Last week was one of my favorite weeks in the calendar year. The biggest reason why was because it was the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3. It seemed weird that it started on a Saturday and went into the middle of this week instead of how they normally did it (Monday-Thursday), but it was still a tremendous event.
Everyone involved in the gaming community gave their thoughts on E3 conference by conference and they all had great takes that helped me understand just how good this year’s show was. So I’ll look at each of the major conferences and pinpoint my absolute favorite thing about each of them.
Before I really get started, this isn’t about who won E3 because I feel like it’s the consumer that really wins at E3 because they get taken on the hype train. On with the best of E3!
Electronic Arts: (tie) Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Madden 18
Right away they got into their meat and potatoes with the latest edition of Madden NFL 18 trailer being shown. Typically, these are whatever because we all know what to expect from it. However, EA Sports went ahead and threw a curveball of sorts with a career mode similar to what 2KSports did with its NBA2K franchise. The best part is that you can play as a college football team (kinda). The trailer clearly showed Texas and Oregon uniforms which shows that EA has the licenses to select college programs (fingers crossed for the Cajuns lol).
But the biggest surprise was Star Wars Battlefront 2 as the game looks significantly better than the first one and it showed that EA had learned their lesson with the first Battlefront’s season pass being hated from the get-go. Also, you can play as Darth Maul who looks great, but will probably get nerfed in post-launch patches.
Microsoft: Xbox One X
Before I really get started, can we all agree that Xbox One X is the dumbest name for a console since Wii U? It’s going to be super confusing to the casual consumer and probably affect the console’s sales at launch.
Another thing that will hurt is that price tag. $500 for a console with more horsepower, but you can get an Xbox One that plays the same games for almost half that price isn’t going to get much money except for the handful of people with 4K TVs. That being said the technology in the console is amazing. As a tech guy, hearing all the specs they discussed were something amazing and hopefully the technology will be used on their laptops in the future to make them even more powerful.
Ubisoft: Assassin’s Creed Origins
Full disclosure: I’m late to the party when it comes to the Assassin’s Creed franchise. I’ve been playing a ton of the Ezio Chronicles on my PS4 and absolutely love the gameplay of the series. That being said, the latest entry looks even better. Being able to use the eagle to scout your surroundings is such a great concept and looks to introduce a new way to play the game. It’s not as much about just battling at will, more of a choice of either coming out of the gate running or using stealth to take down your enemies. As a fan of the Arkham games and Watch Dogs, this works on so many levels.
Sony: Spider Man
This gameplay trailer made up for the lack of news on Last of Us 2 and made me remember how great Spider Man 2 was back in the day (sadly, no pizza missions). However, the quick-time events need to be more to pull off some awesome combos and for certain cutscenes like they showed in the demo. Sure the costume isn’t tremendous, but I can live with that.
Nintendo: Switch It Up
The Nintendo Switch has been so well received since launch, so much so it’s near impossible to get one right now (Reggie Fils-Amie said there will be more in production though *fingers crossed). Coming right out of the gate with Breath of the Wild was one of the best choices that Nintendo has made in the last five years and this E3 presentation is another example of making great decisions.
Announcing a core Pokemon game on the Switch? Check!
Announcing Metroid Prime 4? Check!
Mario having an XCOM-esque game featuring Rabbids? Not on the checklist, but it looks amazing!
Mario can transform into a T-Rex? CHECK (also, awesome!)
I’m a Nintendo fanboy, but even if you’re not a fan of the company because of the NES Classic debacle, this has to convince you that a Switch needs to be amongst your gaming consoles. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend hours deciding where to put my Switch at in my room when it comes out.
