E3 2018 Report

So E3 has once again been and gone and while I may never go there due to me not being gaming press, I'm still happy to take part in watching the livestreams and playing the games. So as always, I'm going to breakdown each of the different press conferences as well as everything else that was shown off at the expo as we look forward to a hopefully great time for gaming for the rest of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. So with that, let's get to it:

I will be putting up videos of the press conferences, but depending on when you read this, some may not be available so you may have better luck looking on YouTube itself.

Electronic Arts (EA)

So as with last year, EA once again ran a separate event called EA Play and had plenty to share. On the sports front, Fifa 18 is taking advantage of the World Cup season that we are in as well as what's to come in the upcoming Fifa 19, Madden NFL 19 and NBA Live 19. Battlefield V was announced and it looks like it will be taking a page from the Just Cause series by adding some destructive elements in multiplayer maps which sounds fun. From a galaxy far far away, we got some vague information about Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order which comes out next year as well as further developments in Battlefront II which include maps based on the Clone Wars and the playable appearances of Obi-Wan Kenobi and General Grievous. Two new EA Originals were announced which were Unravel Two which features two player co-op unlike its predecessor and Sea of Solitude in which humans experiencing darkness will turn into monsters. The show also featured a demo of the upcoming mobile game Command & Conquer: Rivals and finished with an in depth discussion of BioWare's next game called Anthem which is expected to start a 10 year journey for the company. Despite a few problems and questionable things in the show, EA's line up was for the most part pretty good. Not great by any means for some, but still good and its nice that despite the behemoth that is Steam still going strong, Origin is still alive and kicking too.

Microsoft (Xbox and Windows)

So much like before, Microsoft's show largely focused on games coming out on Xbox One but did touch upon Windows 10 and mobile games as well. Around 50 games were shown off with some being exclusives and others having their world premiere on the show. The show kicked off with a teaser for Halo: Infinite and then went on to show off the other 49 games with the highlights being Devil May Cry 5, Kingdom Hearts III (in which a world based on Frozen was confirmed as well as its 2019 release date), further developments on Cuphead and Sea of Theives, the anime crossover Jump Force, Fallout 76 and many others too. They also confirmed of the new studios within the company with one being a combined force of several developers in a group known as The Initiative and the head of Xbox Phil Spencer also confirmed that the next year will see Microsoft go through some positive changes. And lastly while no new console was confirmed, we got a teaser that told us that they are working on the next consoles, but that's it. While I do feel that it was very scripted (I mean one presenter got applause before she even spoke and she didn't acknowledge it, I mean come on!), 50 games is a good number and will give most of us plenty to do between E3 events so that's great.

Bethesda

So next up is Bethesda which aside from Nintendo is generally the other company known to do press conferences at E3 that most if not everybody looks forward to and they once again bought out the big guns. We got news from all their currently running franchises with new entries in some and further developments in current entries. Highlights include the fully online Fallout 76 with every person in the game being a real person with no NPCs in sight (along with a collector's edition like no other), a Prey and Wolfenstein experience coming to VR, Elder Scrolls following suite with Fallout as they enter the mobile market with Blades, the reveal of Rage 2 and a new IP called Starfield all ending with the reveal of the highly anticipated sixth entry in the main Elder Scrolls series. Its another good show from Bethesda which although a bit cringeworthy at the start and some occasional mishaps happening, there is enough games there to bite our teeth into whether its finding vaults in Fallout, being a badass in Elder Scrolls or even enter the depths of hell in Doom.

Devolver Digital

So once again, Devolver Digital did a show that was prerecorded and poked fun at E3 and the gaming industry. They poke fun at Loot Boxes, the idea of releasing mini game consoles (though I find making your own using the Raspberry Pi is better) and demos not always working during the livestream. But unlike last year, they actually do show off some new games including Scum, My Friend Pedro and Metal Wolf Chaos XD. Now anyone who watches E3 more for what's coming in the remainder of the year and the beginning of next year, you'll still get something in this show but not a great deal of it. For those of us who want some entertainment meanwhile, you will get just that in this show. It's not one to take seriously, but it shows us that E3 isn't perfect and that some things are just not all they are set out to be. So yeah, that's what you get in this show so let's move back to the serious stuff.

Square Enix

So its looks like Square Enix decided to take notes from Nintendo and do their own pre-recorded presentation after what happened previously. Additionally it looks like only a handful of their developers were keen to talk about their games while everything else was a trailer which is fine. Highlights include an alternative E3 2018 trailer for Kingdom Hearts III which has new scenes for us to watch, the announcement of Just Cause 4, a gameplay demo of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a crossover between Capcom's Monster Hunter and Square's own Final Fantasy which acts as DLC for Final Fantasy XIV and two new IPs as well. A very short video, but one filled with games and all introduced with narration by what I can assume is Keith David. Lots to look forward to both from the east and from the west so I'm hyped.

Limited Run Games

So I'm all for the unusual and while Devolver Digital basically just satirises E3, Limited Run did a conference in CGI. Oh yes, something out of the ordinary and it was cringey but in a good way. Apart from the setting of the event, highlights include Golf Story, the fact that Vita is still a thing and a pile of other games coming to various consoles including the Switch and PC. A very bizarre event, but a particularly enjoyable one to an extent. But now I see why many big gaming press names weren't too keen on livestreaming it.

Ubisoft

Say what you want about how Ubisoft do their shows, but one thing I know they do well at is give us some show stopping performances even if we don't want them and even if they are cringeworthy. So Ubisoft are continuing to work with Nintendo as they move to release a DLC for Mario + Rabbids which stars Donkey Kong and bring in the Star Fox team into their new IP Starlink: Battle for Atlas so any Nintendo fan will have lots to look forward to there. More information of the highly anticipated Beyond Good and Evil 2 was revealed which may come as a shock to some fans as far as story is concerned. Other highlights include the reveal of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, further developments on Rainbow Six Siege and sequels to The Divison, Trails and Just Dance along with more information on Skulls & Bones. A good show with some great entertainment (less cringey than before I must admit) and lots of great games revealed so it looks like Ubisoft is expected to have another great year. Now all we need is another Rayman game and everyone will be happy.

PC Gaming Show

So for the fourth time in a row, the good people at PC Gamer gave us the fourth consecutive PC Gaming Show so all of us who use Steam as well as other things don't feel left out. Hosted by Sean "Day [9]" Plott once again by popular demand, highlights include gameplay of the final season of TellTale's The Walking Dead as well as Overkill's Walking Dead game too, new developments on Killing Floor 2, first looks at Man Eater, three games from Untitled Publisher (no seriously, that's their actual name) and trailers for Jurassic World Evolution and more! It's a long show, but has plenty of PC goodness for us PC Gamers to get into and the idea of having a host rather than several speakers is in my opinion a good idea to an extent and depending on the thing in question of course.

Sony (PlayStation)

So in an unusual twist, Sony hosted their press conference in an experience sort of fashion. Some of you might be thinking why that is, but honestly it's nothing to be worried about really and helps the show be fun and interactive (if not slightly cringey). The first phase is in a church like setting in which a banjo player plays music from The Last of Us Part II which is shortly followed by a gameplay demo of that game. Then onto the next area, we get a flute player playing music from Sucker Punch's new IP Ghost of Tsushima again followed by a gameplay demo of that game. Other highlights include the reveal of the Resident Evil 2 HD remake, Trevor Saves The Universe, the Pirates of the Caribbean world returning in Kingdom Hearts III (and it looks like its taking some elements of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag along with it) as well as a new PS4 console bundle for the game along with more info on Death Stranding (which started the technical problems for the event) and the PS4 exclusive Spider-Man game. Despite having little to no talking from developers and the higher ups, it was a good event. The interactivity is good, some technical problems here and there, but Sony delivered the goods and PlayStation fans will have lots to look forward to in the coming months.

Nintendo (3DS and Switch)

So we come to the last one of the lot and also the only other livestream that most people look forward to. Like previous years, Nintendo's live stream is done in a Nintendo Direct style and its main focus was on the Switch, but I'm sure the 3DS will get some attention somewhere at E3. Highlights include a new Mario Party game, more details on Octopath Traveller and both Pokemon: Let's Go games as well as the reveal of pretty much everything in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which is as ultimate as its going to get with every known fighter from the series making a return along with a few newcomers such as Princess Daisy, the Inklings and Ridley. For the rest of E3, we got the Treehouse stuff going on. As the last one of the livestreams, it gave us a lot of games to get excited about and along with its two tournaments, it must have been a great E3 for Nintendo I'm sure.

Everyone Else

So that's a lot being shown so far. As for everyone else, well there were a total of over 200 games shown of with most being shown for the first time and several in a playable format that I'm sure the press got a chance to play first with some being available for those who didn't or were not able to go to E3 this year like myself. No new hardware was shown as rumors of a PS5 and an Xbox One successor were not completely debunked but nothing of the sort was shown off in the end.

So overall, its not been a completely perfect E3, but all the livestreams had something to show off that will get many of us excited and some of us going "WTF?!". Meanwhile some of the livestreams could have been handled better and I personally have never been a fan of cringeworthy things like musical performances, awkward silences and anything that's clearly scripted with little to no emotion. but more importantly, technical issues that disturb the livestream and just make many of us frustrated. But still, lots to look forward to and we'll certainly be hearing more about the announced games in the future.