 of a second.
Star Wars Battlefront 3
Star Wars Battlefront 3 is only rumoured, but the rumours are heavier than a concrete elephant, and we do know that Free Radical is working on a "secret Lucasarts project" at the moment.
