As E3 winds down the question on everyone's mind is who won E3? Well, that answer is simple. We the gamers did. The big three all had really good conferences, and the EA and Ubisoft presentations were spectacular as well. There were a ton of really good and exciting games that were announced, and even the stage announcements were great too. So in short, we win. That however isn't the answer that a lot of folks are looking for, so we are going to dive into the big conferences to see who did the best this year. If you want to know my final verdict for the show just jump to the bottom and check it out because this is going to be a long one. Otherwise, I'm going to be talking a bit about each of the conferences, and point out a lot of their high and low points.
Note: For the "big 3" we will only look at exclusives since EA and Ubisoft, and their other partners are 3rd party developers. I will go in order of the conference dates and times, just to keep thing coherent.
Microsoft: Microsoft put on a great show this year. They really honed back in on their core gaming audience, and not once mentioned Kinect, tv, movies, a home entertainment system, or any of the other stuff they were so proud of last year. That clearly was a good thing for their popularity and the majority of their audience, but there are still plenty of people out there like me who actually love the idea of the all in one console and the Kinect. I may be in a minority, but I personally love the Kinect. My family uses all of it's functions every day, and it really has become the One thing that ties our entertainment center together. So for me, the other stuff not being mentioned loses Microsoft some points. I am excited though for their gaming lineup. The Halo Collection immediately jumped to my most anticipated game for the year, and they had a couple of spectacular new IP's in Sunset Overdrive and Scalebound. Plus they are bringing back some old favorites like Crackdown, Fable (Legends), and Phantom Dust. Their apparent focus on Indie games is also refreshing for gamers who are loving indie games more and more all the time. Plus the rest of their games lineup is solid, and will back up all the multi-plats rather nicely. So overall, despite the lack of Kinect support, Microsoft did fairly well. Their focus on games this year won them back a lot of good faith, and I think that we'll see the popularity of the One go up as this year progresses and things like the Halo Collection and Sunset Overdrive release.
EA: The EA press conference was honestly exactly what I expected it to be for the most part. They spent a lot of time talking about their sports properties, and showing off how good this generation will look and play with the Frostbite 3 engine. I personally think they may be taking it a bit to far, as most of their sports games are starting to fall into the Uncanny Valley of graphics quality. Nevertheless, their sports titles do look good and I'm interested in the new FIFA. Other than that they opened up quite strong with an early look at the new Star Wars Battlefront, which looks spectacular. The showed off some great looking gameplay for the new Dragon Age, and again it looks phenomenal. The graphical fidelity was amazing, and the animation quality was superb. We also got a tease of the next Mass Effect, which really excites me since Mass Effect is one of my Favorite games of all time. The two biggest games that they have going right now though, are Mirrors Edge 2 and Battlefield Hardline. It's hard to say which one I'm more excited for. I loved Mirrors Edge in every respect. It's original gameplay mechanics, its beautiful art style, and its deep story. Battlefield Doesn't have to much of those, but it is the best shooter on the market when it comes to realism, destruction, and solid multiplayer mechanics. The only real letdown for EA was The Sims 4. I don't understand why chose to show this off at the conference. It looks exactly like the previous Sims game, and all the stuff they were saying about personality customization looks the same as what you could do with Sims 3. I feel like they wasted a bunch of valuable stage time on Sims 4, but otherwise they had a great show. Definitely good enough to rival the Big 3.
Ubisoft: Ubisoft has almost all of my favorite games this year. They started off with Far Cry, which looks phenomenal. The bigger open world, better graphics, and more choices for handling situations makes me want this game even more than I did. The story of it also looks a lot better than previous game, which is good since this is a story driven single player (with coop) game. We got another look at the division with more gameplay and a new trailer which really makes the game look even more in depth and exciting than before. I'm worried that the hype train will steamroll this game, but damn does it look amazing. The Crew is probably my 2nd most anticipated game coming out this year, especially if it actually delivers on it's promise to drive anywhere in the continental US. I want to drive to my house in Tennessee, pull into my driveway, and take some comparison pictures. If you really can do that, believe that you will see them here this fall. I am worried though that they may be saying whole US, but actually only mean big population centers around the country, which is still phenomenal, but not what they have promised. Only time will tell on this one. We also got a really in depth look at Assassins Creed Unity, which is again another excellent game. The graphics are impressive, and I love the new Coop aspects of the game along with improved free running and combat mechanics. Overall a good edition to the AC franchise, and one I'll happily give my money too. Finally, they closed with Rainbow Six Siege. Hot Damn does this game look Impressive! The sheer amount of choice you have with fully destructible and constructable environments is something I'm not sure we've seen in shooters. Perhaps Battlefield a bit, but never in such a targeted way. It also looks visually stunning, and very in depth with some serious teamwork required to pull off incredible maneuvers. If this game is even half of what this reveal showed, it will be something special. Then on top of all that, Ubisoft really knows how to put on a good stage show. Aisha Taylor is a vibrant funny personality who really knows how to milk a crowd, and they really showed off a lot of good stuff. Almost all of their games are ones I will buy at launch, and that's something that I just can't say about any other presentation made.
Sony: Sony had, I think, the longest presentation, and it certainly was the most diverse. Sony and Microsoft really did a 180 on their presentations this year, with Sony going on for quite some time about new hardware and Playstation TV. This has gotten some flack from people, including me, because Sony has repeatedly said that they just want to be the best gaming console out there. While PS4 is in no way made weaker as a platform, the fact that they are starting to diversify means that they will be devoting less times and money to their games divisions and in turn have a greater chance to falter under all in one experience stuff. Their conference was by no means bad, but it was all over the place. They made it very clear that they are getting a lot of exclusive content for games such as Battlefield, Destiny, Far Cry 4, and a few others. This is good for Sony and PS4 gamers of course, but what is really good for Sony is their exclusive games list. The Order 1886, Uncharted 4, and Little Big Planet 3 are probably the most anticipated Sony Exclusive Titles. All of them look great in their own ways, and many of their upcoming exclusives look really good too. Bloodborne looks like a return to the classic Resident Evil formula for scary games, Let it Die looks like a crazy FPS/RPG multiplayer game that could be an answer to Microsoft's Sunset Overdrive (not in style but in substance), and the fact that PS4 gets No Man's Sky first will be a big draw to the console. Overall Sony threw a lot of big punches at Microsoft and Nintendo that made them stand out in a lot of ways. Like I said before though, a lot of people have given them crap about the big focus they had on TV, Movies, and Hardware. We'll see if they lose some folks over it, or at least notice a dip in the PS4 Sales as (especially) Microsoft and Nintendo claw some of their fans back.
Nintendo: The Nintendo Conference was definitely the weirdest. They did an all digital presentation, so no stage personalities or presenters. Plus they had some goofy animated skits to open the show, and break up some of their titles. Some people liked it, but I personally didn't. The big press conferences are a chance for the developers and the higher ups to come out and connect with us, and the fact that it was all pre-recorded loses them a lot of points with me. They did have a lot of really good games to show off though. The opener with Smash Bros was really solid, and the Mii inclusion into Smash Bros is really cool. It's something myself and a lot of people have wanted for a long time. I do not like the Amiibo's though. I don't like these toy add-ons to video games because when I buy a game I want that to be it. Having to buy a bunch of extra stuff to either play the game, or get the full experience is not cool. It just encourages kids to buy more toys, which this will do a lot. I'm sure they will sell millions of these little things because kids will love them, and that is a good business move for Nintendo (which I certainly don't blame them for). Yoshi's Wooly world looks really artistic and pretty, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker looks both fun and silly, and Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire both look great with their graphical upgrades. I have to say that what I'm most excited for is Bayonetta 2, which will Include Bayonetta 1. I really loved the first game in the series, and have been itching for the second one for quite some time. Otherwise for games they made a lot of promises for 2015, that don't look all the special. Outside of the new Legend of Zelda game, not much they showed wowed me. Hyrule Warriors is just a Dynasty Warriors re-skin, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse looks like just another action platformer, and Star Fox was only teased to us. I do have to say that Xenoblade Chronicles X looks really impressive, but since all we saw was cinematic trailer I'll be reserving true judgement till we know more later. Nintendo is stepping it up though, and I think all of these titles will help boost the lackluster sales of the Wii U. I think if they combined this line up with 3rd party support, they'd just wipe the floor with everybody else. However, they still haven't got it yet, so we are left with an odd presentations and a lot of promises for next year.
It's really tough to say who the best was. EA and Ubisoft had a lot of good stuff, but as just game publishers these guys don't have to worry about as much diversity and the actual issue of pushing platforms. I think I'll do two winners. One for overall best, and one for the best of the big 3. This should allow me to be more objective as I can both include and exclude the specific circumstances the big 3 have to deal with.
Big 3 Winner: (Microsoft) This was not an easy decision. All three really came out swinging. Microsoft and Sony both have a lot of great looking exclusives and much better third party support. Nintendo though has game experiences you truly can't get anywhere else, which goes a long way. Nintendo though, didn't do a real conference. They just pre-recorded a bunch of stuff and rolled a video for people to watch. They could have done that anywhere else and sent some real people on stage for the conference, and I feel like that alone is enough to cost them the win. Sony's shift into a diverse business plan with TV, Movies, and a lot of hardware is really giving them a lot of flack. I don't think it was as bad as Microsoft last year, but if they keep on this path they'll wind up there eventually. They had a lot of great games, but their lack of focus on games at a gaming convention is going to cost them this time. That means that Microsoft is the winner. Phil Spencer came out, put the focus on games and never looked back. They delivered a great stage show, and a lot of really good gameplay footage and trailers. Overall Microsoft really delivered this year, and their commitment to listen to gamers and improve the platform has won them a lot of support. Will they pass Sony? Who knows, but I can guarantee that they will start to close the gap after the conference this year.
Overall Winner: (Ubisoft) Everyone throughout the entirety of E3 (not just the conferences) showed off a lot of really good games. From AAA titles to indie developers we got an orgasmic amount of diversity and excellence. Ubisoft though stands above them all. With The Division, The Crew, the Watch Dogs Series announcement, Far Cry 4, Assassins Creed Unity, and Rainbow Six Siege they wiped the floor with the competition. They have more games on people's most anticipated games lists than any other developer/publisher, and hold 3 of the top 5 game spots for this E3 on the official E3 site. Ubisoft isn't perfect, but they are close to it. Thus, they must take the crown as the overall winner at E3. Congrats guys, you've certainly earned it this year.
Now, I know a lot of people will disagree with me. That's fine, as we all have our favorites and our own ways of interpreting things. What I want you to take away from this though, as it is much more important that anything else I've said so far. We as gamers won this year. This is the best lineup I have ever seen at E3, and games only get better looking and more immersive all the time. So it doesn't matter if you disagree and think Sony won. It doesn't matter if you think Bethesda is a better publisher than Ubisoft. What does matter, is that we as gamers win.
Check the specifics for the Microsoft Conference, EA Conference, Ubisoft Conference, Sony Conference, and Nintendo Conference.
This concludes our E3 coverage for the year. Regular content will return after a much needed break this weekend, but you may get lucky and see some let's plays. Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to leave your thoughts on who won E3 (or anything really) in the comments section.
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