Pre-E3: Majesco, Agetec, Windows E3 Lineups

Three more companies have announced their lineups to be displayed at E3 2005, which begins next week: Majesco, which is introducing more high-profile titles in a continued bid for mainstream recognition; Agetec, which is persevering with its tried and true method of niche games for solid audiences; and Microsoft's Games for Windows, spotlighting a disparate range of PC games under the Windows banner. Majesco's biggest announcement is the Taxi Driver game, based on the recently-acquired movie license, but it has several other big-budget projects in the works as well: The Darkness is from Starbreeze Studios, creators of Chronicles of Riddick; Demonik is a collaboration between Terminal Reality and Clive Barker; and its stable of movie licenses is rounded out with Aeon Flux and Jaws games. Existing projects Advent Rising and the PS2 version of Psychonauts will also be on display. Furthermore, Majesco will show a full range of handheld titles for both PSP and Nintendo DS, notably Black & White Creatures, Infected, Advent Shadow, Guilty Gear Judgement and Guilty Gear Dust Strikers; and A Boy and His Blob. With the exception of PoPoLoCrois for PSP, which will be the first game in the long-running Japanese RPG series to hit American shores, many of Agetec's games are sequels in well-established franchises. The company's games include Wild Arms: Alter Code F, a remake of the original Wild Arms; Armored Core: Nine Breaker, a one-on-one combat-focused entry in the mech action series; Armored Core: Formula Front, an odd little side entry in the Armored Core series that focuses on AI battles; and RPG Maker 3, the latest in the company's line of RPG creation kits. Microsoft's Games for Windows booth will be showing peripherals as well as PC titles: the division's showpiece item is the Microsoft Universal Games Controller, which is designed to be plug-and-play with both PC and Xbox games. Also on display will be Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, an MMO from a group of the original EverQuest team; Age of Empires III, the next in Ensemble Studios' highly popular RTS series; Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, a new level highlighting some new in-engine effects; and Catan Online, an online PC version of the board game.