2018: The Year of the Kirby

Last year, 2017, I dubbed "The Year of The Legend of Zelda" because I went back to The Legend of Zelda series and finished playing through the rest of the series, albeit some exceptions (Zelda II: Adventures of Link and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords). As I wrapped up the series in the second half of the year, I contemplated what series I would tackle next. I wanted to play through another series that I had never touched in all my years of owning Nintendo systems, but which one? Nintendo answered my question. In August 2017, in honor of the 25th anniversary of Kirby, Nintendo put up for sale 25% off all the mainline Kirby games on the Nintendo eShop. I took as a sign. I bought all the mainline Kirby games in August 2017, and I declared 2018 The Year of the Kirby. My goal was to complete all the Kirby games up to the 3DS and Wii U, both the mainline series and the spin-off games.

On New Year's Day 2018, I opened up my 3DS to play Kirby's Dream Land. To my surprise, I found myself finished the game the next day, after only 1 1/4 hours of gameplay! I did not expect such a short game. I remember reading that Satoru Iwata went into designing and developing the game, he wanted a game that anyone could pick up and begin playing right away, with little to no gaming experience. Kirby's Dream Land lived up to that expectation. I needed no help from a walkthrough, as everything from controls to goals were obvious from merely playing the game. My only complaint was the shortness of the game, with a mere 5 levels. Even the limits of the original Game Boy provided no excuse for the shortness, for games like Pokémon would fill the same cartridge. I chalked it up to the simplicity of the game, and I moved on to the next game.

I immediately started with Kirby's Adventure for the NES on Wii U Virtual Console. While it was definitely bigger and longer than Kirby's Dream Land, it still landed on the short side. I finished in 4 1/2 hours of gameplay over a 6-day span. I appreciated the new gameplay of copying abilities, yet it was still simple enough to keep up with Satoru Iwata's mantra of simple enough for anyone to pick it up and play it.

Continuing the main series games in chronological order, it only made sense to next play the direct sequel to the original, Kirby's Dream Land 2. It definitely felt like direct sequel, as the game improves on the original Dream Land. At the same time, Kirby's Adventure was that sequel. True, Kirby's Dream Land 2 did add Kirby's friends, but besides that, it was almost like a handheld port of Kirby's Adventure. The knowledge of the game, alongside Iwata's mantra that anyone can pick it up, play it and have fun, made the game a breeze. I finished the game in 3 1/3 hours over a 7-day span.

Back to the consoles, it was time for Kirby Super Star for the Super Nintendo. The new feature to Super Star was creating a partner to aid in battle. Obviously, this was made for a player 2, but I even found a computer-controlled partner a big help. While the game felt like it like challenge outside the boss rush Arena mode, the 8 games in 1 game automatically extended gameplay, as it took me 6 1/2 hours over another 7-day span to just reach 81% completion. 

As the Super Nintendo came to the end of its lifespan, it released another Kirby game, which came to be known as Kirby's Dream Land 3, making the Dream Land series a trilogy. I really felt like the game received a downgrade because the partner went from a copy ability to Gooey, who did seem to get in the way more than help. Although the game came late in the Super Nintendo's life, it didn't look like it, as the graphics looked inferior to Super Star. The unclear missions made I only reached 46% completion. Kirby's Dream Land 3, however, did follow Iwata's mantra of simple enough to pick up, play and enjoy, so I finished it in 6 3/4 hours, only 15 minutes more than Super Star.

Now let me pause here. Notice how that's 5 Kirby games finished in the month of January alone. At the beginning of the year, I had calculated that, in order to finish every Kirby game in one year, I had to average finishing a game every 10 days, or 3 Kirby games a month. By completing 5 Kirby games in the month of January alone, I was already 2 games ahead of the pace I set.

I was curious to see if I could keep the same for February. I came close. During the month of February, I finished 4 Kirby games, averaging a week per game. Kirby's Return to Dream Land on the Wii took the most gameplay hours at 8 1/3 hours. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards took the least amount of gameplay time with 4 1/3 gameplay hours. The gameplay time spent on each game reflected the level of completion. Kirby 64 had the least amount of completion at 61% completion. Kirby's Return to Dream Land had the most completed at 85% of the main story. With no Switch at the time, I closed out the month of February by finished all the main series Kirby games on Nintendo consoles. Only 2 months had passed, and I was roughly a third the way through all Kirby games.

March slowed down the pace a bit. March became the month of Kirby main series games on the 3DS. I finished Kirby Triple Deluxe on March 8 with 10 1/2 hours of gameplay. I finished Kirby Planet Robobot on March 24 with 10 2/3 hours of gameplay. You'll notice I spent more time on these Kirby games. It wasn't because these games were harder. It was because these games were so much fun, you just wanted to do everything these games had to offer. I collected all the sun stones in Triple Deluxe and all the code cubes in Planet Robobot just so I could unlock the extra stages to play. I'm glad I could spend the entire month of March just focused on these games, for it allowed me to compare and contrast the two very similar games. When the month was done, I had finished over a third of the Kirby games in a quarter of the year. More importantly, I had finished all the main series games.

Now the main series games were done, I figured the next games should be the remastered versions of the main series games. The month of April become the month of remastered Kirby games. I finished Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland on April 14 with 10 3/4 gameplay hours. I finished Kirby Super Star Ultra with on April 29 with 20 gameplay hours. Because I needed an excuse to play remastered versions of games I already played, I aimed to fully complete them. I accomplished that with Nightmare in Dream Land. For Nightmare in Dream Land, I 100% completed normal mode, 100% completed hard mode and finished Meta Knightmare. I attempted to do the same for Super Star Ultra, but after 20 hours of gameplay, I barely made it through The Arena, and I knew there was no way I could make it through The True Arena. Still, I got 89% completion, which is 8% more than the original Super Star.

May became the month of Kirby touch games. On May 8, I finished Kirby Canvas Curse after 6 1/3 gameplay hours. This game would be the least amount of completion at 14.2% completion. Frustrated with the touch controls, I did not want to backtrack for collectibles. On May 14, I finished Kirby and the Rainbow Curse on the Wii U in game 6 1/2 gameplay hours. With better touch controls, I completed 84% of the game. On May 26, I finished Kirby's Mass Attack on May 26 with 15 1/4 gameplay hours. When May ended, so did the touch games.

The month of June could be categorized as the month of Kirby games with unconventional Kirby gameplay. First, I played Kirby's Epic Yarn for the Wii. As much as this game got criticized for being easy to finish, it really is hard to fully complete by discovering hidden collectables and reaching a bead count. Still, I somehow reached 90% completion after 16 3/4 hours. The other game played this month was Kirby Tilt N Tumble. For this game, I had to order a cartridge from GameStop's retro games, and I had to pull out my old Game Boy Advance. I found the early motion controls a struggle, so much I finished with only 35% completion after playing the game for 7 5/6 hours. It is ironic that the Game Boy Color game used motion control more than the Wii game. Halfway through the year, I was well past the halfway mark of all the Kirby games.

I started off the month of July with the Kirby's Avalanche, a puzzle game for the Super Nintendo. I managed to clear all 12 stages on normal in 6 1/3 gameplay hours over 3 days. For the rest of July, I turned to the 3DS. The only full game was Kirby Battle Royale. The other two games, Kirby's Blowout Blast and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, were deluxe versions of minigames attached to main series games. I could tell by the length of gameplay alone. I reached the end of Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe in 1 1/3 hours. I reached the finish of Kirby's Blowout Blast in 3 2/3 gameplay hours, all done in a single day.

For August, I stayed on my 3DS, but this time, they were all Game Boy spin-off games, found on the 3DS Virtual Console. The 2 games finished in August were Kirby's Star Stacker and Kirby's Block Ball. The Game Boy spin-off games poured into September, as I finished Kirby's Pinball Land on September 9. September would wrap up with Kirby's Dream Course. I went from a Kirby pinball game to a Kirby golf game. I went from the 3DS Virtual Console to the Wii U Virtual Console. I was 2/3 through the year, and I had played 5/6 of the Kirby games.

To wrap up the last third of the year and the last sixth of the Kirby games, I figured I would first wrap up the Kirby minigames that got deluxe versions of the eShop. The first one, Kirby Fighters Deluxe, was no issue. I finished it on October 27 with 9 gameplay hours. Then came Team Kirby Clash Deluxe. This is the first (and hopefully only) free-to-start Kirby game. As a free-to-start game, I had to wait in real time to continue playing. On top of being a free-to-start game, Team Kirby Clash Deluxe is also an RPG. That means it involves a lot of grinding. Together, this game took a long time to finish. I finally finished it on December 7, after 24 3/4 gameplay hours over a month and a week of real time. I'm glad I got a head start earlier in the year, or else I would have fell behind my pace. With the conclusion of Team Kirby Clash Deluxe,  I had finished all handheld Kirby games.

After finishing Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, I turned to Kirby Air Ride. I played all the modes on Kirby Air Ride over a week. I thought that the Year of the Kirby would end on Kirby Air Ride, but then mentor and best friend Louis came to rescue and got me a Nintendo Switch for Christmas, and with it, Kirby Star Allies! I had 5 days to beat the game to finish the Year of the Kirby on time, and I did it in 4 days!

And with the conclusion of 2018, thus concludes the Year of the Kirby. Yes, I played and finished all 30 Kirby games in a matter of 1 year. It took over 250 gameplay hours. Looking back over all the Kirby games (at least the main series), I do believe the series continues to get better, and it will only get better with future installments. I'm not sure I would call myself a Kirby fanboy, but I do hope I have taken myself a step close to be considering a true Nintendo fanboy.

E3 2018: Review and Reaction

Every E3 somehow seems to a theme every year. This year's theme seemed to be the year of musical performances. I can't count how many press conferences had a music performance somehow incorporated. Sometimes it made the viewers appreciate that the press conference aimed to entertain them. At other times, the watchers wanted to hear less music and see more games. Did these music performances and other performances get the audience excited about the games the publisher had to offer? As always, we'll start with first party developers, and then we'll move to the third party developers. For their first party developers, I will go int the order of presentation. For the third party developers, I'll go from best to worst. To add to the fun, in order to receive the title of "best game," the game must be presented at press conference, not any post-showcase demonstration.

FIRST PARTY DEVELOPERS

Microsoft XBox

As always, Phil Spencer opened and closed the XBox press conference. In the opening, Phil announced the XBox presentation would consist of over 50 games. I thought to myself, "Wow, that will take a while to get through. Indeed, it did take 1 hour 40 minutes (that's literally 100 minutes!) for XBox to get through its showcase. But for the most case, as we have seen in recent E3 press conferences, most of game presentations were cinematic trailers. They did restrict themselves from last year, though. Instead of the 30 game ID@XBOX game montage from last year, this year's ID@XBOX montage was only for 20 games. 

Microsoft, as a publisher, put a heavy emphasis on the developers they had acquired. This has both positive and negative quality. On the positive side, buying these developers will provide small developers the funds they need to make better games. On the negative side, I fear Microsoft (as well as other game publishers) will use the developers' name to convince games the game is good without putting any quality control into it. With Microsoft buying these developers, naturally console exclusives will follow. Let's examine how XBox handled their most famous exclusives. Of course, XBox was smart to lead with Halo Infinite. The Halo franchise made XBox famous. The problem, however, was that no one knew really knew it was XBox. At first, it looked like Microsoft was simply showing off the XBox One X's 4K capabilities with a nature scene. It wasn't until the end, when the viewers saw Master Chief's helmet that they knew it was a game from the Halo series. Upon further review, this doesn't seem like the Halo 6 Halo fans wanted. This looks like an open world Halo game on a halo. In reality, it's just an announcement and nothing more.Near the end of the press conference, XBox displayed the skull in the gear, which every gamer knows as the Gears of War symbol. At first, the audience got super excited. They thought this was the big announcement for the next Gears of War game. Viewers found themselves surprised, however, when they saw a Pop! toy break out of the wall. XBox announced Gears Pop!, a Gears of War game game for the mobile device. Next, the announced Gears Tactics, a PC strategy game from the Gears of War series. Then they finally announced Gears 5. Then the watchers lost it. I kind of liked how XBox played the audience like that. It led the audience to think the next Gears of War game was coming, but then it wasn't coming, only it was really coming. Gears 5 wasn't just an announcement like Halo Inifinite. Gamers saw a cinematic trailer, with both old and new faces. Some speculate it's not a real main series game because it's Gears 5 and not Gears of War 5. I think it's just a short hand. Besides, they are less likely to confuse GOW 5 as God of War 5. All 3 games announced for Gears of War can get the fanboy excited. And of course let's not forget Crackdown 3, but at the same time, it's worth forgetting. The audience got another cinematic trailer. No one learned more about the game. It's all probably due yet another delay in release. The game best displayed during the XBox presentation (and probably the all the press conferences) was Forza Horizon 4. The audience saw both a cinematic trailer and a real, live gameplay demo. Playground Games well mapped out the terrain of Britain. I appreciate how they thought how seasons and weather could impact game modes, not just driving.

Microsoft also dedicated time to prove they had thirty party publishers supporting them. From Electronic Arts, the audience saw Battlefield V. From Bethesda, viewers saw Fallout 76. Capcom brought Devil May Cry 5. I still think it looks more like DMC than Devil May Cry 4. Square Enix gave the most to XBox. Those watching saw The Awesome Adventures of  Captain Spirit, Nier: Automata, Kingdom Hearts III, Shadows of the Tomb Raider and Just Cause 4. You can tell XBox beamed with pride announcing they would finally have a Kingdom Hearts game. In my opinion, the best third party presentation was Ubisoft's Tom Clancey's The Division 2. Once again, the audience saw both a cinematic trailer and gameplay demo, although their gameplay demo was pre-recorder and probably highly rehearsed. To me, it looks like Tom Clancey's The Division 1 but in Washington, D.C. instead of New York. Still, it looks like Massive Entertainment took the time to fine tune and perfect the game.

After faking out the audience concerning Gears 5, Microsoft had one last fake out to pull. It looked like Phil Spencer was closing the press conference, when the screens around seemed to glitch and seemed like they were getting hacked. It led into the cinematic trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. While I appreciate Cyberpunk 2077 brings some color to the post-apocalyptic future, what game genre does it fit in? Will it be a FPS, TPS, RPG, RTS or open world game? Actually, that describes most of the games presented during XBox's showcase. The cinematic trailer told a lot about the story, but it left me out in the cold for gameplay. You don't need that for the sequels of well-known games, but it's definitely required for brand new titles. The XBox press conference wasn't excited as I thought it would be, and it did not encourage me to buy an XBox One, especially an XBox One X.

+Positives+: XBox suprised the audience a few times, they had both games to display from both first party developers and third party developers, had a real life demo of Forza Horizon 4

-Negatives-: Too long yet still didn't cover enough, too many sequels, trying to impress you with studios instead of their games

~Best Game~: Forza Horizon 4

*Medal*: Silver

Sony PlayStation

When Sony's press conference went live, online watchers saw the live audience crammed in this church-looking building with one medium-sized screen in the front of the building. I couldn't believe the whole showcase would happen in that building. A man came out with a banjo and played a song. I could tell that it was leading into Last of Us Part 2, but they dragged it to long. They eventually got to the cinematic trailer, which led to a gameplay demo (once again pre-recorder, and once again, probably highly rehearsed). It does look beautiful, and it does look like a fun game to play. Then the press conference went to what PlayStation called a "short intermission" but was really a long intermission. No joke; I clocked it as a 12 1/2 minute intermission. 12 1/2 minutes is not a short intermission. It is a long intermission. Listen, Sony, I know that The Last of Us Part 2 was your big game for the PlayStation this year, but did you really have to put the whole audience in that church-like structure to make them feel they were in the hall with Ellie? You burned 12 1/2 minutes which you could have spent demonstrating another game. Subtracting the intermission, you gave your gamers a 65-minute showcase. Many 3rd party publishers gave a longer presentation that that!

When the intermission wrapped up, the press conference started up with another live instrumental performance. Once again, watching it I thought to myself, "Alright, it's taking place in feudal Japan. Let's move on to the actual game." Indeed, Ghost of Tsushimi looked beautiful between is cinematic trailer and its [pre-recorded, highly rehearsed] gameplay demo, but Sony could have spent more time talking about the game without the dragged-out musical performance. Speaking of music, transitioning between games, the audience saw short clips of vegetables playing instruments. Later on, I found out it's from Dreams, but if you don't know that, you're wondering, "What's that about?"

Before moving on, everyone should know Sony promised the press that they would not do what they did last year by rapid firing a bunch of short trailer for multiple games. Instead, they would focus on showing a few games in-depth. Well, either PlayStation is a hypocrite or they took back what they said, for that exactly describes their press conference. Sure, they did have some of that, but for the most part, it was rapid fire cinematic trailers. As I said earlier, this works for sequels, but not for brand new games, and Sony had a lot of brand new games. For example, I saw a game call Control previewed. What's it about? I don't know. All I saw was a cinematic trailer. Only seeing a cinematic trailer for Death Stranding, it more weirded me out than wowed me. It did not make me want to play that game. Finally, PlayStation closed out its showcase by putting Spider-Man on display for the 3rd consecutive E3. For the 3rd consecutive E3, it got old. It showed nothing new. In fact, now Spider-Man feels like an Arkham Assylum clone.

In concluding the Sony press conference, what I find so tragic about the Sony press conference is the live streaming that followed it the next few days. Take the first 8 live streams PlayStation did. They take up the same time as the Sony press conference (including the intermission), yet they are more entertaining. You see cinematic trailers, gameplay demos, developer interviews and so much more. If PlayStation would have done that for 65 minutes or 80 minutes, they would have won. Instead, they had the worst press conference.

+Positives+: Has stunning 4K graphics (without having to brag about them), focused on games that tell good stories

-Negatives-: One long intermission, several short and unexplained intermissions, fell back to rapid-firing cinematic trailers, no explanation to how new games played, Spider-Man felt old

~Best Game~: Last of Us Part 2

*Medal*: Bronze

Nintendo

For their 6th consecutive year, Nintendo did a pre-recorded "Nintendo Direct" instead of a live press conference. Nintendo started off with a bang with Demon X Machina and the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Torna ~ The Golden Country. These 2 presentations demonstrated what the Switch could do. As I watched these cinematic trailers, I kept thinking to myself, "I can't believe this is on a Nintendo console!" Next, watchers saw Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eeevee. True, nothing new came out about the games, but it reviewed all the highlights of the new Pokemon games, and it continued the same excitement. Then came Super Mario Party. At first, I was surprised it wasn't called Mario Party 11, but I quickly forgot about that. I was too impressed on what it could do. Super Mario Party is clearly meant for portable multiplayer. One of the most impressive feats was connecting 2 Switch consoles to have double screens for minigames. True, it might be hard to find someone with another Switch, but it really displayed what the Switch could do. Of course, with battle royale becoming the popular gaming genre, Nintendo made sure its fans knew it was getting involved. Fortnite is coming to Switch. And all this took place in the first 17 minutes of the Nintendo Direct.

Nintendo reserved the last 25 minutes for what everybody wanted to hear the most. Nintendo dedicated the last 25 minutes to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Everyone can relax. Sakurai returned to direct. Anyone can tell Masahiro Sakurai had the fanboys and the competitive circuit in mind. For starters, every character that's even been in a Super Smash Bros. will be in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Still, it wouldn't be a new Super Smash Bros. game without new characters. Everyone knew about the Inkling due to the the announcement trailer. Masahiro put some good thought into the Inkling. Splatter shot causes the fighter to receive more damage. The roller slow fighters down. Inklings have to recharge with shield + B. At the end of the presentation, Then at the end of the Nintendo Direct, they announced Ridley as newest fighter! Finally one of the most requested fighters come to Super Smash Bros. I see why Sakurai didn't want Ridley at first. Ridley looks so small in comparison to all the fighters. Contrast that to the Metroid games, where Ridley looks huge! New gameplay features also reveal that the developers kept fanboys and the competitive community in mind. Air dodging is back. Assist trophies can be knocked and cause a loss of stock. Any characters who have charge up or power down abilities will have a meter next to their icon. Final smashes have all been redesigned to act quick. Most importantly, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will have Game Cube controller support. Even better, those who bought the Wii U Game Cube ports don't have to buy another one, for the Switch will support the Wii U peripheral. Speaking of peripherals, not only can Super Smash Bros. Ultimate support the amiibos of the previous game(s), it also will carry out the saved data in them. I have no doubt that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will become the best Super Smash Bros. games ever.

Before concluding Nintendo, I want you to recall what I said about Sony's post-showcase live streams. Nintendo had live streams after their Nintendo Direct called "Treehouse Live." The average live stream for PlayStation was 10-15 minutes. The average Treehouse Live session lasted 20-30 minutes. If you can't tell by the times, I learned more about the Nintendo games than the PlayStation games. Nintendo is the first of E3 that made me want to buy a Switch. Oh, and speaking of Switch, I was right, the 3DS is dead. Nintendo only placed 2 3DS games on display, and both of them were ports of Switch games. I hope everyone likes the Switch as a handheld system because that's the direction Nintendo is going.

+Positives+: Nintendo displayed its graphical capabilities, Nintendo had third party support, Nintendo demonstrated online capabilities, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate made for fanboys and competitive circuit alike.

-Negatives-: No mention of Metroid Prime 4

~Best Game~: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

*Medal*: Gold

THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS

Ubisoft

O Ubisoft, do you have to do a big musical performance every time you make a new Just Dance game, which is every year? Apparently yes, yes they do. The second I saw the panda dressed in a marching band uniform, I knew it must be Just Dance 2019. Interesting enough, they didn't announce new gameplay or new songs. It simply announced the game was coming out. The next game was Beyond Good and Evil 2. I still don't understand how a prequel has the number 2 as a suffix. The game had a long cinematic trailer, showing all the characters. Jade gave the biggest surprise, as she was a bad guy instead of a good guy. Overall, it made fans happy, knowing their game did not stand still in development puragatory, although Ubisoft gave no release date. To present the next game, the director came out on a motorbike, making quite the ruckus. Of course, it was for Trials Rising. This new Trails game looked like it returned to its roots as an all-out just fun and not to serious motorbike racing and stunt game. Then came Tom Clancey's The Division 2. While the audience did not see any new gameplay footage because it appeare don the XBox press conference, Ubisoft announced new game features, like raids and classes. Skull & Bones appeared at Ubisoft's E3 press conference. Last year's E#, I thought Ubisoft would simply elongate the ship missions from Assassins Creed III and IV. At this year's E3, I could tell they put a lot of thought in graphics, gameplay and story, especially on the multiplayer level.

Ubisoft demonstrated they did not fear incorporating new technology into video games. Ubisoft continues to develop for VR, as seen in Transference. With Elijah Wood producing and Jack Black acting in it, anyone can tell how serious this story will be. While many gamers have declared the toys-to-life genre dead, Ubisoft still experiments with it. Starlink looks awesome. I like how the parts change out to build and improve the ship. I like how the ship's pilot has special abilities which affect gameplay. As if this game couldn't get better, Ubisoft announces that they teamed up with Nintendo to add Fox McCloud as a playable character exclusive to the Switch. If I were to purchase Starlink, I would totally get it for the Switch.

Ubisoft closed out their presentation with Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Ubisoft gave its viewers both a cinematic trailer and a gameplay trailer. For the first time in the series, the game will allow the player to choose to play as a male or female main character. Watching the trailer and the gameplay, it does not look or feel like an Assassins Creed game. As much as I hate stealth missions, without those stealth missions, it looks like a beat 'em up game. Besides that, it looks stunning. Looks, however, mean nothing if it doesn't play like an Assassins Creed game.

Overall, Ubisoft had the most entertaining presentation. I enjoyed watching all the ways Ubisoft could think of presenting the games. Of all the presentations, Ubisoft's press conference best explained the games. All their I have a feeling for how they will play. I got excited about their games.

+Positives+: Entertaining introduction to presentations, displayed both VR and toys-to-life games,  provided a full understanding of how the games worked, Shigeru Miyamoto appearing with Yves Guillmont for Starlink

-Negative-: Too many music performances, Assassin's Creed Odyssey doesn't look or feel like an Assassins Creed game

~Best Game~: Starlink: Battle for Atlas (especially Switch version)

*Medal*: Gold

Bethesda

In 2016, Bethesda spent too much time speaking about too few games. In 2017, Bethesda spent too little time talking about too many games. In 2018, Bethesda finally got the balance correct. They spent most of the time highlighting the bran new games, like Rage 2 and Fallout 76. Then they briefly mentioned their old games having new life with updates, updates and expansion packs. Such games included Quake Champions and Prey. Bethesda seemed to milk everything they had from Wolfenstein and The Elder Scrolls. For Wolfenstein, they presented Wolfenstein: Young Blood and Wolfeinsten: Cyber Pilot. From the Elder Scrolls, they presented Elder Scrolls: Legends, Elder Scrolls Online, Elder Scrolls: Blades and even a teaser for Elder Scrolls VI. Despite milking both franchises, the fans didn't mind. In fact, the fans loved it! Bethesda claims they have a game for everyone, they gave such a presentation it's hard to deny.

+Positives+: An array of games from a plethora of game genres for a variety of ports

-Negatives-: Milking famous franchises for all their worth

~Best Game~: Elder Scrolls: Blades

*Medal*: Silver

Electronic Arts (EA)

The Electronic Arts press conference was a typical EA Press Conference. EA Sports announced the next year's Madden game, the next year's FIFA game and the next year's NBA Live. For each of these games, they never demonstrated gameplay nor did they talk about these games in-depth. The audience saw short cinematic trailers for each game, and that was it. For the FIFA game, the producers talked about the excitement of winning trophies, but that really doesn't constitute talking about the game. For the Madden game, we saw a pro football player and pro e-sports player trash talk one another. That didn't tell us anything about the latest Madden. If anything, it was the most awkward thing to watch. Heck, I bet it was awkward for those 2 gentlemen. I bet the football player was thinking, "This is so dumb I have to treat a football video game like real football, the e-sports player was probably thinking, "This is so dumb I have to trash talk someone who can't play video games." All in all, I would barely call EA Sports presenting their games. It's more like an announcement. If you're not going to talk about new or improved features, why bother saying or showing anything?

The rest of EA's game didn't do any better. Battlefield V didn't talk a lot about how gameplay is different beside a different setting in history. The producers might have well got on stage, said, "This is a new Battlefield game! Just get excited another Battlefield game is coming out!" and walked off the stage. Then came Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. EA knew they had a winner with a Star Wars game. After all, Star Wars Battlefront II was such a hit the previous year, so another Star Wars game would be a hit this year, right? Well, the problem is all EA had for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was an announcement from Stig Asmussen, a developer from Respawn Entertainment, the same developers who made the Titanfall series. No gameplay demo, no cinematic trailer, not even a title card or title art. Just a title. Reporter Andrea Rene had to grasp at straws with the most basic questions, like "What game genre is it?" or "Is it an open world or linear game?" with no good answers in return. In fact, Andrea had to stoop down to, "Can I wield a lightsaber?" to finally confirm something about the game. I'm already predicting by E3 2019, we'll see a cinematic trailer for this game, by E3 2020, we'll see a second cinematic trailer with a gameplay demo, and finally in 2021 the game will be released. I hate when developers do that to their games. Don't try to get gamers hyped until you have a working prototype.

Electronic Arts attempted to show their supported indie developers trying to get their start in the triple-A industry. EA has done a good job of finding brand new creators to make hit games, from Unravel to A Way Out. This year, however, EA did not do such a good job. Unravel 2, the sequel from their hit indie game Unravel, just came out. At first glance, it looks like the cooperative multiplayer might add a new layer to the puzzle solving, but at further glance, it's just your typical cooperative puzzle game. EA had a brand new indie game called Sea of Solitude. From first glance, it looks it has potential. The developer promised it would have an enthrall story. EA forgot, however, that when it comes to video games, good gameplay assists in telling the story. Whenever you have new, original game, you can't just show a trailer. You have to show gameplay. I know what the story is about, but what about the gameplay? Is it a platformer, FPS, TPS, RTS, RPG? Gameplay preview would have helped that.

Electronic Arts concluded their presentation with Anthem. EA dedicated the last half hour to it. It came with cinematic trailer and gameplay demo, although once again, it was pre-recorded and highly rehearsed. At the director and producer were there to explain how gameplay works. I think the elongated time spent on Anthem hurt the game in the long run. The more gamers saw, the more they realized it's a Destiny 2 clone. If gamers want to play a Destiny game, they will play Destiny 2.

+Positives+: EA supports indie developers

-Negatives-: All EA Sports games were pretty much announcements, little to no details about Battlefield V or Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Sea of Solitude need gameplay explanation

~Best Game~: Sea of Solitude

*Medal*: Bronze

You'll notice I did not mention Square Enix. That's because they did not place. They get an honorable mention at best and an dishonorable mention at worst. In a half hour, they gave us full gameplay of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and then they rapid fire a bunch of short trailers for any and all games coming out in the near or distant future. Even ending on Kingdom Hearts III did not help, for it didn't add anything new. Hearing nothing about the enhanced remake of Final Fantasy VII didn't help either. It probably would have helped PlayStation. After all, Final Fantasy VII helped make the the PS1 famous. Now only tell will tell if all these developers and publishers will live up to the hype.

E3 2018: Preview and Prediction

ALL ABOARD the hype train know as E3! As I prepared for this year's E3, I looked back on the previous years of E3. And yes, I have come to realize E3 is just a bunch of hype. How many times have developers and publishers made announcements about games, only to have the game come out completely differently, to have the game delayed for several years, or the game never comes out at all! Still, with all the hype, any gamer watching gets a magical feel, like anything can happen in the world of gaming. For the 2nd year, the floor of E3 has been opened to everyone, not just the press. Knowing the wider audience, E3 has jam packed the week with events, from famous developer interviews to video game tournaments. Still, with all this ruckas, the press conferences of the first and third party developers stand as the most important part of the expo. Here is a preview of what to expect, as well as predictions for what each development team will do come out on top.

FIRST PARTY DEVELOPERS

Microsoft XBox

Last year, Microsoft displayed the XBox One X. No doubt the XBox One X is the most powerful out there, but unfortunately, Microsoft did very little software-wise to prove that gamers need an XBox One X. This year, to prove that the XBox One X was not a waste to neither Microsoft nor consumers, XBox One X has roll out a slew of games that make the XBox One X look good. Backwards compatibility won't do. Why bother to buy an XBox with 4K abilities if it mainly gets used for games that display 720p and 1080p graphics? Indie games, like Shovel Knight, and retro games, like Mega Man, won't do. Why buy a system with 4K capabilities if it plays games that the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis could have played. Microsoft needs to display real, full, hardcore 4K games. It can't just be a theatrical trailer; it has to be real gameplay footage that displays 4K detail. I suppose Forza Horizon 4 could do the trick, but really, how shiny does a developer have to make the car to prove 4K capabilities? Besides, XBox will overshadow it by bringing in a real car.  Activision has Call of Duty: Blacks Op IIII coming out this October. I can see this game being the star of the XBox presentation. The only other game that could upstage the whole XBox presentation is if Microsoft gives a sneak peek of Halo 6. Halo 4 pushed the XBox 360 to its limits, but it meant little to nothing on the XBox One. Halo 5 did show off what the XBox One could do. Now it's time for Halo 6 show what the XBox One X can do for Halo. All in all, Microsoft needs to give the gaming community a desire to buy an XBox One X, and if they don't have one already, a 4K TV, too.

Sony PlayStation

After the most powerful console of the 7th generation lost a humiliating defeat to the weakest console of the 7th generation just because of motion control, it looks like Sony will win another console generation with the PlayStation 4 [Pro]. Sony has done an excellent job convincing gamers that real, hardcore gamers play a PlayStation 4 [Pro]. Unlike XBox, who tries to convince gamers that through hardware, PlayStation does it through software, more specifically, its games. In order to demonstrate how seriously it takes its games, PlayStation will probably take an artistic view on games. For PlayStation, it's not just about a game having the best graphics or the best gameplay. For PlayStation, both the graphics and gameplay contribute to a good story. The games PlayStation has already lined up will convey that message. Both Death Stranding, Dreams, Ghost of  Tsushimi, The Last of Us Part 2 and Spider Man will all demonstrate how PlayStation approaches games artistically. As for hardware, I hope Sony continues to support PSVR. In my opinion, PSVR has one of the best VR out there. I like to see them continue to develop it, for it can only get better. I think Dreams would work wonderful on VR, so I hope Dreams gets VR support. I know rumors have begun cirrculating about a PlayStation 5. Although the PlayStation 4 is 4 1/2 years old, the PlayStation 4 Pro is not even 2 years old. It's too soon to tell everyone who bought a PlayStation 4 Pro that their newest piece of hardware will soon be out of date. Besides, I can see the PlayStation 5 not coming out until holiday 2020, and Sony couldn't hype it up for 3 E3 presentations. If Sony wants to have the best E3 presentation, they need to demonstrate continual support for the PlayStation 4, especially PSVR.

Nintendo

Nintendo has made so many big announcements in May, I keep thinking to myself, "Hold off something until E3!" Nintendo has held off a few things until E3, and I think those things will be the headlines of the Nintendo showcase. First and foremost, there's the Super Smash Bros. for the Switch. This is probably the most hyped game. Nintendo announced development for this Super Smash Bros. while the Switch was still known as the NX. Nintendo has thought up the best way to display this game. They will host a Super Smash Bros. tournament with the latest installment in the series. This is a good game to highlight, as it really highlights the system's ability for mobile multiplayer. I imagine 4 Switches can utilize 8 joy-cons for the 8-player multiplayer. I hope to see all the characters from all the previous games return, as well as new characters, like in the Inklings. Last year, Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4, but all they gave nothing more than a title card. If Nintendo can give us even a little bit of gameplay or a short cinematic trailer, it would leave a big impact. I hope they can keep Metroid Prime 4 their first person shooter. On top of the Super Smash Bros. tournament, Nintendo also will host a Splatoon 2 tournament. It would not surprise me if this tournament can with a big Splatoon 2 announcement, like a major DLC pack. Although Nintendo has already made a bunch of big announcements in May, I still expect to hear about those game. Of them all, I expect to hear the most about Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. Some Pokemon fans fear this will make the Pokemon games too casual, so Nintendo will have to appeal to the sense of nostolgia to remind them of Pokemon Yellow. And with that, I proclaim Nintendo 3DS dead. Don't believe me? I got 3 good reasons. First, the Switch is a better handheld than the 3DS. It allows mobile multiplayer without needing 2 separate systems, on top of having better graphics. Second, games important to Nintendo's handhelds have already migrated to the Switch. Kirby, which began on the Game Boy, had its first console game since Return to Dreamland on the Wii. Now with the next generation of  Pokemon moving to the Switch, the 3DS doesn't have much left. Third, notice how Nintendo calls their presentation a "Switch showcase." No mention of the 3DS. When the Wii U was on its way out, Nintendo focused on the 3DS and mentioned very little about the Wii U. I see the same thing happening. Nintendo's quiet on the 3DS means they plan to fade it out. With that in mind, I expect Nintendo to announce the next edition of the Switch, either a "deluxe Switch" with a bigger hard drive and more accessories, or a "Switch Lite," a cheaper version of the Switch with fewer accessories. Nintendo, don't focus on keeping up with the competition, but focus on appealing to your lifelong fans, and you'll win again.

THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS

Electronic Arts (EA)

Electronic Arts will not present a press conference at the expo. Gee, isn't this what happened to Konami? :-P Jokes aside, the gaming community has vocalized their disapproval of their practices, from micro-transactions to using controversy as marketing. EA has got a lot to prove to their games that they really do care about authentic gaming experience. I'm not going to get into EA Sports, for I think EA Sports will once again make a little change to their sports and still try to convince the audience they need to buy the newest edition. Since the Battlefield series has already matched punches with the Call of Duty series, I expect a majority of the presentation to cover Battlefield V. I still think it will be a hard sell. The gaming community has already had enough World War II games. EA will really need to convince gamers that Battlefield V is the best WWII game out there. For the rest of their presentation, EA will talk more about Anthem.  I think they should focus a lot on the details on Anthem, for that;s their best shot at standing out among the third party developers. If not, everyone will see the Electronic Arts presentation as another Battlefield sequel and more EA Sports sequels.

Bethesda

Last year, in my "E3 2017: Preview and Predictions" blog, I said Bethesda's first presentation in 2016 spent too much time on too few games, and they needed to talk about more games. Then, in my "E3 2017: Review and Reaction" blog, I complained that Bethesda spread themselves too thin by talking about too many games in such a short time period. I know it sounds like I contracted myself, but think it more taking back what I said. I think Bethesda will return to their original press conference plan by going back to going into great detail about a few games. On May 30, Bethesda teased Fallout 76. It's so good, it skipped Fallout 5 to Fallout 75 :-P. Jokes aside, at the Bethesda press conference, we'll learn how the new Fallout plays. I expect to hear a lot about Rage 2 as well. Perhaps in between, someone will mention a major update or major DLC pack for The Elder Scrolls: Legends card time, but it will be a brief mention. Just like in 2016, if Bethesda keeps their presentation simple yet action-packed, they will give a decent press conference.

Square Enix

Just like Bethesda, I expect Square Enix to only talk about a couple or a few games, but they will go into great detail about those games. I have 2 games in mind that would work perfectly for them. First and foremost is Kingdom Hearts 3. Square Enix has the gift to take any license and turn it into a great RPG. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is still my favorite of all the Mario RPGs. The Kingdom Hearts franchise is no exception. Disney could have never made such a good RPG on their own. Kingdom Hearts 3 is the long awaited sequel to Kingdom Hearts 2, and the fans will clamor at any news they learn, especially if has a cinematic trailer or gameplay. Square Enix will also cover in great detail Shadows of the Tomb Raider. Ever since rebooting the franchise, Square Enix seems lost on what direction to take Lara Croft. I'm hoping this press conference will show that Shadows of the Tomb Raider has given clear direction to the Tom Raider reboot, and now merely an Uncharted copycat. Just like I told Bethesda, I tell Square Enix to keep it simple yet action-packed.

Ubisoft
I try not display partiality towards Ubisoft because they  are my favorite third party developer, but I can't help it.  They always cover a variety of gamin genres, so there's always something that someone would like. Recently, however, Ubisoft has led toward making every a sandbox game. I'm almost surprised that even Just Dance has not become a sandbox game yet. So I expect Ubisoft's press conference to present a slew of sandbox games from different genres. First, we'll see Assassins Creed Oddyssey. From the name and the title art, expect a game dating back to Ancient Greece. Since Ancient Greek takes place way before the Crusades, I'm wondering if they will approach this game as a "2nd sequel." Speaking of Assassins Creed, remember how Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag introduced us to the ship sailing mechanic to the series? Well, just because Assassins Creed took it out doesn't mean they abandon it. Skull & Bones brings back the sailing mechanic with a pirate feel to it. No assassins, just pirates. Back to sandboxes, I expect to hear a lot about Tom Clancey's The Division 2. I like that their took their shooter game a different route than just war, especially than World War II. I just hope they don't turn it into Assassins Creed in the modern context. Speaking of sequels, I believe Beyond Good and Evil 2 will come out of development limbo. We will hear more details about it, as well as a release date. Ubisoft won't keep hashing out sequels. I'm looking forward to Starlink: Battle for Atlas, the new toys-to-life game. I look forward to seeing how building the ship will contribute to space exploration. Last, I expect somewhere in the middle for Ubisoft to mention an update or DLC in regards to For Honor. With such a wide array of games and game genres, Ubisoft will stand out as the best third party developer at E3.

With only 1 week until, let's review what has to go done for each developer to win. Microsoft needs to prove it has the best console out there and the best games to highlight the best console out there. Sony needs to continue to support PSVR, as well as produce artistic games. Nintendo needs to appeal to the nostalgia of its fans. Electronic Arts needs to prove the sequels are way better than their predecessors. Bethesda needs to keep the games few, yet at the same time, go into great detail about them. Square Enix needs to demonstrate it still does best what it does best, yet at the same time, display they can try new things. Finally, Ubisoft needs to continue display a plethora of game and game genres. Let's hope our hype balloons do not deflate.