The latest E3

[Prpl_Mage]

So apparently that FF7 remake is gonna happen at last, it was turning into one of those duke nukems. Also some final fantasy world to appealto the younger generations .p Also, the next Nier game will be a collaboration with platinum games. And that's usually a good thing.

Also, nitnendo has been pouring out new game concepts. Hyrule warriors for the 3ds, some coop zelda, a metroid inspired coop game. Nintendo likes their coop. And some pics of the new starfox.They also revealed 2 new characters for smash bros and released them at the same time. Good thinking!

There was also new footage of mirror's edge and they announced that you won't be able to use guns in the sequel, some cinematics trailer for the next SC2 expansion and some character updates for Heroes of the storm. I haven't been able to finish dark souls 2 yet but they announced a dark souls 3.

[Archem]

Nintendo's presentation was very disappointing. Everything was a spin-off, and half of them weren't exciting ideas. Metroid without being Metroid is like some cruel joke.

The puppets were cool, though.

Microsoft had a pretty strong presentation. Backwards-compatibility is great, the new controller looks nifty (though that default d-pad option is frightening), I'm hyped for more Halo and Gears of War, and that Holodeck thing was pretty sweet. I'm also kind of excited about the Rare Collection (in a bittersweet kind of way. They're at a point now where the only thing that they make that will sell is made up of pre-MS games).

Sony won by a mile, though. The Last Guardian stuff, Kingdom Hearts 3 (finally), the new Uncharted (looks amazing), Shenmue 3 (!), and as stated, there's finally a FF VII remake coming.

So to sum things up: Microsoft's innovating and trying to introduce cool new tech while still offering big name games, Sony is all about getting the most hype-inducing titles out of storage, and Nintendo is making lackluster spin-offs.

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So on the more developer side of E3, Bethesda's first E3 presentation was phenomenal. They brought some strong content with a Dishonored 2 announcement, a truckload of gameplay and info about the feature-packed Fallout 4, and they had some great gameplay about the new Doom (which looks fantastic). I did have a revelation about Doom, though. With the over-the-top action, the extra-brutal executions, the dark-humor, and just the pace of the action and self-referential shenanigans, I've realized that this is actually Duke Nukem. Seriously. Take the entire gameplay, reskin the demons as aliens, and maybe change the setting a little, and it's Duke. This isn't in any way a bad thing.

Ubisoft, as always, has the most interesting-looking games, especially with their new IPs. If I didn't hate them as a company, I'd likely be throwing all my money at the screen instead of quietly waiting for a Steam sale.

Capcom's making more Street Fighter. The New Star Wars Battlefront looks sick. I'm losing my shit over Mirror's Edge Catalyst. New Deus Ex is new. Rock Band 4 hype is building.

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That's pretty much my E3 feelings.

[Dr. Ace]

Last year I watched the big five (Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Sony and Nintend) and this year I added Bethesda and Square-Enix to the mix. Here's a few things that stuck with me:

Bethesda:
Doom 4 looked like a nudge in the right direction, back to the old-school fast-paced shooters and arena FPS multiplayer. However, I'm not entirely convinced. I don't like the filter they've thrown over most of the game, nor the glowing pickups that drop whenever you kill an enemy. The gore is fantastic if you're into that kind of stuff, but I can see it getting old pretty quick when playing the game. I'm a big fan that they're throwing out a map and game editor with the game as this is a very much in the spirit of Doom.

Fallout 4, in gameplay terms, looks amazing. I'm not entirely sold on the graphics, something seemed off, especially in the pre-war scenes, but the post-war looked better. The new features that stuck to me the most: dynamic conversation; context-sensitive dog commands; the weapon builder; and the new settlements. I also like how they changed the VATS to be a slow-motion feature instead of a freeze feature. The pip-boy edition was an instant pre-order in my household.

The Fallout iOS game (also coming to Android I heard) looked decent enough. Something simple enough to play on the side. I would have to play it to know if it's actually fun, though.

The Elder Scrolls expansion (I think?) and trading card game didn't interest me. Battlecry was also shown, it looks like it could be a fun Team Fortress 2-ish game, but I'm not entirely convinced.

Overall: B-

EA:
EA always had a nudge for being the worst conference and it was again to me this year. They showed diddly squat for Mass Effect 4. Garden Warfare 2 and Minions are games I wouldn't play. Too many sports games, but that is every year. They had Pelé on stage, but the guy was barely understandable and I doubt he really had an idea why he was there save for cashing in a check.

The good parts were Mirror's Edge 2, and while I'm not a fan of the sudden huge story behind it I care more about its gameplay (the little shown looked decent enough). Battlefront is a beautiful game, and looks like it could be fun. Sadly, from what I read on the actual features in the game, it looks like a huge downgrade from Battlefront II (and seemingly even from Battlefront I). Need for Speed had gorgeous graphics, but I'm not really into racing games. I could see that this could be a fun game for those who are though.

Overall: D-, bordering on F.

Ubisoft:
I'm a small fan of seeing Aisha Taylor on the stage. While she can be cringe at times (living meme, oh god), she does have good stage presence and looks like she has fun with it. Overall, Ubisoft showed a lot of gameplay for coming games. They started off strong with the announcement of a new South Park game, and ended strong with the new Ghost Recon game. The gameplay for the Division and Siege looked good, and I like the idea that Ubisoft has for co-op, because a lot of their games have it.

Of course there was Just Dance, which I doubt most care about, accompanied with yet another dance routine and song by some RnB artist I do not recognise (Chubby Usher?). There was also the new Assassin's Creed, but the series is just so worn out to me I can't be excited for it anymore. There was also Trials Fusion Awesome Level Max with some cat riding a robotic unicorn or something, I dunno. Without gameplay footage it's hard to say much about it. Oh and The Crew, but like I said racing is not my thing.

I did like how Trackmania looked, while physics defining it could be a very fun game. More excitingly, To Honor had a great looking CGI trailer and more importantly some decent looking gameplay, I could totally see my play myself this.  Then there's also the new Anno game, and while I haven't touched one in years, it could be fun.

Overall: B+

Microsoft:
Microsoft was a suprise this year. Having disliked the previous years, with their focus being too much on tv and sports and a whole list of controversial ideas they had, they really upped their game. They're bringing back backwards compatibility, and while I'm a collector and thus still keep my old consoles, I can see this as a feature a lot of people will be glad to have. However, I am wary of its execution, as the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility was lackluster. I couldn't really care much about the new controller though, while I do like the idea of being to swap out the sticks and buttons.

Of course, as to was expected, there was Halo 5 and Gears of War 4, and while fan of both these franchises, this was not the interesting part of the conference. Instead, Microsoft showed some new IPs in the form of Recore and the new Rare pirate game (Forgot the name). They looked fun enough, but as I don't have an Xbox One as of now it will probably slip into forgetfulness for myself. I can see others enjoy it though. The new Tomb Raider gameplay is very reminiscent of Uncharted, and I'm still pissed to hear it's an Xbox exclusive title. That was a real stab in the back as a long-time Tomb Raider fan, who owns just about every game of the franchise on Playstationd evices (save for one single game, which is missing from my collection).

The real showstealer, of course, was the Hololens. While it doesn't mean a lot for games as of yet, I can see a lot of possibilities with this for it, and their demonstration of Minecraft looked gorgeous.

Overall: A-

Sony:
Opening with the Last Guardian, throwing in the Final Fantasy VII remake, announcing Shenmue 3 and showing off some Kigndoms Heart 3. There's a new Hitman coming, and a new Street Fighter V. Damn, Sony is on a roll. Oh, there was also Firewatch, which looked like a game I could play for one playthrough. I was also glad to see some Uncharted 4 gameplay, even if they put on the wrong demo at first (which was hilarious).

The things I'm hyped most about, though, were Horizon: Zero Dawn and No Man's Land. Both these games look like instant-buys for me. For Horizon, I'm really interested in knowing what kind of game it will be. I'm hoping somewhat open-world. My biggest fears for No Man's Land is that the game might lack a goal, but get some friends to play it and I'll bet it'll be good fun.

The worst thing during this conference had to be Disney's Infinity. Goddamn, the guy wanted to sell his shitty game so bad. Dreams also looked really boring. Also not a fan of World of Final Fantasy or whatever it was.

Overall: A-

Nintendo:
Very disappointing. Fire Emblem and Project X did look good, but it was covered in so many boring looking games, ranging from Metroid to Yarn Yoshi to the horrible Amiibo Animal Crossing board game. Star Fox could be cool, haven't really played the series but I'm a fan of space shooters. I do always need to get over the shock of the look of their games, because it feels out of date. Not much I want to say about it, just disappointing.

Overall: D

I'm not gonna say much about Square-Enix, as almost every game they showed I saw previously in a different conference and I just skimmed through it. Looked like a lot of talking, and over-dubbed.

Here's my two cents, feel free to open discussions about it.

[Archem]

The new Tomb Raider gameplay is very reminiscent of Uncharted, and I'm still pissed to hear it's an Xbox exclusive title. That was a real stab in the back as a long-time Tomb Raider fan, who owns just about every game of the franchise on Playstationd evices (save for one single game, which is missing from my collection).

It's a timed exclusive. It will be coming to PS4 and PC later on. Don't fret too much.

[Dr. Ace]

It's a timed exclusive. It will be coming to PS4 and PC later on. Don't fret too much.

Microsoft pulling a Dead Rising 3 and Ryse again, figures. Thanks for the heads up though, I'll await a PS4 edition.