cvg

All of the below insider whispers have come from genuine trade sources, and all them have arrived with a degree of certainty. Some seem to make perfect sense, some would represent a big surprise... and some will drop jaws in Los Angeles should they come true:

Rumour: Heavenly Sword 2 will be revealed at Sony's conference - and Kratos is on his way back, too...

CVG reaction:We're pretty optimistic about these two, folks - they've been doing the rounds for weeks now, and from sources close to Sony. We'd love to see UK studio Ninja Theory make a major mark at the show by coupling its DmC (Devil May Cry) with a new announcement. We're big fans of the developer, not least for its great work on Enslaved last year, and a bit of E3 limelight would be well deserved.

Meanwhile, we hear that God Of War and Kratos are likely to gatecrash Sony's conference - but whether we're in God Of War 4 territory or otherwise is unclear...

Rumour: Respawn will NOT have any new games to show.

CVG reaction: Our certainty on this one comes as we wipe away a tear. We're sure EA Partners, who Respawn have signed with for their first project, have plenty of action to show off in L.A, but the first non-CoD project from Jason West and Vince Zampella won't be amongst them.

It's perhaps no surprise, with both ex-Infinity Ward chiefs and their publishing partner still embroiled in a multi-billion Dollar lawsuit with former employer Activision.

Rumours aside, we'll be looking out for any impromptu moments of Zampella/West/Kotick tenson in LA Convention Center hallways. It was Activision, if you'll remember, who "stormed" the Infinity Ward offices in March last year and kicked the duo out for "insubordination".

And it was Kotick who proclaimed that his former charges would "have a really hard time ever being productive or successful ever again". Oucha.

We're sure their decision to team up with arch competitor EA and create Respawn has nothing to do with Kotick's ire...

Rumour: Nintendo has a new console... and a new Mario.

CVG Reaction:Oh yes. The majority of Nintendo's conference on Tuesday, June 7 will surely be dedicate to Project Cafe, the firm's confirmed new home console. We've already shared with you what we know about that little piece of hardware - including the screen-within-a-controller setup that we're desperate to get a gander at.

But we've also heard another little whisper from our Ninty sources - that Super Mario 3DS won't be the only new Mario title to be shown off in Los Angeles. Could we be looking at a Super Mario Galaxy for the next, next generation?

Wii launched without one back in 2006. During the launch window, Nintendo's core fans only had the choice of Wii Sports and Wii Play, and updated GameCube titles Resident Evil 4 and Zelda: Twilight Princess - which eventually cost Nintendo in the loyalty stakes. Have they learnt their lesson this time?

Rumour: Ubisoft announcing new additions to "two of its classic action series" - and they're not Assassin's Creed.

CVG Reaction:This one's from a very reliable, but very tight-lipped source. We'd place our chips on these duo coming from a pool of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Far Cry, Brothers In Arms or Prince Of Persia.

Far Cry 3 is already looking pretty likely, of course - so it's take your pick time from the rest... Wed definitely take a new Rainbow six in a new location, after Ubisoft brought us Vegas-based mayhem with its last two iterations in the franchise.

The French publisher's E3 conference is set for June 6. We'll be watching like hawks - and letting you know any new info as soon as we hear it...

Rumour: "Gigantic" Mass Effect online announcement coming.

CVG Reaction: According to the internets, a copy of Game Informer in April revealed that Mass Effect 3 would definitely not have multiplayer.

We've spoken to numerous industry sources who have somewhat put this in doubt, and are adamant that BioWare will have something "gigantic to announce when it comes to Mass Effect online". If it's not ME3 multiplayer, what could BioWare have up its sleeve?

We can be sure at least that the action RPG will have a giant presence at E3 2011, and that it will feature as a centrepiece of EA's conference. Could a non-single player announcement form a major part of the publisher's showcase on Monday, June 6? Tune in to find out...

Rumour: Digital Alan Wake title 'is not all Remedy has to present'.

CVG reaction: You didn't think an XBLA game was all everyone's No.1 Finland developer had been up to for the past year, did you? Remember that L.A Noire-beating tech the studio was so full of beans about earlier this year?

We anticipate we'll see more of it at E3. We've certainly been told that Remedy has something "triple-A" to show at the event, but Microsoft's not confirming nowt. Remedy boss Oskari Hakkinen might have said that the "next Wake instalment will not be Alan Wake 2", but that doesn't exactly tell us what may come after a digital release, does it?

Rumour: Sony has a new PS3 controller to show off.

CVG Reaction:Okay, we admit it - we're in pie in the sky territory here. But when we were told this earlier in the year by a UK trade source, he was deadly serious.

Our interest was piqued when Quantic Dream's David Cage told us in March: "I can clearly see how DualShock is the end of an era and we need to move to something else as an industry. I don't know if Kinect or Move are the ultimate answer. It's up to console manufacturers to bring [a new device]. But something will happen, hopefully soon."

It's a clear indication that some of Sony's biggest friends in the industry are ready for a new pad. Perhaps the 'break apart' controller rumoured in 2008 could become an unlikely reality? Or maybe Sony has something even more exciting up its sleeve. In under a week, all these agonising questions will finally find an answer...