In advance of E3, Square-Enix announced a slew of titles that will be on display at the upcoming show including Sleeping Dogs, Hitman Absolution, and Quantum Conundrum, and truckload of iOS and portable titles. More details below:

HD Consoles and PC Lineup

Quantum Conundrum
Platform: Windows PC, PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft
Developer: Airtight Games
ESRB: E (Everyone)
Available: June 21 for Windows PC, Summer for PlayStation 3 system and Xbox 360
From the mind of PORTAL™ co-creator Kim Swift, Quantum Conundrum features engaging puzzle gameplay with the introduction of the Inter-Dimensional Shift Device (IDS), an invention that gives players the ability to shift to and from various dimensions, manipulating the world around them in order to solve puzzles of ever-increasing difficulty.
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Coming to Playstation Vita and Nintendo 3DS, the classic Spy Hunter franchise — celebrating 30 years! — is a good fit for portable platforms and should be ready for Fall 2012:

On the eve of the franchise’s 30th anniversary since the original Spy Hunter was released to arcades in 1983, the new Spy Hunter races forward on its most thrilling and dangerous ride yet. The player once again takes on the role of the “Agent,” the driver of the high-tech G-6155 Interceptor supercar, armed extensively with advanced weaponry, and ready to take on a global terrorist organization set on world domination. (more…)

If you have any fond recollections of the ’80s GI Joe action figure line, do yourself a favour and check Aaron’s review of Sideshow Collectibles’s Zartan vs. Flint Diorama on ae-infinite.com.

And if that sparks your interest, why not check Sideshow’s official site and check out the figure:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, IF NOT SOONER 

THE ARMCHAIR EMPIRE EXPLODES INTO THE FUTURE

Move to blog format and expanded use of social networking and video content to bring “All Things Gaming” to the next level with “The Armchair Empire – Infinite” 

Vancouver, British Columbia — May 22, 2012 — The Armchair Empire is proud to announce its second evolutionary stage, nearly 12 years in the making, with the launch of The Armchair Empire – Infinite (ae-infinite.com).

“It has been more than a decade since The Armchair Empire launched and it was probably about time we made use of some of the dramatic changes in technology to make our own dramatic changes,” said co-founder and head writer Aaron Simmer. “With The Armchair Empire – Infinite we’ll be able to react faster to news, gets reviews posted sooner, and do a better job integrating video content and social networking nonsense, etc.”

“Mostly we took this step to make our lives at least 56% easier,” said co-founder and VP of Video Content, Jeff Nash. “It was time to go “blog out” with the Armchair Empire - Infinite, which features the same writers, the same level of insight of the regular Armchair Empire, but the articles can be presented much faster and possibly with more sparkles.”

The Armchair Empire (armchairempire.com) will remain a vast planetoid of gaming information, reviews, previews, features, interviews, and editorials of the last dozen years. The Armchair Empire – Infinite is essentially a satellite launched in the hopes of remaining relevant and possibly ride on the likely success of BioShock Infinite.

The Armchair Empire – Infinite is here: ae-infinite.com

The last time the gaming world saw Tex Murphy was in 1998′s “Overseer.” Now, almost 15 years after the fact, a new Tex Murphy game is in the works. While you can check the full details of the project over on the official Kickstarter page, the upshot of it is a new Tex Murphy game!

The Kickstarter goal is a seemingly moderate $450,000 and as of this writing it’s funded to the tune of $146,680 (by 1,310 backers with 30 days left in the drive).

Two other items of note, original developers Aaron Connors and Chris Jones (a.k.a. Tex Murphy) are “headlining” the project. And the goal is to not only produce an all-new Tex adventure, but also offer “[enhanced] experiences of the former games with stunning new graphics, a sleek new interface, and other updates.”

First Double Fine’s adventure game, then remastered Leisure Suit Larry, and now the (possible) return of Tex Murphy? 2012 is on-track to be a revival year for adventure games in North America.

GLaDOS would be proud of Valve’s announcement today!

Released just days ago, The “Perpetual Testing Initiative” has already resulted in the creation and publishing of over 35,000 user-created maps, collectively consumed via more than 1.3 million downloads.

To celebrate the launch, Steam is holding a Weekend Workshop Sale offering Portal 2 for 66% off, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for 33% off, and many of this year’s Team Fortress 2 Workshop Items available for 50% off their regular price.

The Perpetual Testing Initiative allows players to easily create, share, and play Portal 2 puzzles. The Initiative comes with a simplified Puzzle Maker that allows that creation of mind-bending puzzles without ever leaving the game.

The Puzzle Maker directly publishes maps to the Steam Workshop where users may browse, vote on, and select to play them. Selected puzzles are automatically downloaded and installed inside Portal 2.

I always read “Elsword” as “Eeels word” in my head.

Be that as it may, there are some special events coming to the free-to-play side-scrolling MMORPG:

Between May 9 – June 4 at select times, players are tasked to run the gauntlet of 15 waves of demons while they protect El Crystals from being attacked. Players brave enough to enter the dungeon can play the event solo or with a team, with higher rewards being granted for an increase in difficulty.

In-game rewards for the Gate of Darkness Defense Dungeon include:
· An in-game world buff if a specific number of El Crystals are protected.
· Special event cubes that contain Magic Stones and El Shards.
· Any player that logs in during the event period will receive a special cube of the wyvern’s accessories that are eligible to become permanent through crafting.

Elsword is a free-to-play side-scrolling MMORPG that permits players to choose from five customizable characters as they traverse through colorful 2D environments to complete story-driven quests.

Listen to Mr. Nash and Aaron talk about “Sony All Stars, Half Life 3, TES Online, the Rock Band iOS debacle, Xenoblade, The Walking Dead, Prototype 2, and a slew of other games.” Listen, won’t you?