Intrigue grows regarding Electronic Arts' E3 presentation

(All rights reserved - LucasArts)

Electronic Arts, who have a huge roster of annual sports games to draw upon for their presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 14, are expected to make some intriguing announcements, especially those fleshing out the details on exciting new partnerships with studios Insomniac ( Ratchet & Clank) and Respawn (ex- Modern Warfare 2 staff).

Insomniac's output had only been made for the PlayStation 1, 2, and 3, but late in May they announced a deal with Electronic Arts that means they will be developing games for both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Their Ratchet & Clank games have been full of lively and appealing characters and the studio are expected to bring that same vitality to Xbox 360 - though they may opt for more mature material, given their experience with the alien invasions of the Resistance games.

Respawn Entertainment signed up to a similar publishing deal with EA earlier this year, and were started up by two veterans of the Modern Warfare series after they became disgruntled with publishing giant and EA rival Activision.

Though hopes of a Respawn appearance at E3 were dampened by EA big-wig David DeMartini, Respawn themselves have since started dropping hints about their presence at the video games Expo. In addition, EA also have a reboot to the Medal of Honor franchise scheduled for an October release.

G4TV, who are the official broadcaster for the event, have been impressed enough by the company's new massively multiplayer PC game Star Wars: The Old Republic to devote considerable airtime to it once the show starts.

Also expected during and following the EA event are videos, screenshots, and release dates for shooters Bulletstorm, Crysis 2, and Dead Space 2, the new Wii-friendly NBA Jam, The Sims on console, the web-based racing game Need For Speed: World Online and trailers for all the soccer, American football, ice hockey and golf games that are regularly remade.

EA are due to take to the stage at 2pm PDT (11pm for Europeans) on June 14. Though E3 is a press-only event, the following games websites will be carrying live presentations from EA and other companies throughout:

G4TV - http://e3.g4tv.com
GameSpot - http://e3.gamespot.com
GameTrailers - http://www.gametrailers.com/e3