There are plenty of high-profile games that did not make an appearance at E3 last week. Many of them were expected to not make it the show, but they might be seen in future trade shows GamesCom, Comic-Con and theTokyo Game Show. Arguably, the biggest no-show at E3 2012 was Grand Theft Auto V as Rockstar has been known for showing off their games at big trade shows. Who knows when they will decide to release new details or a new trailer for this highly-anticipated sequel, but they will do so on their terms. Last year's "Game of the Show" BioShock Infinite (pictured below) also did not make a return appearance, due to last month's announcement of a delay to the first quarter of 2013. Not much of the game has been seen since last fall, but if 2K Games and Irrational are ready to show off something new, GamesCom at Germany would be their next destination.
Sony's The Last Guardian has been in development limbo for quite a while and fans expected it to make a strong showing as one of the Playstation 3's last great titles. The game has suffered development issues, but Sony officials have said last week that development is still coming along, even though it was not ready for the E3 spotlight last week. If The Last Guardian does not make an appearance at the Tokyo Game Show in September, then something is really wrong to the point where the game may get canceled.
Square-Enix's major focus has been on its western-based titles such as Hitman Absolution and the Tomb Raider reboot, but what about the franchise that defines them, Final Fantasy? Final Fantasy was there—albeit in handheld form—but at least there was a next generation tech demo to get people excited for what they can do in a couple years.
What was missing at E3 for Square-Enix was the console-focused Final Fantasy games. Like The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is in development limbo and its already been nearly six years since its initial announcement. With so much time gone to the development, fans have begun to not care whether or not this game will even come out due to the lack of footage and information. Square-Enix might have a featured event coming up soon that will showcase what is next from their Japanese division, but the Tokyo Game Show is the next best thing. The Final Fantasy X HD port for the Playstation 3 and Vita was not also a part of Square-Enix's E3 lineup, and who knows how far that is coming along since its announcement last year around TGS time.
All of these no-shows at E3 2012 are not surprising, but if these games do no show up at any of the upcoming trade shows in the next couple of months, personally, I would be worried about their development status. Patience will pay off for certain games such as BioShock Infinite and Grand Theft Auto V, but the Japanese games mentioned earlier are the ones I'm more worried about, considering their enormous fan bases.
