E3 2012 Roundup: What we thought and all the links
The 17th annual E3, or Electronic Entertainment Expo, has come and gone. Flashy trailers were shown, lofty promises were made and copious amounts of body odor were expelled. Being my first-ever E3, it was a pleasant experience--the sights, sounds and scoops were a marvel to behold. But as far as social, mobile and casual games are concerned, even I was able to take a step back from the glitz and glamor to take note of the bigger (or smaller) picture.
Mobile, social, and casual were all a much bigger deal at this year's E3 than ever before. Facebook games like Puzzle Chasers had their very own booth displays and even big-time developers such as Insomniac Games were present to show off their social games. Hell, GREE had one of the biggest booths of any developer at the show with over 25 mobile games, one of which was on display inside of a gutted-out convertible.
Even so, social and mobile gaming still wasn't as big a deal as it could (or should) have been. Sure, E3 is a show traditionally reserved for all things "hardcore", but If its effect on the industry at large were represented at scale, then Zynga would have had a booth comparable to EA's, which was front and center in the South Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center last week. At any rate, social, mobile and casual showed its growing stripes at this year's E3, and we were there to cover the best and brightest. In case you missed it, here are the highlights:
June 4th:
SimCity Social talks a big a game of 'more city, less ville'
Madden NFL Social tries the play again this fall on Facebook
June 5th:
Disney's City Girl, Disney's Ghosts of Mistwood, Mobster's Criminal Empire hit Facebook this summer
Square Enix gets award-winning board game to Facebook, mobile
June 6th:
June 7th:
[DL Image Credit: Engadget]
What did you think of this year's E3? What were your favorites or duds from the show? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
