E3 2019: Review and Reaction

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

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.

E3 2019: Preview and Predictions

I honestly have no idea why I still do this. Sony announced earlier this year they will not participle in E3 this year. No live press conference, no digital event, nothing. They claim that the 3rd party publishers will showcase their console for them, so they have no reason to do anything. That means no announcement, or even a hint, of a PlayStation 5 in the making; only software. On a similar note, despite having NOA having a new COO and president, Doug Bowser has continued the recent tradition presenting with a short digital event, followed by a long Treehouse demonstrating the games. In terms of 1st party publishes, it looks like Xbox will win just because it participated! I hate to admit it, but E3 is on its way out the door. Honestly, it makes sense. With so many streaming video sites, it makes more sense to reveal games that way that make a big showcase in an auditorium. So while it lasts, and since this is the only thing I post on this blog (besides my end-of-year game log), let's make the best of it. Here is my E3 2019 Preview & Predictions.

1st Party Publishers

XBox
Last year, the game that really wowed everyone was the latest entry in the Forza series. Since the biggest game from last year was a 1st party game, I would recommend to Xbox that they should focus on 1st party games again. Last year, you surprised everyone with Gears 5. I expect to hear more about Gears 5 this year, with both a cinematic trailer and a gameplay trailer. Speaking of 1st party sequel games, Xbox could surprise and amaze everyone if they revealed Halo 6 this year. Even if they don't, Xbox has plenty of Halo news, from Halo Reach added on the Masterchief Collection to Halo Infinite. I'm just saying another Halo game could make this a Halo-themed E3 for Xbox. While it would be wise for Xbox to lead with its 1st party exclusives, it would be just as wise for Xbox to demonstrate some 3rd party games on it, just to prove the Xbox One X is the superior console for gaming even 3rd party games. Some good candidates to demo would be Borderlands 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and/or Monster Hunter: World.

Nintendo
Ever since getting my Switch this past Christmas, I feel like I'm back in the current gen console. I have that excitement again. Nintendo has not disappointed with the Switch. The Switch just surpassed the Nintendo 64 in terms of sales, and it deserves that honor. Nintendo has gotten me excited about the current gen of console gaming, something the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One failed to do for me. Although not live and in person, I'm probably the most excited about Nintendo's digital event. So here's my prediction of how Nintendo's E3 Digital Event will happen, even if it is loaded with more with wishful hopes that realistic predictions.

Nintendo will start of its Digital Event with a bang by announcing for the Switch Mario Kart 9 or Mario Kart Ultimate. This latest edition of Mario Kart will have available all the original Super Smash Bros. characters as drivers, with DLC character from Melee down the road. This new edition of Mario Kart will have a new item similar to the Smash Ball in Super Smash Bros. It unleashes a weapon unique to each character that devastates the race course. And we found out the game's lead designer was Sakuri himself. Speaking of Sakuri, the event will transition into Sakuri to announce the next DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Dante from the original Devil May Cry (yes, I know Dante was technically in PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale, but that was the re-imagined Dante, not the original Dante). This DLC will be available by the end of the month. Next, Nintendo will announce Super Mario Party will receive DLC with more game boards. Continuing the Mario theme, a short segment will reveal more details for Super Mario Maker 2, which includes new themes and new items. On a similar note, we'll see a cinematic trailer for Luigi's Mansion 3, which will include gameplay and a release date of October 2019. From here we'll hear more about Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the Switch, which I predict will receive the suffix HD to distinguish it. This short segment will tell us of gameplay unique to the Switch. Then I expect a short cinematic trailer of Metroid Prime 4. I know Nintendo recently trashed the old Metroid Prime 4 and handed over duties to Retro to make a new Metroid Prime 4, but I think they can at least show us what Samus will look like on the Switch or one of the worlds in 1080p, as well as a brief description of the story. (If Nintendo does want to add something about Pokémon Sword and Shield, they would do it here, but I highly doubt it because Game Freak and The Pokémon Company has already revealed so much.) Next we'll hear about the latest installment in the Animal Crossing series. Finally, to close on a bang as big as the opening one, Nintendo will announce Super Nintendo games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, just like NES games. While they will not be releasing Super Nintendo controllers, they will release new joycons with the SNES color scheme. They will also announce the first 6 games. In July, the games will be Super Mario World, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past  and Kirby: Super Star. In August, the games will be Super Metroid, Star Fox and Star Fox 2.

3rd Party Publishers

Electronic Arts (EA)
What is their to say about Electronic Arts? They do the same thing every year. They present to us the game as last year, give it a few updates and new features, call it a sequel, and then they ask for full price (as well as some loot boxes!). I have no reason to expect any different from them this year. Madden NFL 20 is just another Madden game. FIFA 20 is just another FIFA game. Sims 4 is another Sims game. Battlefield V is another Battlefield game. Star Wars - Jedi: Fallen Order will end being a Star Wars: Battlefront clone (no pun intended). If EA wants to mix it up, even in the slightest, spend more time showing how you're supporting indie developers, which you did do a little last year.

Bethesda
Bethesda has a habit of spending most of its allotted time divulging us in one of their soon-to-be-released games, then spending a little time mentioning future projects. This year, I expect the same. The game they will be highlighting for a majority of their press conference will be Doom Eternal, the sequel to the Doom reboot. I'm expecting to see both a cinematic trailer and a gameplay demo. Besides that, we might hear a little about Elder Scrolls VI or an update to Fallout 76, but not much. I wish Bethesda would go back to one the one year when they showed us a little bit of everything they were working on. It demonstrated they could tackle a wide array of game genres. Now it seems like they can only tackle one game genre, which they simply put a different skin on.

Ubisoft
Ubisoft is always the epitome of E3 hype, which I enjoy for entertainment value. Knowing Ubisoft, they will build up hype. First, they will start by reminding us that another Just Dance game will come out later this year. Next, they will announce DLC packs for popular games already out, like The Division 2 and For Honor. Then, we will receive updates on recently announced games, like Rainbox Six Siege and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Finally, Ubisoft will announce brand new games, like the next game in the Assassin's Creed series (possibly wrapping up the prequel trilogy) and the Watch Dog series (also making that a trilogy). While it might sound boring because they are visiting old franchises, I'm sure Ubisoft will present it in an entertaining way.

Square Enix
Square Enix typically keeps their presentations short, usually around a half hour, so I don't expect to hear about a lot of games from them. What I want to hear the most about is the Final Fantasy VII HD remake. They announced it 2 years ago, and they were silent on it last year, so they need to make up from last year by giving us a lot this year. I also expect to hear a lot about their Avengers video game. It would be a good idea. They can use the hype from the Avengers movie to build up the hype from the Avengers video game. With the big announcement of Just Cause 4 last year, it would be great to see how game development has progressed, perhaps with a cinematic trailer and gameplay footage. I imagine these 3 games will take up a bulk of their press conference. Perhaps they can squeeze in an announcement of some Kingdom Hearts III DLC, following up on the success of that game.

Let's enjoy another E3, just in case it is our last.

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.