Compared to last year’s E3, 2014 saw the major companies play things safe, with a few surprises hidden up sleeves. Meanwhile, the biggest thrills came from games coming out in the distant future.
The industry is still in flux between the new generation of consoles and the old, which is a given due to the economic climate we’re still feeling the effects of. However, this year saw the companies face off against one another and gave strong reasons as to why consumers should buy their next generation consoles.
Microsoft raised its game compared to last year, delivering a solid performance by announcing a strong line-up of games, and focusing on what E3 is all about, video games.
Sony’s press conference this year felt mind numbing and often lost our interest. However, you can’t really blame the publisher considering they are currently ahead in sales. Sony can afford to be a little indulgent, but for us it felt like they just weren’t as interested in E3 this year.
Like last year, Nintendo chose the road less travelled to show off its games line-up in a “digital event”, which worked out extremely well. Chances are, at least for the press conference portion of Nintendo’s presentation, we may not see good old Reggie Fils-Aime in front of a live E3 audience again. Nintendo took us by surprise this year with some genuinely exciting announcements from The Legend of Zelda Wii U to Splatoon.
Nintendo also hosted a three day “Treehouse” livestream, which opened the doors for fans all over the world to get an intimate look at their line-up via Twitch and YouTube. This event was held in the Nintendo booth live, drawing crowds of gamers.
Twitch played a vital role this year, stepping up its coverage for E3, delivering interviews and previews with developers and publishers across the industry with some of the top broadcasters from Twitch such as ManVsGame. Twitch dominated the entire show floor this year, with TV’s dotted around the entire event.
Nonetheless, there were many highlights across the industry this year. From console exclusives to indie games, all three console manufacturers have a fairly strong line-up this year, of course some TBC 2015.
Microsoft showed off its newfound commitment to indie games with surprise gem Ori and the Blind Forest coming to Xbox One, alongside various others born from the publishers ID@XBOX. ID@XBOX is a much-needed display of goodwill towards indie development from Microsoft.
Microsoft announced the re-mastered Halo: The Master Chief collection for Xbox One allowing gamers of the new generation to experience the amazing universe of Halo from the beginning before the release of Halo 5: Guardians in 2015. Halo 5: Guardians promises to change arena multiplayer with dedicated server support running at 60FPS (Frames Per Second).
Microsoft’s most prolific exclusive, Sunset Overdrive with its bright, cartoonish aesthetic splashed all over the show floor, continues to impress. Developed by Insomniac, the sarcasm-dipped adventure is loose, fast and extremely fun.
For Sony, it showed off the likes of The Order: 1886, LittleBigPlanet 3 and its new PS4 exclusive Bloodborne.
The Order 1886 feels much improved from previous previews Sony shown in the past, while LittleBigPlanet 3 looks to be in safe hands from new developer Sumo Digital. Bloodborne, from Software’s Dark Souls series that introduces a new type of combat, while the addition of a little speed to the gameplay.
As for Nintendo, Splatoon was well received. A bizarre new twist on the shooter genre, the online multiplayer game pitching squid/human hybrids in an ink-splattered arena against each other was one of the few in the show that had a fresh new design concept. Unfortunately, we won’t see it until 2015.
However the common theme of releasing in 2015 was the general feel across Nintendo’s games including some of its iconic line-up like Zelda, Yoshi’s Wooly World, Mario Maker, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. While the Wii U is struggling to keep up with the newer generation of consoles, we can only feel it might be a little too late to kickstart the console back into a new leash of life. We can only hope the release of Super Smash Bros due for release sometime later this year can bridge the gap.
As we step away from the three main console manufacturers and their exclusives, we take a look towards the third-party publishers and their line-ups.
Warner Brothers had a strong line-up this year with Batman: Arkham Knight, Dying Light, Mortal Kombat X, Gauntlet, a new Lego Batman, and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Ubisoft had a strong show, despite the politics floating about the internet. Assassin’s Creed Unity was a highlight for many, especially with the co-op experience that was greeted at the Microsoft Media Briefing. However the developer’s claimed in an interview there would be no female assassin’s as it would be “too much work” igniting a conversation about the representation of women in video games. A similar statement was used by the designers of FarCry 4 when asked why the protagonist was not female, which ignited a firestorm on the internet.
Ubisoft surprised us when it announced Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege at the show and was perceived by many as a big hit. Preserving the team-based tactical close-quarters action, presented in a multiplayer focused short missions and indoor environments. As a result, however, Rainbow Six Patriots has met its demise. Ubisoft has gone into more details as to why the title was cancelled. Reportedly, it was because the title couldn’t provide a next generation experience. However, according to Ubisoft technical artist Oliver Couture, the decision to ditch one title and start another was mainly due to the launch of the new consoles.
Activision’s presence was graced with the reception for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, with its immaculate next-gen graphics and new toys to play with in its sci-fi setting.
Destiny also showed well, as expected with the publishers great $500 million hope. With the Alpha build currently accessible to play for PlayStation 4 gamers, it feels like we’re finally seeing what Bungie’s ambitious game is all about. Check out what we thought of Destiny when we went hands on.
Skylanders, the game with collectible toy figures, was made more popular by a new expansion. The E3 exclusive figure given out to those going through their press demonstration has hit ridiculous prices on eBay, proving the popularity of the collectible game.
EA’s presence at E3 this year wasn’t as prolific as its previous year, nothing to the scale of Titanfall. Dragon Age: Inquisition feels like a welcome return to what made the series enjoyable, with behind-the-scenes video of the new Star Wars Battlefront, Mirror’s Edge and Mass Effect games at the press conference those are far in the future. EA Sports has a solid line up in the next generation consoles, with FIFA, Madden 15, UFC, and NHL 15. The Sims 4 looks to be another hit as well, as the franchise moves forward.
Battlefield Hardline welcomes a new approach to warfare with a cops vs criminals approach, while we only got a glimpse at what we can expect from the singleplayer, we did get chance to go hands on with the multiplayer experience and even got our mug shots taken.
Meanwhile across the rest of the event other shining stars debuted, with SEGA demoing its incredibly tense and gorgeously atmospheric slice of Alien: Isolation, while Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, promises to be the ultimate culmination of old Metal Gear Solid traditions and new ones. 2K’s Evolve further reinforce the notion that the online co-op game will make a major splash when it launches this autumn. Check out AJ Hanson’s hands on preview for more details. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt continues to impress with its gorgeous visuals and open world, and was on display at the Warner Brothers booth as they will be distributing it in the United States when it is ready in 2015.
Hardware wasn’t a big trend this year as it took the back seat, this maybe mainly because the tech companies are currently still hard at work to being able to show off some major tech next year. The hardware that was prominent was various headsets and sound equipment, designed for use with both PC gaming and the new next generation consoles.
In terms of best booth at E3, it has to go without saying Wargaming by far had one of the best booths with a tank bursting out of the wall which you could get an amazing photo taken under with a 3-D camera.
We’ve only touched on some of the things that appeared during E3. You can check out every piece of coverage on Senshudo TV here.
Summing up our experience at this year’s E3 is hard as there were many titles that we’re excited for, some we unfortunately didn’t get our hands on. However, there is definitely something to cater to all. While the direction may not be fully clear that Sony and Microsoft may be heading in, we’re definitely excited for what next year’s E3 may have to offer.
Stay tuned for our E3 Roundup tomorrow (Thursday 19th June) where we will announce our awards for E3 for the first time!