• Peter Molyneux's stated ambition as a designer is to make FABLE 2 a landmark game. In order to achieve this three big design features have been added. The inspiration and rational behind these features will be discussed along with their evolution throughout the development process. The wider context of their impact and influence on the RPG genre with also be examined as the ambition is also to evolve the genre itself. The talk will be supported by retrospective videos as well as live game examples.

• Game stories can matter, even in first person shooters. But first we're going to have to give up a lot of our preconceptions about what people care about when playing a game. For too long, games (especially first person shooters) have been stuck in a "game sequence followed by story sequence" mentality. Ken Levine will tell the tale of how the BIOSHOCK took a pointy-headed idea about a pseudo-objectivist utopia and turned it into one of the most compelling and succesful game worlds in recent history. What were the tools used? What compromises had to be made? Where did the shooter end and the story begin? How did we make people give a crap? How did we use story and narrative to become perhaps the most talked about game at the super-crowded E3 2006? What does this all mean for stories in games? And must of all, what hell does "Mise En Scene" mean?

• The online multiplayer mode of HALO 3 features an automatic matchmaking system to place players into games. Players may join individually or with parties of friends, and are quickly matched into groups. This presentation describes the algorithms behind the peer-to-peer matchmaking model, and its implementation over Xbox Live. It examines the impact of matchmaking on the HALO online community, and provides techniques for shaping the player experience and discouraging cheaters. The tradeoffs of an automatic matchmaking system compared to traditional multiplayer game browsers will be discussed, and illustrated by some results from the first months of HALO 3's operation.

• This session will offer a look into key areas of CRYSIS development that markedly depart from Crytek's first project, FAR CRY. Main topics include Nanosuit design and gameplay, creating a rich, destructible/non-linear world, and peopling it with dynamic, believable AI enemies that challenge and entertain the player.

A new patch is now available for Crysis that includes various tweaks, bug fixes and performance upgrades. The patch updates the game to version 1.1 and is sized at 140MB.

Hit the jump for the full list of fixes and tweaks.

• Fixed: Potential crash in D3D10
• Fixed: Orange boxes apearing when hispec savegame loaded into lowspec game.
• Fixed: Inconsistent damage dealt to vehicles when shot by LAW.
• Fixed: Reflection resolution on D3D10, MultiGPU reflection update fix
• Fixed: Memory leak with FSAA modes
• Fixed: Infinite ammo hacks.
• Fixed: Memory leak in D3D10 when switching screen modes
• Fixed: Muti optimizations
• Fixed: When player melees during gun raise animation, their gun will be in a permanantly raised position.
• Fixed: Crash when loading savegame with level exported recently by editor
• Fixed: Virtual keyboard does not function properly when a game pad is connected
• Fixed: Users can lose the ability to look around with the Right Stick
• Fixed: Setting screen resolution to "default" stops user from selecting last resolution
• Fixed: Bug when changing resolution in D3D10
• Fixed: Issues with Depth of field and water droplets in D3D10
• Fixed: Crash on NaN warning

• Added: Motion Blur UI and V.SYNC UI options
• Optimized: Motion blur
• Optimized: FSAA (Full Scene Anti-Aliasing)
• Optimized sound id implementation
• Enabled VSync functionality in D3D10
• New benchmarking files for ice CPU benchmark.
• http/xmlrpc password protected remote control session
• Marked debug cvars as cheat
• F12 (screenshot) now works in restricted mode as well

• Reduced LAW splash damage vs. infantry in PowerStruggle mode
• Slowed Rocket projectile speed down in MP slightly
• Disabled automatic turret bounding boxes on vehicles to prevent issues with LAW hit detection
• Reduced grenade explosion radius in multiplayer
• Clamped water tesselation to avoid cheating in MP
• MultiGPU improvements with depth map updates

Those that wish to download the patch can do so here.

"Our focus has always been on innovating gameplay and technology, and bringing new experiences to gamers through our original intellectual properties," says Cevat Yerli, CEO & President of Crytek. "Crysis will be a showcase for that commitment and will offer gamers from all over the world the next step in FPS gaming."

"We are delighted to reach the next level in our relationship with Crytek," says Tom Frisina, Vice-President and General Manager for EA Partners. "Nurturing creative talent and bringing original intellectual property to the world of interactive entertainment is a key focus for EA and EA Partners. Crysis will bring an entirely new FPS experience to gamers everywhere."

Crytek Studios are the developers behind Far Cry.