14 DAY TRIAL // E3 is a busy, busy event and news regarding the "big three" - that is, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft - is likely to dominate the coverage. Activision will most likely also get a few minutes in the spotlight, as it's organizing a press conference at the same time, even though not as part of E3 itself. But smaller companies, such as the France-based publisher Ubisoft, also have interesting things to show, like an upcoming adventure title and a whole new lineup of casual-oriented games.
The most important announcement was that I Am Alive, a survival game, had been shown via a brief trailer. The game was rumored to be in pre-production for some time, with Assassin's Creed point-man... err, woman, Jade Raymond, also taking the lead on this project. I Am Alive seems to be set in the beautiful city of Chicago, which was affected by an unspecified disaster that leveled much of it. The game protagonist will need to survive in the hostile environment created by the disaster, while also trying to help other survivors and get out of the affected area. It seems that Darkworks will handle development duties on this game.
There was also a brief demonstration of Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party, which was announced earlier in the year and will arrive in November on both the Wii and the Nintendo DS. The game will make good use of the newly introduced Balance Board.
The Nintendo Wii lineup will also contain games like Fashion Party and Party Babyz, titles that are all aimed at the casual audience. Games like Monkeyz and Petz Sportz are also set to join the Imagine series later in 2008, or in early 2009.
The Nintendo DS is also an interesting platform for Ubisoft, and it announced a series of games for it, under the Ener-G label, which will be aimed at girl gamers and will include titles like Adventure Riders, Dance Squad and Gym Rockets.