EA peppers E3 presentation with release dates
New Insomniac title Overstrike announced alongside ME3, Battlefield 3 street date confirmations
EA has announced the street dates for a number of titles in its forthcoming catalogue, including Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3 and a loose date for Need For Speed:The Run.
Opening the show was Mass Effect, which was demoed on stage in a searing section showing Shepherd taking on a giant Reaper. The strategic shooter RPG will be in shops on 6 March, 2012.
Battlefield 3, EA's answer to Activision's CoD juggernaut and a heavy presence at the show, will be with consumers on 25 October this year.
"We are proud to finally open the curtains and reveal Battlefield 3. The core development team has been together since 2005. We've grown together, taken some knocks together and now, we're ready to take first person shooters to a whole new level, together," said Patrick Bach, executive producer.
No specific date was given for the Frostbite 2 powered Need For Speed: The Run, which also features free-running on-foot sections, but the racing title is scheduled for this calendar year.
Peter Moore also announced that extreme snowboarding title SSX will be in shops next January, before moving on to an exposition of some of FIFA 12's animation sequences and new social features including a cloud-powered online service. Madden also got considerable stage time, alongside several NFL all-star athletes.
Insomniac also premiered its new title during the conference: the four player shooter Overstrike. Whilst the game is the first multi-platform offering for a studio long associated with Sony, there will familiar studio hallmarks present.
"Overstrike presents a unique blend of features that have long been a part of the Insomniac DNA: high powered gadgets, action-heavy gameplay, memorable characters in a deep and mysterious universe and of course a touch of humour," said founder and CEO Ted Price.
Kurt Schilling's 38 Studios showed a demonstration of forthcoming fantasy title Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, although didn't specify beyond a 2012 release date.
Showing the company's commitment to social gaming was The Sims: Social, a Facebook game which was presented with a few heavy digs at Zynga's Farmville.