Lionhead Studios Countdown

UPDATE: The countdown is at zero at 12.42am on Wednesday; August, 19, 2009 and on the left banner where there was previously just bullet holes, there is some blood spatter added to mix if you wait for a bit. Somehow I am disinclined to believe that this will be a Fable 3 announcement. I am beginning to believe that this is for a new IP.

A few days ago quotes from famous revolutionaries (Joan of Arc, Che Guevara) have been posted as the main splash page on Lionhead's website in the form of a countdown. As you can see to the right, there is one day left until the big announcement.

Speculation on this Joystiq's part include a Game of the Year edition of Fable 2... which would be a silly thing to have a countdown for or perhaps an early Fable 3 announcement (this is naturally what I am hoping for). Perhaps it could be the official announcement for the Milo Project which as you know from E3 involved the Project Natal camera (though this is probably not the case).

If you navigate to their site by way of the thumbs up or thumbs down buttons the left banner on the site is ridden with, what look like, bullet holes (does smoke curl from any other type of holes?). If anyone has any idea what this could be, you know where to post it. Fable 2 had guns, right? What other Lionhead projects had guns? Is this something entirely new?

E309: Halo 3: ODST gameplay video and Halo: Reach teaser thoughts

I have been mildly excited for H3: ODST for a while now. I have not been able to fully decide how I feel about it considering I am only buying it for the campaign experience (and now Firefight). I always play new multiplayer maps when they come out but that is none of the reason that I have become excited for ODST.

Having seen the gameplay trailer I feel differently about the game now. I can see what is being done different and I like it. I like how everything looks different through an ODST's eyes and I think the slower paced gameplay is going to be a welcome addition to the series and to my trigger finger.

The Firefight mode looks good but I do hope that it ends up being more than just a glorified version of Horde. It could just be more fun and I think I would be okay with it.

Next on the docket is Halo: Reach and seeing as we only got a teaser trailer I am curious as to what type of game it is going to be. Will it be the same standard FPS view or are we going to see what else Bungie can handle? Is it going to take place on the ships above Reach or is it going to take place on the planets surface? Am I going to be Master Chief and watch my fellow Spartans die? I am curious as to what this beta that comes with ODST will be (will it be multiplayer or campaign) but it is just another reason for me to pick up ODST. This is a long shot but maybe it is a Halo MMO although I do not know exactly how the mechanics of that would work. And with that I will leave you to your devices. FPS MMO, just saying... okay I'm done.

My E3 Rumor & Speculation

When it comes to games expos I honestly am only ever really looking forward to the Xbox news. It is in my nature (it just gets me giddy inside); I have attached all of my caring to that console. I know that there will probably be decent enough iPhone and Ninendo DS announcements but I will not care about them until I hear them.

So having you understand that the only expectations that you are going to see here are 360 in nature I'll just get this show on the road. Naturally I assume that we are all going to see some things from Mass Effect 2, Halo 3: ODST, Modern Warfare 2, Brutal Legend, Dead Rising 2, Bad Company 2, maybe that Mass Effect iPhone game, etc.

What I really want to talk about is what we are not expecting. Could we see a bigger hard drive for the 360? It seems the most likely of any announcement. We have the ability to copy games to our hard drive and my and I am sure most other's Rock Band song collection is growing and that requires a lot of space. Let's not forget the video marketplace. With all of these things together it seems more than likely that we will see a bigger hard drive unveiled at E3.

Rumors have also been swirling again (like in a circle, get it?) on a motion controller so that could be something (albeit something I do not care about).

And last of my speculations: Could we see a slimmer 360 since we may see a slimmer PS3 this year? Who knows?

What kind of announcments are you anticipating?