Who Won E3?
Every year the great debate comes around over which conference was the best at E3 and this year comes no exception with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all showing strong lineups for the upcoming year.
So with the conferences now over, who won? Well let us first start with Sony and what they brought to the table. The short answer — nothing that new. While we were treated to the surprise of a Shadow of the Colossus remake and a… not so enthralling Knack 2, Sony did not provide us with many new announcements and opted to go with new gameplay of their upcoming, very hyped, games such as God of War, Days Gone, Spider-Man and Uncharted. Disappointingly, the Last of Us Part 2 did not have any part to play in the conference. This being said, Sony’s E3 was a strong one with big name titles getting more gameplay to fuel thee hype train even without the new announcements.
On the flip side we have to look at Sony’s biggest rival — Microsoft. Their conference seemed like a barrage of “exclusives” in the form of indie games and, of course, the much awaited Xbox Scorpio, which is now named the Xbox One X (I preferred Scorpio). Granted, Microsoft did unveil some interesting games of their own like the ship faring Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3 starring Terry Crews. The new Forza 7 Motorsport was on revealed with Porsche having a nice marketing deal and revealing their new car as well. The remainder of the games were indie exclusives such as Cuphead (I know…) or the popular yet… questionable 4K Minecraft.
Though not exclusives, some other games that were revealed were Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Metro: Exodus, which were all in stunning 4K as presented by the new Xbox One X (and they made sure let people know as it was highlighted on every game trailer).
Finally we come to Nintendo, who at past E3’s have been quietly shoved under the mat while Microsoft and Sony take the main stage. However with the new Nintendo Switch having a considerable fan base behind, Nintendo could not be ignored this year.
While some doubted the power of the Switch, games like Rocket League are now coming to it as well as FIFA 18 (which on Switch doesn’t look too impressive compared to other consoles). In addition, 2 new DLC packs are coming for the acclaimed Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Probably the biggest announcement was the new Metroid Prime game, although very little is known about it.
Of course, Nintendo would not be Nintendo without some games in the Mario universe. To satisfy this, a new Yoshi game is coming next year and a promising Super Mario Odyssey where you can throw your hat and control just about anything hits this October.
So now that I’ve talked about what has been shown I suppose its granted that I give my position on who won this year. For me… I choose…
SONY
Now now, I’m sure there are many who do not agree with that, and I too agree that Sony did not look too strong this year. But here’s my attempt to justify that before you click off.
Sony’s lineup, however samey, was a lot stronger than the rest. Games like God of War and the new Uncharted spin off took my interest a lot more quickly that games like Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds coming to Xbox. In fact, I could not name an exclusive from Microsoft or Nintendo that I could compare as on the same (seeming) quality and hype as any of Sony’s upcoming games.
Microsoft’s lineup was suppose to impress us with the Xbox One X and therefore let it’s games slip. I found a lot of the games wanting with no big titles being announced as exclusives to Xbox. Many, and I mean many, of these games were indie games which for me don’t warrant a $500 console. I was not impressed by this new console as I don’t see the difference between it and the PS4 Pro, and, I believe, if you want top level 4K gaming you should have a PC.
Finally, I am still not sold on the Switch. The release of Zelda: Breath of the Wild did get me a bit jealous, yet since then I haven’t seen a game for the Switch that truly has got me excited. Coupled with that, I am one of the doubters that questions the power of the console and whether triple A games are going to run as well on it. We have already seen FIFA 18 run on it, that is true, but without the new Frostbite engine. What is the point when you’re not getting the game as intended. For Nintendo to sell me these new games, they first have to convince me that the Switch is worthwhile.
So there you have it! I thought Sony won E3 for this. However, take all you hear at E3 with a pinch of salt. It’s always so easy to get aboard that hype train and fork out money then realise it’s not going the place you want it to.