E3 2014 Report

The biggest gaming expo of the year is back and with a new generation of gaming having just begun, let's look at the best and worst of it as well as most of the announcements too:

Just a little side note that like with previous years, I didn't go to E3 this year partially due to family and work commitments so all the information you'll be hearing from me is from all the announcements that were made as well as the press conferences too.

Microsoft

Now initially, I wasn't really expecting much from Microsoft after the last few years of them (as AngryJoe would say) f**king it all up. But this year, they actually had a more solid conference than in previous years. It focused solely on games with a selection of new entries in the Call of Duty, Halo, Fable and Tomb Raider franchises among many others. We also got to see several new indie games and a few new IPs as well. And we even got to see some DLC added to already released games including Dead Rising 3 (believe me, their one was the best of the lot). Of course, it wasn't perfect as they were still going on about this whole exclusivity thing which I think they still can't quite grasp on and also they started the show with Call of Duty which as we all know, isn't the best franchise out there. And I'm glad that they didn't have any technical issues like last year because we all know that the minute they had it, nobody until the Battlefield guy showed up, did anything. If anything, I'm also glad that they are actually treating their community better than before and that if anything, is great (especially since that guy with the scary smile and calmness sort of summed that up at last year's E3). Whether or not this changes anything with how I stand with Microsoft, its definitely a step in the right direction for them and I just hope they keep going that way.

Sony

So one of the things that I get very annoyed about with Sony's conference, is what time its at. I know it differs in various areas, but here in the UK, its at 2am and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, its not a great thing to happen. Anyway so as usual, Sony's conference was very good. We got news of LittleBigPlanet 3, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, a remake of the first Ratchet & Clank game, several indie games as well as some upcoming DLC for InFamous: Second Son and an exclusive Beta for Destiny (something of which was touched on at the EA press conference). All that, plus a number of other announcements that pleased everybody. However, a big issue I have with the Sony press conferences over the years, is that they say thank you to the community they have, far too much and that's not a bad thing, but hey, its good that they care a lot about the community (maybe a bit too much for my liking). So another great show from Sony and I'm hyped for what's to come from them in the future.

Nintendo

So after 4 big press conferences, we now come to Nintendo who like last year, decide to go against the idea of a press conference and instead do a streamed video. No, its not a Nintendo Direct, but rather a Digital Event as Nintendo describes it and there are other videos that tie into this as well so look for those on YouTube. So in this video and Nintendo's other E3 2014 videos, 3 newcomers are added to the character roster in Smash Bros and with the exception of one gobbler from Namco who we all know was going to be added from the start, they are by far the most surprising additions added to any character roster before it. As well as that, we also take a look at Nintendo's answer to Disney Infinity and Skylanders which come in the form of Amiibo which unlike Disney Infinity and Skylanders will be made available to a wide range of Nintendo games including Mario Kart 8, Mario Party 10 (yeah that series is still going and I don't know why), Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and others as well. It will make use of the Wii U Gamepad and a similar piece of hardware will be made available to the 3DS in the future. We also got a look at the next set of games in the Zelda, Pokemon and Kirby series and a few new IPs as well. Plus we get a look at Mario Maker, a game that let's you create your own Mario levels using elements and graphics from Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. U. And it looks like we'll be getting a new game in the StarFox franchise after many years of waiting which is great. In my honest opinion, I think Nintendo may have just turned things around for themselves after a bad year last year and that is great. The event was just as entertaining as their more recent Nintendo Directs and its great.

Ubisoft

Now the first thing I heard about Ubisoft was during the Microsoft press conference where to my surprise, they showed off a glimpse of Assassin's Creed Unity and from previous experience, I've known for the series to be mostly PlayStation exclusives. But that's OK, its a change of pace so that's fine with me. Now going into their actual conference, it was good. It showed off all the big titles coming out in the next few months including Assassin's Creed Unity (which had a different demo than Microsoft's one which was nice), The Division, the next Just Dance (with this big massive group of dancers dancing on stage) and this new fitness IP which isn't as annoying as most fitness games tend to be. It was a good show as always, despite the host who isn't great, but you got to admit, at least she's having fun up there and cracking a few jokes as she goes.

EA

So like with Microsoft, I didn't really expect much to come from EA and well, that's basically what happened. The show started off strong with a look at the next big Star Wars game that according to the developers, is the game Star Wars fans have been waiting for so that was good. Then we moved onto BioWare who gave us a look at the next instalment in the Dragon Age series as well as giving us an update on the next Mass Effect game and a unnamed new IP that they are working on too (and that mysterious IP is looking promising). And except for a look at Mirror's Edge 2, the rest of it was just sports, The Sims and Battlefield. In all honesty, EA is the same every year and there is no changing them. Sure BioWare and the guys working on that Star Wars game are the best things to come out of this conference, but if you're after the next best thing from EA, you won't find any here I'm afraid. Still, its good that there are 5 games at work that everyone wants to play and that if anything, is a good thing.

Everybody Else

Those of you wondering, this image is my doing. I just compiled not all but most of the exhibitor logos and did a little collage. It was either that or several YouTube videos of all the announcements. So we're getting another Tomb Raider game and we got to have a look at the Batmobile part of Arkham Knight. Dead Island 2 is coming as well and I found the trailer to actually be very good, but a little disturbing as well. Batman isn't only returning to Arkham, but he and his Justice League buddies are getting the LEGO treatment once more and going into outer space in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. Kingdom Hearts 3 may not be present at E3 this year, but we do get a trailer and release date for the second HD compilation called 2.5 HD Remix which contains the Final Mix versions of KH2 and Birth by Sleep as well as cinematics for Re: Coded. Doom is also getting another game which is great. All that plus a whole load of other great things.

Now normally an E3 that occurs in an even year, there would be at least one slip up and this year, Sony had a few technical problems but those were easily sorted out, the host of the Ubisoft one is still not perfect but she is getting better at it, I think Microsoft focused a bit too much on games but its better than having a big focus on hardware and less on games (like they have done in the past), EA still have to talk about their sports games and in all honesty I think there is no way of anybody wanting them to talk about something other than sports so I can't complain there and as for Nintendo, they are doing things right and with any luck, this year may be a turning point for them, we hope anyway. Great games, many announcements and a lot of good and bad things came out from this year and I think this may be one of the good E3s that we've had in a while. With the PS4 and Xbox One out, I guess there wasn't really anything ground breaking to expect from this year. Just a bunch of gaming news and that's it and of course, E3 is all about games and that's exactly what we got.