A fairly topical matter- E3 Conference rundown
For the uninitiated, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is the biggest gaming conference of the year and is where games are announced or more likely, games that have been leaked or delayed get new footage shown. The highlight is the conferences and this year, they take place over two days. Unfortunately, the conferences are usually in the middle of the night but this year, I'm staying up for all of them feeling a bit ill and getting round to them late and running through them and discussing my thoughts on what was shown and how in order of release, starting with the EA conference from the 12th and ending with Sony on the early hours of the 14th. I'm going through all the conferences as the games were shown and being my usual cynical self. I'm sure this can only go well.
The EA Conference
I didn't have my hopes up here because EA are shits and my expectations were met. For a start, they decided to do two conferences, one from LA and one from London but that slowed the pace down if nothing else. It wasn't that exciting. Anyway, to the games. Titanfall 2 got two trailers and a single player mode. While looking decent, the game looks like little has changed from the first game and the single player has been stolen from Avatar, straight down to the weird alien dogs. Nothing has changed but that may not be such a bad thing considering the solid original frame. There was two minutes of Madden which was about three minutes too many. Then we get to the big Mass Effect reveal in which, for the third year running, we have gotten no gameplay footage. On the plus side, EA are giving to charity which is genuinely quite nice but I feel like it's just to dispel the "EA ARE EVIL" reputation they still have.
We now get to the most exciting game of the conference: FIFA 17. There was a bit of topical banter that was as uncomfortable as when my boss asked me about whether I watched the match. Then there was a scripted bit with some bloke which was even more uncomfortable than footy talk with the boss. But come one, come all, FIFA now has a story mode which is basically the Mafia games which are basically The Godfather. In short, it's still highly derivative, despite the developers promoting "complete innovation" and there's also now managers, introduced by the real Jose Mario, famous football director. Huzzah! After FIFA, EA, showed that they know what indie games are by talking about a game called Fe. It's Journey but purple and for furries. The presenter also mentioned the Unravel guy from last year and it made me sad that he wasn't there because he was so adorably passionate.
Into the home stretch now and we got Star Wars and when I say Star Wars, I mean pictures of drawing boards and discussions about the franchise. We're getting Battlefront 2 which is actually Battlefront 4 but whatever. Respawn are making a Star Wars game and we saw about five seconds of Visceral's Uncharted but Star Wars game. The only notable thing (aside from the bit with two men literally fighting with sticks) was that Lando is coming to Battlefront through DLC. On the news of things that are made by Dice, Battlefield 1 which is not the first Battlefield but is in fact set in WW1. Jamie Foxx and Zac Effron were brought on to bring in the female crowd (and me) and then we got a dubstep trailer. The game looks pretty mediocre, with the big claim being "You will experience destruction and weather". My biggest worry is them insulting the soldiers of WW1 by doing something like a level in the Somme to a Lil Wayne song. You can do a level in the Somme, just make it tasteful and respectful.
Man, that was a let down to say the least. Still, at least I know FIFA is going to revolutionise the world this year. Bethesda had better be good or at least unpredictable because EA just made a conference that had more buzzwords than a dictionary being plowed by a vibrator.
The Bethesda Conference
After last years conference, Bethesda had a lot to live up to and they really did. They didn't show many games but they showed some good stuff. It opened on Quake Champions and if it follows the template of this years Doom, it could be quite popular but it's just not for me. Speaking of not for me, they also showed their Elder Scrolls card game and while I like Hearthstone, I don't think I'll give this a shot. The whole thing gets more exciting when we get to Fallout DLC. There was contraptions which could be cool and the ability to build your own vaults, a slightly cooler feature. The standout though, despite showing very little, was the reveal of Nuka World, a new story DLC and as someone who loves the world of Fallout, this can only be amazing.
One of the big reveals of the show was that there would be a remaster of Skyrim. As a game I've slowly warmed up to, I think this could finally be the time that I play Skyrim because it just looks stunning here. After this came one of the surprise reveals of the show, a new Prey game. It looked really creepy and atmospheric, probably too much for me to play it but if it works, it'll be like Dead Space with sublety. Bioshock in space perhaps? To follow the subtlety, we got more stuff on Doom, including some DLC and the cool info that the first level will be free this week. Being a game that I've heard nothing but praise for, I look forward to trying it out so thanks Bethesda.
There was a brief interlude in which we got ot hear how very excitable all of the fans here were and then we got some Elder Scrolls Online stuff. I didn't know anyone cared but it's nice that they're still supporting it. It could only go up from that then but the VR section wasn't so interesting. The idea of Fallout 4 entirely in VR is one that, while unlikely to be available for most of the public anytime soon, sounds very good. Finally, Dishonored 2 comes on stage. I don't much like stealth and this game looks like more of the same stealthy goodness that people liked. They seem to be expanding on the amazing world they built in the first game and that's not a bad thing, even if I'm not that bothered.
A Collectors Edition was also shown but I disagree with pre-ordering as a whole.
I didn't like all of the games that Bethesda showed this week but they showed what they had with such style and genuine belief in their product that I cared about games I know I'll never play. Bethesda swept away my usual constant cynicism and provided another joyous conference. It didn't quite live up to the stellar showing last year but that would be damn near impossible and it was still one of the years strongest.
The Microsoft Conference
Being a fan of Microsoft, I wanted to like their press conference but it just didn't click for me this year. The Xbox Slim/S seems like a cool idea and is not too expensive but the main focus of the conference ended up being on how Microsoft had so many exclusive games, something that isn't so great. Their Play Anywhere system could be good but we need great games for it. Speaking of not that, Gears of War 4 started the conference and was more of the same thing we expect from Gears. There was a special controller for Gears and a new character for Killer Instinct but I zoned out due to not caring. I cared a smidge more when Forza Horizon 3 was shown off because I loved the Fast and Furious Forza game and the Horizon series has been silly fun. It'd be a total sell for me if there's local co-op but let's be realistic here, that's not happening.
I woke up when Recore was shown because that game does have my interest and we actually got gameplay. It looks like a blend of Legend of Zelda and indie platformer Tiny and Big and it even comes out this year so I was very excited. My excitement dropped instantly when Final Fantasy XV was shown. It looks far too epic and overblown and I don't care at all. There was some of The Division and Battlefield 1 shown off but we learnt nothing new and I'm left not caring about anything. Microsoft are finally adding features they should have always had to the console with Clubs and Background Music although the Looking for Group feature sounds like it could really lead to some hilarious trolling from people. Speaking of trolls, Minecraft was shown because someone hasn't bought that yet. The demo was too long for a game we already know well.
Indie games took over for a few minutes as we got a small look at Inside, the new game from the Limbo guys and it comes out this month, only good news. We were disappointed as an indie sizzle reel appeared and got a response of "That was rad". We Happy Few was shown and looked genuinely cool and twisted, although it being in Early Access is confusing. For fans of The Witcher, Gwent exists outside the games but I'm skipping that as well as Tekken 7 because no one expects that to change at all. Dead Rising 4 officially exists but little else would shown. Let's just hope it's fun. As the conference started to drag, Scalebound went from intriguing to annoying, Sea of Thieves looked pretty cool but probably shit without friends and one minute of State of Decay was shown. Not gameplay to clarify, just a CG trailer. We ended on Halo Wars 2 with very little gameplay because Strategy games just don't look exciting and a little tease for the powerful console Project Scorpio, brought to you by the word teraflop because it's a word now?
And then it ended. I was glad because it was dragging but confused at the lack of Crackdown 3. Overall though, some interesting games were shown in pretty boring ways. I wasn't sold on anything but I wasn't unsold on anything. Oh well, better luck next year Microsoft.
The Ubisoft Conference
Ubisoft proved to be as naff as ever and proved their ridiculous capacity to disappoint with a Just Dance demo to Queen. Aisha Tyler proved herself to be cheap enough to turn up again but to her credit, she was funny this year, even if just as cringey. The first real game shown was Ghost Recon: Wildlands and while the spectacle looked cool, it's hard to know if it'll scale well to single player gameplay and if the events were as scripted as they looked. I was ready to be let down again as I saw what I assumed to be a Watch Dogs 2 trailer but was hilariously revealed to actually be the new South Park game. This segment proved the highlight of the Ubi conference for me as Trey Parker and Matt Stone cam back and while their improv was a tad awkward, they showed stuff that looked really funny and it made me want to go and play that first game very soon. It'll be silly and stupid but I don't expect more from South Park so I'm happy. Plus, it comes out this year so yay!
More Division stuff, urgh. I blanked out during the Survival bit and then the VR demos flooded the stage. The demo for Eagle Flight was not particularly fun for the audience but might play fun. The Star Trek VR game was losing me and then won me over with Levar Burton who I love for his two episode appearance on Community alone and Karl Urban, Judge Dredd from the good Dredd film. Unfortunately, I was lost again as it turned out that all the action will take place on the Bridge. YAWN. Levar Burton came back on stage though and his smile makes my world feel happy so I was in a loving trance for a very happy minute. The minute was broken by the return of For Honour which actually does have single player but it looks like a crap combo of Dynasty Warriors and Ryse. Remember Ryse? No, exactly.
I didn't like the game Grow Home that much so the sequel Grow Up being announced was not an exciting moment. One very exciting moment happened as two fat silly men in silly outfits came onstage to announce a mix of Trials and Blood Dragon, or as the Finnish guy said "Trials made baby with Blood Dragon". Could be good but it's out now. Things got odd as Ubisoft took a moment to talk about the Assassins Creed movie which I'm still worried about. I trust director Justin Kurzel after Macbeth but studio involvement is never good and if Ubisoft are showing it off to everyone, they are very involved. Oh yeah, Watch Dogs 2 for real this time now. The game is more colorful than the first one but the gameplay looks very similar. We can hope for difference but whether Ubi delivers is a whole other deal. The final big reveal was a new extreme sports game called Steep which looked like SSX without the fun. It was shown as a big social game but whether it will be any fun alone... Ubisoft, have I said this before recently. Come on, gamers with no friends exist, cater to your audience!
Aside from South Park and an offensively naff Just Dance demo, little of note happened at the Ubisoft conference. It happened and was just far too long but there were things worth watching. I'm just looking forward to seeing these games crash and burn, not because I like bad games but because I dislike Ubisoft and have no investment in their games anymore.
The Sony Conference
Sony opened with a mysterious demo with a score performed by a live orchestra who did a wonderful job with all the games at the conference by the way. We watch and my thoughts went from Last of Us to a less exciting Horizon: Zero Dawn but with the appearance of Kratos, it was clear that this was God of War with a much tighter camera, suggesting a less epic scale, something I approve of. Another trailer turns up for The Last Guardian which is not only still happening but is actually coming out this year and looks great. Horizon: Zero Dawn, a game I think looks stellar, got another slice of gameplay. Gameplay wise, it looks like a cross between Far Cry 3 with it's looting and crafting and a Bioware RPG with the dialogue trees. Plus, the world looks phenomenal with a rare original post-apocalyptic world full of robot dinosaurs. Yes please. Quantic Dream showed off their new confusingly named game Detroit Become Human. It has decisions and robots and promises to deal with themes of AI in a way less exciting than in other forms of media.
We headed to the VR section of the conference now and just before I zoned out per usual, a really creepy demo came on. It looked like Silent Hills and definitely far too creepy for me to ever play but I was very surprised when it turned out it was Resident Evil 7. It looks like the series is finally going back to horror, pleasing many people, me not included but I'm happy for them. Then the usual VR stuff, promising a sci-fi game called Farpoint, a mission in Star Wars Battlefront and something VR in Batman Arkham. Final Fantasy XV turned up again and has VR and I still don't care. This demo made it look much more fun though so credit for that. Call of Duty followed this and surprised me, much like Resident Evil, by being not awful. It's sent in space and if all of the grappling and space shooting feels as fun as it looks, Call of Duty may be good again, even if they're still holding Modern Warfare: Remastered hostage.
After the moderate surprise of good COD, I was ready for the surprises to stop but Sony had one more surprise in store. We are getting a remaster of the first three Crash Bandicoot games and man, they showed nothing but that's exciting! It's like Shenmue 3 all over again but I'm in on the excitement. They showed some Skylanders stuff which dampened the excitement but then Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I'm cynical but I love me some Lego Star Wars. It looks a lot like Lego Star Wars but this is a good thing because those games are great. At this point, my load was blown but there was actually another surprise to come with the reveal that Hideo Kojima is alive! He walked on stage, triumphant to the Mad Max soundtrack and I felt so happy for him. He has a new game with fellow Silent Hills survivor Norman Reedus (I guess Guillermo Del Toro did not make it) in their creepy, naked foetus holding simulator Death Stranding. There's dead whales, floating figures and naked Norman Reedus. I didn't think it could get more exciting but then there was a trailer for a Spiderman game being made by Insomniac, creators of Ratchet and Clank and Sunset Overdrive which, loving Civil War, I want. Now. We ended with a demo of a game teased earlier, Days Gone and while it's zombies, it looks fun. Whether the game holds up past this one set piece is yet to be seen but the engine handled remarkably well and it could be great.
Sony just blew me away consistently here. I watched the whole conference and almost every game made me wish I had a PS4. That is how you do a press conference in almost every single way
Who won?
No question, Sony won. EA lost for being uninteresting and also heartless as the only conference who didn't at least explicitly acknowledge Orlando. Bethesda did good and were a close second but just not to my taste. Microsoft seem to be floundering so just hoped the new Xbox One would be popular. Ubisoft, aside from South Park, showed me nothing I really wanted. As I said, Sony showed me games that I wanted and made me want to own their console. If that isn't an indicator of winner, I'm not sure what is.
The EA Conference
I didn't have my hopes up here because EA are shits and my expectations were met. For a start, they decided to do two conferences, one from LA and one from London but that slowed the pace down if nothing else. It wasn't that exciting. Anyway, to the games. Titanfall 2 got two trailers and a single player mode. While looking decent, the game looks like little has changed from the first game and the single player has been stolen from Avatar, straight down to the weird alien dogs. Nothing has changed but that may not be such a bad thing considering the solid original frame. There was two minutes of Madden which was about three minutes too many. Then we get to the big Mass Effect reveal in which, for the third year running, we have gotten no gameplay footage. On the plus side, EA are giving to charity which is genuinely quite nice but I feel like it's just to dispel the "EA ARE EVIL" reputation they still have.
We now get to the most exciting game of the conference: FIFA 17. There was a bit of topical banter that was as uncomfortable as when my boss asked me about whether I watched the match. Then there was a scripted bit with some bloke which was even more uncomfortable than footy talk with the boss. But come one, come all, FIFA now has a story mode which is basically the Mafia games which are basically The Godfather. In short, it's still highly derivative, despite the developers promoting "complete innovation" and there's also now managers, introduced by the real Jose Mario, famous football director. Huzzah! After FIFA, EA, showed that they know what indie games are by talking about a game called Fe. It's Journey but purple and for furries. The presenter also mentioned the Unravel guy from last year and it made me sad that he wasn't there because he was so adorably passionate.
Into the home stretch now and we got Star Wars and when I say Star Wars, I mean pictures of drawing boards and discussions about the franchise. We're getting Battlefront 2 which is actually Battlefront 4 but whatever. Respawn are making a Star Wars game and we saw about five seconds of Visceral's Uncharted but Star Wars game. The only notable thing (aside from the bit with two men literally fighting with sticks) was that Lando is coming to Battlefront through DLC. On the news of things that are made by Dice, Battlefield 1 which is not the first Battlefield but is in fact set in WW1. Jamie Foxx and Zac Effron were brought on to bring in the female crowd (and me) and then we got a dubstep trailer. The game looks pretty mediocre, with the big claim being "You will experience destruction and weather". My biggest worry is them insulting the soldiers of WW1 by doing something like a level in the Somme to a Lil Wayne song. You can do a level in the Somme, just make it tasteful and respectful.
Man, that was a let down to say the least. Still, at least I know FIFA is going to revolutionise the world this year. Bethesda had better be good or at least unpredictable because EA just made a conference that had more buzzwords than a dictionary being plowed by a vibrator.
The Bethesda Conference
After last years conference, Bethesda had a lot to live up to and they really did. They didn't show many games but they showed some good stuff. It opened on Quake Champions and if it follows the template of this years Doom, it could be quite popular but it's just not for me. Speaking of not for me, they also showed their Elder Scrolls card game and while I like Hearthstone, I don't think I'll give this a shot. The whole thing gets more exciting when we get to Fallout DLC. There was contraptions which could be cool and the ability to build your own vaults, a slightly cooler feature. The standout though, despite showing very little, was the reveal of Nuka World, a new story DLC and as someone who loves the world of Fallout, this can only be amazing.
One of the big reveals of the show was that there would be a remaster of Skyrim. As a game I've slowly warmed up to, I think this could finally be the time that I play Skyrim because it just looks stunning here. After this came one of the surprise reveals of the show, a new Prey game. It looked really creepy and atmospheric, probably too much for me to play it but if it works, it'll be like Dead Space with sublety. Bioshock in space perhaps? To follow the subtlety, we got more stuff on Doom, including some DLC and the cool info that the first level will be free this week. Being a game that I've heard nothing but praise for, I look forward to trying it out so thanks Bethesda.
There was a brief interlude in which we got ot hear how very excitable all of the fans here were and then we got some Elder Scrolls Online stuff. I didn't know anyone cared but it's nice that they're still supporting it. It could only go up from that then but the VR section wasn't so interesting. The idea of Fallout 4 entirely in VR is one that, while unlikely to be available for most of the public anytime soon, sounds very good. Finally, Dishonored 2 comes on stage. I don't much like stealth and this game looks like more of the same stealthy goodness that people liked. They seem to be expanding on the amazing world they built in the first game and that's not a bad thing, even if I'm not that bothered.
A Collectors Edition was also shown but I disagree with pre-ordering as a whole.
I didn't like all of the games that Bethesda showed this week but they showed what they had with such style and genuine belief in their product that I cared about games I know I'll never play. Bethesda swept away my usual constant cynicism and provided another joyous conference. It didn't quite live up to the stellar showing last year but that would be damn near impossible and it was still one of the years strongest.
The Microsoft Conference
Being a fan of Microsoft, I wanted to like their press conference but it just didn't click for me this year. The Xbox Slim/S seems like a cool idea and is not too expensive but the main focus of the conference ended up being on how Microsoft had so many exclusive games, something that isn't so great. Their Play Anywhere system could be good but we need great games for it. Speaking of not that, Gears of War 4 started the conference and was more of the same thing we expect from Gears. There was a special controller for Gears and a new character for Killer Instinct but I zoned out due to not caring. I cared a smidge more when Forza Horizon 3 was shown off because I loved the Fast and Furious Forza game and the Horizon series has been silly fun. It'd be a total sell for me if there's local co-op but let's be realistic here, that's not happening.
I woke up when Recore was shown because that game does have my interest and we actually got gameplay. It looks like a blend of Legend of Zelda and indie platformer Tiny and Big and it even comes out this year so I was very excited. My excitement dropped instantly when Final Fantasy XV was shown. It looks far too epic and overblown and I don't care at all. There was some of The Division and Battlefield 1 shown off but we learnt nothing new and I'm left not caring about anything. Microsoft are finally adding features they should have always had to the console with Clubs and Background Music although the Looking for Group feature sounds like it could really lead to some hilarious trolling from people. Speaking of trolls, Minecraft was shown because someone hasn't bought that yet. The demo was too long for a game we already know well.
Indie games took over for a few minutes as we got a small look at Inside, the new game from the Limbo guys and it comes out this month, only good news. We were disappointed as an indie sizzle reel appeared and got a response of "That was rad". We Happy Few was shown and looked genuinely cool and twisted, although it being in Early Access is confusing. For fans of The Witcher, Gwent exists outside the games but I'm skipping that as well as Tekken 7 because no one expects that to change at all. Dead Rising 4 officially exists but little else would shown. Let's just hope it's fun. As the conference started to drag, Scalebound went from intriguing to annoying, Sea of Thieves looked pretty cool but probably shit without friends and one minute of State of Decay was shown. Not gameplay to clarify, just a CG trailer. We ended on Halo Wars 2 with very little gameplay because Strategy games just don't look exciting and a little tease for the powerful console Project Scorpio, brought to you by the word teraflop because it's a word now?
And then it ended. I was glad because it was dragging but confused at the lack of Crackdown 3. Overall though, some interesting games were shown in pretty boring ways. I wasn't sold on anything but I wasn't unsold on anything. Oh well, better luck next year Microsoft.
The Ubisoft Conference
Ubisoft proved to be as naff as ever and proved their ridiculous capacity to disappoint with a Just Dance demo to Queen. Aisha Tyler proved herself to be cheap enough to turn up again but to her credit, she was funny this year, even if just as cringey. The first real game shown was Ghost Recon: Wildlands and while the spectacle looked cool, it's hard to know if it'll scale well to single player gameplay and if the events were as scripted as they looked. I was ready to be let down again as I saw what I assumed to be a Watch Dogs 2 trailer but was hilariously revealed to actually be the new South Park game. This segment proved the highlight of the Ubi conference for me as Trey Parker and Matt Stone cam back and while their improv was a tad awkward, they showed stuff that looked really funny and it made me want to go and play that first game very soon. It'll be silly and stupid but I don't expect more from South Park so I'm happy. Plus, it comes out this year so yay!
More Division stuff, urgh. I blanked out during the Survival bit and then the VR demos flooded the stage. The demo for Eagle Flight was not particularly fun for the audience but might play fun. The Star Trek VR game was losing me and then won me over with Levar Burton who I love for his two episode appearance on Community alone and Karl Urban, Judge Dredd from the good Dredd film. Unfortunately, I was lost again as it turned out that all the action will take place on the Bridge. YAWN. Levar Burton came back on stage though and his smile makes my world feel happy so I was in a loving trance for a very happy minute. The minute was broken by the return of For Honour which actually does have single player but it looks like a crap combo of Dynasty Warriors and Ryse. Remember Ryse? No, exactly.
I didn't like the game Grow Home that much so the sequel Grow Up being announced was not an exciting moment. One very exciting moment happened as two fat silly men in silly outfits came onstage to announce a mix of Trials and Blood Dragon, or as the Finnish guy said "Trials made baby with Blood Dragon". Could be good but it's out now. Things got odd as Ubisoft took a moment to talk about the Assassins Creed movie which I'm still worried about. I trust director Justin Kurzel after Macbeth but studio involvement is never good and if Ubisoft are showing it off to everyone, they are very involved. Oh yeah, Watch Dogs 2 for real this time now. The game is more colorful than the first one but the gameplay looks very similar. We can hope for difference but whether Ubi delivers is a whole other deal. The final big reveal was a new extreme sports game called Steep which looked like SSX without the fun. It was shown as a big social game but whether it will be any fun alone... Ubisoft, have I said this before recently. Come on, gamers with no friends exist, cater to your audience!
Aside from South Park and an offensively naff Just Dance demo, little of note happened at the Ubisoft conference. It happened and was just far too long but there were things worth watching. I'm just looking forward to seeing these games crash and burn, not because I like bad games but because I dislike Ubisoft and have no investment in their games anymore.
The Sony Conference
Sony opened with a mysterious demo with a score performed by a live orchestra who did a wonderful job with all the games at the conference by the way. We watch and my thoughts went from Last of Us to a less exciting Horizon: Zero Dawn but with the appearance of Kratos, it was clear that this was God of War with a much tighter camera, suggesting a less epic scale, something I approve of. Another trailer turns up for The Last Guardian which is not only still happening but is actually coming out this year and looks great. Horizon: Zero Dawn, a game I think looks stellar, got another slice of gameplay. Gameplay wise, it looks like a cross between Far Cry 3 with it's looting and crafting and a Bioware RPG with the dialogue trees. Plus, the world looks phenomenal with a rare original post-apocalyptic world full of robot dinosaurs. Yes please. Quantic Dream showed off their new confusingly named game Detroit Become Human. It has decisions and robots and promises to deal with themes of AI in a way less exciting than in other forms of media.
We headed to the VR section of the conference now and just before I zoned out per usual, a really creepy demo came on. It looked like Silent Hills and definitely far too creepy for me to ever play but I was very surprised when it turned out it was Resident Evil 7. It looks like the series is finally going back to horror, pleasing many people, me not included but I'm happy for them. Then the usual VR stuff, promising a sci-fi game called Farpoint, a mission in Star Wars Battlefront and something VR in Batman Arkham. Final Fantasy XV turned up again and has VR and I still don't care. This demo made it look much more fun though so credit for that. Call of Duty followed this and surprised me, much like Resident Evil, by being not awful. It's sent in space and if all of the grappling and space shooting feels as fun as it looks, Call of Duty may be good again, even if they're still holding Modern Warfare: Remastered hostage.
After the moderate surprise of good COD, I was ready for the surprises to stop but Sony had one more surprise in store. We are getting a remaster of the first three Crash Bandicoot games and man, they showed nothing but that's exciting! It's like Shenmue 3 all over again but I'm in on the excitement. They showed some Skylanders stuff which dampened the excitement but then Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I'm cynical but I love me some Lego Star Wars. It looks a lot like Lego Star Wars but this is a good thing because those games are great. At this point, my load was blown but there was actually another surprise to come with the reveal that Hideo Kojima is alive! He walked on stage, triumphant to the Mad Max soundtrack and I felt so happy for him. He has a new game with fellow Silent Hills survivor Norman Reedus (I guess Guillermo Del Toro did not make it) in their creepy, naked foetus holding simulator Death Stranding. There's dead whales, floating figures and naked Norman Reedus. I didn't think it could get more exciting but then there was a trailer for a Spiderman game being made by Insomniac, creators of Ratchet and Clank and Sunset Overdrive which, loving Civil War, I want. Now. We ended with a demo of a game teased earlier, Days Gone and while it's zombies, it looks fun. Whether the game holds up past this one set piece is yet to be seen but the engine handled remarkably well and it could be great.
Sony just blew me away consistently here. I watched the whole conference and almost every game made me wish I had a PS4. That is how you do a press conference in almost every single way
Who won?
No question, Sony won. EA lost for being uninteresting and also heartless as the only conference who didn't at least explicitly acknowledge Orlando. Bethesda did good and were a close second but just not to my taste. Microsoft seem to be floundering so just hoped the new Xbox One would be popular. Ubisoft, aside from South Park, showed me nothing I really wanted. As I said, Sony showed me games that I wanted and made me want to own their console. If that isn't an indicator of winner, I'm not sure what is.
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