Topic: How's your E3 so far?

[ShyGuy]

EA seems awful
Tiny Build was Tiny
Microsoft was decent
Bethesda coming up!

[ShyGuy]

Bethesda had the best games so far, Devolver Digital was a real trip like last year.

[Khushrenada]

Like every E3, I'm just currently waiting for the Nintendo presentation. However, because of the ability to easily meet and throw out quick comments, I've been watching the other presentations this year in Discord which has been a nice diversion. I have been thinking about the past when the G4 channel existed and they did their live E3 coverage with Adam Sessler and Morgan Page. As G4 went down the toilet, it was the one thing I still appreciated that channel for and miss it now.

[ShyGuy]

A lot of People plug into Giant Bomb or Easy Allies now for reactions. I imagine there are others places as well.

[BranDonk Kong]

Yeah I'd say so far Bethesda is winning. Microsoft's was good - not for actual Xbox games, but for showing off stuff like Tomb Raider and Cyberpunk 2077.

[oohhboy]

The only thing I care about is the America of games that could only be made in Japan.

[Adrock]

Nothing of much interest for me thus far. The Kingdom Hearts III Frozen trailer felt off. Was the music weirdly low? And I still think it’s baffling that’s Elsa created a sentient being using magic and no one has freaked out about that. Also, I haven’t completed a single game in the series so I have no idea what’s going on.

There has been a little to much 2019 for my liking. I get it. My personal preference is a focus on games releasing within the calendar year. The announcements without any gameplay or even screenshots are especially infuriating.

Like Linkle Link, I’m mostly waiting for Nintendo’s E3 Direct. Besides Super Smash Bros, my most anticipated game is Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night so any new footage of that game would be tremendous.

[broodwars]

Outside of Tales of Vesperia DE, I haven't gotten an announcement I really wanted so far.

EA had its usual abysmal showing, though Unravel 2 being an immediate release was a nice surprise & the game is delightful.

Microsoft had a good showing...if you're willing to overlook that 95% of the games shown will be on the PS4 as well. And them buying Ninja Theory is a tragedy, IMO.

Bethesda's showing...well...I really wanted an Evil Within 2 DLC or expansion, and I didn't get it. Prey got this weird score attack mode that wasn't at all what I wanted when Arkane teased a DLC in their achievement list update. I don't care about Rage 2, Fallout 76, Starfield, or the Elder Scrolls, so most of my time with this conference was checking my watch. I wish I liked Bethesda's games more than I do, because I like their more laid-back tone.

I haven't seen Devolver's yet.

Edit: WELL...Devolver Digital's was...quite an experience once again. I don't know how I'm going to pick just one clip from that for the podcast, let alone how I'm going to edit that clip down into just 30 seconds.

[oohhboy]

DD's presentation was quite nice. They had games I might want and I wasn't watching a powerpoint press release. Their intention was to entertain and I was.

If you're not going to bring in some showmanship why even bothering having an E3.

[lolmonade]

DontNod is quickly becoming a dev I trust wholly.  Very much enjoyed Life is Strange S1 and Before the Storm, but The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is taking that game format to a subject matter and relationship that really hits home for me.  Cant wait to dive in.


Fallout 76, while I'm not generally a big Fallout Fan, looks like it has potential for a lot of stupid fun exploring with friends.  Genuinely curious to try the beta.


My friends lost their mind about the Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 announcements, which I don't quite understand.  I get the Starfield hype a LITTLE just cause it's a new franchise, but they were heavily signaling these games are 2020 and beyond. 


Cyberpunk 2077 had a neat looking trailer, but don't know much of anything about the gameplay based on it.


I did enjoy that apparently the crowd jeered at Battlefield V battle royale announcement.

[Adrock]

I understand who Microsoft intends Gears Pop to appeal to. I don’t understand why Microsoft thinks Gears Pop will. It’s one of the most hyper-masculine, dude-bro franchises, and Microsoft’s plan is to aim younger? Good luck.

[segagamersteph]

I switched to a daily, 1 hour podcast format and dabbled in E3 thoughts so far.

I, uh, have not been impressed. I am thinking Nintendo is really the only company I care about right now.

[Order.RSS]

It's only the second time I've followed much of E3 "live" or by rewatching previous conferences while doing chores around the house, but it's been amusing for me. Microsoft and Ubisoft were the ones I liked best so far.

My personal highlights so far:
-Beyond Good & Evil 2 includes Pey'J and Jade from the first game. Glad it can be played single-player too, not only multiplayer. I think it's cool too that they're letting fans make minor artwork and music for the game. Might try my hand at that just for funzies. Can also see why people are sceptical of this aspect though, but I hope it's like Splatoon where minor fan content really makes the whole game more alive.

-Tunic looks like a gorgeous, cute indie game in style similar to overhead Zelda games. Wish this wasn't just on Xbox and PC. Could do really well on Switch I'm sure.

-Sable was another indie Microsoft showed with amazing visuals. Please come to Switch.

-Starlink: Battle for Atlas doesn't interest me much. Ship customisation with figurines or micro-transactions? Nah thanks. But then they went and put Star Fox in. Dangit guys.


-NieR: Automata coming to Xbox is both cool and ****. Cool because I wanna play it and might get either an Xbox or PS4 at some point. **** because Xbox ain't Switch. Still hoping it gets ported over.


-Fringe Wars looks flashy. I don't know anything about MOBAs though.


-Elder Scrolls: Legends is a free to play cardgame for Switch/PS4/Xbox and I love cardgames.


A couple other games I'm maybe not really interested in, but did look really cool were Cyberpunk 2077 (great music and aesthetic), Ori and the Will o' the Wisps (gorgeous platformer), Forza Horizon 4 (crazy detailed graphics) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (the Maya setting is just cool on its own).

[ShyGuy]

Square Enix was a disappointment

Limited Run REALLY loves the Vita. Some Switch stuff too!

Watching Ubisoft Now

PC Game show was meh from what I saw

Onward to Sony!

[Evan_B]

I said it elsewhere, but in terms of image and content:

Microsoft > Ubisoft > Bethesda > Sony > Square Enix > EA

[Adrock]

Sony had a great lineup, but it was really committed to showing as little gameplay as possible. Every time there was what I presumed was gameplay (wasn’t always sure), I felt it got through Sony’s approval process for the event by accident. There will be off-screen footage over the next few days though I still would have appreciated more gameplay during the actual showcase and not, you know, people playing instruments on stage alone for some reason. This is why I like Nintendo’s approach with the prerecorded Nintendo Directs. No fluff, straight to the point.

Also, more 2019. I have to accept that as a reality at E3.

[Evan_B]

That's really the biggest shame of the event, in general, and Nintendo is no better at it. Heck, Breath of the Wild had three years to stew, and Metroid Prime 4 was likely announced far too early.

[broodwars]

So...today's conferences...

Square-Enix was a complete & total waste of time, just a collection of trailers we've already seen for games we already know along with 2 teasers for new franchises with no elaboration whatsoever.

Ubisoft was dull as hell, outside of the Donkey Kong DLC & Assassin's Creed. Why, though? Why hasn't Ubisoft learned its lesson about annualizing AC yet? -_-

Sony had a rough start with that 15 minute intermission between The Last of Us 2 & Ghost of Tsushima. However, once they got going they were just fine. The Last of Us 2, Ghosts of Tsushima, & Spider-Man look amazing. I was a big fan of Nioh last year, so I'm delighted that it's getting a sequel already.

I can't for the life of me fathom why Pirates 3 was chosen for a Kingdom Hearts world. People HATE that movie.

On a side note, what's with all the Samurai games this year? From Software's game, Tsushima, & Nioh 2 all shown off this year, 2 of them being Souls-like games.

And as a huge fan of Resident Evil 2, that remake looks fantastic...though I don't like that they clearly re-cast Claire & Leon. I could have also used an "and it's out right now!" announcement like a demo.

[Khushrenada]

That's really the biggest shame of the event, in general, and Nintendo is no better at it. Heck, Breath of the Wild had three years to stew, and Metroid Prime 4 was likely announced far too early.

Maybe. Unless they are doing something radical with MP4, I'm not sure how long development would have to take on that title. I mean, with the back-tracking the games are known for, I think it sort of caps out how big you can make the world(s) without it becoming a big pain or else limiting how much of it you do.

[Luigi Dude]

That's really the biggest shame of the event, in general, and Nintendo is no better at it. Heck, Breath of the Wild had three years to stew, and Metroid Prime 4 was likely announced far too early.

Games like Breath of the Wild and Prime 4 are the usually the exception not the norm with Nintendo.  Generally when Nintendo announces a game, it's released within the year or less.  Look at last years E3, outside of Prime 4 and Yoshi, everything else revealed was released by now and most of those games managed to come out by the end of 2017.

[BranDonk Kong]

Sony's show was really weird - but content-wise, they absolutely have show the best games so far. The Last of Us Part II, Resident Evil 2, Spider-Man - simply incredible. But **** that was a weird show.

[MagicCow64]

Haven't followed this E3 much, took a look around tonight. I guess we're in a "mature" year of this console generation where there's not going to be many huge surprises. But yeah, super boring. Haven't looked into the indie stuff much so maybe there are few promising projects in there. Overall, though, reinforcing how dull median game design is at this point. Not incredibly hopeful for Nintendo, but maybe they'll throw a curveball.

[Adrock]

Not incredibly hopeful for Nintendo, but maybe they'll throw a curveball.

I’m not expecting many surprises since Nintendo is apparently prioritizing 2018, and it’s shown most of its cards. I imagine Fortnite was supposed to be a big unveil except everyone, including Nintendo, was dead set on not keeping that a secret. The only curveball I can think of is if Nintendo snags another big third party title even if its a last gen port.

Ultimately, for me, all I need is Smash.

[ShyGuy]

Nintendo was very good.

[ShyGuy]

Ranking of conferences

Tied for #1: Bethesda Nintendo
2. Microsoft
3. Ubisoft
4. Limited Run
5. Devolver Digital
6. Sony
7. PC Show
8. Tiny Build
9. Square Enix
10. EA

[Adrock]

My main issue with Bethesda is that it announced two games that not only definitely won’t be out this year but may not even be out this generation.

Yes, Nintendo’s was very good. Also, Sakurai looks like he noticeably aged. He now looks 23 years old.

[Luigi Dude]

Smash Bros alone won E3, nothing else can even compete.

[broodwars]

Smash Bros alone won E3, nothing else can even compete.

Yeah, I just can't agree with that. It's a greatest hits Smash Bros., which is cool & I'm definitely going to get it, but I didn't see anything particularly interesting or exciting about it. It's just more Smash Bros. with characters we already know + Ridley.

I found Nintendo's Direct to be pretty lackluster. It was pretty much the opposite of Sony's conference: a very strong start followed by a poor, slow as **** ending.

The new Fire Emblem looks great. Assuming they're not going to gouge us with 3 releases again, I'll check that out. Aside from that, the only other game that interested me was Smash, and they spent WAAAAAAAAY too much time going into every minute, boring detail of it. By the end, I just didn't care anymore.

Overall, I though Sony had the best content, but among the worst execution. It also had some of the worst variety of any of the conferences. Nintendo had among the best execution, but some of the weakest content (though not as bad as Square Enix). I have to split the difference and give the nod to Microsoft's 3rd party showcase + Gears for the best pacing on average with a good array of games.

[Adrock]

That’s fair. I was all about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and even I thought too much time was devoted to it. The game took up over half the Direct. Nintendo/Sakurai spent a lot of time on things I thought could have been addressed on the website or during Treehouse Live (because that’s like the entire point of Treehouse Live) such as Ryu doesn’t turn around during one-on-one matches. The main points were all characters return, newcomer Ridley, old stages are updated, and it launches on December 7. That should have been like five minutes.

The games during the sizzle reel could have used more time.

[BranDonk Kong]

I still think Sony showed the best 1st party games. Super weird show though.

[ShyGuy]

Judging by the presentation and not the games, almost everyone had an off show in some way, except maybe Microsoft. EA was dry and soulless, Bethesda was self indulgent, Square was short and awkward, Ubisoft was self indulgent as well, Sony was weird and clunky, and Nintendo spent a little too long on Smash.

[nickmitch]

Smash was the game of the show for me, with TLoU2 and Spider-Man being next.  But only one of those games had a release date to it.  It was like Sony is allergic to calendars or something.

[Adrock]

I would have ranked EA second if it announced a new NBA Jam releasing by the end of the year. Even if the game used the same engine with a roster update, I wouldn’t have cared as long EA celebrated NBA Jam’s 25th anniversary. Otherwise, I didn’t give a **** about anything EA showed or announced.

[broodwars]

I would have ranked EA second if it announced a new NBA Jam releasing by the end of the year. Even if the game used the same engine with a roster update, I wouldn’t have cared as long EA celebrated NBA Jam’s 25th anniversary. Otherwise, I didn’t give a **** about anything EA showed or announced.

Unravel 2 is very good, though, and SoS looks promising.

[RABicle]

I'm not paying attention next year. I can't handle the dissapointment again.

[Order.RSS]

Didn't watch all of the pressers due to work, but overall it was a decent E3 for me! Not amazing, but not awful. Crucially though, nothing sold me on a Switch yet. Admittedly I have a lot of its games (BOTW, MK8, DKC:TF, Captain Toad) on Wii U already so it would only be new releases that interest me.

Earliest jump-on date for me would be Smash Ultimate which looks promising, but will need to see more. Mario Tennis and Odyssey are also tempting, but I'm not quite there yet when it comes to 'critical mass' before buying a new console. With Daemon X Machina in 2019 that moment will come closer.

Secondly, this is the first time I also watched the Xbox and Playstation conferences, since I anticipate wanting one of those consoles once Beyond Good & Evil 2 comes out (which might be 2020 earliest). Of those the Xbox presser impressed me more. Sony's games look very polished and interesting (Control, Ghost of Tsushima) but also very moody and violent. Xbox also had some colourful stuff with Tunic, Forza Horizon, Sable, Session, Ori Will 'o Wisp.

[ThePerm]

I still need to watch e3 stuff. I made the e3 2018 thread, but then I was out in vacation and only caught the highlights.

[BranDonk Kong]

There was a gas shortage and a flock of seagulls, that's it.