E3 without E3

July 8, 2020July 8, 2020 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

2020 is the first year without E3, ever since its inception in 1995. Many people within the gaming industry are very mixed regarding this – leading to much discussion whether we even need an E3, as it seemed like it was on its way out long before the global pandemic ensued. Sony had already confirmed they weren’t attending (again), Nintendo hasn’t had a live conference for years, and Game Awards host, Geoff Keighley, announced he wasn’t attending either. So everyone was asking the same question, do we need E3? Do we really need an annual that developers and publishers have to keep in mind every year in order to stay relevant? Or should they be able to showcase their games on their own terms?

In March, the ESA officially cancelled the event but have stood firm on the fact that there will be one in 2021. Ever since this cancellation, many online-only digital events have popped up to try and takes its place, including Summer Game Fest, IGN’s Summer of Gaming, Devolver’s Direct, as well as Xbox and Sony’s console showcases. All of these events combined have definitely given off the same kind of energy and excitement that E3 tends to bring upon people around the same time of year, except this time it’s over a much longer period.

The highlight for me (so far) has been the Playstation 5 reveal, as it actually had the hype building, mystery and reveals that a typical E3 conference would entail. It was the event that emulated the E3 experience perfectly, and only a few reveals and events have been able to capture it properly. Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest is a pretty close second, as it has all the reveals and presentation – just spread out over several months. IGN’s Summer of Gaming is too “personality-based” in my opinion – too much filler with people talking about things that people aren’t really tuning in to see, just watching because a game reveal or two might happen down the line.

As for the future, many of these events are still ongoing, and Xbox, Ubisoft and Devolver Digital all have events confirmed for later in the month. Whether these will embrace the magic of E3 or end up being duds is yet to be seen. However, one of the biggest questions still remains: Where is Nintendo? No Nintendo Direct has been officially announced at the time of writing, and they have no big releases for the end of the year. So what are they planning? They’ve revealed a few smaller games here and there throughout the year, but no “blockbuster game” for October/November time. I hope they are merely saving the “best until last” rather than genuinely having nothing to show. I guess like everything else here; only time will tell.

My Hopes For The Future Of Playstation

January 23, 2020 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been a fan of Playstation since the first, and I always find it interesting how Sony’s strategy for each console changes as time passes. Now, I’m not a blind Playstation fanboy as I primarily play on PC nowadays, but if I had to choose between Xbox or Playstation, I will pick Playstation purely because of the IP’s and exclusives available. This leaves me slightly torn, as Xbox has incredible value with their console with the Xbox Game pass – but none of their exclusive titles entice me, so I have no reason to make a console purchase.

The Playstation 5 is right around the corner and despite the rocky start of the PS3, Sony has been back on top throughout the PS4’s lifetime – almost harkening back to the Playstation 2 days. But that’s what has got me slightly cautious; Sony tends to get too big for their boots causing them to assume too much about the consumer. After the PS2 was a success, Sony completely dropped the ball when the PS3 released – taking years for the PS3 to start gaining traction after a huge marketing push.

If the rumours are true, we have some good PS5 launch titles on the horizon – primarily a new Insomniac Games title, a rumoured Demon Soul’s remake, and Gran Turismo 7. That being said, the make or break for many may be down to the backwards compatibility. It’s already confirmed to be PS4 backwards compatible, which is a huge plus. A big bombshell would be the announcement of PS1-4 backwards compatibility. Imagine being able to put any Playstation game into your PS5 and being able to play it – no game being stuck behind the console generation they were originally released on. It’s always been a pain to have to find the Playstation 2 or 3 when you fancy playing games on that particular console, let alone having a TV that supports the input cables for the PS2. It would be a total game-changer, no pun intended.

PS Now and Xbox Backwards Compatibility has already shown that there is a huge demand for the convenience that backwards compatibility offers, and I feel omitting this from the next console generation will hurt Sony in terms of selling points in the long run. The PS5 is rumoured to be revealed in February, so not long until we find out the full details.

My Hopes & Expectations for E3 2019

June 8, 2019June 9, 2019 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

The main bulk of E3 press conferences are less than a day away and I’ve succumbed to the temptation to do a “casual” prediction-type post. It’s a smaller year for E3 this year due to the lack of Sony and EA, so the potential surprises from them are minimal – Let’s go through some of the main conferences and I’ll discuss what I hope and what I think will be shown.

Firstly we’ve got the Xbox E3 Briefing, which I usually have pretty “low to average” expectations for, however, this year I get the feeling it will be different. Microsoft has recently bought a bunch of studios to develop first-party exclusives for their system and I think this is the show where they’re gonna be going all out, guns blazing. I hope (and think) that we’ll be getting a reveal for Banjo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a big surprise, as several leaks/sources have been pointing to it these past few weeks – As well as a remake/sequel. I’m also expecting a Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, as well as most title’s (such as Halo) being shown & announced for Steam. Honestly, I think they’ve got a lot of surprises up their sleeve, so I’m not entirely sure what else to expect – I hope I’m correct.

Next up we’ve got the Bethesda E3 Conference, which I predict will announce Fallout 76 going free-to-play and being released on Steam. Existing titles such as Doom: Eternal will be shown off – the usual stuff. Also, I predict an announcement for Prey 2, as well as The Evil Within 3. Bit of a shot in the dark, but I think those fill in the gaps of already announced/upcoming games.

The PC Gaming Show (Sponsored by Epic) will likely be underwhelming – A lot of announcements for Epic Exclusive games, and maybe some “boos” from the crowd. Wouldn’t be surprised if there was some Borderlands 3 gameplay, too.

Square Enix’s Conference is expected to show off the elusive “Avengers” game, and possibly have a heavy focus on the Final Fantasy 7 remake. There’s not much more to say about them other than that.

Finally, we have the Nintendo Direct, where I predict another Smash Roster reveal. Personally, I’m not sure who it will be, however, rumours suggest it will be Erdrick from Dragon Quest. Additionally, I’d also like to predict some (wild) game announcements: A new mainline Mario title, and a new mainline Zelda title. Other than those things I’ve got nothing else to predict other than gameplay from already announced titles such as Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and Luigi’s Mansion 3. As I said previously with Microsoft, I’m expecting some big things here – Especially since they’ve been doing dedicated “Directs” for Pokemon and Super Mario Maker that could’ve easily been put into this one; they wouldn’t have done that if they were lacking games to show.

In conclusion, I think we’re gonna see some big reveals here, even with Sony’s absence. I’ll probably make a follow-up post after E3 reviewing certain aspects of the event, as well as whether my predictions were dead-on or way off the mark. We’ll see!