Activision, Hip Games Announce E3 Lineups

Though E3 2005 is quickly approaching, a few companies have still yet to reveal their plans for the event. Activision and Hip Games are the latest two companies to announce the line-up of games they will display on the show floor during E3 2005, the largest gaming conference in North America. Activision's lineup capitalizes on its existing original properties as well as Marvel Comics licenses. Its Call of Duty WWII action series continues with Call of Duty 2, as well as Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, and the latest Tony Hawk game is revealed as Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, which adds BMX biking to the usual skateboarding the series is known for. The company's wholly-owned developer Treyarch follows up Spider Man 2 with Ultimate Spider-Man, based on the comic-book reboot by Brian Bendis, while 2004's X-Men Legends gets a sequel with X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. The Marvel properties are rounded out with Fantastic 4, based on the upcoming summer movie based on the comic. Activision also has Quake 4, a new FPS from developer Raven with the help of original franchise creator id Software, and The Movies, Peter Molyneux's latest sim-styled game. Finally, the Shrek property makes another appearance in Shrek SuperSlam, a 4-player fighting game based on PDI's Shrek movies. Hip Games' lineup is smaller, with four games scheduled to be displayed. A pair of horror titles, George A. Romero's City of the Dead and the oft-delayed Call of Cthulhu: Destiny's End make up its marquee games, while Ghost Wars, a real-time strategy game, and Rugby Challenge 2006 make up the rest of its lineup.