E3 2012: what to expect

The 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo kicks off next week, running from June 5 to 7 at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. As always, we'll have extensive, in-depth coverage of the conference and all the big announcements, but in the meantime here's our guide to some of the highlights we're expecting from the biggest event on the videogame calendar. All times are BST.

While the doors aren't flung open to the public until Tuesday, June 5, the action proper begins on Monday, with press conferences from two platform holders and some of the biggest publishers in the industry. Before that, though, is Konami's pre-E3 conference, to be broadcast globally at 6.30am tomorrow.

Expect a first look at Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance since development duties were passed to Bayonetta developer Platinum Games. The Zone Of The Enders HD Collection will surely be shown off, and we're hoping for a first glimpse of the new ZOE game which Hideo Kojima is producing. In terms of new announcements, we know of one new entry in a much-loved, long-running series, but our lips are sealed. (Okay, fine, it was Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow 2.)

Microsoft gets Monday started with its two-hour briefing, kicking off at 5.30pm. The company's spent much of the first half of the year shooting down claims that it's going to use its conference to unveil a successor to the Xbox 360; instead, a hardware price cut seems likely, though Microsoft may limit that to Kinect bundles. We're expecting most announcements to reflect the continued effort to reposition the system as more than simply a games console - meaning more media partnerships and, if the rumour mill is to believed, a Spotify-rivalling music service.

As far as games are concerned, expect to see 343 Industries' progress on Halo 4, and a fresh look at Playground Games' Forza Horizon. Expect Call Of Duty to feature: Microsoft's DLC exclusivity deal expires at the end of the year so it seems likely they'll wheel out Treyarch to show off Black Ops II. It's also got first dibs on Skyrim's debut DLC, Dawnguard, so expect to see that running too. In an Olympic year, a new Kinect Sports seems like a no-brainer, and there's bound to be a host of other Kinect announcements too. Let's just hope the conference isn't as dominated by Microsoft's motion sensor as it was last year.

At 9pm, Electronic Arts' press conference kicks off. The ever-leaky Sony has already outed the COD: Elite-riffing Battlefield Premium, which rumours say will launch when the conference closes. Sticking with the military theme will be the most lazily named game of the year in Medal Of Honor: Warfighter, before we fast forward a few decades to the dystopian New York of Crysis 3.

Expect big things for the FIFA series, which is leading EA's foray into multiplatform gaming, and a look at Maxis' upcoming SimCity reboot. Let's just hope they switch off its always-on DRM to avoid falling foul of that notoriously flakey E3 WiFi. And as fond as we are of Solitaire Blitz, we'd like to see something new from PopCap, too.

From there we head over to Ubisoft's conference at 11pm. Assassin's Creed III heads the publisher's lineup, of course, and we'll also get to see how Far Cry 3 is shaping up, and how Rainbow 6: Patriots is faring following the departure of several of the original project leads. Rumour has it there'll be a new Splinter Cell, too. These days, Ubisoft strives to always be the top publisher at console launches, and has promised trailers for all its Wii U games, including Ghost Recon Online and Rayman Legends.

Rounding off the day's proceedings is Sony, whose continued insistence on holding its conference at the end of the day so it can get everyone drunk afterwards means it doesn't start until 2am UK time. Expect David Cage's new game, a good look at The Last Of Us and God Of War: Ascension, and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. We met that announcement with furrowed brows, admittedly, but developer SuperBot has several respected competitive fighting game players on board and it could be one of the surprises of the show.

Like Microsoft, Sony is likely to focus on services: a revamped PlayStation Plus, a cloud gaming deal which could steal the show and if we're lucky - please, God, let us be lucky - an overhauled PlayStation Store. But it simply has to focus heavily on Vita. Sony's new handheld is struggling badly in Japan and faring little better in the west, and the release slate for the coming months is worryingly bare. Vita needs games, and quickly, and there's no better place to announce new titles than E3.

Then, shortly after 5pm on Tuesday, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata will take to the stage and show off the final Wii U hardware. Nintendo is frustratingly - okay, commendably - good at keeping secrets, so we've honestly no idea what to expect from the new console. Instead, here's a wish-list: a 3D Mario from EAD Tokyo; Pikmin 3; F-Zero; and something truly, genuinely new. On 3DS, expect Luigi's Mansion 2, Animal Crossing 3DS, New Super Mario Bros 2, and a few surprises.

With Nintendo's conference out of the way, the doors open to the public, and it's time to actually get our hands on some of the most anticipated games of the year. Will we see anything of Grand Theft Auto V? With Rockstar's plans shrouded in secrecy, only time will tell. We'll also be keeping a watchful eye on two companies making their first ever appearances at E3: Zynga, the king of Facebook gaming; and Gree, the monied Japanese mobile gaming company.

E3 has always been about games in boxes on retailer shelves, but with those two on board, and Microsoft and Sony seemingly set to focus on services as much as software, 2012 could be a watershed year for the biggest conference in videogames. We'll be there throughout, with news, interviews and analysis from the show floor, and you'll even be able to watch the three main conferences live right here on Edge Online. To keep on top of it all, we suggest you bookmark our E3 2012 topic page.