Since we've just finished Wimbledon, let me use a Wimbledon metaphor to describe this year's E3. The Wimbledon committee is working hard preparing for the next Wimbledon. One day, one of the members of the committee comes in with the biggest Swiss newspaper in hand. Roger Federer has conducted an interview with one of its reporters. In the interview, Federer claims he already won enough grand slams to prove he's the greatest tennis player of all-time. Therefore, he declares he won't participate in this year's Wimbledon because, in his mind, he's already won. In fact, he goes on to say that Wimbledon should already announce him as the winner, or else he will tell everyone he won Wimbledon. While the Wimbledon committee debates how to handle this, another member of the committee comes in with package from Rafael Nadal. Nadal has sent a 45-minute video of his best highlights from his best matches, arguing this proves he would win Wimbledon, so he doesn't need to compete. He has also included a return envelop to mail his trophy to him. Novak Djokovic actually does show up, and he actually competes, but what he does is he places a folding chair in the center of his side of the court, and he sits on it the whole match. Any ball that comes within arm's length he swats back, but any ball outside arm's length he lets fly by him, for he refuses to move.
Yeah, that's what this year's E3 felt like. PlayStation did not participate at all. Nintendo sent a video instead of going up on stage. The only one who presented was Xbox. While I'm not a fan of participation awards, I'm even less of a fan of absentee awards. While I normally wait to hand out the award until after I reviewed and reacted each press conference, this year I will hand out the award first, then I will explain and defend my choice in the review and response.
1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS
1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS
Microsoft XBox
+Positive+: Keanu Reeves presenting Cyberpunk 2077, the stage set for Gears 5, the Lego car for the For Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions expansion, presenting both hardware as software
-Negatives-: No gameplay presentations, cinematic trailers did not really tell the viewer what the game was about, trying to squish too many games in a short time, Project Scarlett makes XBox One (X) obsolete in a year
~Best Game in Show~: 12 Minutes
*Medal*: Gold
As stated above, I'm not a fine of participation awards, but I'm even less a fan of absentee awards. I know I have, in the past couple of years, given Nintendo the gold, despite not showing up to E3, but I fear this may have created a precedent. Not only does PlayStation not show up, but Google Stadia and Devolver Digital also follow in Nintendo's footsteps by simply uploading a video. It's one thing to do a video. Videos can have many cuts and many edits, until the video comes out the way it's supposed to be. It's another thing to do a live press conference, where so many things could go wrong. That's why I'm giving gold to XBox. They had the bravery to still do a live press conference. They showed up and did their best. That alone is worth rewarding.
XBox understands that their presentations of their games cannot simply equate to a 30-second TV commercial. They have to do something extravagant that can't be done in any kind of advertisement. They did exactly that. Keanu Reeves might have looked a bit awkward presenting Cyberpunk 2077, but the audience was so excited to see him that they didn't care. Because of his appearance, Cyberpunk 2077 became "that game with Keenu Reeves in it." In fact, attendants of E3 witnessed that Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077 was the most talked about thing until the Nintendo Direct. What Keanu Reeves did to Cyberpunk 2077, the stage transformation did to Gears 5. Although I wished they would have done a live gameplay demo, it stuck in my mind that Gears 5 would now have both local and online co-op, and it got me excited for it. What Cyberpunk 2077 had for characters and Gears 5 had for setting, Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions had for gameplay. As they began rolling the clip for the Forza Horizon 4 expansion, the audience saw on stage a silhouette of car. They thought, "Typical Microsoft bringing out some fancy sports car to advertise Forza Horizon 4." But then, the viewers see that the expansion is Lego, and then they see this "sports car" is really made of Legos! These might come off a cheesy or corny, but they get stuck in your memory, which is something a commercial or trailer cannot do.
Hardware announcements also work better at a live press conference than a commercial. XBox had plenty of those. XBox talked plenty about XBox Game Pass and xCloud.(I know these are technically software, not hardware, but since they are not games, I put them in the category with hardware.) To me, this shows XBox is trying to keep up with the competition. XBox Game Pass rivals PlayStation Now and EA Access, and xCloud will rival Google Stadia. While Game Pass makes sense, xCloud makes less sense. If I want cloud gaming, I wouldn't drop a couple hundred on a console. I would drop the $100 to get an adapter that connects to my TV. The only real hardware announcement was the updated Elite controller. Just like I said with the previous Elite controller, it's not enough extra to justify the price. Of course, the biggest hardware announcement was that teaser for the next generation of XBox, code-named "Project Scarlett" The first specs we heard about made it clear that this newest XBox would be more powerful than the XBox One X (4x to be exact), capable of displaying 8K and up to 120 frames per second. If you watch the announcement closely, notice how Phil Spencer emphasizes gaming on Project Scarlett and nothing more. This is a huge contrast to the reveal of XBox One, which was supposed to become your all-in-one (hence the name) entertainment system for music, television, movies, video game and other forms of entertainment. XBox will not make the same mistakes a last time. This improvement in announcing hardware is worth giving XBox the gold alone.
Finally, as anyone in the video game industry will tell you, exclusives sell consoles. Microsoft reveal tons of exclusives for the XBox One. Bleeding Edge, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, 12 Minutes, Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions, State of Decay 2: Heartland, CrossFire X, Blair Witch, The Legend of Wright, Way to the Woods and Battletoads are all games exclusive to XBox. If you want to play these games, you need an XBox. Even the games that Microsoft presented not exclusive to XBox, Microsoft convinced the audience that XBox One X plays them better. For year, ever since the "half console update," Microsoft has argued that the XBox One X plays games better than the PlayStation 4 Pro, and Sony has yet to answer them. Sony's absence this year ultimately proves Microsoft right. After this E3, if I'm going to buy a console, it will be an XBox, either XBox One or Project Scarlett.
Nintendo
+Positives+: Surprise announcements, strong start and finish, gameplay for Luigi's Mansion 3, more Resident Evil games coming to Switch, more collections coming to Switch
-Negatives-: Too much old news with no new news, both Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 are MIA, Animal Crossing: New Horizons delayed further, overall presentation too short.
~Best Game In Show~: Luigi's Mansion 3
*Medal*: Silver
With enough Nintendo Directs, Nintendo has learned by now to start the presentation off on a strong note and end the presentation on a strong note. For their E3 Direct, Nintendo decided their opening and closing strong note would be on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC. The opening announcement concerned itself with the summer DLC. The Hero from Dragon Quest would be the next DLC fighter. As with so many other DLC fighters, it's technically a 3rd party character, but Dragon Quest has such a rich history with Nintendo, it almost felt like a 1st party character. Some people sighed at another sword fighter, but I appreciate that all the character's costumes are from the different Dragon Quest game. The only thing I found disappointing was how they introduced character. The way they introduced the fighter, I thought they would also announce an expansion for the World of Light adventure mode. I was disappointed when they did not (unless they will eventually announce that as part of the DLC pack). If the fans were disappointed with the summer DLC, they would not face the same disappointment with the fall DLC. Fans went wild when Nintendo announced that Banjo & Kazooie would become the fighter for the fall DLC. Fans had been requesting Banjo & Kazooie with every new generation of Super Smash Bros. It seemed hopeless when Microsoft bought Rare, which meant Rare would exclusively make games for Xbox. Now that Nintendo and Xbox have this friendly partnership going on between them, the dream became a reality. Just like the Hero from Dragon Quest, Banjo & Kazooie are technically 3rd party, not 1st party, characters, they have such a history with the Nintendo 64 they might as well be treated as 1st party fighters. This announcement had to be the biggest announcement of E3, to the point gamers almost forget about Keeanu Reeves at the Xbox press conference. Nintendo started off strong, and they ended even stronger.
The Nintendo Direct technically did not end with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fall DLC announcement. It ended with the announcement of the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel. I don't really consider that an announcement, technically. Granted, it was better than Metroid Prime 4, which all we received was Reggie speaking the title and a title card, but all we know is that it will be a sequel in ascetics, gameplay and story, and nothing more. I don't like getting hyped over an announcement that a sequel of a beloved is coming out because I've played sequels of beloved games that were pure trash. I want to see the game has more of what fans loved, and it has improved on what fans hated. I will not say, "Shut up and take my money" until I see a full cinematic trailer and full gameplay demo.
Since I mentioned Metroid Prime 4, I guess now is as good as any time to mention a negative of the Nintendo Direct: too many MIA. The biggest one was Bayonetta 3. No cinematic trailer, no gameplay demo, nothing. At the least, they could have done what they did what Nintendo did for the Breath of the Wild sequel: show us the main character in her environment. I'm trying to give Metroid Prime 4 a break, considering Retro Studios had to start brand new. But considering this the first Metroid game since the Wii, fans would have appreciated if Retro Studious could have shown a 1080p Samus on 1080p planet for the first time in the Metroid franchise's history. (Some people might add a Metroid Prime trilogy on the Switch to the Nintendo MIA list, but that's a mere rumor, whereas Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 were officially announced.)
Since I'm in a negative mood, let me continue with my negative by hitting another shadow over Nintendo's bright E3 Direct. Fans were disappointed to hear that Animal Crossing: New Horizons, once promised to come out in 2019, will be delayed to 2020. To make matters worse, cinematic trailers and gameplay demos reveal that the delay is really uncalled for. The game does not seem to improve from the past game. It could have been a mere port, an expansion back or even a DLC add-on. If Nintendo is going to tells its Animal Crossing fans that the next game is being delayed, they have to show it is worth the delay. Animal Crossing: New Horizons does not show it is worth it.
For my final negative, Nintendo re-announced games already announced to be coming out, but they added nothing new to the news. There's nothing inherently wrong with talking about games coming out soon, but they need to add something to it not already known. They showed us The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening again, but with little to no extra detail. The only thing new I can remember was the make-your-own dungeon extra, and to be honest, that's disappointing because fans were really hoping for a whole Legend of Zelda Dungeon Maker game. Once again, we heard about Daemon X Machina. They attempted to talk about how they made changes based on feedback, but it was poorly communicated. They briefly showed Super Mario Maker 2, but it could have mentioned a few additional feature unique to the sequel. Pokémon Sword and Shield made an appearance, but Game Freak and the Pokémon Company had already told fans about the game so much, it just took up space in the Nintendo Direct. Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games also made an appearance. It's truly a sequel, the first one for the Switch, but as someone not familiar with the Mario & Sonic Olympic Games series, I couldn't tell how this game would differ from the rest. As I always say, this is why cinematic trailers fall short and gameplay demos are needed.
Now for all the positives. Early on, Nintendo presented Luigi's Mansion 3, which was probably their best presentation of their entire Digital Event. Anybody watching immediately knew what the gameplay was like and why new features made the sequel unique to it series. Yeah, Gooigi is just a way to shoe-in the co-op features of the Switch, but since Gooigi can be operated by the single player, it won't take away from immersion. The presentation of Dragon Quest XI further hyped up the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC, just like the DLC announcement hyped up Dragon Quest XI. The Definition Edition will convince anyone who ordered the previous version to go out and get the Switch version, especially the Dragon Quest fans. The Trials of Mana and Collection of Mana was a good move on Nintendo's part. Just like Dragon Quest, while not a first party developed and published series, the Mana series has such a history with Nintendo, a person would naturally associate the Mana series with Nintendo. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition proves that Nintendo is no longer for just the kids. I appreciated how Nintendo announced Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. Nintendo wants everybody to know they have come closer to having the complete Resident Evil on the Switch, yet they don't need to advertise these old games, for everyone knows them. Therefore, their fun video communicated the message without advertising the games. No More Heroes III brings back the positive memories of the Wii and brings them to the Switch. Just like the Mana games, Nintendo announced a new Contra game and a Contra collection. Just like Mana, not first party developed or published, but such a rich history of Nintendo, one naturally associates Contra with Nintendo. I also feel like Marvel Ultimate Alliance does the same thing. True, this is the first Ultimate Alliance exclusive to Nintendo (since Nintendo is developing and publishing the game), but since Ultimate Alliance is associated with the Wii, it fits for the Switch.
Overall, a good presentation, but too many negatives weigh it down. Also, while the XBox's announcement of Project Scarelett gets its fans excited about the future of Xbox, the lack of hardware in the Nintendo Direct keeps Nintendo only in the present. Ironically, if Nintendo would have mentioned the Nintendo Switch Lite here, they would clearly won, especially if they put it at the end. As always, Nintendo does its own thing, for better or for worse.
Google Stadia
+Positives+: Exclusive titles
-Negative-: Too much time on existing titles, lagging video presentation, costing too much for owning a digital copy on a server, data limitations
~Best Game~: Baldur's Gate III
*Medal*: Bronze
Yeah, I know this feels like an odd choice. The press conference was on June 6, a whole 5 days before the E3 showroom floor opened, but Microsoft presents Xbox 2 day before, and EA presents its games 3 days before the showroom floor opened. If they qualify, why not Google Stadia? The press conference was a video stream, but Nintendo does the same thing. If Nintendo qualifies, why not Google Stadia? And as I said earlier, Google Stadia did show up and presented, unlike PlayStation. So let's give Google Stadia a chance.
Let's start with the good things. Anyone in the gaming will tell you exclusive sell titles. Well, Google brought exclusives for Stadia. Google got Tequila Works, the makers of Rime, to make a horror game exclusive to Stadia called Gylt. Although Get Packed might seem like a basic party game, the fact that it's exclusive to Stadia gives Stadia value. As of right now Baldur's Gate III is a console exclusive to Stadia (it will also be available on your typical gaming PC). If someone wants to play any of these games, they have to get Google Stadia. Who knows? Maybe one (or more) of these game will attract someone to Google Stadia.
Alright, now we can hammer Google Stadia for all its shortcomings. First of all, did anyone notice the live video press conference was lagging? How can you claim you can stream cloud gaming issue free, yet you can't even stream a live video?! Speaking of its cloud streaming, if a gamer wants to get that 4K streaming, a gamer must have high speed internet, which isn't available in all areas. A medium-speed internet will turn out 1080p resolution, which will feel like taking a step backward in the console generation. Low speed internet will result in 720p resolution, which will feel like 2 console generation steps back. While the anyone who has internet will have at least that 720p resolution, I rather have a console which can deliver graphics non-dependent of internet speeds. Then there's the payment plans. Gamers can get Google Stadia for free, but they have to pay for the games individually, $60 for a digital copy of the game, storied on Google's serves. Is this really "owning" the game? We all know what happened when Nintendo took the Wii shop down, and that was actually downloading the game onto memory storage! Google Stadia will have Pro subscription for $120/year, which comes with a small yet growing library of free games, discounts on other games and priority on the serves. Is this really worth the price? 4 years of Goggle Stadia equals $480, around the same price as a new PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One X. Again, I rather pay for the console which can deliver the specs without an internet connection than spend the money on internet cloud gaming. Besides, those console typically last 4 years anyway. Lastly, while Google Stadia did a good job presenting exclusive games, it spent more times presenting other games, games already on the major consoles. Why would anyone buy a game on Google Stadia that they already have on the PS4 or Xbox One? They wouldn't. The only one who would buy Google Stadia would be someone who never purchased a console from the current generation.
Although I have a lot of negatives for Google Stadia, I kind of want to cut them a break. After all, this is their first year. I said it before, and I will say it again: they at least showed up, unlike PlayStation. If they make it to next year, they need to provide more exclusives, and they need to do a better job convincing viewers that it is better to get Google Stadia (Pro) instead of getting a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Project Scarlett.
3RD PARTY DEVELOPERS
And now the lightning round for the 3rd party developers! No medals, just a few comments.
Bethesda
Elder Scrolls: Blades is coming to the Nintendo Switch. It's not doing well on the smartphone, I can't imagine the Switch will make it any better. Now on the smartphone, we have Commander Keen. You have to know your video game history to know Bethesda is digging up an old franchise. That doesn't reek of desperate. Bethesda's presentation wasn't all bad. Best game had to be Ghost Wire: Tokyo. The trailer got my attention and made me interested in the game. Doom Eternal is the sequel we were all waiting for. It was the good ol' Doom we knew and loved, but it was more of it and was better. Overall, it was more of the same franchises. It seems like Bethesda got in the same rut Nintendo did during the Wii U years.
Devolver Digital
You have to appreciate that not only are they making fun of the whole E3 press conference presentation, but they made fun of Nintendo's Digital Events more specifically. They also made fun of themselves with Devolver Bootleg, a compilation of their games in "bootleg" form, like Hotline Milwaukee and Enter the Gun Dungeon. I wonder what this will become. Maybe a compilation demo? Most amazing is that Devolver Digital will make a legitimate arcade game with a light gun cabinet. With so much talk about consoles and cloud streaming gaming, an arcade cabinet was refreshing to hear about.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft has what Bethesda has, which is what Nintendo use to have: new games for the old franchises. Of all their games, Watch Dogs: Legion presented the best. I knew what it was about and how to play with its cinematic trailers and gameplay demo. I really like the rogue aspect they added to the game. Brawlhalla, Ubisoft's Super Smash Bros. close, will have Adventure Time characters as DLC. This announcement only appeases to Brawlhalla fans and Adventure Time, so it feels like a waste of time announcing it to the general public. Ubisoft constantly reminded us they have a contract with Tom Clancy (does he even write books, or does he just write video game plots now?), for at least four of Ubisoft's games had his name on them. I really don't know why they brought up The Division 2 just for DLC announcements. Yes, I know the game did very well, but the DLC wasn't that amazing. Of course, another Just Dance game is coming out, even for the Wii. And for Assassin's Creed...we got a symphony tour. I'm not sure how well it will work. It's not like the Mario or Zelda series that has a history of classic tunes. Ubisoft did have a couple brand new titles like Roller Champions and Gods and Monsters. Time will tell if they are a success or not, but at least Ubisoft continues to try new things.
Square Enix
Square Enix did the smart thing. They followed the good model of starting strong and ending strong. As a matter of fact, they started out very strong with Final Fantasy VII remake. They got everybody so hyped up about it that I didn't think they could get people refocused. Maybe Square Enix did that on purpose, for the middle was mostly stuffed with JRPG after JRPG. The only highlight in the middle was Life is Strange 2. When the presentation reached its closing end, and the hype from Final Fantasy VII Remake finally calmed down, Square Enix finally revealed their Avengers game. I'm on the fence about this game. Everyone is saying "The Avengers' characters looked like the hired the MCU Avengers' stunt doubles." I think it's more like a uncanny valley thing because we're so used to the MCU characters. When we see Iron Man, we expect Robert Downey, Jr. When we see Black Widow, we want to Scarlet Johansson. When we see Hulk, we want to see Mark Ruffalo. You get the point. It's sad they got an all-star roster of video game voice actors, yet we are distracted by the looks of the character. A game top priority should be gameplay, so if the gameplay is worth it, the graphics should not matter. Whether the characters looked good or not, the hype behind the Avengers video game was totally worth it. Square Enix had the best presentation among the 3rd party developers.
Now for all the positives. Early on, Nintendo presented Luigi's Mansion 3, which was probably their best presentation of their entire Digital Event. Anybody watching immediately knew what the gameplay was like and why new features made the sequel unique to it series. Yeah, Gooigi is just a way to shoe-in the co-op features of the Switch, but since Gooigi can be operated by the single player, it won't take away from immersion. The presentation of Dragon Quest XI further hyped up the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC, just like the DLC announcement hyped up Dragon Quest XI. The Definition Edition will convince anyone who ordered the previous version to go out and get the Switch version, especially the Dragon Quest fans. The Trials of Mana and Collection of Mana was a good move on Nintendo's part. Just like Dragon Quest, while not a first party developed and published series, the Mana series has such a history with Nintendo, a person would naturally associate the Mana series with Nintendo. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition proves that Nintendo is no longer for just the kids. I appreciated how Nintendo announced Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. Nintendo wants everybody to know they have come closer to having the complete Resident Evil on the Switch, yet they don't need to advertise these old games, for everyone knows them. Therefore, their fun video communicated the message without advertising the games. No More Heroes III brings back the positive memories of the Wii and brings them to the Switch. Just like the Mana games, Nintendo announced a new Contra game and a Contra collection. Just like Mana, not first party developed or published, but such a rich history of Nintendo, one naturally associates Contra with Nintendo. I also feel like Marvel Ultimate Alliance does the same thing. True, this is the first Ultimate Alliance exclusive to Nintendo (since Nintendo is developing and publishing the game), but since Ultimate Alliance is associated with the Wii, it fits for the Switch.
Overall, a good presentation, but too many negatives weigh it down. Also, while the XBox's announcement of Project Scarelett gets its fans excited about the future of Xbox, the lack of hardware in the Nintendo Direct keeps Nintendo only in the present. Ironically, if Nintendo would have mentioned the Nintendo Switch Lite here, they would clearly won, especially if they put it at the end. As always, Nintendo does its own thing, for better or for worse.
Google Stadia
+Positives+: Exclusive titles
-Negative-: Too much time on existing titles, lagging video presentation, costing too much for owning a digital copy on a server, data limitations
~Best Game~: Baldur's Gate III
*Medal*: Bronze
Yeah, I know this feels like an odd choice. The press conference was on June 6, a whole 5 days before the E3 showroom floor opened, but Microsoft presents Xbox 2 day before, and EA presents its games 3 days before the showroom floor opened. If they qualify, why not Google Stadia? The press conference was a video stream, but Nintendo does the same thing. If Nintendo qualifies, why not Google Stadia? And as I said earlier, Google Stadia did show up and presented, unlike PlayStation. So let's give Google Stadia a chance.
Let's start with the good things. Anyone in the gaming will tell you exclusive sell titles. Well, Google brought exclusives for Stadia. Google got Tequila Works, the makers of Rime, to make a horror game exclusive to Stadia called Gylt. Although Get Packed might seem like a basic party game, the fact that it's exclusive to Stadia gives Stadia value. As of right now Baldur's Gate III is a console exclusive to Stadia (it will also be available on your typical gaming PC). If someone wants to play any of these games, they have to get Google Stadia. Who knows? Maybe one (or more) of these game will attract someone to Google Stadia.
Alright, now we can hammer Google Stadia for all its shortcomings. First of all, did anyone notice the live video press conference was lagging? How can you claim you can stream cloud gaming issue free, yet you can't even stream a live video?! Speaking of its cloud streaming, if a gamer wants to get that 4K streaming, a gamer must have high speed internet, which isn't available in all areas. A medium-speed internet will turn out 1080p resolution, which will feel like taking a step backward in the console generation. Low speed internet will result in 720p resolution, which will feel like 2 console generation steps back. While the anyone who has internet will have at least that 720p resolution, I rather have a console which can deliver graphics non-dependent of internet speeds. Then there's the payment plans. Gamers can get Google Stadia for free, but they have to pay for the games individually, $60 for a digital copy of the game, storied on Google's serves. Is this really "owning" the game? We all know what happened when Nintendo took the Wii shop down, and that was actually downloading the game onto memory storage! Google Stadia will have Pro subscription for $120/year, which comes with a small yet growing library of free games, discounts on other games and priority on the serves. Is this really worth the price? 4 years of Goggle Stadia equals $480, around the same price as a new PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One X. Again, I rather pay for the console which can deliver the specs without an internet connection than spend the money on internet cloud gaming. Besides, those console typically last 4 years anyway. Lastly, while Google Stadia did a good job presenting exclusive games, it spent more times presenting other games, games already on the major consoles. Why would anyone buy a game on Google Stadia that they already have on the PS4 or Xbox One? They wouldn't. The only one who would buy Google Stadia would be someone who never purchased a console from the current generation.
Although I have a lot of negatives for Google Stadia, I kind of want to cut them a break. After all, this is their first year. I said it before, and I will say it again: they at least showed up, unlike PlayStation. If they make it to next year, they need to provide more exclusives, and they need to do a better job convincing viewers that it is better to get Google Stadia (Pro) instead of getting a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Project Scarlett.
3RD PARTY DEVELOPERS
And now the lightning round for the 3rd party developers! No medals, just a few comments.
Bethesda
Elder Scrolls: Blades is coming to the Nintendo Switch. It's not doing well on the smartphone, I can't imagine the Switch will make it any better. Now on the smartphone, we have Commander Keen. You have to know your video game history to know Bethesda is digging up an old franchise. That doesn't reek of desperate. Bethesda's presentation wasn't all bad. Best game had to be Ghost Wire: Tokyo. The trailer got my attention and made me interested in the game. Doom Eternal is the sequel we were all waiting for. It was the good ol' Doom we knew and loved, but it was more of it and was better. Overall, it was more of the same franchises. It seems like Bethesda got in the same rut Nintendo did during the Wii U years.
Devolver Digital
You have to appreciate that not only are they making fun of the whole E3 press conference presentation, but they made fun of Nintendo's Digital Events more specifically. They also made fun of themselves with Devolver Bootleg, a compilation of their games in "bootleg" form, like Hotline Milwaukee and Enter the Gun Dungeon. I wonder what this will become. Maybe a compilation demo? Most amazing is that Devolver Digital will make a legitimate arcade game with a light gun cabinet. With so much talk about consoles and cloud streaming gaming, an arcade cabinet was refreshing to hear about.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft has what Bethesda has, which is what Nintendo use to have: new games for the old franchises. Of all their games, Watch Dogs: Legion presented the best. I knew what it was about and how to play with its cinematic trailers and gameplay demo. I really like the rogue aspect they added to the game. Brawlhalla, Ubisoft's Super Smash Bros. close, will have Adventure Time characters as DLC. This announcement only appeases to Brawlhalla fans and Adventure Time, so it feels like a waste of time announcing it to the general public. Ubisoft constantly reminded us they have a contract with Tom Clancy (does he even write books, or does he just write video game plots now?), for at least four of Ubisoft's games had his name on them. I really don't know why they brought up The Division 2 just for DLC announcements. Yes, I know the game did very well, but the DLC wasn't that amazing. Of course, another Just Dance game is coming out, even for the Wii. And for Assassin's Creed...we got a symphony tour. I'm not sure how well it will work. It's not like the Mario or Zelda series that has a history of classic tunes. Ubisoft did have a couple brand new titles like Roller Champions and Gods and Monsters. Time will tell if they are a success or not, but at least Ubisoft continues to try new things.
Square Enix
Square Enix did the smart thing. They followed the good model of starting strong and ending strong. As a matter of fact, they started out very strong with Final Fantasy VII remake. They got everybody so hyped up about it that I didn't think they could get people refocused. Maybe Square Enix did that on purpose, for the middle was mostly stuffed with JRPG after JRPG. The only highlight in the middle was Life is Strange 2. When the presentation reached its closing end, and the hype from Final Fantasy VII Remake finally calmed down, Square Enix finally revealed their Avengers game. I'm on the fence about this game. Everyone is saying "The Avengers' characters looked like the hired the MCU Avengers' stunt doubles." I think it's more like a uncanny valley thing because we're so used to the MCU characters. When we see Iron Man, we expect Robert Downey, Jr. When we see Black Widow, we want to Scarlet Johansson. When we see Hulk, we want to see Mark Ruffalo. You get the point. It's sad they got an all-star roster of video game voice actors, yet we are distracted by the looks of the character. A game top priority should be gameplay, so if the gameplay is worth it, the graphics should not matter. Whether the characters looked good or not, the hype behind the Avengers video game was totally worth it. Square Enix had the best presentation among the 3rd party developers.
