Well, E3 has come and gone, and to be honest, it was kind of a blink and you'll miss it affair. That's not to say it was bad - on the contrary, despite the general response to this year's event, it packed a substantial number of huge and meaningful announcements - I'm just not sure we needed E3 as a platform to showcase these. In between these fantastic showcases was a lot of baggage, awkward moments, and time taken away from games that truly deserved the spotlight. It's a shame, as many of the brilliant games were buried under the noise.
Let's get the good stuff out there first - Microsoft and Nintendo pretty much carried the four days. We learned that 27 incredible looking games will be available day and date into Xbox Game Pass over the next year and a bit, along with some shadow drops of fantastic titles such as Yakuza: Like A Dragon. Even outside of the Xbox realm Nintendo proved itself with a substantial line-up of titles for later this year. But what about everything else? Well, it left a little to be desired.
There were some good streams, however none of these were directly tied to E3. Saturday in particular was a great day with the Guerrilla Collective and the Wholesome Games Direct - two brilliant showcases which delved into a bunch of upcoming indie and AA games that look extremely promising. The problem E3 faced was trying to support itself outside of Xbox and Nintendo, but unfortunately it was crushed under the weight of its ambitions - and this isn't a problem that's strictly been tied to this year.
It's worth mentioning developers and studios worked incredibly hard to bring what they have to the show, and I'm not down playing any of that at all. Even lacklustre presentations such as Capcom's were clearly put together with love and care, but there's one thorn in everyone's side - the pandemic. It's no secret developers have been hit by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result, the games in development have been put back substantially. Of course, everyone is going to go into E3 expecting the world, and it's not highly unreasonable to expect that when publishers have been fairly tight-lipped for a while and are on the billing as having their own showcase.
The main problem wasn't what was in these presentations, but the communication. Bandai Namco revealed fairly last minute that their stream was entirely dedicated to The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes, and Take-Two buried the information that their panel was exclusively to talk about diversity in the games industry. It's not that these showcases and panels were poor, it's that they were clearly misrepresented in an event with attracts the general public as well as the media.
Others did a good job of managing expectations. Capcom and Square Enix both unveiled their plans ahead of time, with Ubisoft doing something similar. There were a few surprises throughout, but they mainly stuck to their guns. So is that on us for being disappointed or the publisher? I'd argue that it's neither and the culprit is the E3 banner. The show has a name for itself as being a huge event where the biggest game reveals are shown, but this year was not really the case.
E3 proved this year that it's struggling to keep up with the growing industry. It's been cracking for a few years now, but this was one big hit that I'm not sure it will recover from. While it would be nice to have all these publishers and developers announce their titles over a single four day weekend, it's just not reasonable anymore - especially considering the global situation as it is. It's an unnecessary pressure on the industry as they desperately scramble to put something together to show. There has to be a better way.
Now, I'm not going to claim I have the solution, but the industry is clearly growing exponentially and E3 needs to do something fast if it wants to keep up. Maybe creating a sense of false pressure to ensure games are ready to show over a June period isn't the way, or maybe a variety of smaller scale events of this nature throughout the year is more beneficial - I'm not sure. But the games industry needs to come up with a solution to bring it all together. I'm just not confident E3 is the way.
How do you feel about the future of E3? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 55
E3 was pretty good this year. I liked all the indie showcases specifically. It's difficult turning a consumer in person event to an all digital event without losing out on physical interaction and reactions. I enjoyed having on pretty much all weekend long while I was playing games and doing chores.
Microsoft easily took the show. Nintendo did pretty good too. Ubisoft's show was good as well.
I think it's still important to have E3. Much easier for all these publishers to highlight their games in a few days then having me hunt through twitter, youtube, twitch etc to find content.
A lot of big publishers didn't put out presentations and that's a bummer. Sony, Sega, EA, Activision. I get they all do there own thing now but it's a convention. This is where it should be. This is how most industries handle there products. They are the ones missing out on the mass appeal of E3. Millions upon Millions of views.
Only put “good” because of MS (and Nintendo to some extent). Almost all of the publisher pressers sucked.
It was held up by Microsoft. What did Nintendo bring to the table that even puts them in contention? They brought Breath of the Wild 2 - fine; it's more of Breath of the Wild. They brought a new Metroid... but a 2.5D one, which is just one in an ocean of Metroidvanias these days. Are people manufacturing hype because it's drudging up the name of the long-since cancelled GBA game? Prime 4 is still missing in action. Advance Wars is getting a budget-y looking 3D remake that looks pretty bad. C'mon.
This was Microsoft's show, plus one or two announcements by Square and... not a lot else, let's be honest. A ton of indie and AA games announced, but I don't even know if they had anything to do with E3 or if it was one of the myriad other little events taking place around the same time these past two weeks.
It felt unnecessary. This did not feel like an E3. This felt like a pretty good MIX (Media Indie eXchange) show or one of those other indie type showings, with one or two big publisher shows that jumped in too this week, but a lot of it was disappointing. This was not the "BIG RETURN OF E3" I'm sure the organizers were hoping for. Far from it.
Worse E3 I've ever witnessed without a doubt, no surprises or interesting reveals, nearly everything was leaked before E3 started, I honestly don't see the point in E3 and can see why Sony and EA left
E3 was very disappointing in my opinion. I'm obviously not talking about Xbox's presentation, which was fantastic. Ubisoft and Summer Game Fest were okay, but everyone else sucked. They just had too little to show, which might be yet another unfortunate effect of covid-19. The only games shown outside Xbox presentation that picked my interest are Elden Ring and Guardians of the Galaxy.
As for Nintendo, well, I do own a Nintendo Switch and I enjoyed Breath of the Wild and Mario Odissey, but I eventually got pissed at Nintendo for a number of reasons, including controller drift and some weird issues with the software of the console that prevents me from updating and downloading some digital games. My Switch is currently retired, back in its box, and I don't intend to buy anything Nintendo ever again.
So I'm bitter and salty and completely biased against Nintendo. I watched their presentation for two reasons: (1) I had a sliver of hope that Hollow Knight: Silksong could show up and (2) my brother is a big fan of Nintendo and I wanted to watch with him. It's funny that my brother hated Nintendo's show. The only thing that pleased him was Metroid, but he was very disappointed on how little Zelda's trailer showed and it looked more like DLC for the first game than a sequel. And most other announcements were either underwhelming or remasters or things that were already announced before somewhere else.
I'm surprised at how many Nintendo fans seem to be pleased with that presentation.
@Vinsanity I think Microsoft did superbly but Nintendo targeted their core audience well; bringing games that core Nintendo gamers will be happy with. I like the Advance Wars artstyle a lot and bringing back a lot of dormant franchises helps build the Nintendo hype train.
Don't get me wrong, Xbox was excellent in its own way but without these two big companies, who could realistically just do their own independent shows, E3 would have been a bore fest.
The Xbox and Nintendo shows were certainly good, with plenty to announce and lots to play later this year. After that it was a struggle.
I wonder if E3 has run its course. They can all have digital presentations at a time to suit. The other issue is some gamers expectations are getting ridiculous, they’re expecting more than they would get even in a non-Pandemic year. Between that and all the leaks it may have run its course.
E3 has been a big part of my life, I for one would be very sad if my children never got to watch one. (My eldest is nearly 2) E3 gets a lot of hate, but scattered smaller events throughout the year just kills the event in my opinion.
This year, Microsoft won.
MS did all the heavy lifting. Devolver Digital was always a welcome sight. Nintendo did its thing.
Ubisoft was a disgrace, Take-2 was a travesty, Capcom's was embarrassing.
Three highs, three lows. So ... it was ok. I would've liked Sony to take their stick out of their ass and join the lowly mortals in the festivities in order to have four highs and three lows, but it is what it is.
@Nikolaidas yup. E3 is not the same without all three console makers showing off and the pointless debates on who "won" E3 later. Even though I don't own a PS5 and don't intend to buy it anytime soon, the show would be way cooler with Sony.
Nintendo's E3 disappointed me and I wonder where are Nintendo's games. Mercury Steam's Metroid Dread seems to be a "sequel" to the 3DS game that I haven't played but it is divisive according to what I've read on NL. I wonder if SMTV will remain exclusive to Switch because it is being published by Atlus. Cruis'n Blast looks fun but who knows at this point. Maiden of Black Water was a wonderful (multiplatform) surprise. The rest were ports or remixes that will be expensive to buy. Ubisoft's Mario+Rabbids Sparks of Hope looks great although I am not a huge fan of the genre. WarioWare Get it Together looks alright but it's a full-priced mini games collection. Is this Nintendo's first game after Animal Crossing New Horizons?
It was expected to be announced before E3 but New Nintendo Switch will be announced one or two months before release so people keep buying the current models.
People think that Capcom disappointed, I think that they are one of the best developers in the world but they are just a developer, after all.
Agreed, MS and Nintendo saved it from being a complete waste of 4 days. Both had really strong showings. Rest of the year is going to be a ton of fun!
E3 was pretty bad this year, but the showcases I wanted to see delivered, which was Xbox and Nintendo.
Well it definitely shook me up and also made me release a few things. I was wrong, pre E3.
Decision made.
Sticking with my series x and have just purchased 2 years GPU.
Not buying a Nintendo Switch, did have one ages ago.
No PS5 anymore.
There you go said I was wrong, also purchased XBOX 20 year anniversary mug with gamer tag on 😊
I was hoping for more but 😕. Sure xbox delivered, so did ubi and nin. But all that could easily been squeezed up to a single day. All the talk about interactive booths and all that was a let down. And it isnt the same when u cant hear the audience. I really hope for a real e3 next year 🥰
E3 is immensely useful. I don't know if it's "business relevant" and I don't know if a media article is the right place to get that opinion. Push Square is busy railing against it. Of course they are, their home team abandoned ship years ago...there's little for them there. Praising an event their fanship doesn't even participate in wouldn't make sense.
Media as a whole now thrives on having a daily stream of mind-numbing tweets to echo. They won't be fond of a single consolidated several day event instead of daily insipid drivel to cling to. Why would they love 4 days of all the years information consolidated when it devalues the daily feed of "random dev you've never heard of would be thrilled to have a character you thought stopped mattering 34 years ago in Smash."
But even as droll as this E3 was....are we seriously going to look at 4 months of random scattered poorly communicated, and frankly easily forgettable, skippable events last year and declare that better? At least this year we had a consolidated schedule to follow to catch up on lots of important things, even if most of the publishers didn't bring much of anything to show, it still was one moment to catch up on a lot of things, and align my interests for the next 6-12 months. We may not need a big convention with million dollar booths anymore and people jetting around the world to attend, but an organized event that ties together industry news is absolutely beneficial to those that follow the industry. I'd also argue that this event would have been much better if that bozo Keighly would stop propping his ego up using the industry as a stepping stool, splitting the message in a war for which brand name event can draw more eyes. You'd think the industry association would be a better avenue for that since it has representation from all relevant companies rather than one Youtube personality, but then, we can guess which major gaming company that wasn't participating at E3 props the bozo up for their own ends (hint, their company wins most of his "awards", predictably.)
Take 2, Warner, and Namco really pulled a lame move by participating and scheduling events that weren't actually publisher showcases. But Capcom, Ubi, Square, Future Games, etc all did great. Shame we didn't get a Sega showcase. Sure, Capcom's showing wasn't spectacular and most of it was a rehash, but they still put together an E3 presentation that highlighted a lot of what they're doing. I appreciated the Ace Atty and MH Stories segments with a bit more look at games that I'm interested in and hadn't seen much on. It didn't blow any doors open but it was a worthwhile watch that cemented my interest and earned my purchase on several titles. Even if the companies use E3 to show more, as commercials, about products already known, it's still valuable.
Yes, this E3 wasn't "amazing" and yes, Nintendo and MS held it up, but don't they (and formerly, Sony) always? Did anyone really ever tune in for EA and Sega's shows specifically if not anchored by the tentpoles? And yes, this year was always going to be more awkward for the show. It's a miracle we got one at all. Personally I think this year, including the "weak" presentations from some publishers proves moreso that we need E3, not less. And I can't imagine that Microsoft and Nintendo get anything less than a boost out of it making it worth their time, and the events time for the third party games incorporated as well. Xbox gets more attention from Nintendo's participation, Nintendo gets more attention from Xbox's participation, the third parties get more attention from both of their participation, and Sammy is crying in the corner because Sony can't be bothered anymore Everything comes out ok!
@Dezzy70, WOW, I thought you were merely hanging on a bit more, but you're all in! All thanks to E3
@NEStalgia
Sort of E3, I have had every Xbox console since day one. Perhaps it’s hard to leave an old friend after 20 years, especially as now it looks like they have turned over a new leave 😊
I think E3 was fine. I have a Switch and a Series S and they both had games to show I'm interested in (xbox had the most). Any other company at E3 I have literally no expectations for so if they bring a snooze fest it doesn't really bother me. Leaks ahead of showcases is a problem though, it kills the entire purpose.
Xbox and Nintendo showed solid catalogues for months to come. I like when presentations are about ground-level offers before high stakes promises that take too much time to fulfil.
@thenewguy Good point about the leaks. OTOH, the hype machine that is the leak machine is still a product of E3's existence, as all the leakers and fake leakers flood the news cycle in the weeks leading up to E3 about the announcements at E3. In that sense, even the leaker cycle is now part of E3, and is part of its contribution to the marketing and hype online. We think of it as "ruining" E3 surprises, but if there were no E3, we wouldn't have a cavalcade of weeks of conflicting rumors and leaks from May into June at all.
I don't think it's fair to judge the future of E3 based on this year's show given the circumstances. And given those circumstances, I think it came together as well as it could. True, some companies went bigger than others - well done to Microsoft especially - but that's always been the case with E3 anyway. If anything, I think this year (and last) has proved the games industry needs a big annual showcase. Once the world returns to some form of normality and E3 makes a true comeback, only then should these discussions take place. Let's not forget, we are only judging E3 based on the little we see from the comfort of our homes. There are plenty of goings on behind the scenes us public aren't privy to.
@Magabro you have no idea how many people wanted Metroid updates. It’s been like 19 years since the last 2D Metroid came out. People wanted Prime 4 updates and Nintendo says they are hard at work at it. But Nintendo was nice enough to give us a 2D Metroid to hold us over.
It has been too long ever since we saw a NEW Metroid game. Samus return on 3DS was just a remake.
People were also begging for botw 2 updates and Nintendo did that. They would rather have some more footage of the game rather than nothing for botw 2
I dont get anyone knocking either Microsofts or Nintendos conferences. Both killed it.
Microsoft we knew would go pretty big and they did. Excited to see first party games on the horizon.
Nintendo dont deserve some of the criticism. They did exactly what they set out to do message was "Hey sorry we have been silent games are coming here is a taste" they will have other directs over the next few months.
Same with Microsoft. Not the last show of announcements we will see from them either.
For me E3 is pretty much a goner in a few years but its still nice to see some companies still trying to keep it alive.
Really enjoyed E3 this year! I disagree with those who say E3 should die. Take away E3 and we are left with scattered Directs and there’s no “Super Bowl” of gaming announcements. The fun I have every year has little to do with the actual quality of the presentations and more it’s a time to throw a party and celebrate gaming with my friends. Plus we need to remember this year was still affected by CoVid. When we get back to crowds and demo halls next year it’ll be timed perfectly with major games coming between 2022 and 2023. I personally never want to see this time of celebration go away.
Whether the shows themselves are good or bad really doesn't matter too much to me.
What's important is the way E3 brings gamers together.
For the last few days my friends and I have been discussing this, that and everything in between. Making Top 5 lists, highs and lows etc.
While we also still discuss gaming daily, during E3 it has a special feeling to it ☺️
@xMightyMatt14x Totally agreed. Without E3 (and, sorry, but Summer Games Fest doesn't even count as a presentation. It's a common marketing banner applied to announcements that would have existed exactly as-is without the common marketing banner) we're left with random announcements at random times from every company, and if you're not going out of your way to find out news from a particular company, odds are, you're not going to find out. Half of Sony's content I find out half a year to a year after it came out and is already discounted, these days. Their smaller content I didn't even know it existed until it was free on Plus. Random announcements means I probably won't know they happened, even as someone who frequents this game site daily. I may engage with gaming communities daily but I may not follow every news tidbit (and this network doesn't necessarily cover every news tidbit.) Last year we had a border on the right hand of this network with a roster of all the presentations and shows over the summer. I watched, like 3 of them including the MS/Sony shows, and then pretty much lost interest and didn't watch any of them.
E3, or some such festival, is a calendar-set date where any of us interested can gather at a fixed time, look at all the companies and say "ok, we're watching, show us what you've got!" And we can all get together at the same time and talk about it on the internet at the same time knowing we're all paying attention to the same news.
I can't imagine these companies aren't aware of the buzz and echobox that creates around their brands. I'm sure that's why MS and Nintendo are still pumping big money into the show. Even if it's "dead" now, we create a LOT of noise and buzz around it. Even if they're not buying a show, they're buying our social marketing, and that's not a thing that comes cheap, or easy, and it's not every day that you have millions of people actively banging down your doors to be bought off to socially market your product. They'd be fools to let it go.
I'm surprised PXB is downplaying it. Push Square is downplaying it, but that's expected, their company isn't participating. Personally I can't believe Sony abandoned their seat at the table. We have a week of marketing and buzz for Nintendo and Xbox, and most major publishers, and Sony just sits quietly, entirely out of the conversation. I really don't know what brand manager thought it's a good idea to sit quietly while your competitors AND partners all have a giant shared ad campaign. I think it diminishes PlayStation. There's "gaming" which is all the companies and fans participating in a big festival together. And then there's PS, quiet in the corner, not really talked about with everything else. They don't need it to promote their already leading brand. But leading or not, who can afford to let your competitors hog the spotlight without making a sound? That's just poor business. They'll do their own, smaller, less widely publicized thing for their fans. Eventually. There will be an hour of Playstation in the news. Playstation fans will talk about it. But it's after the confetti is already cleaned up and the set was knocked down. It just doesn't have the impact. They're still operating like it's 2016 and PlayStation is the only brand that really exists in gaming. Sure, they're selling huge hardware numbers, but it sure makes a lot more sense to reinforce that position with a lot of showmanship than treat it as expected. Especially if you're an entertainment company.
You hit the nail on the head with this string of words, "unnecessary pressure on the industry". Let the console makers and publishers release their presentations or trailers when they want to. They often then have center stage.
I voted, "It was pretty bad, but I wouldn't get rid of it". And I really wouldn't. Yes, it was drab and underwhelming, but at least we knew where and when to be to experience disappointment (and one hell of a comeback 😎). You get rid of E3 and you add anxiety and uncertainty to the mix. Imagine what we got in these four days, but dragged over a couple of months. This year was bad, but 2020 was even worse.
Nintendo and Xbox delivered plenty of good things without either of them blowing my mind. E3 is only as good as the games on show and I think both Xbox and Nintendo have smash hit games that aren't quite ready to be shown fully yet. Next E3 should be amazing.
@Dezzy70 I swear, you're the closest thing we have to a double agent on this site. I'm going to keep my eye on you. 🤨
@gingataisen
Who knows 😂
I like to gather intel.
@Vinsanity You're leaving the context of how it appeals to core Nintendo fans out. People have WANTED a proper 2D Metroid that continues the main story for 19 years. You can't just write that off because it doesn't appeal to you.
WarioWare and the new Mario Party also look to be hitting their core audiences favorably as well.
I thought Nintendo knocked it out of the park, personally. They had the party games, the weird games, the games that appeal directly to the Nintendo fanboys (how can you not be excited about Advance Wars and Metroid Dread?), and kept the ports to total surprise ports like Fatal Frame. And, even though there’s two Pokémon games incoming, they were left out for new content. Just really fantastic for me.
Xbox’s presentation made a compelling argument for Xbox... in 2022 or later. Halo didn’t hit me like I wanted it to, but I think they sold me on Battlefield. Was hoping to see some gameplay with Starfield too. The showstopper for Xbox was Atomic Heart, which needs a release date ASAP. Xbox had the second best presentation for sure. I’m really glad they kept it more grounded this time (outside Outer Worlds 2). I think next year will be the big E3 from Xbox that everyone wants to see. Hopefully they’ve finally set up the console for a big hit by then. Seems very likely.
MS did fine. Nintendo did fine. Neither had content for me but their structure and overall presentation is what matters. And those were good.
Ubi and Square weren’t great, and they had the opposite problem. Content I liked but presented in a horrible manner. However, they’ve both had shows earlier in the year that have done well. Same for Capcom as far and previous info dumps.
In other words, I don’t think we need E3, but I like my info schedule. I hated last year with the drip feed of content. At least Nintendo usually has 3 directs per year and MS has XO.
I just don’t think there is a better way vs last year where it was updated every five second but nothing of real value.
I don't think I would care at all if E3 went away. I can get the same information from Directs, Showcases, and State of Plays throughout the year without the insane amount of hype and leaks.
Cheers to Microsoft and Nintendo for a great E3. 😊🍷
So you mean Xbox saved E3? I’ve always loved Nintendo (only in the past year and a half grown to love Xbox) but that was a horrible E3. I will say that Metroid game looks pretty cool and I suppose it may scratch the itch until Metroid 4 comes out. As for Breath of the Wild 2… I love Zelda but I’m dubious that I will see that game until 2023.
I think this E3 really showed that Covid hit a lot of companies fairly hard.
With that being said, Nintendo and MS had great shows. Although, I would give MS the slight edge just because of the sheer volume of announcements that were at least decent and there was less filler than Nintendo's awesome Direct.
@Dezzy70 How many Dezzys are there? I'm convinced that I'm not the only one confused. I am pretty sure that there are two Dezzys but at least one of them has split personality 😂.
@NEStalgia @TimG13 I agree, E3 is necessary and extremely useful for consumers...
...and PS's articles bashing E3 are ridiculous. I don't even want to know what kind of sermons they are spreading after confirmation that ZeniMax games will be exclusive to Xbox... and Xbox One via Cloud 😂.
@BlueOcean Actually yesterday Sammy was getting blasted for his article lamenting that Sony desperately needs a Game Pass competitor
Today he's opinioning that E3 is irrelevant though.
It's funny hearing these opinions. Basically everyone thought: "My preferred company had a great performance, but the rest sucked"
Both Nintendo's and Microsoft's were really good. Not a lot of filler or talking heads but just reveals of game after game.
Nintendo's presentation was really good at targeting their audience. The Xbox presentation also targeted its audience very well (most especially game pass subscribers).
As a fan of Nintendo, and a subscriber to game pass, I came out enjoying both presentations.
This is the attitude so often after E3, but the fact is - like every year - I went from playing my backlog to planning my budget. We saw lots of great stuff to play, even if the one game -whatever it was - everyone seems to have wanted didn’t show.
MS finally made a compelling argument for a Game Pass for me by just the sheer number of interesting titles I couldn’t afford otherwise, Nintendo’s show had me literally screaming like a youtuber, and the were so many good indies I had to make a list to keep track.
E3 has had so many bad years and bad shows, yet gaming continues to get richer and reach new heights. It’s almost like the hype has become its own hobby and people are forgetting what it’s all about.
It was a little rough, but considering the last year, with covid ruining everything and massively delaying timelines and, frankly, with Sony actively attempting to sabotage the event by withdrawing from it completely (which, I imagine, includes third party games that they choose how to market), I think it turned out fine.
E3 is a massive part of modern gaming culture, and the scattershot assortment of Nintendo's mini-Directs, Sony's frankly crappy State of Play presentations, and mind-numbing events like TGA aren't a suitable replacement for it. It provides a time for the industry to come together and show off what's in the works. It provides a sense of structure to the year for gaming enthusiasts.
Sony can choose to take its ball and go home if it likes, but, frankly, that's one less opportunity for me to lay eyes on their products. As long as E3 is happening, I'll keep watching.
As for my own preferences: to be perfectly honest, I didn't like Microsoft's show at all. It felt bloated and lacking in actual gameplay or exciting announcements. Almost anything that I'd possibly find interesting is years out from release. Whereas, after Nintendo's event, I have something exciting to look forward to on my Switch every month. I've never been happier as a Nintendo fan.
But I won't dog on Microsoft: their presentation obviously resonated with their fans, and that's fine. I appreciate that, like Nintendo, they put in the effort to entertain their base.
Microsoft and Nintendo both did indisputably well in comparison to the rest of the show. Nintendo could have brought so much more. I wasn’t underwhelmed, but I just felt like they didn’t drop everything at e3.
I have a Switch and a Series X w/ GamePass. It’s an unstoppable combination for me. There are some Sony games that I like, but my real enthusiasm is with Microsoft and Nintendo.
@BlueOcean
Even I’m confused and not sure now
I shall investigate.
@Vinsanity dismissing a 2.5 Metroid as “just another in a sea of Metroidvanias” is as saying Halo is just another game in a sea of FPS games.
I’m way more exited for Metroid Dread than I am for Metroid Prime 4 (and I am hyped for that game.)
No mention of Elden Ring? I get it, technically a SGF thing, but I think it really should be lumped together considering it was the same week as E3.
@electrolite77 @NEStalgia I enjoyed E3, there were some good games announced, and the Game Pass list is absolute fire.
Yet as a whole show it wasn't great. The biggest problem for me, and the reason i've tagged you both as you both mentioned it too, was the LEAKS.
In the past E3 would always have many BIG surprises. How many were there this year? I can count them on my hands. It's gotten worse each year recently. So many announcements fell a bit flat as we already knew it all. Sadly in this hyper-connected world I don't see this changing.
Yet for me E3, while a shadow of it's former self, is still important if only to give the indies and AA games some needed exposure. I'm not surprised that many of the most memorable moments were in these spaces.
Hopefully something can be done to improve this.
@themightyant @electrolite77 Agreed, the leaks aren't going away. Little can be done about it. More NDAs and prosecution only go so far, and it's largely not worth it. It's not even just the "hyper-connected world" (I'd be willing to drop a few thousand nukes to end that for more reasons than E3) that's led to that. It was easy to keep secrets before because game studios were small with only a handful of highly invested people involved, so there were so few points of leaks. Today, take a look at the credits of a Ubisoft game. There's a few thousand people across 25 countries, half of which aren't even direct employees of the company, and many are short term contractors that haven't even worked there in 2 years. There's lots of eyes on the product, with lots of uninvested people that know at least something, and little control over them. Add in the 5 minutes of fame from social media and an investigative journalism passion to dig it up that's been missing from real journalism since the Nixon administration and that's the end of surprises!
I don't think that can be fixed. But I don't think it needs to ruin E3, either. The expectations and focus of E3 have to be adjusted. The days of surprises were great. And I think companies will still try to surprise. Nintendo remains singularly successful (coincidentally their games don't have 40 minute credit reels featuring 8,000 names from countries that don't have running water) in keeping surprises. Mario + Rabbids was somehow a surprise (maybe there were rumors but even following NL daily I missed it. Same with FH5, I remember seeing some maybe it's happening rumor, but I think I dismissed it as improbable and never saw it again.) All of it pales next to the (non-E3) Series S leak that actually cancelled the entire second Series presentation pre-launch, though MS itself was leaking that on product boxes by that point. And I still wouldn't doubt that was an intentional leak because it sure as heck threw Sony for a loop, and tied their hands to reply after they awkwardly and stupidly committed to a week of nothing but PS4VR that week.
But we don't necessarily need surprises for E3 to be worthwhile. A lot of surprises are still surprising to see confirmed. Some of them are surprising to see the shape they took that's different than in our heads. And sometimes it's just about seeing more of the thing we kind of knew about. Treehouse Live remains interesting without surprises. We knew what Mario Golf was and that it was coming, but seeing that large format and demonstration was a lot more interesting. Mario Party collection drew groans and snickers from me during the presentation, but Treehouse actually showed it's pretty cool (even if I'm not buying it.) SMTV was announced almost 5 years ago, but we saw proper gameplay, in long format, with real-time translation of the JP build by actual top level localizers. They make it seem so casual, but that's pretty impressive. Capcom's show was almost entirely stuff we already (officially) knew without any attempts to surprise. But it was a good show that consolidated a lot of goings on of Capcom gaming information, showed us more of MH Stories 2 and Great Ace Atty (should have showed Ace 5, but not judging.) We saw Platinums newest game at Square's show in a bit more detail (and it's......not looking good.....)
E3 keeps talking about "transforming" etc. Maybe in the wrong ways. But I don't think surprises are necessary to make E3 relevant. We'll miss that aspect of it. And we'll still get a little of it here and there. But I don't think it's uninteresting or irrelevant without them. Presentations just need to change focus from announcement shockers to a deeper look. To a degree they're doing that. Twitter can tell us a thing is happening, a trailer can show a concept. Leakers can half describe things slightly incorrectly. But only a real E3 show can show you back to back mini-demonstrations of product.
After all, E3, properly, is a trade show. What normally happens at trade shows? Product demonstrations, marketing presentations, infosheets showing detailed product information, etc. Usually people don't go to trade shows to surprise people, they go to demonstrate and explain their wares and why people should want them. E3 can live up to it's tradeshow name and still be meaningful. We may not have the meme-able wow moments of grown adults acting like kids on Christmas morning emulating the "NINTENDO SIXTY FOOOOURRRR" moment, but we can still be glued to our sets...er....devices for a week. Heck, even with a lackluster E3 on some levels, I'm still going back and rewatching what we do have for the next few days still (I should be playing games, but instead I'm watching a tradeshow about them... )
Xbox and Nintendo saved E3
@NEStalgia
Been thinking about it and yeah, you’re both absolutely right. E3 has its place it just maybe needs to adapt a little bit. A long time ago it was for excited magazine journalists to play the latest games and breathlessly relay what they found to their readership. The conferences were very sales focussed, with the likes of Nintendo and Sega pitching to marketeers and buyers as much as the public. Sony we’re still doing the sales stat attacks in the late 00’s. Maybe next year when that face to face interaction returns and people can actually play games in the show floor it will make a lot more sense.
Or perhaps Nintendo in fact were absolutely right. By ditching cringeworthy press conferences in favour of the Direct and Treehouse formats (copied very successfully by MS this year, to a degree at least) they’ve shown the way forward. But even if everyone goes down the same road there’s still a need for that focal point where everyone has something to show. Maybe they can précis their digital broadcasts better by warning viewers beforehand that there will be no new announcements, just deeper dives into already announced games. Maybe there could be a show-wide Treehouse type setup with companies getting different slots to show individual games, dev interviews etc.
As for leaks, I pretty much avoided any by staying away from most Gaming sites for the fortnight before the show and it pretty much worked. It’s tricky but I highly recommend it.
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