The Big 3 didn't exactly wow me, but they all came out with some solid stuff. Microsoft and Sony seem to be trading personas and Nintendo is off doing their own Nintendo thing. I had a good time, but I think next year will be a bigger year for the event.
Microsoft as usual is the first of the Big 3 to strut their stuff. The backwards compatibility announcement seems like it was the most crazy thing they announced, but really there weren't that many great exclusive 360 games in the first place, and it sounds like its support they have to roll out gradually. They showed some solid footage of Halo 5 and Gears 4. The Rare collection is a pretty thorough collection of their catalog, and wouldn't you know it, they're making an actual game, with Pirates! Sea of Thieves is looking rather nice, but it appears to have that Ubisoft style connectivity going on with it that I'm not so sure about. ReCore has promise as one of the other few new IPs of the show. With what they showed, Microsoft seems to be finally turning over a new leaf with their games division. They are showing more Windows support instead of taking it for granted, working with more indie developers, VR and even Valve again. Hololens is also pretty mindblowing. Kinect was pretty impressive too though, and we know how it turned out, so take that as you will. It's not a crazy good lineup, but I came away pleased with the direction Microsoft seems to be heading.
Grade: B
Sony's conference was crazy. The Last Guardian is back, and I'm happy to see it in playable form. Final Fantasy VII Remake is something a lot of people have been pining for, and it's pretty amazing to see Shenmue back. BUT, but... these things don't seem to serve Sony other than them associating themselves with these things to give people the illusion that they are the good guys. Really, it seems like Sony has turned into Microsoft of yesteryear. They're bringing back all the stuff you wanted like 8 years ago. They got all the exclusive content for all these multiplatform games that I'm just going to play on PC anyway. Meanwhile, they lack actual games as exclusives. While Microsoft seems to be evolving, Sony seems to be devolving. Uncharted 4 looks great, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. No Man's Sky still seems like the technical marvel it has looked like in the past, but as expected the gameplay part beyond the exploration that they showed isn't the game's strength or draw. It's basically the biggest game they have going for them this year, and I'm still going to play it on PC. As for the new stuff, Dreams was a rather intriguing thing, but it's tough to see how it'll translate. Horizon: Zero Dawn looks really cool, with its unique uber-retro future setting and robot dinosaurs. Besides those two things, their conference didn't seem to carry much weight. I did however, enjoy it while it was happening, but when I sit down to think about it, Sony doesn't actually have much going for them at all. Solid show for gamers as a whole, but not for PS4 owners or Sony fans. I guess this means next year is going to be jam packed full of great stuff, right?
Grade: C
Nintendo's conference had charm and little of note. Mario Maker is looking more rad than ever. Star Fox looks good, and a new one is a bit overdue. And... that's pretty much it as far as exciting stuff goes. We got a weird Metroid spin-off, a party Animal Crossing game. Granted there is some interesting 3DS stuff on the way like Fire Emblem: Fates, and Mario and Luigi Paper Jam, a cooperative Zelda, and a more proper Animal Crossing. None of this stuff looks mind-blowing the way A Link Between Worlds was a couple of years ago. They said going in that the Zelda game wasn't going to be there, but their showing lacked the punch it might have provided. I'm struggling to find a reason to support Nintendo, and at this point I hope that they're just saving the good stuff for the NX they will unveil next year at this point, and maybe that will include the next Zelda game similar to the Twilight Princess situation.
Grade: C
I'm fairly satisfied with the Big 3's showing. This year goes to Microsoft who didn't appear to be holding anything back. I'm not sure they can rest easy though, because I think Sony and Nintendo were. Sony has plenty of studios that didn't make it and Naughty Dog presumably has another team working on something not Uncharted related. Nintendo is going to straight up unveil some new hardware next year, so who knows what that means. Hopefully it means some high quality F-Zero. If nothing else, at least E3 succeeded in getting me riled for the next E3.
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