Goodness gracious, what an E3 this has been. As usual, a lot of new things were announced and shown off, previously announced games received status updates, and certain no-shows continued to be no-shows. And I'll be honest, most of what was shown this E3 did nothing for me. Microsoft continued to make me not care about their console, Sony's offerings were largely irrelevant to my interests, and both of their conferences leaned heavily on third-party titles that aren't even exclusive to their respective platforms. EA, meanwhile, continued to be EA, and Ubisoft, while offering some cool-looking games, took the brunt of the foot-in-mouth attention for something I'll talk about further down.

But on to more specific thoughts.

Presentation of the Show: Nintendo

This isn't a "Who won E3" discussion. The idea of "winning" E3 is an absurd argument, but I would argue that, of the companies that put on large-scale PR events, Nintendo's was easily the best this year. Their pre-recorded digital event, at less than an hour long, was entertaining and provided some good information on a variety of their coming games. Its brevity was welcome after the marathon press conferences like Sony's, which dragged at points with an extended presentation on extraneous things like a Sony-produced TV show. It also managed to avoid cringe-worthy moments like an EA rep, in all seriousness, proclaiming "all the feels!" while talking about Dragon Age: Inquisition. That is a phrase that no one should ever say out loud, and if you do, it is a sure sign that you have been spending far too much time on the internet. Go outside.

But more than the pre-recorded event, Nintendo put on a PR clinic with their Nintendo Treehouse livestreams that ran the span of E3. Staff from the NOA localization team sitting in front of cameras, casually talking about the games that they're there to present, getting commentary from producers and development staff, and generally just being very open about what they had to show, whether it be something fairly complete, like Hyrule Warriors, or early concepts like Shigeru Miyamoto'sProject Giant Robot. They streamed extended demos, offered interesting tidbits, and even occasionally cursed at each other while competing in Smash Bros. Never stiff or awkward, they were just there, talking about their games and being completely confident in them. And before that was even over, they took one more opportunity to reveal a brand new strategy RPG IP to the press in Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

It was a PR effort that frankly put everyone else at E3 to shame, regardless of what other companies had to show. Microsoft and Sony would be wise to learn from what Nintendo did this year.

Foot in Mouth of the Show: Ubisoft PR

OK, let me be upfront here. I don't believe that just because a game allows for custom, player created characters that having a gender selection option is or should be a requirement. There are some games where such just might not make sense.

That being said, Ubisoft's excuse for why there aren't any playable female options in the forthcoming Assassin's Creed: Unity come off as lazy and intellectually insulting. Blaming it on "realities of production" when, in the past, they have been able to create female assassin characters (including the protagonist of Liberation), and particularly when compared to other, much larger-scale games that feature gender selection as part of very robust character creation tools, is an absurdity. Especially for a company the size of Ubisoft.

And then there is, of course, the historical precedent of Charlotte Corday, an actual, real-world assassin of Revolution-era France. And yet, the option to play as a female assassin during this same era, and in a game where assassination is depicted in a much more fantastic manner, is completely absent because Ubisoft couldn't be bothered to put in efforts that other developers take for granted. Or at the very least, if such an option isn't included, the absence isn't generally excused in such a ridiculous manner.

"Give Me Now!" of the Show: Hyrule Warriors

September 26th, 2014. That is the date that I must wait for in order to finally have Hyrule Warriors in my hands. It is a date that is both months away, and yet tantalizingly close. As a Warriors fan first and a Zelda fan second, I want to play this game. I want to see all of the insanity that Omega Force and Team Ninja could muster. I want to summon the Great Fairy from Ocarina of Time so that I too could smack a dragon out of the sky with the evil moon from Majora's Mask, because that is a thing that actually happens in this game. I want to play as Zelda and a whole host of characters from the series and cut down thousands of dudes.

I WANT THIS GAME, DAMN IT. WHY IS IT NOT SEPTEMBER YET?

Surprise of the Show: Devil's Third is Alive...and Wii U Exclusive?!

OK, so it's not necessarily a surprise that Devil's Third is alive. It's no secret that the game has had a rocky history given the troubles with the game's original publisher, the now-defunct THQ. And the game does look a bit rough in the footage that's been shown, but of course the game isn't finished yet, so who knows what sort of polish they intend to give it between now and release. But, really.

Tomonobu Itagaki teaming with Nintendo to bring an M-rated action game of his personal style to the Wii U? It makes for funny speculation, sure, but I wouldn't have guessed that it was reality. And well, it's reality!

I'll be honest in that, prior to this announcement, my general interest in Devil's Third was more curiosity than actual desire. Nothing much of the game had really ever been shown at all, even during its THQ days. I've learned more about the game in the past two days than I had in the past several years. And roughness acknowledged, the game looks bonkers enough for me to have actual, honest interest in it now.

Again, it's just bizarre. And yet, it's a bizarreness that I am totally cool with.

Ridiculous Debate of the Show: Zelda Wii U - Link's Identity

Come on, people. Did you really think that wasn't Link in the teaser?

Not that it wouldn't be cool to play as Zelda (HYRULEWARRIORSHYRULEWARRIORSHYRULEWARRIORS) or another character, male or female, but there is such a thing as getting enmeshed in overanalysis to the point that the obvious is completely missed.

Game of the Show: Xenoblade Chronicles X

Holy Gnosis, this gamem is looking fantastic! Originally teased for over a year and a half under the simple code name "X", Xenoblade Chronicles X is looking like a bigger, more elaborate Xenoblade Chronicles, with new bits like a custom player-character and more combat customization options. Nintendo livestreamed a demo of the game's opening quests twice, going a good forty minutes, and it is just looking fantastic. Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii is one of the best RPGs of the past generation, and X is looking just as good, if not better. It's projected to come out next year, and it's looking every bit worth the wait.

Ubisoft shouldn't HAVE to make a female character if they don't want to. Sure their reason as to why was stupid, but was probably born from a need to not sound "sexist" or something along those lines towards the legions of hyper sensitive gamers and games press. It backfired on them anyways, but the whole thing was dumb and they should have just said that they didn't want to make a female character for this game.

Anyways Sony "won" for me just because of Bloodborne, Arkham Knight and Uncharted. Nintendo was a close second though and I'm real excited for a new Zelda and the Bayonetta bundle.

EDIT: Also that is totally Link, or some variation of him. I don't think it's Zelda because even though Link looks slightly feminine, Zelda has always been very clearly the more feminine one with... like boobs and stuff. Unless it's like tomboy Zelda.

Ohmanohman I can't wait for Xenoblade X. I can't wait to go back into that world and story. I'm a little worried that it's gonna have nothing to do with the first one since there's no " 2 " in the title, but hey, one can hope. Also that dude at the end of the first trailer definitely looked like a HD Shulk.

I have to agree with this thread. In the case of Ubisoft sure it was their choice not to make that option available, but it was a stupid choice to make.

You know, the closer Bayonetta 2 is to being in my filthy-naughty-Bayonetta-wanting hands, the more caution I'm being about it. I'm not saying I don't trust in Yusuke Hashimoto, but I'm afraid of the possibility that trying too hard to capture the essence of the first Bayo will make the sequel completely miss the mark.

Anyway, I'm glad Nintendo killed it, meaning that if I'm somehow disappointed by Bayo, I can still be happy with the WiiU.

Best Press Conference - Split between Ubisoft and Sony, give the edge to Ubi as I enjoyed their entire Presser the most overall and Sony had the lull where I lost my interest for a bit.

Game of the Show - BloodBorne was awesome and got me really excited that its an exclusive for the PS4 (its an exclusive right?) but this is actually a shocker to me, its Dragon Age: Inquisition. As someone who was burned and still mad about DA2, they couldn't have turned me around more than they have really. Now I'm not sold Day One at release...but good enough word day one will probably convince me to actually buy it, soon. I went from maybe a purchase months/years later to potential first week sale, good job EA/Bioware.

Huh of the Show - Sunset Overdrive could not make me scratch my head more than it does. Not that it is getting a lot of love from everyone (like Titanfall last year) but I just don't get what people are seeing saying that it looks amazing, gonna buy an XBO for this, etc. Game looks alright I guess.

Zzzzz of the Show - EA, god their hour conference couldn't have been less entertaining or informative. Outside of the DA:I stuff, it was just full of nothing or "fucking what?" moments. Again....golf over a burning battleship....hey, play a round of 18 while soldiers are burning alive, goooooooooooooooooo GOLF!

Won the Show (aka who is probably gonna get the most out of my wallet) - Nintendo convinced me that now (as within the time of this E3 and next E3) is the time to purchase a Wii U, there are enough games out that I'm interested in and quite a few games that I am looking foreword to. I might have enjoyed Ubi and Sony more and probably will end up with more games from them, but they didn't convince me to buy a console. Bravo Nintendo.

I´ll be honest , although Nintendo´s offerings no longer makes me tingle in any way wathsoever I think their video like you said was perfectly passed (well maybe bit Splatoon was a bit long) but I really found the developers talking that calmy without having to put up kino like teatrics , was a nice refreshing way to see anouncements and at the end of the day thats is what matters instead of making all that onstage fuzz other companies do (also I laughed at the robot chicken bits ... didnt know that it was a big no no for the duders)

As for games on my side Dragon Age 3 , Bloodborn and Withcher 3 is all I needed to become exited. I will be honest that Princess Mononoke like part with the Zelda anouncement briefly sparked my interes also the story of Xenoblade Chronicles made me wonder if I should get a Wii U , but I prefer the Witcher 3 so my money is going to a PS4. But yeah generaly I had a much better E3 than last year (also watching very little of streams and just getting more facts helped a bit to not over expose myself and the dudes on these forums have done a great job of putting up relevant videos on threads on games im interested in). As who won like you say its a very silly question were the ovbious answer is us the gaming fans ;D

The worst? Fans. Good Lord the fans.

I'm on the polar opposite of you. I was completely disinterested with everything that Nintendo showed off and was more captivated by the offerings of Sony and Microsoft. At this point I'm most likely going to buy an Xbox One within the next year.

There was actually a debate over whether or not that was Link? It looks exactly like Link, to the point where you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was a girl if you didn't know anything about The Legend of Zelda.

@zombiepie: That's just because you don't have a soul.

@lordandrew: Then I guess I don't have a soul either :(

Splatoon was really the only thing that interested me at the Nintendo-thing...

It also managed to avoid cringe-worthy moments like an EA rep, in all seriousness, proclaiming "all the feels!" while talking about Dragon Age: Inquisition. That is a phrase that no one should ever say out loud, and if you do, it is a sure sign that you have been spending far too much time on the internet. Go outside.

Sorry Fun Police, but I'm gonna say internet things in real life! I may or may not go outside while doing it!

@village_guy: I cannot confirm whether or not you have a soul. I can only pass judgment on ZombiePie.

Splatoon could be cool. I'd like to know more about how it plays beyond "you can swim in your own ink", but it looks like it has potential.

Mortal Kombat X is the only thing I care about out of E3. Well that and the details on Patches 2.3/2.4 in FFXIV

You're right. They don't need one. It's their game and they can make it however they like. It's their reasoning for the omission that's absurd.

Well, they already confirmed it's not a sequel, but a spiritual follow-up. Still, it looks like Shulk might be in the game, so who knows? Apparently, there are going to be references to Xenogears and Xenosaga, as well. (Or at least, as close as they can make without infringement.)

Can't really disagree there. Some of the responses regarding some of the announcements from certain corners have been really dumb, as expected.

To be fair, they did show what amounted to a couple of prototypes. Project Giant Robot and Project Guard don't appear to be much more than fleshed-out concepts at this point. But they're concepts that Miyamoto is working on, so let him take the time he wants. They both sound pretty cool.

Oh shit. I flagged this post when I meant to click reply. Damn it! Sorry!

Anyway, I was going to agree with you.

Yeah, there was a whole thread about it here on the site. People even going so far as to assume that Link was girl and using feminine pronouns in reference to him.

Your support of terrorist actions have been noted! You can expect a call from a Danish tribunal shortly.

The only thing I really want out of MKX at this point is a story mode final boss that isn't as asshole difficult as Shao Kahn in the previous game. That fight nearly killed my enjoyment of it right there.

@hailinel: was shao khan really that difficult for you? i mean, just had to jump over him and catch him in his loop, 2 punches, jump over him, rinse and repeat.

if you wanna say he's a badly designed boss then thats another story.

It took me something like forty tries to get him. I couldn't get him caught reliably in a loop without getting destroyed and ended up having to win by time out by damaging him and playing chicken as much as I possibly could. So I did find him difficult, owing largely to his poor boss design.

I remember @damswedon was talking about this Link debate on Twitter. I was confused why it came about. I didn't get to see Microsoft's E3. Saw Sony E3, and I would be impressed if I had a chance to play those prequels to the games they showcased. I'm not much of an avid gamer because my PS3 library is full of JRPG games. I'm looking forward to Hyrule Warriors and the news Smash Bros game. Finally got something to play on the Wii U. All I had was Pikmin 3, a good game but too short, and Super Mario 3D World.

Nintendo really did have a decent showing this year. Maybe not mind-blowing, but good none-the-less. I don't think it was that crazy to think that Link was a girl, but I'd love to hear someone actually take a moment to explain what's so ridiculous or overanalytical about it. It just looked like a girl, simple.

Did you like anything else from the show besides Nintendo stuff?

@theht It looks exactly like the Link from Twilight Princess wearing Wind Waker Link's clothes and in the style of Skyward Sword. There's absolutely no reason for it not to be Link.

I feel like people were jumping at every game raving about female characters in a way that is completely unwarranted and makes no sense. Female characters are nice sure, but just because they don't explicitly show you a grizzled dude with a beard doesn't mean they are a chick. That was my "Worst of E3", the gender politics arguments.

I'm on the same page with you on this one @hailinel

Nintendo came to play this year and that is best thing that could have happened to gaming. Maybe next year (or hopefully TGS) Capcom will be back. The 2 Zelda titles are very very exciting, Splatoon is the kind of new IP we haven't seen from Nintendo in ages, Capt Toad looks super fun, Xenoblade X fills a much needed RPG hole in the WiiU lineup, Smash Bros, Bayonetta 2 with the original pack in,Kirby and Yoshis I don't care about but communicated a reassuring sense of quality work, some solid looking 3DS titles (including a remaster of MH 4) and Codename: STEAM! I can't remember the last time I felt this optimistic about Nintendo's offerings.

Unlike you I did see things from Microsoft and Sony that got me interested in particular - Witcher 3, Bloodborne, MK X, DA: Inquisition despite EA's best efforts to un-excite me about it, AC: Unity, Destiny and that Rainbow Six game looked alright and I'm especially curious about Scalebound. And hey Shadows of Mordor may not be terrible, that would be a welcome surprise.

I felt Atlus/NiS had a decent showing too that few seem to be talking about. Citizens of Earth seemed very interesting, the Persona games we already knew about, a remaster of DIsgaea 4, Danganronpa 2, Rollers of the Realm, and Abyss Odyssey which really looked intriguing the little I saw of it

It's Link. It was always very clearly Link. (Also, all we really had to go on for "female" was hair length and maybe face. That's not enough to declare gender in light of other hints.)

I dunno I mean you're right it wasn't a fun boss to fight but on the other hand i'd almost be insulted if they didn't make a stupidly hard gimmick boss like khan. Mortal Kombat final bosses have always been fucked like that. And I almost think its tradition in a way. But I mean lets be clear he WAS a badly designed frustrating boss.

@slag: I'm really excited for DA:I, but why didn't they have an actual trailer? That was really weird.

Yeah I'm with ya.

fwiw I didn't see much to suggest it wasn't Link. Maybe his neck and face were a little slimmer in the last shot? And wearing a blue shirt? That was it though.

But we had a full profile shot of him, saw his face clearly, it was hard to see how it wasn't Link. There was scant evidence other than pure conjecture to suggest it was anyone other than standard ole male Link.

Yeah everything about EA was weird this year, hopefully that isn't an indication of how things are going behind the scenes

@slag: He wore a blue shirt in Wind Waker

@corruptedevil: I know, just saying that's why some people apparently thought it wasn't Link

( I thought it was Link see below)

http://www.giantbomb.com/the-legend-of-zelda-wii-u-working-title/3030-41355/forums/is-this-link-1486414/?page=2#js-message-7399650

@slag: Just saying that even that point was moot. The only people who could have thought it wasn't Link are people who have never played or even seen a Zelda game before.

@corruptedevil:

duder I think we are saying the same thing. :)

That's all I keep hearing as responses. "It's Link, and it looks like a girl because hey, it's Link". We get a pretty clear look at that Link, and I don't think hair length was ever really a factor. Obviously girls can have short or long hair just the same as boys.

I mean, it's not really that crazy for an interation of "Link" to happen to have two X chromosomes instead of an X and a Y, yet still be the archetypal courageous hero. The question of "is it Link or is it another character" doesn't even necessarily enter the equation in that regard.

It's not at all as absurd as some people are making it out to be:

And it's also not a big deal, so to see people push back on it possibly being a girl, or feeling relieved that it's a boy, is very strange. Like I said, that's what I'm more interested in, why exactly people are being so weird about it all. What's ridiculous? What's overanalytical? If it looks like a girl, fine. If it looks like a boy, fine. But the responses tended to just be "no, it's Link, don't be crazy".

I think the outrage about the assassins creed thing is silly and dumb. Dumber than the reasons they gave for not having a female assassin.

I also totally thought blue tunic person in the zelda trailer was zelda herself. I mean its the Legend of ZELDA after all. not the legend of some dude named link. Wtf kinda name is link anyways? What a tool!

Nintendo not offering a good Metroid game. I continue to not care about Nintendo. Bayonetta1 + 2 in the same package is pretty cool though.

EA had a pathetic show. Unbelievable. Please go out of business EA and let real publishers buy up the pieces.

Ubisoft was the most fun as usual. I like their attitude and even some of their games. I think the "Ubisoft discussion" is equal parts Ubisoft's foot-in-mouth and Internet's head-in-ass.

Sony and Microsoft.. meh not nearly enough real exclusives. Honestly the best stuff looks like it's going to be on PC. I'm starting to wonder why I bothered buying the PS4. Certainly not for this spectacular 2014 exclusives lineup!

@tourgen: The first 2 years of a console are never great. But Infamous, Destiny, Uncharted 4 and Bloodborne are all great games that aren't coming to PC.

Oh my god is that FUCKING RIKI in that last picture? I hate that motherfucker's whole species. They should all die in a fire, along with whomever started the genre precedent that keeps placing insufferable mascot characters (except Teddie) into my jrpgs.

Oh, but otherwise Xenoblade Chronicles X looked sweet, though.

@theht said:

It's not at all as absurd as some people are making it out to be:

And it's also not a big deal, so to see people push back on it possibly being a girl, or feeling relieved that it's a boy, is very strange. Like I said, that's what I'm more interested in, why exactly people are being so weird about it all. What's ridiculous? What's overanalytical? If it looks like a girl, fine. If it looks like a boy, fine. But the responses tended to just be "no, it's Link, don't be crazy".

The Wind Waker-branch and handheld games aside, Link has had a history of being "pretty" for a long while now. I've seen a lot, and I mean a lot of comments on line about how feminine he looks in Hyrule Warriors. This isn't some overnight transition where Link suddenly became androgynous. When the games aim for a more "realistic" look with an older Link like this, or Skyward Sword, or Twilight Princess, he's generally a pretty boy. And that thread I mentioned earlier got incredibly overanalytical, with people claiming that the character couldn't be Link based on things like the hand he's holding his bow in, or the fact that he isn't seen with a sword in the teaser. Some were even speculating with all seriousness that it was actually Zelda, mainly because of the presence of a bow instead of a sword.

Most of the things that I was interested in from other companies were already known quantities (Persona Q, etc.) The one "new" announcement that really caught my eye was Square Enix localizing the HD version of Final Fantasy Type-0. And I mean, yeah, other games interest me, of course. But my interest in, say, Mortal Kombat X isn't really notable or comparable to guys like @demoskinos that are frothing at the mouth for it.

Man, if Shadows of Mordor turns out to be a good game, I will be pleasantly shocked. But you are right in that there were plenty of games to get excited about at E3 this year. I just got more excited about Nintendo's offerings than any of the others. That's just how it turned out this year. Especially with the variety of offerings they had on display and the depth of coverage they gave so many of the titles on display.

Yeah, I know that they were aiming for tradition with him. But at the same time, I just found it frustrating beyond words and it was one of the main reasons why I never replayed the story mode after I beat it.

No, that isn't Riki. The game's story is separate from Xenoblade Chronicles and are set nowhere near the same time period, if they're even in fact part of the same universe.

@encephalon: I'd hardly call Nopon the " mascots " of Xenoblade.

@hailinel: Nice post. I think I'm in agreement with everything you said, especially the Hyrule Warriors stuff. I've always wanted to play a Warriors game, so the idea of playing one in that universe (with playable Zelda!) sounds pretty awesome.

I don't really have my own points on the show. At this point, I only really watch press conferences because once I know I want a game, I don't want to see anything else on it from that point forward. I can say I'm supremely disappointed in what I've seen and heard (from Jeff in the last recap video) about the new Dragon Age. It sounds like it's moving further from the perfection that was DA:O, which really bums me out. I thought that first game was the best modern take on an Infinity Engine game to date (a blessing for someone who missed, and kinda can't stand, stuff like Baldur's Gate), and I would KILL for more of that. Instead, EA is turning it into another standard action game. Boo.

@hailinel: well in your defense yea, the final final time you fight shao khan in the story mode is harder than normal.

Absolutely.

I agree completely , even if Nintendo didn't offer a new F-Zero or Metroid or everything perfectly up my alley, what they did offer is pretty encouraging for the health of their platform. That's a win for everybody.

@hailinel: Hunh, he's always been clearly a boy to me. This is the first to look like a girl, and there'd certainly be nothing wrong with this Link being a girl. It'd actually be kinda neat given the way Skyward Sword sets up the whole mythology.

Apparently that isn't the case, but that news being a relief to some people is just bizarre. What would have changed if Link was a girl that worried those folks? Slightly higher-pitched voice?

I can see how that being another character might be a bit of a stretch, but simply being a girl? That's seems like a fair assessment. And yet even in this thread I've gotten responses simply pointing out that it's Link, when I clearly asked about why this Link possibly being a girl was ridiculous.

I can't believe people actually liked Nintendo's presentation. Games aside, it was clearly targeted towards children. Splatoon was the only thing interesting.

Since when was Robot Chicken aimed at children?

That is a bummer to hear. Oh, well. Maybe I'll get a better idea for myself if it's a game I want to play when more info comes out. Whatever happens, I'm not buying the game until after it's been out for a while and I can get a good range of opinions to educate me on it.

You say that like adults enjoy Robot Chicken's humor.

I agree with pretty much everything. I think I liked Microsoft and Nintendo's E3 announcements the most this year, and while Sony did have some good games I just think that it was outshined by the other two.

I say dumb internet shit in real life too but if you seriously use the phrase "all the feels" then all hope is lost. LOSE ALL THE HOPE! (see what I did there?)

Well they didn't really show a lot of the tactical stuff so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Dragon Age: Origins was really good but the combat wasn't the strongest part. Maybe because I was playing as a rogue but man you could break that game. You do so much damage and barely get hit and if you combine that with a well chosen party you're going to rip everything apart. A lot of the time I was just going through the motions to get to the next conversation. DA also throws A LOT of fodder at you that doesn't require much of a strategy. I enjoyed the combat for the most part but it had issues.

The demo they showed was most likely on a lower difficulty so I wouldn't judge it too much in that regard though the concerns are understandable of course. I'm actually playing through DA2 again at the moment (after going through Origins and Awakening for a second time as well) and there are still a lot of things I like about it but the worst thing apart from the repetitive dungeons is the encounter design or to describe it more accurately the lack thereof. It's just wave after waves of enemies that LITERALLY FUCKING SPAWN OUT OF NOWHERE. It's bad enough when they run in from places you just came from but sometimes they just appear ruining every strategical element that combat might have had.

They fixed the most obnoxious parts and while it's incredibly hard to strike a balance between flashy looking and well playing combat I understand why they would mostly show the 3rd person stuff at a show like E3 (especially on a console). I'm sceptical (who wouldn't be after DA2) but I'm liking most of the direction changes so far like the bigger hubs and the idea to shoulder more responsibility and organize the Inquisition stuff. It could all go to shit but I'm not seeing that just yet. One other thing: Jeff judging a fantasy RPG is as valuable to me as Jeff judging a character action game.

You really dig Nintendo huh?

I am excited for a new Rainbow Six game, I am big fan of the older games of the series.