E3 Event Bottomline
To be honest, I am feeling the same after this E3 as I have for the last few years. The excitement for E3 has dwindled in my opinion.
Like every year, most of the games that are talked about are games that will be released in a few years. I for one do not care for that. I care about, what are the games coming between this E3 and next.
A "prime" example is Metroid Prime. I know, bad pun but it works here. People got excited because they announced the game. It was just a splash of the logo. However, now it is going back on the drawing board and it will not be available for a good year if not more. If it was not even ready why even announce it.
The XBOX Conference was probably the most entertaining. It had some decent announcements and they had an appearance by none other than Keanu Reaves for Cyberpunk 2077. However, I think that overshadowed the Game Pass for PC announcement. Between all of the streaming services out there, the one I would put my money on is with Game Pass. The Ubisoft Uplay+ stuff does not look inviting for me as I am already on the Microsoft ecosystem. Game Pass has an advantage as it is a recognized name. No one will remember Uplay+ in a few months. I truly believe that the Game Pass stuff was a more important announcement than Cyberpunk 2077. Although the latter looks beyond amazing.
The Square Enix conference was better than last year but still lacklustre. They did announce Marvel's Avengers and Outriders and a slew of Final Fantasy things. The first 2 games, I am excited for. The rest, I am not looking forward to anything. I am sure some people were interested but the conference felt flat.
Ubisoft Conference's have been known to be weird at times and this one was no different. Watch Dogs Legion looks amazing and it has a lot of potential.
They did announce a passion project from the creators of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey called Gods and Monsters. Looked interesting but it is not ready for prime time yet.
For the rest, there was not much there. The Mythic Quest TV show does not interest me one little bit, hence I did not even include it in my review of the conference. It felt out of place for me.
The Bathesda Conference was what I expected. I am not sure that they did enough to win back fans for Fallout 76. I do think that it was a step in the right direction. They tried to make us believe this was a year 2 plan and I think that was improvised. Human NPC's were never in the plans.
Once that elephant in the room was addressed, the rest was a typical Bathesda Press Conference. Doom: Eternal does look awesome and I cannot wait to play it.
Another strongly anticipated entry is Wolfenstein: Youngblood. The gameplay looks exciting and it looks like it will be a game that will be fun. I have enjoyed the reboot of the series so far.
A game that I was surprised was Deathloop. This looks really good and the story seems interesting. I was pleasantly surprised. Ghostwire: Tokyo is another game that also fits in this category. I like paranormal games and this is right up my alley.
I think that Nintendo had hands down the best "Press Conference". It is in quotes as they had a Nintendo Direct video only. I am ok with it. Frankly, more companies should apply this method. I think this was a conference that was packed with decent games. There was something for everyone and even the games that I acknowledge that I am not a fan of were cool to see. Link's Awakening Remake, Luigi's Mansion 3, Resident Evil 5 and 6, Witcher III and Contra Rogue Corps, are all games that I am looking forward to on the Switch and I left some out. I liked it and I think many fans would as well.
Overall this was an underwhelming conference. Yes, Playstation did not have a Press Conference but it goes beyond that. The EA (Electronics Arts) Play thing was really boring and EA has a history of being disappointing at this conference. The PC Show as well was boring as hell. I get it that it does not get as much love as other conferences, but to be honest, it is not fun to watch. Everyone looks awkward on stage. They need to revamp the format to something much better. If they cannot improve then just remove this press conference.
This year there were less leaks than other years and I think it benefited the show a little. It added more the element of surprise. But in the end, most of these games will not even be ready before next E3. Many games advising that they will release Spring 2020 will probably get pushed. This is usually the case.
Year after year the hype for this event is getting less and less exciting. Most of these companies announce things at their own events (PSX and Nintendo Direct). There are other gaming shows as well during the year (TGSand PAX). It just feels that E3 is starting to lose steam and they need to light that fire again. There are some good moments for sure and the whole show is not a throwaway either but it is getting more and more difficult to justify the cost for these various companies. If XBOX or Nintendo decide not to do the show again, that will be the nail in the coffin for E3.
What do you think? Let us know.
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