1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS
Microsoft Xbox
Last year, Xbox closed its briefing by teasing the audience with "Project Scorpio." Opening its press conference this year, Xbox wasted no time. Immediately, Project Scorpio had a new name: Xbox One X. The presentation did an excellent job putting the new half console update on display. No doubt it is now the most powerful console out there. Highlighting the new half console upgrade was its superior ability to deliver the best 4K experience. While Xbox demonstrated the hardware could deliver the 4K experience, they did not display the software that could do the job. 4K is best for games which are trying to achieve a realism look, but Xbox displayed games that use caricatures and cartoons as characters, not realistic people. Does Minecraft really need to be in 4K? Even with the games aiming for realism, Xbox spoke to a minority of its fans when it talked about 4K. Not many people have 4K TVs due to their high price. Without a 4K TV, the graphics go back down to 1080p, which means it's equal again to the PS4 (Pro). It had to argue more than graphics to compete with PlayStation. Perhaps it did have the games to compete, but we didn't really get to see them. It look like the goal of the Xbox press release was to put on display as many games as possible. It may have revealed that there is such a thing as too many games. In order to display as many games as possible, they presented a lot of small trailers for the games. I never got to see gameplay. Heck, I didn't even get enough time to consider what the game was about. The Darwin Project looked interesting, like a Hunger Games kind of game, but it never stopped long enough to talk about it. The most we heard about was Assassin's Creed Origins, showing both cinematic trailer and gameplay, but Ubisoft had enough to say about it. Xbox closed their press conference with announcing backwards compatibility now included the original Xbox games. This announcement I also found lackluster. Backward compatibility for games from the original Xbox may sound impressive, but with so many of those games already remade into HD versions, and so many 360 games still needing backwards compatibility, it doesn't wow me. All in all, while the Xbox proved that the Xbox One X proved it was stronger than the PS4 Pro in graphics, it did not present a new console that brought new gameplay, like the Nintendo Switch did.
+Positives+: Most powerful console, best 4K resolution, backward compatibilities for original Xbox games, displayed huge library of games-Negatives-: Too many games, not a lot of gameplay demos, games did not demonstrate the 4K potential, not a lot of explanation of games, no mention of next Halo game
~Best Game~: The Darwin Project
*Medal*: Silver
Sony PlayStation
After watching the Xbox briefing, Sony's briefing of the PlayStation was quite disappointing. Microsoft came out in full force and said, "The Xbox One X is the best console out there!" Sony did absolutely nothing to convince gamers not to trade in their PlayStation 4 (Pro) at GameStop for an Xbox One X. They never compared or contrasted their consoles, no did they argue their console was better. Their silence pretty much admitted defeat. The only nod towards hardware they did was continuing to support PlayStation VR by increasing the game library. But some of those games that they did display had me wondering, "Does that game really need to be on VR?" Just like Xbox boasted in their 4K ability but failed to put on stage games that displayed it, PlayStation bragged about their VR, but they failed put on stage games that demonstrated it.
Continuing with this year's theme, PlayStation's goal was to just jam pack their showcase with as many games as possible, probably to display a huge game library. Because they did, most of their game presentations were merely cinematic trailers. I rarely saw gameplay. That's important. While I appreciated PlayStation displayed brand new games, when I don't see any gameplay footage, I really don't know what it's all about, nor do I know what to expect when I play the game. For all I know, all these games are interactive movies, like Heavy Rain. I got that feeling the strongest when I watched the footage from The Inpatient and the Spiderman game. Speaking of the Spiderman game, when I watched it I also felt like it was trying too hard to be the Marvel version of the Arkham series. If that was their big game to wow, then all the other games would fall short, and they did. Days Gone felt like just another post-apocalyptic zombie slayer, this time on motorcycles. Shadow of Colossus was just a remake, and I'm afraid the Shadow of Colossus will remake will do to the original game what remaking Silent Hill 2 and 3 did to that series. More surprisingly than what was displayed was what was not displayed. Nothing regarding Last of Us 2. Nothing new was presented about Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. The presentation on Detroit: Become Human felt like I was watching PlayStation's 2016 E3 press conference all over again. Same goes for the new God of War game. These should have been the flagship games of the presentation, yet they seemed absent. All in all, nothing attracted me towards the PlayStation 4 (Pro), and I imagine a lot of people watching felt the same way.
+Positives+: Huge game library, continued support for PSVR-Negative-: Did not choose good games to display, fogginess on what the game was actually about, no mention of Last of Us 2, nothing new on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy,Detroit: Become Human, or the new God of War game, PlayStation 4 Pro looked lackluster next to Xbox One X.
~Best Game~: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
*Medal*: Bronze
Nintendo
Well, Nintendo followed suit of every other briefing. They presented a cinematic trailer during the briefing, and then they showed gameplay after the briefing. Although not verbally stated, you could see what Nintendo was trying to do. They emphasized the local multiplayer abilities of the Nintendo Switch console, showing off plenty of multiplayer games. They emphasized the third party interest in the Switch with Mario + Rabbids and Rocket League. They also made it look like they were getting back to the good ol' days of the Game Cube, announcing games we haven't seen the Game Cube era, such as Metro Prime 4 and "an unnamed Pokémon RPG for the Switch console" (I'm thinking a gameplay sequel to Pokémon Coliseum/XD). This may seem like Nintendo is stuck in the past, but this is exactly what Nintendo needed. This is why Nintendo fanboys really love Nintendo. In its own odd way, this is Nintendo's way of telling its fanboys that it really loved them, and it further showed with another Kirby game, another Yoshi game, another Fire Emblem game and another Xenoblade game. This may be the Nintendo fanboy inside me, but this press conference got me the most excited out of all of the presentations, especially among the first party developers.
+Positives+: Continued to show off Switch abilities, demonstrated support from 3rd party developers, provided quality sequels to nostalgically beloved franchises-Negatives-: Briefing itself was a short half hour, very little mention of the 3DS, too many Switch games are "Deluxe" versions of a Wii U game, Super Mario Odysseys looked and felt like Sonic '06.
~Best Game~: Arms (Switch) & Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
*Medal*: Gold
3RD PARTY DEVELOPERS
Electronic Arts (EA)
In my preview and predictions of E3 2017, I said I expected the Electronic Arts briefing to pretty much be a presentation of sequels. No surprise came to me when I saw a bunch of sequels. What did pleasantly surprise me was that EA proved that their sequels were not the same old game, but rather they could be a new and improved game. EA Sports is really taking hold of adding a story mode to their sports game. Not only will FIFA 18 continue the story of Alex Hunter, Madden NFL 18 will add its own story mode, centering around Devin Wade. NBA Live 18 will bring build-your-own-player to a whole new level. Outside of EA Sports, the other EA did the exact same thing: prove a sequel is not just the same, old game, but new and improved. Need for Speed: Playback has a brand new story for the same open world gameplay as the last one. Star Wars: Battlefront II has an original, single-player story available offline that anyone could look forward to. I also think EA made a smart move with Battlefield 1. Instead of pushing another sequel and making gamers dish out more money, they simply created more DLC to expand the world of an already great game. As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But the game I'm most excited about is A Way Out. It has both original story and original game play. It's a breath of fresh air in a gaming world of such much repetition. My biggest criticism would be that Anthem looked like it had the potential to be a great game, but EA said nothing about it. I get it why, though. They wanted to display it on the Xbox One X, but at the time of their press conference, it was still Project Scorpio, and Xbox would not allow EA to steal that thunder. Still, EA could have displayed Anthem on the PS4 Pro, and we would have gotten the same effect. Overall, while we have seen FIFA, Madden, NBA Live, Need for Speed, Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield 1 in past briefings, and we will see them again in future showcases, I still feel like EA presented us with brand new games.
+Positives+: FIFA 18 continuing story mode, Madden 18 adding story mode, NBA Live 18 improving the player creator mode, Star Wars Battlefront II adding an original, single player story mode that can be played offline, Battlefield 1 DLC expanding the Battlefield 1 world, A Way Out offers a brand new story with brand new gameplay-Negatives-: Feels like the same game franchises are presented at every EA E3, more mentioning of how EA is working with Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 Pro/VR, needed to see and hear Anthem
~Best Game~: A Way Out
*Medal*: Silver
Bethesda
The best part of the Bethesda briefing was its display of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch. Bethesda just didn't simply republish Skyrim for the Switch. Instead, they took full grasp of its capability. It grasped the amiibo capabilities. The Breath of Wild Link amiibo will give you Link's outfit, including the Master Sword and Hero Shield. It gets even better. Skyrim grasped the motion controls of the Switch. Now Skyrim can be played with motion controls. How cool is it that you can now play Skyrim anywhere, dressed as Link, using motion controls. If I do not have Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim yet (and I don't,) I would get it for the Switch. That was highlight of the Bethesda press conference. Everything else was downhill. Bethesda wanted to show they were onboard with VR, liks PSVR and Oculus, so they announced they would be working on VR games. What VR games are these? Fallout 4 VR and Doom VR. From what I could tell, these games were not any different from Fallout 4 and Doom, except they were now in the 1st person view for VR. It felt like Bethesda was taking the same route with VR, trusting in well-liked old franchises instead of risking it a fresh, brand new idea. Speaking of trusting in old franchises, most of their showcase centered around new DLC for old games. Once again, while I appreciate them not rushing into an old game, by just adding on a good current game, I feel like Bethesda is playing the safe route again. Bethesda's safest move yet, and probably the most disappointing was at the end. Before E3 even began, Bethesda hinted at their briefing with a drawing of a theme park called "Bethesdaland." 2 areas of Bethesdaland were covered up, labeled "Coming Soon." With that, I would expect I brand new title. Boy, was I disappointed. Instead, we got The Evil Within 2 and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Like I said, safest route yet. Yes, these are brand new games, but coming from old franchises, it's a safe route. Overall, Bethesda did nothing to wow me. I was glad their press coference got over as soon as possible, before it bored me to death.
+Positives+: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is made for the Switch, Bethesda is not afraid to try VR-Negatives-: Playing it safe by trusting in old franchises, too much DLC and not enough new content
~Best Game~: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch
*Medal*: Bronze
Ubisoft
Ubisoft also followed theme of "We'll show you a cinematic trailer now at the press conference, we'll show you the gameplay demo later on after the show." Again, there might have been great new games that Ubisoft had thought up, but we couldn't tell what they were about because all the audience saw was a short cinematic trailer. The few gameplay demos we did see were highly rehearsed, almost to the point they were music videos! As they have done in years past, Ubisoft again demonstrated they had games for all players from all genres. This year, what they added is that they proved that they had games from consoles. No matter what console you had, whether that be a Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (Pro) or a Xbox One (X), Ubisoft had games for them all. This great variety, in both game genres and game consoles, gives Ubisoft the win for the 3rd party developers.+Positives+: Presented games from all genres, presented games from all consoles
-Negatives-: Too many cinematic trailers, game play demos were highly rehearsed, no Aisha Tyler
~Best Game~: Far Cry 5
*Medal*: Gold
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