Amid the faded grandeur of the Orpheum theatre, Electronic Arts showed a strong roster of titles at its pre-E3 conference on Monday, but there were few surprises or announcements. Perhaps the key revelation was Battlelog, a new version of Need For Speed's Autolog social networking and multiplayer gaming system, set to launch alongside Battlefield 3 – more details here.

The big new game reveal was Insomniac's new multiplatform title. The creator of Resistance: Fall of Man is working on Overstrike, a near-future, sci-fi shooter. There was also a new Sims title, The Sims Social, which will run on Facebook, and looks quite fruity.

Due out on 6 March, Mass Effect 3 was covered with the launch of a new trailer, Fall of Earth, showing in-game footage for the first time. There was also a brief demo showing Commander Shepard attacking a Reaper base – which turns out to be an actual Reaper that transforms into a gigantic insect-like beast.

A new trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, featuring an array of huge blaster and lightsaber battles between Jedi and Sith armies, was greeted with enthusiastic applause. "It represents years of my life," said BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk. "It represents true devotion and sacrifice. And it's been worth it."

A trailer of the RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, revealed some pretty generic sword-fighting and spell-casting against huge monsters in a fantasy realm. Developed by 38 Studios the key allure of the title may be the superstar talent onboard, including comic artist, Todd McFarlane and author RA Salvatore.

Here's a quick rundown of our highlights …

SSX

The veteran snowboarding series is returning, with an ambitious open-world feel. Apparently, EA Sports has used Nasa satellite data to recreate every major mountain range in the world, and players are able to explore as they wish. I've no idea how this will work in practice but it's a fascinating premise. The title will include three distinct modes: Race It, Trick It and Survive It, the latter featuring immense natural disasters and other challenges to snowboard through. In the demo we saw, the player is pursued by a cataclysmic avalanche. It looks like an action adventure sequence crafted into a sports sim, which is interesting. The release date is January 2012, and the character roster is to be revealed over the next few months.

Fifa 12

Matt Bilbey, EA Sports' general manager of football, took to the stage to assure us that the next title will be "the most authentic Fifa ever". Yes, yes, they say that every year, but this year they mean it. The defence system has been re-worked to be more tactical with an emphasis on positioning, rather than just bumbling in there with endless tackles. There's also an improved "deft touch" system on the left analogue stick that provides precision dribbling, and the ability to engage in close-control tricks. The major innovation though is the "player impact engine". Apparently, a layer of real-world physics has been added to the character animations, so there's a genuine sense of physicality – sliding tackles will have genuine momentum based on the speed of the player, while opponents will be able to nudge, push and pull at each other during close encounters. Injuries will also be closely and authentically based on this system, so a lengthy sliding tackle at top speed is likely to inflict proportionally greater damage than a little toe poke at an opponent's shin. An interesting introductory movie showed professional footballers and coaches talking about how the Fifa titles are being implemented into the real game. Apparently, football manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær uses it to research opponents while Scott Sellars of Manchester City's youth side sees it as a vital element of training youngsters.

There was also time to show off EA Sports Football Club, a live service designed to help fans find other people to play against online, as well as socialise and engage in competitions. Apparently, each Fifa fan will be able to create a unique identity which will be consistent across all versions of the game, regardless of platform. The system also tracks the games your friends have played, as well as results and news from the real-life sport. Best of all, you'll need to enter your own favourite side and will see a global league table of the most successful clubs in the sim's online mode. So it's Call of Duty Elite for football. And free.

The Sims Social

This is potentially the most interesting Sims-related release for a number of years. Designed for Facebook, The Sims Social features old-school 2D isometric visuals and lots of connectivity with your real-life profile, friends and news wall. It seems that you'll be able to act out virtual relationships with your pals, inviting them into your Sims neighbourhood, then engaging in virtual social situations. The demo showed a conversation between two women, one of whom used Sims Social to virtually "date" a male friend. We see their Sims characters having a dance in the living room, then a kiss, then finally there's a shower scene (steamed over, of course). The idea of competing against, or getting the chance to "go out with" Facebook chums will surely be an enticing prospect, though it could lead to some tricky arguments with real-life partners…

Overstrike

Ted Price, co-founder of Insomniac took to the stage to introduce this hectic near-future shooter. He promised "high powered gadgets, action-heavy gameplay, memorable characters in a mysterious universe and of course a touch of humour". The action revolves around a squad of loose cannon operatives, who are sent on a variety of apparent suicide missions against an unknown enemy ("They're the black sheep even their own agency tries to ignore," says Price). The playable combatants include a mercenary, a scientist, a thief and a detective, and they do have some rather unusual weapons, including electrifying crossbows and a device that fires a sort of amorphous metallic blob that consumes and crushes enemies. It looks like multiplayer co-op is going to be the key game mode.

Battlefield 3

Set for release on 25 October, Battlefield 3 is looking glorious. We were given a quick peek at the Paris-based multiplayer level, Operation Metro, which includes shootouts in the underground (which mirrors Modern Warfare 3's London tube train level) and some street fighting amid beautiful Parisian architecture. The destruction capabilities of the Frostbite 2 engine were illustrated at one point where a great chunk is blown from the side or an ornate building.

There was also a brief demo of a tank mission, with the player becoming part of a major attack on an enemy base in the Kavir desert. We see several armoured vehicles trundling through hyper-detailed scrublands, toward huge plumes of smoke growing ominously on the horizon. On the way, the player can use the 120mm cannon and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun to take out soldiers and vehicles, and when approaching the weapons depot, the view switches to a satellite display of the area, which is used to call in an airstrike. It's no doubt running on a behemoth of a PC, but it's cutting edge stuff in terms of visuals, if not mission design concepts.

Steve Boxer: With its tablet-like controller, the Wii U is a seriously weird piece of kit. But, yet again, once you get your hands on it, a multitude of new gaming experiences tumble out of it. And the machine will have more hardcore appeal, too.