E3 rumor control: what to expect next week

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, one of the video game industry’s largest trade shows, is just around the corner.

That means that the web is inundated with a huge number of rumors about what new releases might be announced next week and what to expect from some of the industry’s biggest players. VentureBeat is here to keep score of some of the more popular rumors that are swimming around, and we’ll note which ones have since been confirmed or busted.

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CONFIRMED — Activision is releasing a premium subscription-based Call of Duty game: The Call of Duty Elite social network will work as a layer on top of other Call of Duty games, including the company’s next title, Modern Warfare 3.

UNCONFIRMED — Grand Theft Auto V will make its debut at E3: It’s been about three years since the last Grand Theft Auto game, which is one of Take Two’s most popular franchises. The last iteration in the franchise shipped around 15 million units, and Take Two has been struggling financially, according to its last earnings report. The company might be forced to release another triple-A title like Grand Theft Auto V if it wants to remain competitive.

BUSTED — Microsoft will cut the price of the Xbox 360: There were some early reports that Microsoft would cut the price of its Xbox 360 bundle, which includes the motion-sensing controller, Kinect, by $100. The company responsible for the rumor, Target, later backpedaled and said it priced the console incorrectly, which started the rumor. And, seriously, if you had one of the top-selling devices on Amazon and among other retailers, would you really leave money on the table by dropping the price?

UNCONFIRMED — A new Halo game might be in the works: We’re nearing the 10th anniversary of the Halo series, which has become a staple of Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft’s in-house studio 343 Industries has said it has something special planned for the anniversary. We might also hear about the next game from Bungie, which was originally responsible for the Halo series.

CONFIRMED — Nintendo will announce a new console: Nintendo confirmed it has a new console on the way, which the company will debut at E3 this year. Nintendo’s last console, the Wii, sold more than 86 million units. The console is rumored to have a touchscreen and camera on the controller and will not have a hard drive.

UNCONFIRMED — Sony will announce the release date, price and more details about its Next Generation Portable: The company’s next portable console carries some pretty formidable hardware and is a bet that hardcore gamers still want to get the most out of their devices. Several games released by Konami, which are slated for 2012, will also appear on the NGP along with PS3 release counterparts — indicating the console should come out sometime next year. That means we might finally see a release date and some additional details about the device, which VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi got a chance to try out.

BUSTED — Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima’s will announce his next game: Kojima said at a pre-E3 Konami event he would not be attending E3 this year so he could spend time working on his next project, which will remain unannounced. The new game, however, will feature a brand new game and graphics engine built from the ground up by Konami.

UNCONFIRMED — Sony and Microsoft will announce new consoles: There were reports that an initial version of Microsoft’s next console was already present somewhere in Electronic Arts — which threw some water on reports that the consoles would not come out until 2014. With Nintendo set to announce a new console, there’s a good chance Microsoft and Sony will want to steal some of the company’s thunder.

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BUSTED — Konami will announced a release date for Metal Gear Rising: Metal Gear Rising, the next spin-off from the Metal Gear Solid series, will not be coming out this year. Fans won’t get a final release date either, as the game is still planned for release some time next year, series creator Kojima said at a pre-E3 Konami event.

UNCONFIRMED — Nintendo might announce a new Zelda title: Nintendo registered the game “Zelda Universe” with the Electronic Software Rating Board. The company might announce the game at E3 next week for the franchise’s 20th anniversary. The new Zelda title could also be a launch title for Nintendo’s next console.

Stay tuned to VentureBeat next week for all the top news from E3!

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