The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 (E3 2012) was the 18th E3 held. The event took place at the

Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center in the southwest section of downtown Los Angeles. It hosts multiple annual conventions and has often been used as a filming location in TV shows and movies. History The convention center, ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It began on June 5, 2012, and ended on June 7, 2012, with 45,700 total attendees. It was televised on

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

and streamed online to computers, mobile devices,

PlayStation Home PlayStation Home was a virtual 3D social networking, social gaming platform developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) on the PlayStation Network (PSN). It was accessible from the PS3's XrossMediaBar (XM ...

and on

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...

via

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's application.E3 2012: Xbox: Entertainment Evolved press conference can be watched on Spike or Xbox Live , GamerTell
/ref> This was the last event to be broadcast by G4 along with being the last one to feature a physical press conference by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

which mainly focused on games that were coming to the then upcoming

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

video game console that launched later that year and was later considered to be a commercial failure.

Press conferences

Prior to the show, several companies made announcements regarding their products. Nintendo unveiled a new design for the

controller, known now as the

Wii U GamePad The Wii U GamePad is the standard game controller for Nintendo's Wii U home video game console. Incorporating traits from tablet computers, the GamePad has traditional input methods (such as buttons, dual analog sticks, and a D-pad), touchscreen ...

, along with a slightly modified console. Each of the three major console producers have also held or planned press conferences.

Konami

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

held its 2nd annual pre-E3 show on May 31.

Microsoft

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

's press conference took place on June 4 at 9:30am in the

Galen Center The Galen Center is a multipurpose indoor arena and athletic facility owned and operated by the University of Southern California. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park (Los Angeles), Exp ...

. It was known as "Xbox: Entertainment Evolved," in the vein of '' Halo: Combat Evolved''. It was streamed on Xbox Live and played live on

SPIKE TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

. At the conference the company showed footage from upcoming sequels ''

Halo 4 ''Halo 4'' is a 2012 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. ''Halo 4''s story follows a cybernetically enhanced human supersoldier, Master Chief, a ...

'', '' Call of Duty: Black Ops II'', and ''

Resident Evil 6 ''Resident Evil 6'' is a 2012 third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. A major installment in the ''Resident Evil'' series, ''Resident Evil 6'' was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October 2012, and for W ...

''. It also showed new entries in classic franchises, including the games ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, th ...

'', ''

Forza Horizon ''Forza Horizon'' is a 2012 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 on 23 October 2012. The game is the fifth instalment of the '' Forza'' series, having originally spun-off from Turn ...

'', '' South Park: The Stick of Truth'', and many others. It also announced new intellectual property, including '' Ascend: New Gods'' and ''

LocoCycle ''LocoCycle'' is a motorcycle racing video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games and published by Microsoft Studios. Originally announced as an Xbox Live Arcade title at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012, ''LocoCycle'' was released in Novembe ...

''. The company expanded its

Kinect Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB cameras, and infrared projectors and detectors that map depth through either structured light or time of flig ...

lineup with several new titles. Entertainer Usher made an appearance to demonstrate the ''

Dance Central 3 ''Dance Central 3'' is the third game in the ''Dance Central'' series. It was revealed at E3 2012 at the Microsoft Conference. It was released on October 16 in the US, Canada and South America and October 19 everywhere else. Gameplay Gameplay has ...

'' dancing game. A castle-wrecking game called '' Wreckateer'' was also demonstrated. ''Matter'', an Xbox 360-exclusive title for the Kinect was also shown. Microsoft also unveiled expanded entertainment and multimedia features for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

. The company announced new sports content partnerships, including those with the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

to bring their content to the console.

Xbox Music Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music or Zune Music Pass) is a discontinued audio player software application included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The app is also associated with a now-discontinued music streaming service, Groo ...

was also revealed, which will carry the Xbox brand to Windows 8.Microsoft unveils Xbox Music , E3 2012 - CNET Reviews
/ref> The company unveiled

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Microsoft Wind ...

10 for the console, which can be controlled via tablet devices. The console maker also announced

Xbox SmartGlass The Xbox app is an app for Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, Android, iOS and Tizen. It acts as a companion app for Xbox video game consoles, providing access to Xbox network community features, remote control, as well as second screen functi ...

, a technology designed to allow play experiences from mobile devices, including those running

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for downl ...

and

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design la ...

operating systems.

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

took the stage on June 4 at 1:00pm, showcasing ten titles or families of titles. Included were games such as ''

Crysis 3 ''Crysis 3'' is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third game of the ''Crysis'' series, a sequel to the 2011 video game ''Crysis 2''. The multiplayer portion of the game was d ...

'', ''

Dead Space 3 ''Dead Space 3'' is a 2013 survival horror action video game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the third and final main entry in the ''Dead Space'' series. The ...

'', '' Medal of Honor: Warfighter'', '' Need for Speed: Most Wanted'' and '' ''SimCity''''.

Ubisoft

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

held a press conference on June 4 at 3:00pm, showing many titles including ''

Assassin's Creed III ''Assassin's Creed III'' is a 2012 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and Microsoft Windows. It is the fifth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series ...

'', ''

Far Cry 3 ''Far Cry 3'' is a 2012 first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the third main installment in the ''Far Cry'' series after ''Far Cry 2''. The game takes place on the fictional Rook Islands, a tro ...

'', ''

Just Dance 4 ''Just Dance 4'' is a 2012 music rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft as the fourth main installment of the ''Just Dance'' series. Announced at E3 2012 by Flo Rida and Aisha Tyler, it was released on the Wii, the Wii U, the PlayStatio ...

'', ''

Rayman Legends ''Rayman Legends'' is a platform video game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. It is the fifth main title in the ''Rayman'' series and the direct sequel to the 2011 game ''Rayman Origins''. The game was released for Mi ...

'', '' Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist'', ''

Watch Dogs ''Watch Dogs'' (stylized as ''WATCH_DOGS'') is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Ubisoft, and developed primarily by its Montreal and Toronto studios using the Disrupt game engine. The series' eponymous first title was rel ...

'' and ''

ZombiU ''ZombiU'' is a first-person survival horror video game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. It was released for the Wii U as one of its launch games in November 2012. In the game, the player assumes control of a human ...

''.

Sony

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

's press conference took place on June 4 at 6:00pm at the

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park (Los Angeles), Exposition Park, in the University Park, Los Angeles, University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial ...

. Sony and its partners showcased existing titles, including first party games such as '' God of War: Ascension'', ''

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale ''PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale'' is a 2012 crossover fighting video game developed by SuperBot Entertainment, in conjunction with Bluepoint Games, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It features various characters drawn from dif ...

'' and ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. ' ...

'' and third party games such as ''

'' and ''

''. Sony also announced a new title called '' Beyond: Two Souls''. Sony provided updates on the PlayStation Suite mobile framework, renaming it to

PlayStation Mobile PlayStation Mobile (formerly PlayStation SuiteHinkle, David. (2012-06-04 HTC is first partner for 'PlayStation Mobile,' the new name for PlayStation Suite pdate: Press release added Joystiq. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.) was a software framework us ...

and adding HTC as a partner. It also unveiled the Wonderbook augmented reality reading system.

Nintendo

's main press conference took place on June 5 at 9:00am in the Nokia Theatre. The company showed 23 Wii U titles, including first party games like ''

Pikmin 3 ''Pikmin 3'' is a real-time strategy and puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U video game console. It is the sequel to the GameCube games ''Pikmin'' (2001) and ''Pikmin 2'' (2004), and was released in Japan on July ...

'', and ''

New Super Mario Bros. U is a 2D computer graphics, 2D side-scrolling video game, side-scrolling platform video game developed and published in 2012 by Nintendo as a launch game for the Wii U. It is the fourth entry in the New Super Mario Bros. (series), ''New Super Mar ...

'', and third party games like '' Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition'', '' Scribblenauts: Unlimited'', and ''

''. The company also showed more casual games, including ''

Wii Fit U ''Wii Fit U'' is an exergaming video game developed by Nintendo for the Wii U console, and is the successor to the Wii games ''Wii Fit'' and ''Wii Fit Plus''. ''Wii Fit U'' utilizes both the Wii Balance Board and the Wii U GamePad in gameplay, an ...

'' and ''

Nintendo Land is a party video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Wii U home video game console in 2012. The game was first announced at E3 2012 during Nintendo's press conference. ''Nintendo Land'' features twelve m ...

''. The following day, June 6, Nintendo held a smaller "software showcase" conference based solely on the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

, showcasing new content and games such as '' New Super Mario Bros. 2'', '' Paper Mario: Sticker Star'' and '' Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon''. This was also the last traditional Nintendo E3 press conference as

E3 2013 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 (E3 2013) was the 19th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California with many press conferences taking place at nearby venues including the Microsoft Theater ...

onwards (with the exception of

E3 2016 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 (E3 2016) was the 22nd E3, during which several hardware manufacturers and software developers and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily re ...

, which only had Nintendo Treehouse Live) would just be a

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began i ...

List of notable exhibitors

List of featured games

*Note: This is THQ's last E3 appearance before it was filed for Bankruptcy.

References

{{Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 in Los Angeles 2012 in video gaming

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

June 2012 events in the United States