E3 2011 Preview

In one week, Microsoft and Sony will have their pre-E3 press conferences. There, the future of gaming for the next year will be started with a whole new cycle. Last year, the notables were made up of Microsoft's Kinect, Nintendo's official unveling of the 3DS and a slew of games scheduled for release that solidified Nintendo's dominance in the market, Sony's Move, which has not fared as well as Kinect, and the Epic Trifecta: Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, and Mass Effect 3 (although now ME3 has been delayed to 2012).

This year, Nintendo is expected to reveal details of its new console, code-named "Project Café," announce details of its first online game, Zelda Universe, and give information on Mario's first adventure on the 3DS. Microsoft is rumored to announce its successor to the Xbox 360 and possibly also reveal some games, but no one is expecting them to be games exclusive to the 360. Sony is expected to give details on its "Next Generation Portable" which hopes to be the successor to the surprisingly successful PSP. A name and final design are expected.

There's a lot of games slated to appear as well, either with new trailers or fully playable. Currently, this is the list of games confirmed to make an appearance at E3 after the break:

• 2k Games
•  Bioshock: Infinite (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Duke Nukem Forever (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Darkness II (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• XCOM (PC, Xbox 360)
• Activision
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Prototype 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Spider-Man: Edge of TIme (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• X-Men: Destiny (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Bethesda
• Prey 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
  
• Rage (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Capcom
• Asura's Wrath (PS3, Xbox 360)
• DmC Devil May Cry (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Megaman Legends 3 (3DS)
• Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS)
• Street Fighter X Tekken (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Deep Silver
• Dead Island (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Risen 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Electronic Arts
• Battlefield 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Mass Effect 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Need for Speed: The Run (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Shadows of the Damned (PS3, Xbox 360)
• SSX (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
• Konami
• Metal Gear Solid: Rising (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• SIlent Hill: Downpour (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Microsoft
• Forza Motorsport 4 (Xbox 360)
• Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)
• Namco Bandai
• Dark Souls (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Soulcalibur V (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Tekken X Street Fighter (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Nintendo
• Animal Crossing 3DS (3DS)
• Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS)
• Mario Kart 3DS (3DS)
• Paper Mario (3DS)
• Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)
• Super Mario (3DS)
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
• Project Café and games
• Sega
• Anarchy Reigns (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Binary Domain (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Sonic Generations (PS3, Xbox 360, 3DS)
• Sony
• Journery (PS3)
• Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (PS3) 
• Resistance 3 (PS3)
• Twisted Metal (PS3)
• Starhawk (PS3)
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)
• Square Enix
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Dungeon Siege III (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Hitman: Absolution (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS)
• Tomb Raider (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• THQ
• Devil's Third (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Red Faction: Armageddon (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2012 (DS, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, Sony's Next Generation Portable, PS2 ((seriously)), 3DS, Wii,)
• UFC Undisputed 2012 (Xbox 360, PS3)
• Tecmo Koei
• Ninja Gaiden III (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Ubisoft
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Call of Juarez: The Cartel (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Driver: San Francisco (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Just Dance 3 (Wii)
• From Dust (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Rayman Origins (PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Rocksmith (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (DS, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Trackmania 2 (PC)
• Warner Bros.
• Bastion(PC, Xbox 360)
• Batman: Arkham City (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

That's quite a lengthy list of games already confirmed to appear. A lot of these games have confirmed release dates too, so it remains to be seen what surprising developments will happen, similar to Valve's unexpected appearance at E3 to announce Portal 2 and Valve's newly found preference to the PS3 as a console. Last year, Nintendo unveiled a slew of games nobody expected, as well as a list of developers and games scheduled for release on the 3DS.

So what surprises are coming this year? Don't be too surprised if Microsoft does in fact announce a new console, if they announce a portable system to compete with the 3DS and NGP, and if they announce a 3rd party game that is exclusive to the 360 or their rumored new console. Don't be surprised if Nintendo gives out a hard release date of Skyward Sword, announces a Zelda game for the 3DS, and announces the first details on their 3DS Pokémon game. Don't be shocked if Sony gives out some more details on several exclusive games, including one by a 3rd party developer. I'll be posting Joystiq's E3 BINGO cards once they're made up.