E3 rumour roundup

E3 2012, that super slick video game extravaganza is hurtling towards us like a bat out of hell. There’s plench rumours about what we can expect from the world’s biggest gaming expo. We’ve got our top five (and pretty plausible) rumours, ranging from most likely to “hell no”. This is the Gear’s opinion, so don’t shoot the messenger.

• Sony price cuts — E3 and the console price war are pretty much synonymous and for gamers it’s always a good thing. Simply put, we’ll see more affordable consoles. It’s very likely that Sony will drop the price of the PS3 in the lead up to the release of the PS4 plus we might see a cut-price PS3 bundled with a Vita, too. Mouthwatering stuff.

•  Games for iPad — We know that Square Enix, developers of the new Final Fantasy Dimensions and Stainless Games, developers of the digital version of Magic The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 13, will be taking on the iPad generation at E3 2012. We think it’s likely that we’re going to see more mobile gaming offerings at the expo this year than ever before. With Apple making US$500m a quarter from iPad cover sales alone, developers would be wise to focus on the platform.

• The return of old favourites — We’d really like to see Grand Theft Auto V and the next iteration of Splinter Cell make an appearance at E3 this year. It’s practically a lock. These titles are shit-hot money spinners for the game developers.

• Unbelievable PS4 specs — It’s very unlikely that Sony will use E3 to confirm the current rumours that the PS4 will boast a whopping 20GB of RAM, pack a 3.2 GHz CPU and offer 1080p 3D HD graphics. Very unlikely, but not completely impossible in a parallel universe. We’re setting out sights a little lower though.

• The next-gen Xbox — Microsoft spokesperson David Dennis told Bloomberg back in March that the next-gen Xbox wouldn’t be revealed in 2013, let alone this year, so the rumour that Microsoft will have an announcement to make about it at E3 really shouldn’t be doing the rounds anymore.