Welp, E3 2016 is over and all three main platforms gave okay showings. Some announcements stood out to me but the majority was underwhelming. I\’ll just dive in.
Xbox
Microsoft’s Xbox One S is sexy, but with their more powerful Xbox One console codenamed Project Scorpio planned for release next holiday, it may not make sense to replace your fat black box if you have or plan on getting a 4K TV. The slim console is 40% smaller with a built in power supply and I\’m going to assume it will draw less power like past slimmed down incarnations of previous consoles. Between my PS4 and my Xbox I’d probably upgrade my PS4, especially if there are any added benefits for PlayStation VR. Another neat announcement to come out of Microsoft’s presser for me was the ability to create your own custom controller with different colors and even engrave it. As you’d expect there’s a premium cost for this, but it’s a relatively reasonable $79.99. I don’t care about Gears of War or Halo Wars that much and Scalebound looks like it’ll be a lot more multiplayer focused that I was hoping for. Overall nothing from the Xbox event grabbed my attention with the exception of Project Scorpio….but we’ll likely have to wait until 2017 to hear anything more about it.
PlayStation
If you know me then you know I’ve always been a PlayStation fan at heart. I have every system the company has made and it has long been my platform of choice, even back in the PS3 days. As soon as I heard the orchestra start playing at the beginning of Sony’s conference I turned to my wife and said “God damn it. It’s God of War”. I liked the God of War trilogy but started to grow tired of the same repetitive combat, quick time events, and especially Kratos. He’s just angry to the point of annoyance. Well it looks like that will all change with Santa Monica\’s reboot of the franchise. See for yourself in the trailer. Some of the stark changes are snow peaks, Kratos raising a son, hunting mystical wildlife, and what looked like a dragon. This is a God of War title I can get behind and the open world nature seems fitting.
There was also an extended trailer for The Last Guardian showing more gameplay and more of that lovable Trico. I know the game was stuck in development hell for roughly seven years, but I\’m looking forward to playing it now more than ever.
I knew Sony and Guerilla were going to show more Horizon: Zero Dawn and they did not disappoint. There will be a harvesting and crafting system to add some downtime when you aren\’t taking down futuristic mechanized dinosaurs. How could you now like this game?! I just want to play it now!!
The company gave a firm release date of October 13 for PlayStation VR with fifty games expected to be released within the headset\’s launch window. There were also some interesting new titles announced like Resident Evil VII, Star Wars, and Far Point to name a few. Some people doubt the staying power of VR and are writing it off as a gimmick like motion controls but after spending some time with PS VR, Oculus, and Vive I\’m convinced the immersion and possibilities the technology bring will solidify it in games as well as other forms of media.
Nintendo
Nintendo streamed a ton of gameplay for The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild coming in 2017 to Wii U and NX. It’s quite different—in a good way. The world is vast. I mean really really really vast, and it’s been confirmed the game’s map will be twelve times larger than the one in Twilight Princess. The colors are bright and everything looks buttery smooth. I could definitely get lost in this game. Nothing else from Nintendo really stood out to me, but I didn’t expect anything with NX creeping closer to release this coming March.
So there you have it. Not a whole lot stood out to me this year. Zelda looks amazing along with a few other PlayStation titles but generally everything looked the same or were sequels or remasters in the case of Watch Dogs 2 which may be good and Crash Bandicoot which doesn’t have any nostalgia attachment for me. But it\’s unreasonable to think every E3 will be earth shattering. On to 2017 then!
Edit: How the hell did I forget to mention my excitement for South Park Fractured But Whole?! It\’s like a crime not to bring it up! I loved The Stick of Truth and don\’t expect to love this one any less. I immediately preordered my copy of Fractured But Whole and received my free download for Stick of Truth on PS4 and I\’ve been tearing through the game and as you can probably expect, I\’m having a blast.
Like I said in the conclusion of this post, we can’t expect every E3 to blow our minds. With that said, I desperately look forward to more NX info that will supposedly be coming this Fall. It looks like 2017 could be a big year between half-step hardware with Scorpio and Neo, new hardware with NX, and some great looking games we saw at this year’s E3. It’s mainly the AAA industry that’s grown stagnant—every game is open world now with some kind of online component. Oh, and maybe some crafting just because. It’s the indies mainly keeping things fresh for me.
I agree, can’t expect them to all be mind blowing, you nailed it with the AAA point. They all are trying to replicate the popularity of certain indie games (mainly Minecraft) by copying features rather than looking at the big picture as to why it’s popular. Also shouldn’t be so few/far between as far as exciting E3’s really. Even the year Microsoft introduced the xbox one, there weren’t many people excited beyond fanboys. Also all these rereleases with graphical updates, I get why they make them and I am cool with it, but presenting them as if they are one of the biggest things you have on tap is a bit much.
Also you’re right that 2017 could be exciting, remind me of this conversation if/when it’s not though lol
I agree the big 3 were lackluster this year. Granted I can’t remember the last time E3 got me excited for any of the 3 major consoles.
Last E3 excitement I got into was for Fallout 4 and the surprise of Fallout Shelter last year, but beyond that I truly can’t recall the last time E3 got me pumped for anything.
Sony did the best this year for sure, but it isn’t really saying much.
Best thing Microsoft had was cross play (which for some games has already been a thing, ex Rocket League PS4 to PC) and maybe the space version of CoD which looked, different and potentially fun
As you said Nintendo had the Zelda stuff (which is cool, and has me a little excited, hesitantly so, for a Zelda game for the first time in a long time), only other thing that interests me with them is Pokemon Sun/Moon which I’ve been avoiding spoilers and information on so I can’t comment there.