E3 2011: EA Press Conference

Bioware's Mass Effect 3 is doing big business at E3 this year, making an appearance at EA's press conference with a new gameplay trailer and a confirmed release date (3-6-12) just hours after being trotted out at Microsoft's press conference to showcase new voice commands using Microsoft Kinect.

Guys, Battlefield 3 is coming out on October 25, 2011! That's two weeks before competitor Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hits stores, and it was the biggest Battlefield 3 news to come out of the EA press conference. Also, it looks like two new characters from the single-player campaign will be playable at E3: a Russian undercover agent fighting through Paris and a Marine Corporal battling PLR militia in the deserts of Tehran.

EA announced the next Need for Speed title during Monday's press conference, and it boasts a new take on racing that might trip you up: foot chases. Need for Speed: The Run will occasionally force players out of their car between or even during high-speed races and force them to outrun the authorities on foot by quickly tapping buttons in accordance with on-screen prompts. The game will be released on November 15, 2011 and will feature a voiced protagonist on a cross-country race from San Francisco to New York.

Overstrike is the first multi-platform title from Insomniac Games, an acclaimed studio known for the Ratchet & Clank games. It's a light-hearted take on the secret agent schtick featuring four rogue agents battling a shadowy evil organization with gadgets and guns. There are four unique members of the Overstrike 9 team: an ex-merc, a thief, a hardened detective and a fresh-faced young scientist. The game will feature four-player co-op play, though when it will be available and whether it will be a digital download or full retail product is still a mystery.

EA announced almost no new information about BioWare's upcoming Star Wars MMO, but they did show another neat trailer that got us really excited. The trailer took time to highlight the features intended to set The Old Republic apart from the pack of subscription-based MMO games, including cinematic storytelling, heroic combat and companion characters. We'll have a chance to get our hands on the actual game later this week, so check back for more details!

It wouldn't be an EA press conference without a slew of sports titles, but the debut of FIFA 12 still managed to impress us thanks to a painfully realistic "player impact" injury system that employs real-world physics models to ensure players who trip and crash into each other suffer realistic injuries. The social side of the game is also getting beefed up, with global leaderboards and stat tracking as well as an option to fly the flag of your favorite football club, compete against their rivals and even tackle challenges taken from real-world football headlines.

EA is bringing back the stylishly goofy SSX series of snowboarding games, but the trailer we saw during the press conference suggests the new game may take itself too seriously as surprisingly realistic snowboarders leapt from helicopters into a series of death-defying snowboard challenges. The footage we saw during the conference boasted the headline "Race It, Trick It, Survive It," so hopefully there will be multiple ways to play when it comes out later this year.

The 15 Hottest Games and Gaming Hardware of E3 2011