• NEWS: Microsoft has announced ‘A New Generation’ of Xbox will be announced at a conference on May 21. The event, to he hosted by Don Mattrick and held at Microsoft’s Redmond campus in Washington, will be streamed live. Microsoft’s Larry Hyrb says the event will ‘share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future’. He continues, ’19-days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we’ll continue the conversation and showcase our full line-up of blockbuster games’.
• NEWS: Breaking with the usual trend, Nintendo has opted not to hold a major press conference at this year’s E3. Via its financial result briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explains; ‘We decided not to host a large-scale presentation targeted at everyone in the international audience where we announce new information as we did in the past. Instead, at the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media.’ E3 2013 will primary be about showcasing Nintendo’s new games, Iwata says. ‘At E3 this year, we are not planning to launch new hardware, and our main activity at E3 will be to announce and have people experience our software.’
• VIDEO: Capcom has debuted a multiplayer trailer for Lost Planet 3.

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• NEWS: Capcom’s Okami Twitter is teasing a new announcement for next week. Translated by Gematsu, it reads: ‘Hello, this is Okami news. Sorry I’ve been kind of out of touch lately, but I have the feeling we’ll be able to drop a fresh announcement like WHAM! around the beginning of Golden Week, so please look forward to it. Right now we’re on track with preparations.’
• NEWS: Recently announced Batman: Arkham Origins may include a multiplayer mode, reports Kotaku.
• VIDEO: Sega and Creative Assembly have released a walkthrough for Rome 2: Total War.

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• NEWS: UK retailer Tesco temporarily uploaded PS3 and Xbox 360 cover art for Call of Duty: Ghosts, seemingly the next instalment in the FPS franchise. The cover bears the logo of developer Infinity Ward. An advertisement in an upcoming Target catalogue appears to corroborate its authenticity.
• NEWS: Sony Computer Entertinament has filed a trademark for ‘The Order: 1886’. NeoGAF sleuths point to possible new IP from Killzone developer Guerrila.
• VIDEO: Dragon’s Crown, set for release on PS3 and PS Vita in the US on August 6, can be seen in action in a new gameplay trailer.

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