The Top 10 Wii U Games You Should Have Played

In a couple of days, the Nintendo Wii U will become the console of the past, as the Nintendo Switch will become the current Nintendo console. The 4-year lifespan of the Wii U, especially in the light of the 6-year lifespan of Wii, seemed kind of short. At some times, the Wii U felt like an HD version of the Wii. At other times, the Wii U game pad felt like an iPad with buttons. Together, the Wii U felt like an all-around disappointment. In the beginning, it had so much expected potential. It was supposed to have the most up-to-date graphics. It was supposed to have multiple uses online. It was supposed to attract 3rd party developers to produce more games for it. Near the end of its life, it didn't seem to deliver on any of them. By the time Nintendo caught up with 1080p graphics, PlayStation and Xbox began developing 4K graphics. The online uses felt slightly better than the Wii, but still worlds behind PlayStation and Xbox. Instead of attracting more 3rd party developers to Nintendo, more 3rd party developers dropped out of Nintendo, leaving the Wii U with the same 3rd party developers as the Wii. In fact, by the Wii U's 4th birthday, it had only 39 1st party games and 118 3rd party games, for a total of 157 games, an all-time low for a Nintendo console. With so few games in light of other consoles, owners of a Wii U might feel like owning a Wii U was a waste. I sometimes felt like that myself. While I was quickly impressed by my Wii HD with an iPad with buttons controller, my Wii U console quickly became a virtual console, as I only played the throwback vintage Nintendo games on it. If I wanted to play a recent video game, I went back to my Xbox 360. Still, I found 10 games that made me appreciate the Wii U for what it was, for the Wii U displayed the game in a way that only Wii U could and the PlayStation, Wii and Xbox could not. Here, I present you to The Top 10 Wii U Games You Should Have Played if you owned a Wii U console. As these games get reduced for clearance to make room for Switch games, if you do not own them, I highly recommend you take the opportunity to by them, so you can feel you got the most use out of this console. And of course, to make it dramatic, I will go in ascending order.

10) Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water

The Fatal Frame series is one of the scariest franchises of the horror video game genre. What makes it so scary is that, as the main "weapon" is a camera, the game forces the player to stare at the scary thing. The player cannot look away. What a better way to add player emersion than to make the Wii U gamepad the camera! Now not only does the player have to look the scary thing, he needs to hold the Wii U gamepad in front of the scary thing, looking at it closer to his face. It's a shame this game only made it to North America as a digital download. It used the gamepad in a way that did not feel gimmicky, but in a way that added to the game and made it better. It's almost like they made the Wii U with Fatal Frame in mind.

9) Super Mario Maker

When I first heard the announcement of this game, I wasn't a fan of it. It really did feel like that the Super Mario Bros. game designers had ran out of ideas, and now left the designing into the hands of the fans. After all, there were emulators out there that you could download to your computer and make your own Super Mario levels. Look it up, if you don't believe. What you'll notice when you look it up is how hard these fan-made levels were. This did not change when Super Mario Maker came to the Wii U. The fans continued making these hard levels, bringing new and innovative ideas to the Super Mario Bros. games. What a better way to do that with the Wii U game pad. Even if you're not the creative designer type, this game is perfect for the player for the same reason: it offers the player the chance to play these difficult levels. One criticism that I do have for New Super Mario Bros. U (spoiler alert: it appears later in the list) is that the levels were too easy because they were the same old, same old. It almost felt like you were playing the same old Mario game, just with graphics updated for the Wii U. Super Mario Maker provides an endless list of challenging and difficult levels. In essence, Super Mario Maker feels like the endless Super Mario Bros. game. No wonder why Nintendo brought this game to the 3DS as well.

8) Wii Party U

This might be a choice that might make you scratch your head. There wasn't much in the game. In fact, the game offered so little, it was available as a free download for pre-ordering Mario Kart 8. Why put this game on the list? Pretty much, Wii Party U is everything that Mario Party 10 (spoiler alert: this game appears later on the list) was not, but should have been. Although it had various game boards, the game boards felt more like game boards than Mario Party 10 (in fact, I would say the game boards reminded me of Mario Party 8). Wii Party U had more use of mini-games than Mario Party 10. Wii Party 8 fully utilized the game pad in order to "roll the dice" (that is, select the number of spaces to use) than Mario Party 10. Wii Party U even had some games which only utilized the game pad, making players face each other, just like Switch intends to do. Overall, Wii Party U was more of a Mario Party game than Mario Party 10! If I were to invite friends over to play Wii U, I would play Wii Party U with them over Mario Party 10 any day.

7) Splatoon

Nintendo must have found itself between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, it wanted to stay as the family friend gaming system it had been known to be over the years. On the other hand, Nintendo really wanted the attention of the hardcore gaming young adults, but they loved their bloody, gory shooter games way too much. Nintendo found the perfect compromise in paintball. Take the shooting of the shooter games, make it less bloody and gory with paint, and you get Splatoon. It's the perfect compromise. Besides, what adult doesn't like paintball, anyway? Go figure that this compromise was also a brand new idea, and not simply remarketing an old franchise. Splatoon is also one of the games that follows through with the online multiplayer Nintendo promised with the Wii U. Personally, what I like best about this game is that if shooters aren't your thing, you can be the guy on your team painting the battlefield with a paintbrush or paint roller. Not a challenging single player mode until the final boss, but the multiplayer is loads of fun.

6) Zombi U

Overall, Nintendo did not follow through with its promise that the Wii U would have up-to-date graphics, focus on online and attract 3rd party developers and hardcore gamers alike. One of the few games on the system that did make the Wii U look like it fulfilled the promise was Zombi U.  Zombi U had all of it. Leave it up to Nintendo teaming up with Ubisoft, my personal favorite 3rd party developer, to create such a game. This game was meant for adults, and I mean beside the M rating the game received from the ESRB. The game does a good job with the first person shooter mechanic. It would be very familiar to any FPS player. The graphics make blasting zombies into smithereens as real as it can possibly get. The survivor mode challenges the best of the best hardcore players to put their skills to the ultimate test. Even if they chose not to play survivor mode, I really like that idea that you play as a new player ever time you die, and that new player has to chase after your old, zombie character. If survivor mode is still not enough a challenge for those hardcore gamers, they can take it to multiplayer and challenge each other of like ability. On top of all this, the game utilize the Wii U gamepad well, especially using it as inventory bag. Even though this game eventually went to other consoles, it plays best on the Wii U.

5) Nintendoland

You might be scratching your hard at this choice, too. After all, this game is virtually a demo game. Well, I believe there are good demo games and bad demo games. Nintendoland is a good demo game. This game allows you to see all the things the Wii U can do, not just with the game pad, but the Wiimotes as well. What makes this demo game even more impressive is that it uses the famous Nintendo franchises, like Super Mario Bros., Yoshi's World, Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Pikmin to demo the Wii U's capability. It's almost like Nintendo is showing the fanboy all the potential Wii U games that could come out for the console. This game provides a wide array of game genres, which can be played as single player, cooperative multiplayer and competitive multiplayer. For the hardcore game, he has high scores and medals he can chase after. No wonder this game become a Nintendo Select, beside the fact it was the first game packaged with the Wii U. If you're only going to have 1 game for the Wii U, this is the game to have.

4) New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U

I'm pairing these 2 games together because New Super Luigi U was more an expansion pack to New Super Mario Bros. U than it was a sequel. You also might be scratching your head on this one, especially after I gave it many criticisms earlier. Yes, at some points, it felt too easy. Yes, at some points, it lacked originality, especially compared to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. But that small difference between the Wii version and the Wii U version made all the difference. See, after playing the Wii U version, I went back and played the Wii version, for I played the bare minimum of the Wii version, and now I wanted to complete the game in full like I did for the Wii U version. Let me tell you, I noticed differences right away, and I missed the improvements of the Wii U version. At first, I didn't think the graphics would matter for a game that originally flourished in the 8-bit world, yet when I went from the 1080p of the New Super Mario Bros. U to the 480p of the New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I wanted to go back to the 1080p of the New Super Mario Bros. U! I noticed a big difference of the flight mechanic between the two games. There's a difference between the straight vertical flight of propeller hat versus the lofty glide the flying squirrel suit (you'll notice the different directly when you unlock the propeller hat in the bonus land of New Super Mario Bros. U. The final Bowser battle is much more challenging in the Wii U game than the Wii game. In the Wii game, after you grab the ax to cut the bridge, all the rest becomes a platforming  race. The Wii U version has Mario (and Luigi and the Toads if you're playing with friends) fighting Bowser directly head on. As for the other similarities and so-called "lack of originality," that's called nostalgia. It's supposed to remind you of the Super Mario Bros. games of old. The flying squirrel suit reminded me of the Tanooki suit of Super Mario Bros. 3. Then comes New Super Luigi U. While that had even less originality, if you see it as an expansion pack and not a sequel (like I do), it provides even more challenges, like racing a clock with less time on it. If you're still with Nintendo because you will like Mario 22 years later, you'll want this game.

3) Mario Party 10

You've probably gone from scratching your head to banging your head at this point, or at least giving yourself a serious facepalm. Didn't I just criticize it easier? Yes, yes I did. In fact, I would declare this the worst Mario Party game of the 10 games that have come out on the consoles. But this isn't a list of the best Mario Party games. This is a list of the best Wii U games. I'm not looking at what this game isn't, but what this game is. I'm not sure if you realized this, but this is the first Mario Party game that has 5 players. It's in the form of "Bowser Party" where 4 players using Wiimotes try beat Bowser, played by a player using the Wii U gamepad, to the finish line before Bowser takes all their points. Bowser Party utilizes each controller well, taking advantage of the capabilities of the Wiimotes and Wii U gamepad alike. If you don't like Bowser Party, but you liked Mario Party 9, Mario Party 10 brought it back in the form of what they call "Mario Party." If you don't like either Mario Party 9 or the Bowser Party in Mario Party 10, there's "Amiibo Party." Amiibo Party has the feel of the Mario Party games of old. You use your amiibo of choice as a game piece, moving it around the board, collecting coins, so you can collect  star. Yes, you have to pay extra for an amiibo so you can play this mode, but I liked it, for the amiibo really felt like the game piece of a board game. Besides, this is the only Mario Party games that came out for the Wii U, so if you want to have a Mario Party on the Wii U, this is your game.

2) Super Smash Bros. Wii U

Over the years, this game has received minor updates, and with each minor update, this game only got better. Without a doubt, I personally feel like this is the best Super Smash Bros. game yet. Yes, I do miss a story mode, but not that much. Yes, I do miss the Ice Climbers as a playable character, but I don't miss Snake (he felt out of place to me on Brawl). What made this game so great is that they had the Super Smash Bros. fanboys in mind. Probably the biggest evidence of such is that they knew how much the fanboys loved playing with the GameCube controllers that they added a GameCube controller port, and then they made brand new GameCube controllers to go with it. Super Smash Bros. Wii U best utilizes the amiibos, seeing that this game came from the idea of Nintendo figurines coming to life to fight each other. It's fun customizing them and leveling them up, although it would have been more fun to fight as them, not just alongside them or against them. This game had the fanboys in mind as it kept adding characters and levels in the form of DLC. I would highly recommend purchasing all the DLC characters and stages, even if together it cost the same as the game. This is one of the few games that actually shows off what the Wii U can do in terms of online multiplayer. It's fun fighting against people all over the world, and it became even more fun when later updates would allow you to talk to them. I easily logged over 100 hours on this game, and you will too because it has so many ways to smash. This is the best fighting game on the Wii U. This game alone should make you want to own the Wii U.

1) Mario Kart 8

This game underwent 4 major updates, so major that the Mario Kart 8 you're playing is version 4.0. Every update improved an already great game. Without a doubt, this is the best Mario Kart 8 out there. This 1st party game represents everything the Wii U is and should have been. Mario Kart 8 utilizes the 1080p graphics to fullest. This game will romance your eyeballs in the elegance of its design. This game is fun to single player, but it's more fun to play multiplayer, especially online multiplayer. Nothing beats shelling your Japanese opponent to beat them to the finish line for 1st place. Every CC is at the perfect level of easy, medium and hard, allowing the player to naturally enhance his skills. Even the Mario Kart fanboy, who thought that got 150cc down, will be surprised at the 200cc, where they actually have to use their brakes! As if the original edition of this game wasn't good enough, the game added DLC races, characters and karts to add even more to fun to the game. This game also gives you another reason to buy amiibos by providing suits for your Mii to wear. To me, it is no surprise that this game is the best selling Wii U game (besides the pre-ordering deal and packing with future Wii U consoles). It is the best racing game for the Wii U and the Mario Kart game out there. This game alone is a good reason to own a Wii U.

Just like the consoles of the past, the old Nintendo console end and the new Nintendo console will begin with the same Legend of Zelda game. Perhaps if Breath of the Wild came out earlier, it would have made the list. But no surprise to me, a lot of game announced for the Nintendo Switch are sequels to the games mentioned on this list. It's because that, even though the Wii U might have been an overall flop, these are the games that made it look like a success. I hope the sequels will bring more success to Switch than the Wii U ever had.

E3 2016: Review and Response

Another E3 has come and gone, and as usual, there were winners and their were losers. Just like my preview and predictions, we'll start with 1st party developers and finish with 3rd party developers, and we'll go in the order they presented.

1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS

Microsoft Xbox

With enough years experience in E3, Microsoft has learned you need both hardware and software. Microsoft starting off with a hardware bang, announcing the Xbox One S. Of all the Xbox consoles ever made, this will be the smallest. Because of its small size. It will be the first Xbox One that can stand on its side. It small size does not mean it is watered down. Its internal hard drive will be twice as large as the original Xbox One, and it will also support 4K graphics. But what stuck out the most to the onlookers was that it was white. Color aside, the new console model announcement was a strong way to start the conference. It got people's attention and demonstrated they continued improving and upgrading the system to the latest technology. Halfway through the presentation, Microsoft gave more hardware announcements. Controllers now could be color customized, as well as inscribed. While not necessary needed to improve gameplay, it was kind of cool that Xbox players would not be limited to premade colors. At that time, they also gave more details about Oculus working with Xbox. Of course, they demoed it with Minecraft again. I would have liked to see Oculus's capabilities beyond Minecraft. Then at the end, they had one last big announcement. They announced Project Scorpio. Even though they insisted that all Xbox One hardware and software would work on Project Scorpio, it pretty much sounded like a new console. This time, they were smart enough to make everything backwards compatible. So pretty much the Xbox press conference began with, "Get a Xbox One S!" and it ended with "But that Xbox One S will be out of date in a year!" Xbox was going so strong with hardware announcements, but that last one at the end put a damper on all the rest of them.

But what good is a console if it does not have good games? They began their software announcement with a bang by viewing a new game from a series that everyone was familiar about: Gears of War.  For Gears of War 4, onlookers saw both a cinematic trailer and a gameplay demo. Any Gears of War fan would have loved it. Not far from that game, Microsoft announced that they would digitally bought games would work on both the Xbox One and Windows 10. Viewers would be constantly reminded of this, as it was announced with every game. Gears of War 4 was not the only great sequel announced. Xbox announced other sequels, like Halo Wars 2, Titanfall 2, State of Decay 2, Forza Horizon 3, Dead Space 4, Tekken 7 and Final Fantasy XV. These sequels announcements came with both cinematic trailers and gameplay demos, both displaying the graphical capabilities of the Xbox One. It also showed gamers how much third party backing the Xbox One had. The sequel I was most excited about was Titanfall 2, for it finally had a single player story! Better than the sequels were the brand new games Microsoft had to offer. Each one of them felt exciting for the new gameplay it had to offer. Scalebound just felt big. Sea of Thieves looked like a fun game to play with friends. ReCore you can just tell is made by an all-star group of developers.


Overall, Microsoft did have a successful conference software-wise. Xbox showed off both first party games and third party games, showing that not only could it make games for itself, but other companies wanted to make games for its console. The game had both trailers and demos, not only revealing the plot but also how to play the game. It had a huge library to meet every gaming genre. It's when it came down to the hardware that Xbox suffered.
~Best game~: Titanfall 2
*Medal*: Silver



Sony PlayStation

Sony started off their conference in the most epic way ever: with a full concerto. You know it's going to be epic when there's a full concerto playing their music. Their first song was not a random song. Conducting the concerto was the composer for the God of War series soundtrack. What a way to announce the new God of War game! They did a great job presenting the game. On top of the concerto playing the soundtrack, the audience got to see gameplay against an enemy and a full cinematic trailer. Going so long without a God of War game, the fans must be excited!

The high point of the press conference came in the middle with their discussion of PlayStation VR. When it came to the other conferences presenting VR, they only showed the potential VR could have with one game in development. This time, Sony came with a plan. Sony announced that when PlayStation VR came out,  it would already have 50 games available for the VR library. PlayStation didn't just inform the audience of those games. They showed off both cinematic trailers and gameplay footage of it. PlayStation has a plan for their VR. If anyone will make VR work, it will be PlayStation.

For those still not buying into the VR, PlayStation has a wide range of game for you, too. For the fans of Quantic Dream, Detroit: Become Human will bring you the same cinematic decision-making that Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls brought you. For the horror fan, they presented Resident Evil 7, the scariest Resident Evil in a while. For the racing fan, they had Grand Turisma Sport. For the lover of classic games, Sony promised to remake the Crash Bandicoot series for the PlayStation 4. I loved how the COO came on the stage with a Crash Bandicoot shadow. For those of you who love new games instead of seeing sequels of old franchises (like me), PlayStation also had enough of those Days Gone, Death Stranding, Fairpoint Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last Guardian. Clearly, PlayStation has a game for everyone's taste.


The Sony press conference made you glad you had PS4 if you have one, and if you didn't have one, it made you wished you had one. The only complaints I had about the PlayStation showcase was that there was little gameplay demo in comparison to the many cinematic trailers, and they mentioned neither the PS Vita or PS Neo. Besides that, this could easily be the best showcase of E3 2016, if not the best show case of every E3 of all time.
~Best game~: Detroit: Become Human
*Medal*: Gold



Nintendo

Before I discuss Nintendo, yes, I am aware that Nintendo decided to forego both a press conference and a Digital Event for Treehouse Live, which covered for 2 days the games Nintendo had on the showcase floor. So to put Nintendo on fair ground with the rest of the press conferences, I will judge them based on their first 2 hours, since the longest press conference was 2 hours, and you'd suspect them to make all the big announcements right off the bat. Then I will briefly cover the other games mentioned past the first 2 hours.

Well, truth to be told, there's not much to say about the first 2 hours of Treehouse Live Virtually, they said, "This is our best 3DS game and best WiiU game" and then they presented Pokemon Sun and Moon and then the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That's it. In 2 hours. Don't get me wrong. They both great games. I'm looking forward to playing the next Legend of Zelda game. The open world concept really does feel like you're getting back to the original Legend of Zelda. And the Pokemon game was so impressive that I almost wanted to get back into the Pokemon series. The battles looked more real than ever, with more in-game choices. But that's it. For 2 hours. Here their opponents in the console wars showed off the vast variety of video game genres that their console could explore, and Nintendo present 2 games genres from 2 franchises in 2 hours. Nintendo is not catering to Nintendo fanboys; they just catered to Pokemon fanboys and Legend of Zelda fanboys. I expect more from you, Nintendo. This is quite disappointing. And it's gets more disappointing with every E3. Nintendo Treehouse Live? More like Nintendo Treehouse of Horror.

Now, to be fair, they did announce more games on the 2nd day, but those games are very lackluster. Paper Mario: Color Splash is so far off from the rest of the franchise, gamers began protesting and boycotting the game, just like they did for Metroid last year. Mario Party: Star Rush finally got away from placing all 4 players on a car(t), but with each player moving at the same time and a focus on boss battles, it still doesn't feel like a true Mario Party game. Tokyo Mirage Session #FE feels the furthest from the Fire Emblem series also. If Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokémon Sun and Moon made their franchises better, then all these other games made their respective franchises worse. Maybe it's a good thing that Nintendo decided to forego the press conference and decided to display those 2 games for 2 hours, for if they had a full press conference: they would have had 2 highlights, and the rest lowlights.

~Best game~: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (WiiU) & Pokémon Sun and Moon (3DS)
*Medal*: Bronze








3RD PARTY DEVELOPERS

Electronic Arts (EA)

A lot of the EA press conference is what you'd expect from EA. A lot of time into their EA Sports games, like Madden and FIFA. A lot of time into shooter games, like Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2 and Mass Effect: Andromeda. And of course, all emphasized competition. I can't help but feel that was a response from the Nintendo World Competition last year. Still, with every old game or old franchise came something new. Mass Effect: Andromeda keeps the same gameplay, while bringing the story in the new story. Battlefield 1 takes the battle to World War I. Titanfall 2 finally added a single-player campaign! But more impressive than a story mode in Titanfall 2 is a story mode in FIFA 17! It's all about helping a player become a star. On top that, FIFA 17 now has added the coaches into play. But EA wasn't just about new games from old franchises. EA also showed off the brand new game Fe. While EA did show off that variety of games, it was still the same old games, even if those same old games had additional. Like I said in my preview, technology today allows games to receive DLC that EA considers updates. EA needs to add more than that to convince to make a new game.
~Best game~: FIFA 17
*Medal*: Bronze


Bethesda

Bethesda steps it up with their sophomore year of being at E3. With their freshman year last year, my only complaint was there was too much emphasis on Doom and Fallout 3, and not enough emphasis on their other games. Yes,this year, half of the press conference was Dishonored 2, but it was totally worth it. We saw a full gameplay demo (although not live) that fully showed all the specs of the game. This time, Bethesda displayed more of their games. We heard about everything from Elder Scrolls to Quake Champions. But it wasn't just the old franchises. Bethesda showed that it still had fresh ideas, like Prey. What I found cool was that Bethesda also talked about how they continued working on their old games. We heard about the latest DLC for Doom, Fallout 4 and Fallout Shelter. I'm glad to see Bethesda is still giving showcases at E3, for they totally deserve to be on stage.
~Best Game~: Dishonored 2
*Medal*: Silver

Ubisoft

Ubisoft had the longest press conference (not counting Nintendo Treehouse Live, obvious) at 2 hours, but it wasn't because it was dragging. It had enough stuff to jam into 2 hours, and still, it felt like it needed more time. Ubisoft started out by introducing the next game in the Just Dance franchise, Just Dance 2017.  Out of all E3 2016, Ubisoft was the only one not to abandon motion control video gaming. But  motion control gaming isn't the only new video gaming Ubisoft was willing to explore. Ubisoft brought VR to their press conference. In terms of VR, they demonstrated Star Trek VR and Eagle Flight. Both of these games did a wonderful of showing the multiplayer aspect of VR. As always, Ubisoft got the crowd excited about the future of new gameplay. Ubisoft continued to show its fans that it has a wide array of game genres for everyone. For the hack and slash gamer, there was For Honor. For the dancing gamer, there was Just Dance 2017. For the RPG gamer, there was South Park: The Fractured But Whole. For the Xtreme sports gamer, there was Steep. For the shooter gamer, there was Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. For the racing gamer, there was Trials of the Blood Dragon. For the action/adventure gamer, there was Watch Dogs 2. Truly, Ubisoft has something for everybody. Each of these games came both with a cinematic trailer and a gamplay demo, so you knew what each game was about. Some of the games even came with interviews with the developers. Ubisoft isn't one to keep its fans in the dark, but rather, they want everyone to know about what's coming up. The only complaint I could think of was that they talked more about Assassin's Creed movie instead of the Assassin's Creed game. Yeah, I know they don't have new Assassin's Creed game coming out this year, but they could have at least teased us with an idea the Ubisoft team was playing around with. Beside that and the long length, I cannot think of any other complaints. I can easily say that Ubisoft is still my favorite third party developer, especially when it comes to E3 presentations. Ubisoft easily wins the best E3 presentation for third party developers. Way to celebrate your 30th birthday, Ubisoft!
~Best Game~: Star Trek VR
*Medal*: Gold

In closing, I have one more thought. Every year it seems like there's a "this is the year of..." Sadly, E3 2016 will be known as the "Year of Orlando Shooting tributes." The first presenters, Electronic Arts, decided they needed to do something in memory of those who died at the nightclub in Orlando. So they put on rainbow pins and gave a moment of silence in memory of those who died. It seemed like all the presenters following felt pressured to do the same, lest they would come off as cold to what had happened. So everyone changed their plans to squeeze in the moment of silence. It always felt awkward and forced, especially when transitioning back to the main presentation. Even some of the presenters commented on how awkward the transition was. Before I go on, so I don't seem cold to what happened, let me acknowledge it was indeed a tragedy. But let's be honest here: the rainbow pins and the moments of silence were just another tactic to win the crowd over, and if they didn't play to that, they would come off as losers. I've never been a fan of using tragedy to gain support (another good example is the NFL using breast cancer to try to get more female fans), and I hate to see the video game companies give into that as well. Yes, it was a tragedy, but let's not use it to compete with one another. Let's just stick to what we know: video games.

E3 2016: Preview & Predictions

It's June, so it's time for my annual post: the E3 2016 Preview and Predictions! I will do the 1st party developers first, then the third party developers, and I will go in the order of when they are presenting at E3 this year.

1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS

Microsoft

Microsoft will appeal to its fanboys. First, it will appeal to them with the 1st party franchises that have made the Xbox famous. Front running the 1st party games will be Halo Wars 2. I can imagine they will announce linking between the Xbox One version and the Windows 10 version of the game. Another 1st party game to attract the Xbox fanboys will be new Forza Motorsport game. Microsoft has pushed the Xbox One to its limits to improve the Forza Motorsports series. I can't wait to see what new innovations they bring to the newest game. Microsoft will also appeal to its fanboys by demonstrating its good relations with 3rd part developers. The best to demonstrate this with is Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Microsoft has demonstrated Call of Duty games on Xbox in previous conferences, and for good reason. The Call of Duty games have always been popular on the Xbox, so it would make sense for Microsoft to display what Xbox can bring to Call of Duty. Finally, Xbox will demonstrate its loyalty to the fanboys by giving the fanboys what they appreciate the most: new games. One of which will be Sea of Thieves. It doesn't matter what genre game it is; the game will show that the Xbox is full of new capabilities and ideas, making it the perfect console for hardcore gamers.

Sony

Sony will appeal to hardcore gamers everywhere. Sony will show PlayStation has everything for everyone. Sony will present many games, from several different game genres. It will appeal to both the console gamer and the handheld gamer. We'll hear just as much about the PS Vita as we will hear about the PS4. Speaking of PS4, we will hear a lot about what new aspects the PS4 Neo will bring to the console. In addition to PS4 Neo, I expect to hear a lot more about the PSVR. Not only will Sony demonstrate its virtual reality capabilities, it will have a huge library of games to go with it. Not only will Sony appeal to the gamers, but Sony will appeal to the developers as well. Sony will display a wide array of PlayStation games made by indie developers, which will attract indie developers to make their games with PlayStation, and it will attract gamers who want to play on a system that has a huge game library. With all this, I can't see why Sony wouldn't win E3 again this year.

Nintendo

As demonstrated with the very recent release of the Star Fox game for the Wii U, Nintendo will continue its internal conflict to satisfy both casual gamers and Nintendo fanboys. For the Nintendo fanboys, Nintendo will remind its viewers of Pokémon's 20th birthday. Prepare yourself to hear a lot about Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Go. But Pokémon is not the only franchise that will get the fanboys riled up. The North American Nintendo fanboys will get excited when they finally get to see the Zelda game they've longed waited for the WiiU to have. HD editions of old games have been nice, but they really want a Zelda game tailored to the WiiU. I imagine it will be a wide open game to discover the world of Hyrule. It will also fully incorporate the screen of the WiiU game pad for easy access to the item inventory. Personally, I hope it will allow users to use the Wiimote as the sword, for I had so much fun with the Wiimote sword play that Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword provided. For the Japanese Nintendo fanboy, they will look forward to Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, for it will remind them of their beloved Fire Emblem series. For the casual gamers, I expect a lot of party games and a lot of multiplayer games. Most of their presentation, however, I expect to hear about Nintendo NX. Despite rumors, with the WiiU being almost 4 years old and losing the current console race, I believe Nintendo NX is the next console. I believe this next console, in order to attempt to maintain the balance between the casual gamers and the Nintendo fanboys, they will keep both the motion controls and the gamepad with the built-in screen. Since Nintendo has always been good with backward capability, the new system will play WiiU games, although maybe not Wii games. If the new console wants to keep up with the PS4 and Xbox One, it must continue to improve its graphics and online capabilities in order to attract third party developers to partner with Nintendo and stay with Nintendo. Otherwise, it will fail. Nintendo, there is no shame in copying the PS4 and Xbox One. If you don't, you might find yourself making games for them, just like Sega.

3RD PARTY DEVELOPERS

Electronic Arts (EA)

As usual, I suspect that the majority of the EA press conference will be what made EA famous: EA Sports. So prepare to hear about the games from its top 3 most famous franchises: Madden 17, FIFA 17 and NHL 17. They'll have celebrity sports players explaining the game's new features. The only problem with this is the technology of current generation of consoles allows developers to add new features that previously had to come as a new game by means of DLC. So EA is going to have convince gamers to go out a spend the full amount on a new for new features which some franchises (my beloved Rock Band, e.g.) would hand out as free DLC. That's an uphill battle. If 2K Sports were to offer that, EA Sports could easily lose the competition as the best sports game franchise. Therefore, EA has got to focus on the other dependable franchises they have.  The Battlefield series has always been a popular one, so why not lead with Battlefield 1? Not a lot of shooter games take it back to the World War I time period, so Battlefield 1 treads somewhat new ground. Still, how long will it stay popular, until everyone goes back to their Halo and Call of Duty games? Speaking of first person shooter games, I'm looking forward to hearing about Titanfall 2. The first Titanfall game ushered in the current console generation. It was great at displaying the potentials of this console generation, but it really lacked a single player campaign. Titanfall 2 promised to fix that with a traditional single player campaign. This might be the best game EA can present. For those who prefer their shooters to be from the third person point of view, Mass Effect Andromeda would be the game from them. It's been 4 years since the last Mass Effect game came out. The Mass Effect fanboys will be drooling to hear another game from their beloved series. But rumor has its just from the same universe, but not a direct sequel. This can sometimes be a difficult task, especially if fans have become attached to the previous characters. EA is going to have to show off the fact that Mass Effect Andromeda still looks and feels like a Mass Effect game. As long as EA can show they are faithful to their franchises, yet continually improving them, they will have a good E3.

Bethesda

Last year, Bethesda had their first press conference. They didn't do too shabby on their first try. Yeah, they spent too much time on the newest Doom game to get a flavor of what other games they were bringing, but Doom was the Bethesda game that left the audience the most awestruck, so maybe it was worth. This year, I want to see more variety. Unfortunately, I don't think I will get it. I think they will spend most of their time talking about Dishonored 2. They will display it with a trailer, a game demo and developer interviews, giving it the full treatment. Yet I need to see more than just this. I need to see that Bethesda can make more than action/adventure games, like Doom and Dishonored 2. Without more variety, I see Bethesda having a fleeting popularity. Yeah, sure, the build-up excitement prior to the game's release will get everyone riled up, but once the game comes out, Bethesda will have nothing left.

Ubisoft

You might remember that Ubisoft is my favorite third party developer right now. Don't think of it as bias. It has earned that spot. Year after year, Ubisoft has continued to develop a plethora of games from a wide array of game genres, suiting every gamer. This year, I expect the same from them. For the hack and slash gamer, they will present For Honor. They presented this game at last year's E3, and it immediately caught my attention. I can't wait to see what new developments they made on the game that will catch my attention again. For the RPG gamer, they will South Park: The Fractured But Whole. The first South Park game did a good job of spoofing the fantasy game, yet it was a good RPG within itself. I know this is another game they announced last year, but once again, I'm looking forward to hearing what kind of developments they made, and seeing a good game demo. For the shooter gamer, they will present Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. Once again, yes, I know they announced this at last year's E3, but I'm excited to hear how they put a nature spin on a open world game. For the action/adventure gamer is the game I'm most excited to hear about: Watch Dogs 2. I've already heard a lot about it. I like they are introducing cooperative multiplayer. I like they are making everything electronic hackable, almost to the point you become that object. Most importantly, I like that they are giving their main character more of a personality. While I am sad there is no new game for my favorite Ubisoft action/adventure game, Assassin's Creed, I think that Watch Dogs 2 will be the most impressive game Ubisoft has to show off. My only concern for Ubisoft in this E3 is that a lot of their games will be games previously announced at last E3. They are going to have to show they have been working on these games. If they can, they will have a successful E3. If they cannot, then then will have to surprise us with new games, or else they will fail.

Let the presentations begin! :)

E3 Review and Reaction

In 2009, everything was about music video games. In 2010, everything was about motion controls. In 2013, everything was about television integration. In 2014, everything was about cooperative play. In 2015, everything seemed to about fan service. Many times I heard "We heard what you fans were saying, and we've listened." They claimed they listened and gave the fans they wanted. Whether they successfully did listen, that we will look at in this review and reaction. Just like the preview, we start off with first party developers, then go to the third party developers, and we'll go in the order of that they presented.

1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS

MICROSOFT

As I predicted, the show started off with a bang. The first thing Microsoft showed us was Halo 5: Guardians. It was the best looking Halo in the series so far. The scenery was beautiful. The characters were so lifelike, I could swear Nathan Fillion was literally in the game. Even the science fiction weapons looked real. Halo 5: Guardians fully utilizes the Xbox One. Even I, who has just started the Halo series, am looking forward to the game. Halo wasn't the only first party game to get the full treatment. Forza Motorspot 6 was introduced with a real life car. Gears of War displayed both a cinematic trailer and a game trailer. They also did show Fable Legends and Rise of the Tomb Raider, but honestly, they didn't show much more than last year. Still, Xbox did what I say they needed to do and focus on the first party games for the sake of the Xbox fanboys.

Then I said Xbox needed to demo favorite third party games for the sake the hardcore gamers. Xbox showed their array of third party developers with an assortment of games. From Bethesda, we heard about Fallout 4. From Ubisoft, we heard about Tom Clancy's Division and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Seige. From Rare, we heard about Rare Replay. Believe it or not, I think the Rare Replay was the wisest choice to show off as a third party game. A lot of the games in the Rare Replay were classics that the hardcore games would nostalgically love. But even then, Xbox took it step further. Every year I complain that the only "new games" we see are sequels to old titles. Xbox made sure they introduced fresh new games. My favorites were ReCore and Beyond Eyes. So now not only did Xbox show it was back for its fanboys, but also back for all hardcore gamers.

But it's neither the first party titles nor the third party titles that impressed me the most with the Xbox media briefing. What impressed me the most was that 2 years after the Xbox One came out, Xbox continued to add to its hardware. First, Xbox made a way for Xbox 360 games, both on disc and downloaded games, to finally become backward compatible on the Xbox One. Yeah, sure, we found it wasn't as cracked up to be. The game developers need to give permission for their games to be backward compatibile, which is easy for 1st party games, but harder for 3rd party games. Saved files need to transferred via the cloud, which means older games won't transfer because they can't save on the cloud. But they really tried, and this try was significant. When the Xbox One first came out, they made a lot of mistakes. Year by year, slowly, Xbox One began to fix those mistakes. By making Xbox 360 games available on the Xbox One, Xbox finally fixed the last and biggest mistake. But it doesn't stop there. To compete with PlayStation's Project Morpheus, Xbox showed its compatibility with Occulus. But it didn't even stop there. Xbox took it a step further. Xbox demonstrated how the Microsoft HoloLens is compatible with Xbox games. They demonstrated Minecraft augmenting reality. It was amazing. I haven't been this amazed since Kinect was first demonstrated as Project Natal. This technology put Microsoft HoloLens  ahead of Sony's Morpheus.

With the first party games, Xbox caught up with the Xbox fanboys. With the third party games, Xbox caught up with the hardcore gamers . With the new hardware technology, Xbox took the lead and wins this E3 among the first party developers.




+Positives+: Continuing to develop old franchises, full support
from 3rd party developers, new game ideas, advancing the hardware (especially backward compatibility)
-Negatives-: Nothing new about Rise of the Tomb Raider or Fable Legends, the car coming down from the ceiling was a little gimmicky, backward compatibility isn't the best
~Top 3 Games~: ReCore, Beyond Eyes, Halo 5: Guardians
*Medal*: Gold


SONY

I almost feel bad giving Sony the silver. They did everything I said a good first party's press conference should do. They introduced brand new games. I counted at least 6 specifically discussed. In fact, the first two games introduced were brand new, The Last Guardian and Horizon: Zero Dawn. Both of these games won the audience over. PlayStation also utilized many 3rd party games in its presentation to show their 3rd party backing. From Activision, we saw Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Destiny: The Taken King. From EA we saw Star Wars Battlefront. From Square Enix, we heard about the Final Fantasy VII remake. From Ubisoft, we heard about Assassin's Creed Syndicate. On top of that, PlayStation showed off some sweet 1st party games. My favorite was Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, presented at the end. This might be the best Uncharted game yet. Like, I said everything a good conference needs.

There is only one that they lacked, and Microsoft took the lead. That was in the hardware. Sony had nothing to the hardware, with neither the PlayStation 4 nor the PS Vita. The closest when it came to hardware was Project Morpheus. But there wasn't much to it. We pretty much just heard about it; no demonstrations. In light of Occulus, it's a copycat, and in light of HoloLens, it's behind. That's why Sony falls to second, but a close second at that.




+Positives+: Lots of brand new games, full 3rd party support
-Negatives-: Not a lot on Project Morpheus, very little on the PS Vita
~Top 3 Games~: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, The Last Guardian, Shenmue III
*Medal*: Silver




NINTENDO

One could say the Nintendo's E3 began on Sunday. On Sunday, Nintendo held its first Nintendo World Championships in 25 years. The Nintendo World Championship demoed a lot of the games that Nintendo would present at E3, including Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Super Mario Maker. The championship also demoed newer DLC of older games, like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. Speaking of Super Smash Bros., on that same day Nintendo released DLC for the latest Super Smash Bros. The DLC included the characters Lucas, Roy and Ryu. Each of these characters represented a new game that would be talked about at E3. Roy represented Fire Emblem Fates. Lucas represented Mother finally coming to the U.S. as Earthbound Beginnings, which was also released on this Sunday. This got the Nintendo fanboys excited about what was coming. They had high expectations for the Digital Event on Sunday. That's why I mentioned that Nintendo's E3 could be considered as starting on Sunday. Because that might have been the high point of Nintendo's E3.

The high point of Nintendo's Digital Event on Tuesday, the second high point of  Nintendo's E3, was the opening of the Digital Event. The first game we got to see was Star Fox Zero. It was truly an 8th generation game. The 1080p graphics made Corneia look beautiful. I appreciate hearing about the history and about the development of the game and of the series. Truly, this game was the best Nintedo showed off at E3. The second best game was Super Mario Maker at the end of the presentation. But we heard about that last year. Sure, we learned new things, like the name changed for Mario Maker to Super Mario Maker, 16-bit is an option on top 8-bit and 1080p, and Amiibos can change the character. Once again, I enjoyed hearing about the creation of the original Super Mario Bros. That's about it. Then it all went downhill from there.

Maybe I should be more specific, Nintendo, when I said give the fanboys what they want by making more games of their favorite franchises. I meant GOOD games that advance the series in both story and gameplay, not BAD spin-offs. Your fanboys and I wanted an open-world Legend of Zelda game for the WiiU, not a co-op spin-off of Four Swords Adventure for the 3DS. When I said the fanboys and I wanted a new Metroid game, I meant a sci-fi first person shooter for the WiiU, not a sci-fi sports shooter for the 3DS. And when I was open to a new Mario game, I meant a new platformer, either a side scrolling platformer or a 3D platformer, not a Mario tennis game, not a Mario Olympics game, not a Mario RPG crossover. And a real Yoshi game would have been appreciated, not a spin-off to Kirby Epic Yarn.

On top of all that, Nintendo emphasized amiibo too much and showed too much desperation in third party support with the new Skylanders game. These are things that not lose the hardcore gamers and the Nintendo fanboys alike. One more thing I observed. The WiiU was hardly mentioned, especially in comparison to an overwhelming focus on the 3DS. Last time that happened, it was the last year of the Wii. A few months ago, Nintendo mentioned a Project NX. It could be a new controller or a smartphone for Nintendo games. But I hope I really hope it's a new console. True, it would a short console life, especially in comparison to the last generation. But like I said in my preview, Nintendo caught up, only to fall behind again. Now Nintendo must catch up again, or it might so fall so far behind, it will fall out of contention.

+Positives+: Getting people pumped with Nintendo World Championships, hearing from developers about the creations of the games, many 3DS games
-Negatives-: Too many spin-offs, too much emphasis on amiibos, lack of WiiU games, lack of support from 3rd party developers
~Top 3 Games~: Star Fox Zero (WiiU),  Super Mario Maker (WiiU), Earthbound Beginnings (WiiU Virtual Console)
*Medal*: Bronze

3RD PARTY DEVELOPERS

BETHESDA

Bethesda didn't do too bad for their first E3 media briefing. They knew they needed to start off with a bang, and I would consider their bang to be a triple bang in one game. They opened up with Doom. They showed us the solo play, and that was a single bang. They demonstrated how the multiplayer worked, and that was the double bang. Then they displayed the mod, and that was the triple bang. Doom had so much to offer. It was awesome. I wasn't into Doom before, but now I could be. I bet many other gamers are now into it as well, too.

Not only did they start with a bang, they ended with a bang, too. The ending bang was Fallout 4. It was already well written in both game play and story. Then they made their own Pip Boy that is compatible with a Fallout smartphone app to give the player a real Pip Boy and real second screen play. That was awesome. On the side, they made Fallout Shelter, a simulation game for the iPhone and iPad. Not only is it free to play, it was available to download right after the show. Of course, I downloaded it immediately. Bethesda truly invested in the Fallout franchise, and it paid off.

In between Doom and Fallout 4, we saw Dishonored: Definitive Edition, Dishonored II, The Elder Scrolls: Legend and Battle Cry. All of these games were introduced well with trailers. My only complaint was they spent too much on Doom and Fallout 4. Fallout 4 took about 40% of the presentation and Doom took about 20% of the briefing.  This time could have been used to talk more about the other games or talk about even more games. Still, with a presentation like that, Bethesda finishes 2nd among 3rd party developers. If they keep presenting like that, they will surely win a 1st in the future.

+Positives+: Showing off all the features of Doom, the second screen feature of Fallout 4
-Negatives-: Too much time on Doom and Fallout 4, not enough time on the others, could have showed off more games
~Top 3 Games~: Fallout 4, Doom, Battle Cry
*Medal*: Silver




ELECTRONIC ARTS (EA)

Well, that turned out exactly as I expected. It's the newest Madden game and the newest FIFA game. It's another Mirror's Edge game, another Need for Speed game, another Star Wars Battlefront game, another Plants vs. Zombies game. But I have to say, there was some innovation. FIFA 16 finally included women players and teams. Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 allows you to play as either plants or zombies. Star Wars: Old Republic - Knights of the Fallen Empire brought a good story to an MMORPG, just like the fans wanted. Star Wars Battlefront allowed players to play as their favorite Star Wars characters, just like players wanted. You hear the commonality here. EA listened to the fans. As much as don't like see repetition of the same series, it's what the fans like, and EA has reached out to his fans, not only in producing sequels, but also developing the sequel. But EA is more than just sequels. They are out to make new games, too. One of such is Unraveled. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Yes, it's another game about yarn. Yes, it was weird seeing the creator get emotional about a yarn doll. But it's an original idea with an original character. I probably would have been more accepting of Kirby: Epic Yarn and Yoshi's Wooly World if Nintendo would have created an original character and original story around him. All in all, EA needs to produce new games like this if they want to embrace the artistic side of the video game industry. But if EA is satisfied with just being a business, keep making the old games for the fans.

+Positives+: Bringing new development to old games, bringing new ideas when they do bring no games, Star Wars Old Republic - Knights of the Fallen Empire has a good story, Minion's Paradise bring more variety to EA
-Negative-: Same old games, felt like the same presentations
~Top 3 Games~: Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, Star Wars: Old Republic - Knights of the Fallen Empire, Star Wars Battlefront
*Medal*: Bronze



UBISOFT

Once again, Ubisoft did what it did best and demonstrated it appeals to hardcore gamers and casual gamers alike by displaying an array of game genres. Their RPG game was South Park: The Fractured But Whole. For racing games, Ubisoft brought forth The Crew Run Wild, Trials Fusion: Awesome Level Max and Trackmania Turbo. For a simulation game, Ubisoft has Anno 2205. As a music video game, Ubisoft of course has Just Dance 2016, but it now has the feature to use your smartphone as a controller. For an action-adventure game, Ubisoft showed off Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. For shooters, of course there's 3 different Tom Clancy games - Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, Tom Clancy's The Division and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. With the last 4 games, Ubisoft gave us full gameplay for us to watch. Watching this gameplay, I know what I am getting into when I buy the game. Don't think that Ubisoft is just repeating the same franchises. Ubisoft had new games, like For Honor. With games for both the hardcore gamer and the casual gamer, and with both theatrical trailers and gameplay trailers in the presentation of the games, no wonder Ubisoft wins E3 among the 3rd party developers.

+Positives+: Wide array of games and game genres, new games like For Honor, both cinematic trailers and gameplay trailers to show off games, more smartphone integration for Just Dance 2016
-Negatives-: Too many sequels, too many Tom Clancy games
~Top 3 Games~: Tom Clancy's The Division, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands
*Medal*: Gold



SQUARE ENIX

I'm trying to give Square Enix a break because I know this is the first E3 media briefing. But the other 3 third party developers had much better presentations than Square Enix. Where Square Enix lacked so much was that it pretty much said a lot about very little. Square Enix was excited about about the new NieR game, but all we saw was some concept art and the credits, naming an all star cast. They also announced a new game under the name Project Setsuna, but the little we heard about the game. It just sounded like around JRPG. Speaking of RPGs, there was a lot of focus on RPGs. I know RPGs are Square Enix specialty, but I know Square Enix can make other games, as we will see later. They need to show that variety. There was also a lot of focus on iOS games. Square Enix first talked about the success of Hitman Go, and then announced Lara Croft Go. Once again, I would have liked to hear more about both games. It felt like an iOs game just for the sake of having an iOS game. Square Enix did have some good presentations. Square Enix started off its presentation with Just Cause 3. It was your typical Just Cause game, with crazy destruction...well, just 'cause, for a just cause. They ended their presentation with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It looked like the perfect game for the Deus Ex series. Rise of the Tomb Raider would have been good, too, if they would told us something more than the Xbox presentation, and the Xbox presentation told us little new stuff in the first place. Altogether, Square Enix did OK for a first press conference, but if it wants to play with the big boys, it has work on it.

+Positives+: Both cinematic trailers and gameplay trailers for Just Cause 3 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, sticking with the RPGs the know best like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, attempting to grasp the iPad/iPhone as a gaming device
-Negatives-: Too many RPGs, too much talk with very little new information about the games, too much focus on iOS games,
~Top 3 Games~: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Just Cause 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider
*Medal*: None/4th/Honorable Mention

E3 2015 Preview and Predictions

Let's face it. The only thing keeping this blog alive is my 2 annual posts: The E3 Preview and Predictions and the E3 Review and Response. So let's keep this blog barely going with my preview and predictions of E3 2015. We will start with the 1st party developers, and go in order of when they are presenting, then we'll go with 3rd party developers, once again, going in order of presentation.

1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS

MICROSOFT

A couple years ago, when Microsoft first revealed the Xbox One, Microsoft showed off its new console's capabilities, like 24/7 internet connection, needing Kinect, not needing discs, lacking backward compatibility, and the ability to recharge you for used game. The gaming world said to Microsoft, "We don't like those things." Microsoft replied, "Oh trust me, you'll love them." The gaming community replied, "Oh no we don't, we hate them," and then many hardcore games, including [previous] Xbox fan boys went over to PlayStation. Frantically, Microsoft said, "Just kidding!" and removed a lot of those so-called good "features." Even after Microsoft recanted from its previous ways, almost copying PlayStation, it was too late. Many of its fans had gone over to the other side. So at the last E3, Microsoft played it simple, reassuring the Xbox fanboys that they were still for the hardcore gamers, focusing on titles they knew were popular among hardcore gamers and keeping silent about casual games, like any Kinect games.

I expect to same the same for this year at E3. First and foremost, Xbox will focus on its first party franchises that had made the Xbox famous. Headlining them all will be Halo 5: Guardians. Following Halo 5: Guardians will be Forza Motorsport 6, Fable Legends the new Gears of War game. . Then, they will advertise "safe" 3rd party games that they know will showcase their loyalty to the hardcore games. Frontlining these games will be Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Others 3rd party games to showcase Xbox's loyalty to hardcore gamers might be Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and a sequel to Destiny. Personally, I hope Xbox will give RockBand 4 a chance to show off their latest game. Once again, I expect Kinect to barely be mentioned, if it is mentioned at all. Since Kinect is no longer their newest hardware peripheral, I suspect that Microsoft will try to pass off its tablet, the Surface, as its "handheld" gaming device. Expect to hear more about Smart Glass. I would also hope that the Xbox one will somehow have TV capabilities, too. Xbox One can already use the TV that you have. But with both competitors Sony and Google offering their own TV service, Microsoft needs to get with the times and offer the same. Will this be enough to win back the Xbox fanboys and the hardcore games alike? Time will tell.

SONY

For the past 2 years, Sony has won E3. From the look of things, the PlayStation 4 might win this console generation. Time after time, Sony has proven it is for hardcore and casual gamers alike, with both its PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita. Sony has taken a clear lead against its competitors. This lead will allow Sony leniency to experiment. I expect to hear more about Project Morpheus. It doesn't need to be perfect, just enough to show Sony is willing to take the lead and advance the gaming industry. I also expect to hear more connectivity between the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita. Games have been embracing touch screen controllers with the WiiU, so I expect the same for PlayStation.

This lead in the console race will allow Sony to experiment with brand new games. I'm looking forward to see the new game ideas Sony has, like Drawn to Death, The Tomorrow Children and Until Dawn. I hope they utilize the capabilities of the PS4 to the fullest. Because of its lead in the console race, every 3rd party developers will want Sony to display its game. I would hope Sony would give failing Konami a hand, remember how faithful Konami was to Sony, and demonstrate Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Sony will have a wide array of games to chose to demonstrate its capabilities, but it will stick with that it knows best: its own games. Expect Uncharted 4: A Thief's End to headline the Sony presentation's of the PS4. It will continue to build onto an old franchise, yet introduce new ideas. Even if Sony wants to play that cautious, they have remastered versions of God of War III and Rachet and Clank. For the PS Vita, I would hope Sony would headline Tearaway Unfolded. The first Tearaway fully utilized the back touch panel. I can't wait to see how Tearaway Unfolded continues to fully utilize the full capabilities of the PS Vita. If Sony does what it knows best, which is stick to what the hardcore games like, expect it to win another E3 and come one step closer to sealing itself as the winner of the 8th generation console wars.

NINTENDO

Once again, Nintendo has chosen to not host a press conference, but to have an online show streaming a conference of sorts. It scares me because Konami withdrew from the conference for an online show before it dropped out altogether and now is now struggling to avoid bankruptcy. I fear Nintendo may face the same fate. Nintendo hasn't had much success since the turn of the console generation. To use the metaphor of a race, Nintendo thought it caught up its competitors, huffing and puffing, with the WiiU. Then the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 came out, giving Microsoft and Sony the lead again, while Nintendo is still catching its breath. The WiiU finally gave Nintendo 1080p graphics, but the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 had better 1080p graphics, with a fresher refresh rate. The WiiU finally gave Nintendo good online connectivity, but one again the Xbox One and PS4 had better online connectivity. Nintendo promised 3rd party developers would back it, only to have all the 3rd party developers back out.

With that in mind, expect Nintendo to barely hang on with its Nintendo fanboys by appealing to them. For the Mario side of the franchise, Mario Maker will headline the conference. Why bother to make a new Mario game when the Nintendo fanboys can make one themselves? For the Legend of Zelda series, expect a new Legend of Zelda game, which will be an open world exploration game. Of course, the big news will be the new Star Fox game, since we didn't have one with the Wii. I'm hoping it will remind us of the classic games, yet will still introduce new ideas that embrace the WiiU's capabilities. Maybe Nintendo will even surprise us with a new Metroid game. As for a reach out to hardcore games, Nintendo will try with Devil's Third. I hope it works for their sake. Without it, Nintendo might go the way of the Sega and turn into a 3rd party game developer.

THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS

BETHESDA

Since Konami is no longer having a pre-E3 press conference, I got someone has to. Bethesda has taken up this role, hosting their first ever conference of the sort. For their first conference, Bethesda should play it safe. They should advertise franchises their fans would be familiar with. So we'll see Fallout 4 and the new Doom game. It won't be enough for them to just show another game in the series. They must prove they have advanced it for the lastest console generation. Also, expect some new games. Get excited for Battle Cry. The developers of the game have good experience, so I would expect gold from them. This could be a good step forward in making Bethesda the new favorite 3rd party developer among gamers.

ELECTRONIC ARTS

What do I expect for EA every year? Sequels to the previous year's game. Obviously, we'd expect that with the sports games. Expect to hear about the newest Madden game, with NFL players, and the newest FIFA game, with soccer players. But it's not just that, it's the regular EA games, too. Oh look, another Mirror's Edge game, another Need for Speed game, another Star Wars Battlefront game, another Plants vs. Zombies game. The problem with this strategy, especially for the EA Sports game, is that the technology of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One allows games to be updated with these features without needing to make a new game. Soon this strategy will run EA bankrupt. So what EA has to do is convince its audience that it is really moving each franchise forward. These games must put the latest technology of the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and even possibly the WiiU to good use. Without it, EA might just end up taking the same route as Konami.

UBISOFT

Ubisoft has been my favorite 3rd party developers for the past few years. They have appealed to both casual gamers and hardcore gamers alike with the many game genres. The only drawback they have experienced is that their press conference has become very predictable. I can tell you what is going to happen. They will start out their press conference with Assassin's Creed Syndicate. They will go into full depth with this game, giving the audience a new trailer, gameplay from the beta, and maybe even a developer interview. In the middle, we'll hear about their new casual gamers, probably the next Just Dance title, or maybe a new Rayman or Raving Rabbids game. The presentation will end with the newest Tom Clancy installments:  Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and Tom Clancy's The Division. While predictable, it means that Ubisoft has found something that works. So if it's not broke, why fix it? Keep doing what you're doing, Ubisoft, and you'll take home the 3rd party gold again.

SQUARE ENIX

With Konami dropping out of E3, E3 must have wanted to have someone to take Konami's place. I couldn't think of a better replacement than Square Enix. Square Enix is probably most famous for its Final Fantasy series, the fantasy that seems like it will never have a finale. So expect to hear the most about Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. Square Enix also has been made famous by the Deus Ex series. So the second biggest game to hear about will be Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. These 2 games alone could put Square Enix on the map as one of the top 3 third party developers. Yet I'm excited to see what new ideas they create.

I'm not going into great detail about the PC Gaming Show because PC Gaming isn't my thing. I can only say I would expect Blizzard to showcase Heroes of the Storm. But the PC Gaming Show, on top of 4 third party developers giving presentations, shows that this E3 will be action packed. I can't wait until it all kicks off in 2 days! :)

E3 Review and Reaction

Now that E3 is over, let's take a look at what happens and what this means for gaming. Since I only previewed and predicted for the first party developers, let's keep this review and reaction to the system presentations. I will look at the positives and negatives of each presentation, then I wil award each a medal for their performance. To be dramatic, I'll start with bronze and end with gold.

NINTENDO

First, let me start with the disappointment that Nintendo decided not to make a presentation at E3, but rather chose to do a "digital event," the Nintendo equivilent of a podcast. I would understand if none of the major Nintendo leaders could make it, but that was not the case, for Miyamoto and Fils-Aime was there (Iwata could not make it due to health complications). Just think about how Konami does not have E3 press conferences, and how that reflects on their poor games. It's easy to get that same thought about Nintendo. On the same note, I'm disappointed on the length of Nintendo's digital event. Microsoft spent 90 minutes on XBox, which is about average to present a system. Sony spent 120 minutes on PlayStation, which did seem a little long, but can be excused because they had so much to present. Nintendo spent a mere 45 minutes on both the WiiU and 3DS. If the length of the presentation reflected how much they were working on, it would feel like Nintendo is doing half the work the other companies are doing. There was so much to talk about, but they spent so little talking about it. I will talk about this more later.

The digital event begins with a warning: content rated M. I'm thinking to myself, "Woah, Nintendo is starting off with a game rated M? That's so not like Nintendo. This is going to be awesome!" But it wasn't for a game. It was a short skit provided by Robot Chicken. I appreciated the laugh it gave me. I also appreciated that Nintendo allowed it to make fun of itself. But it did take out time to present game, which as I already said, was lacking, and I will say it again later.

When Nintendo got to presenting games, the first one was, of course, Super Smash Bros. I liked the humorous sketch of Iwata and Fils-Aime fighting to announce Miis as Super Smash Bros fighters, although I will admit that it seems like the Miis will be another version of Captain Falcon (Brawler), Link (swordsman) and Samus (shooter). I'm still kind of iffy about the Amiibo. At first, it seemed like a copycat of Skylanders and Disney Infinite, which to me feels like a cheap way to nickel and dime people. But the more I heard of its capabilities, the more I was convinced. The Amiibo give the Super Smash Bros. character RPG abilities and elements. This means that if two people chose Fox, for example, it would not be an equal matchup, as it would be picking the same computer chosen player, the characters might have different strengths and weaknesses. This would make fights a whole lot more interesting. If successful, I hope the WiiU can incoporate this into more games.

Next two more games were announced. First, Nintendo announced Yoshi's Wooly World with an interview and a trailer. Yoshi's Wooly World is pretty much a gameplay sequel of Kirby's Epic Yarn. Shortly after, Nintendo announced Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, a game where Toad becomes Indiana Jones and hunts for treasure. Now even Toad has his own game. Watching both games, I found myself constantly saying, "That's cute" or "That's adorable." That's what these games were: cute and adorable. Perfect for kids and fanboys, but not for hardcore gamers.

I accurately did predict a new Zelda game, but it wasn't exactly what I was thinking. First, Nintendo announced Hyrule Warriors. This game viritually took Dynasty Warriors and put Legend of Zelda characters in it. Therefore, both Dynasty Warriors fans and Legend of Zelda fans will love this game. Then Nintendo got to real the Legend of Zelda game. We got to see Hyrule in 1080p, and it was beautiful. Miyamoto plans to embrace this beautiful landscape by making the most open world Legend of Zelda game yet. That's all we got. We didn't even get the game's name; it was referred to as "Legend of Zelda for WiiU." Later on, we were even told the name character may not even be Link. That's it. It's better than nothing, but I would have loved to hear more. They definitely better share more next year.

As for 3rd party development, we heard about Bayonetta 2, and that was it. Not even in the EA or Ubisoft conference was Nintendo really mentioned. Later on, Ubisoft admitted that they were only making Just Dance 2015 and Watchdogs for WiiU, and that was it for the year. Not even a Raymond game. As I said before, Nintendo needs to show 3rd party support if it wants to compete in this 8th generation console war. First, EA withdrew and now Ubisoft. If Nintendo looses Bayonetta, they are in trouble. They would have to continue on focusing on Nintendo fanboys by rebooting old franchises again. As for Bayonetta, it's nice that Nintendo will package the 2 Bayonetta games together, but since the first one came out on the Wii, and the WiiU has backward compatibility with the Wii, it's really unncessary.

Other games Nintendo showed off at its digital event were Mario Maker, Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire and Splatoon. Mario Maker looks fun to both create and play, even though unofficial mods like it have been on PCs for years. Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire kind of scares me. What I really want is my 3rd generation of Pokemon updated to most recent handheld, but it feels like Nintendo is adding too much with things like mega evolutions. Splatoon was an interesting take on a shooter game. Most importantly, it's child friendly, which is what Nintendo always shoots for (no pun intended). The show ended with announcing a new Super Smash charachter and plans for future games. That was it.

The worst part of this press conference is what didn't happen. Throughout the week, Nintendo announced more new games. Not that this was a problem; I see what they were doing. The problem was that they were some the best games, and they did not announce them at their key presentation. Some of these games were Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, Mario Party 10 and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Did you know about these 3 games? You probably wouldn't unless you watched the whole thing. The sad part is these are possibly the best 3 games of the week, and Nintendo kept them hidden unless you watched every instance. Furthermore, Nintendo had a demo of a generic 1080p Star Fox game for the WiiU on the E3 showcase room. The only way the gamer would know about this either playing it at the expo or hearing a reporter report on it. A Star Fox for the WiiU was the most anticipated game. There definitely should have been more coverage of it.

All Nintendo had to do show they were keeping their promise that the first made with the WiiU: good graphics, good online play and good 3rd party development. The only thing seen was the good graphics, thanks to the future Legend of Zelda WiiU game. Online capabilites were left silent. Nintendo focused more on multiplayer on the same console than on different consoles online. What was really lacking was the 3rd party development. Not only did Nintendo not show off any 3rd party games, neither EA nor Ubisoft showed off the Nintendo WiiU. This digital event would not want anyone who does not have a WiiU to want to get a WiiU. Heck, it might even make someone who has WiiU regret they choose this system for their 8th generation console. It leaves them to ponder if they want to buy a new console or become a Nintendo fanboy.

+Positives+: Robot Chicken clips were funny, future plans of new Legend of Zelda game and Star Fox game for WiiU, good graphics displayed
-Negatives-: Best games weren't announced until afterward, no 3rd party backing, silent on online capibilites, short presentation, too many cute games
~Top 3 games~: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright (3DS), Mario Party 10 (WiiU), Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (WiiU).
*Medal*: Bronze

Microsoft

Microsoft did exactly what I predicted. XBox did what Nintendo usually does: stick to their first party games. During the Microsoft press conference, we heard the most about Halo: Master Chief Collection, Halo 5: Guardians, Fable Legends and Forza Horizon 2. Even if they weren't faimilar franchises, Microsoft spent a lot of time on new first party games, like Sunset Overdrive, Below and Quantam Break. This demonstrates that XBox can continue making good games on their own. The 3rd party game Microsoft did present were the ones they knew had a huge fanbase on their system, like Call of Duty: Advance Warfare and Assassin's Creed: Unity. All these games looked legit. Sunset Overdrive felt like Duke Nukem meeting Left 4 Dead. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare looked so real, I had to take a second look to see if it was really a video game or a movie. Fable Legends made it clear that it abandoned the Kinect gameplay used in Fable: The Journey for going to back to the more true gameplay to the series. The most impressive had to be the Halo: Master Chief Collection. It has the 4 original, mainline games (this makes sense why Spartan Assualt was the Free Game with Gold on Xbox One. Halo 2 got the full update to XBox One graphics, but players can still play on the original graphics too if they want to go old school. For the lover of gamescore achievement points, a player can get 1000 points for each game, meaning they can earn a total of 4000 points. All these games, especially Halo: Master Chief Collection, showed that XBox knew its fanbase.

This did not mean Microsoft's press conference was perfect. It was far from it. The big one was the lack of Kinect. Only two games were announced for Kinect: Fantasia: Music Evolved and Dance Central Spotlight. And I emphasize that they were merely annouced. Neither gameplay nor a cinematic trailer was shown. Furthermore, neither the EA press conference nor the Ubisoft press conference really talked about Kinect either. All of this, combined with the "new" XBox system without Kinect, tells me that Kinect is on its way out the door. On another note, something I did not like was there was too much emphasis on co-op play. It seemed like XBox mentioned it with every game. Clearly XBox doesn't know its fanbase well enough to know XBox gamers don't have friends and therefore prefer single player :-P

Microsoft didn't do well enough to make up from all those years of mistakes to climb back to the top, but they did enough to not finish on the bottom and begin their climb back to the top.

+Positives+: Stuck to old first party franchises, introduced new first party games, stuck to third party franchises they knew were popular
-Negative-: Too much co-op play, not enough Kinect
~Top 3 games~: Halo: Master Chief Collection, Fable Legends, Forza Horizon 2.
*Medal*: Silver

Sony

Sony begin announcing a new color for the PlayStation: glacier white. I think I prefer the black color instead. That wasn't Sony's only new hardware introduced. You would think Sony would talk about Project Morpheus, but they did not, for they had not made more movements forward on it. That was a smart move on their part. They talked more about the PlayStation 4 camera, and how it has helped the improve the gameplay experience, although not requiring it, make a cheap shot at XBox One one more time. Then Sony moved on to more hardware improvements. Sony announced that anyone who has a Sony TV will have access to the PlayStation digital game library. PlayStation also announced a device that will allow a player to play PlayStation 4 on other TVs in the house. Most people weren't expecting hardware announcements years after the new consoles came out, but Sony shocked everyone by announcing so much hardware. The only thing they did not talk about was the PS4 and PS Vita bundle, which I would have loved to hear on how those two worked together. The other hardware left out was Move. Sony should have mentioned how good the new PlayStation camera was that it does not need Move.

What good would all this hardware be without software. Sony did a good job displaying the full line up of video games they had available. PlayStation gave equal time between 1st party games and 3rd party games, showing that PlayStation was dedicated to both their franchises and other franchises. Sony also demonstrated it targeted both hardcore gamers and casual gamers, without sacrificing one for the other. What better demonstration was demonstrating everything from Little Big Planet 3 to Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. If all these 1st party and 3rd party games weren't enough, Sony announced plans to make digital downloads of old PlayStation games from previous generations' consoles, as well as opening up a huge library for indie game developers to upload their games for download. Unlike Nintendo, Sony made its fans proud to own a PlayStation 4. But the best part is that the online digital libary is also available for PlayStation 3. Unlike XBox, Sony demonstrated that it was still loyal to the PlayStation 3 and those who haven't updated from a PS3 to a PS4. This alone should be clear why Sony won this E3.

+Positives+: New hardware, balance between 1st party and 3rd party development, huge game library, still loyal to the PS3
-Negatives-: Lack of Move, no mention of PS4/PSVita bundle, little time on PS Vita games
~Top 3 Games~: Little Big Planet 3, Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End, Grand Theft Auto V.
*Medal*: Gold

E3 2014 Preview and Predictions: First Party Developers

Last year at E3, Microsoft and Sony came up to the 8th generation of consoles with the XBox One and PlayStation 4 respectively. Now, a year later, the consumer population has gotten its hand on these consoles, but only have played a few games on them. This year, Microsoft and Sony, as well as Nintendo, have to reninforce what their consoles will do with their software. Software companies, like EA, Konami and Ubisoft, also have to learn to adapt to these new consoles. Let's first look at the first party developers, who have to both sell their consoles and their games. Let's go in alphabetical order.

FIRST PARTY DEVELOPERS  
MICROSOFT

Last E3, Microsoft screwed up royally. They mostly dispalyed their hardware. They displayed their hardware as a console that turned any HDTV into a Smart TV. They aimed to make they hardware accessible to all, not addressing the needs and wants of the hardcore gamer. Instead, it seemed like they did everything the hardcore gamer hated. They did not allow backward compatibility. They required Kinect. They even allowed developers to add an additional charge for used games. They said to their audience, "Trust me, you'll like it." And the audience replied, "No, we don't," and they booed and hissed. Then Sony introduced the PlayStation 4 and Sony said, "We will never do anything that XBox will make you do." And the audience applauded and cheered. Gamers favored the PlayStation 4 over the XBox One so much that by the end of the E3 week, XBox had to say, "Just kidding. We're just like PlayStation." But it was too late. Now the XBox One was a mere copycat of the PlayStation 4, and it would take them the rest of the year to shake that image off.

Microsoft isn't fully forgiven for that yet, and they won't be able to shake it off this year, so forgot them winning the E3 Olympics. Yet they have the oppurtunity to rebuild. They will have to play it safe. In order to play it safe, they have to pull a Nintendo. They will have to stick to the old 1st party franchises that they and their fanboys have depened on for years. Unfortunately, due to the disappointment of Gears of War: Judgment, the Gears of War franchises has been driven into the ground. But look for Halo 5: Guardians, Fable Legends, Forza Horizon 2 and Killer Instinct: Season 2. As for hardware, look for XBox talking about the hardware update that is the 2 most requested updates by fans, including replacing gamertags with real names. They need to hook their fanboys back to XBox. Once they hook the fanboys, they can then work on getting the hardcore gamers back. After that, they can once again try to appeal to the casual gamer fanbase.

NINTENDO

Nintendo got the head start on the console race 2 years ago with the WiiU. Nintendo promised this WiiU would appeal to you (U), the hardcore gamer, by giving it better graphics, better online play and better third party support. Last year at E3, Nintendo showed its audience it had held true to its word. HD games displayed its 1080p capacities. Online sports games demonstrated that Nintendo players could play online like they could on the other systems. With the exception of EA, most of the third party developers kep true to their word, producing Nintendo game. Furthermore, these games took ahold of WiiU and used its touch screen and cameras to its full use. This added a gameplay feature, so much they both PlayStaton and XBox copied with smart phone apps. Nintendo demonstrated it could compete in the console war, especially with the hardcore fans.

Last year, the 2 big games were Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. Since Mario Kart 8 already came out, Nintendo will probably talk about its success. Then they will go into more anticipation of Super Smash Bros. They will focus on the game being true to fighting games and fighting gamers, such as the use of GameCube controllers and the new characters. I suspect they will introduce another casual Mario game, like a new Mario Party. Then they will introduce a new game from another old franchise. This will be Hyrule Warriors and whatever Legend of Zelda game they have planned. If they are smart, they will intoduce a game for the Metroid series, too. As for the 3DS, they will turn to Pokemon for Pokemon AlphaSapphire and Omega Ruby. These games are great because it brings back the nostolgia of the 3rd generation of Pokemon while updating it for the new hardware. Nintendo has the chance to take the lead in both the console war and the handheld war, and they need to grab that chance.

SONY

As said above, Sony took PlayStation to the E3 gold by simply saying that they weren't going to do the mistakes that XBox made. It's also given them the lead in the console war, in the sense they have sold the most consoles so far. As for the overall PlayStation 4, both hardware and software, they are losing. They need this E3 to present games that people will want to buy and games and will make those who don't own the console want to buy the console. Same goes for the PS Vita. As of right now, the Vita seems like an expensive 3DS. The Vita needs to make itself distinct. It can really do that with games that show off the hardware capabilities.

I expect Sony to take a different turn than Microsoft or Nintendo. Microsoft and Nintendo will stay focused on the familiar franchises. Sony, on the contrary, will focus on new games. The only new sequel I expect is Uncharted 4. All other games will be new. New, creative, original games might drag Nintendo and XBox fanbons away from their systems and to PlayStation. Prepare to hear a lot about the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita bundle. I believe this hints that PlayStation will have more games, if not all the games, will be using the the PS Vita as a PS4 controller, just like the WiiU has the WiiU Game Pad. This should be a good sign for Nintendo, for it will show Nintendo that other hardcore gaming systems still copy Nintendo.