The E3 Experience - Highlights and Wrap Up
**SLAP**
Aww, crap, wake up Brandon, the dream is over. Yep, I'm back from the convention, and boy, what a week it has been. The crowds, the crazy traffic in Los Angeles, all of that is done. Which is kind of sad, because I actually loved the hellish atmosphere that was the trade show. There's a surprising amount of grit that comes from being able to last three days at the convention center. Today though, much more mellow. I'll be wrapping up this now four-part series of The E3 Experience, talking today about some of the conference highlights and any miscellaneous thoughts that may have eluded me as I was writing this series. Hop on in for the final chapter!
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The show continues, but now my watch has ended. This year, we got to see some fantastic performances from the many different press conferences this year. Some of the biggest highlights were met with raucous applause from the audience members who were lucky enough to be able to attend the conferences. These highlights included a ton of great stuff.
First of all, the reveal of a new Doom got many people chattering. Bethesda did great here. I heard a ton of chatter about this when I got to the media center on Monday, and people were excited about this title. For a first time appearance with a press conference, Bethesda did a very solid job and got a lot of messages across that it still had cards up its sleeves. People were saying how, this year, Bethesda was one of the top conferences. Their announcement of Fallout 4 also got a ton of praise, and it was even more impressive when the gameplay demos were revealed. There's a new crafting and scavenging system that's being made for the game, and you can now craft your own armors with tons of modifications. Sounds a lot like the customizable gear from Star Wars: The Old Republic.
We then get to Microsoft, which delivered an extremely solid ninety minutes of... basically a montage of how Microsoft can innovate and stay current in a rapidly changing industry. Some of the highlights from Microsoft were the reveals that XBOX One would have backwards compatibility with XBOX 360 games - a fact that made the crowd go nuts during the presentation. That was me included, and I barely even play the 360 anymore! Some of the other highlights were the new Rise of the Tomb Raider and the new implementation of Hololens technology into playing games like Minecraft, where the terrain could be modified via voice command.
When EA and Ubisoft came out, they of course delivered their usual suite of titles, with some of the major highlights being an announcement of the new Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, a title that was actually playable at E3... with tremendously long lines. Ubisoft also revealed a new Ghost Recon at the end of their presentation, but the reveal was met with mild reactions and left the Ubisoft conference ending on a relative dud. EA of course had their new Sports 2016 suite of games, with some new footage of their highly anticipated Mirror's Edge: Catalyst and the new Star Wars Battlefront being developed by DICE. Of course, EA has a lot of rights to Star Wars now, so we got some mild splash with a new mobile card game and a new MMO expansion for The Old Republic.
Sony took the stage not too long after to deliver a presentation, where the two main highlights were the announcement of Shenmue 3, a title being funded by Kickstarter... which acquired over $500,000 in the first forty minutes after the Kickstarter went live... and ongoing during the conference! The last big highlight that everyone had been anticipating had finally arrived, in the form of a PS4 remake of Final Fantasy VII. Everyone wanted it to come, and gamers all over the world can finally rejoice that the game has a new chance at life. It's also a great thing because new generations of gamers can now experience the title in all of its epic glory.
We also got Square Enix's first ever press conference, detailing their newest titles... which felt kind of flat because they were the last to go and we had already seen most of the reveals. Okay, fine, they did show a new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer which took the Media Center by storm, and some new mobile games. But other than that, Square, you need to step up the game next year, because the competition only goes up from here. I don't even think I need to go over the PC Gaming Conference, because from what I heard about it at E3, it got its fair share of crap because it just blew chunks. Valve was not present, and they're a huge PC gaming thing. So yeah, no real highlight reel there for them. Sorry, try again next year.
Overall though, despite the reveals' shortcomings, it's been an incredible year for video gaming. Things go up and down, and this year, there may have been some slump. That's fine, and I can't wait to see how those slumps turn around. Get it, Nintendo? Please, turn things around and shock us all at E3 2016. We're waiting, and I hope to see a much more powerful performance from you guys next year. For the newcomers, Bethesda and Square Enix, not too shabby for a first time. PC Gaming Show, not so lucky, and sorry, you're the weakest link. Goodbye!
With the end of the actual show coming up in just a few hours since this post started, it's time to do a bit of reflection on the week and its many revelations. Steamworld Heist (live at Treehouse Live at E3 earlier today!) is going to be huge. That game has such great potential, and getting to spend time with their CEO to play the title was incredible. Most down to earth, humble, and incredible fellow, who has designed a real gem for an indie dev. I was so impressed with it. That, and Spider Gaming's Technomancer. Those are going to be killer when they release. Spider Gaming has the right idea, and when they showed the preview demo stuff, I was blown away. I wanted more. And that right there is a rare feeling that I didn't experience for most of the titles that I demoed at the convention. An honorable mention goes to Yoshi's Wooly World for invoking the feelings of joy that I had playing Yoshi's Island on the Game Boy Advance all those years ago. Super solid, and tons of fun.
Overall, I had a fantastic E3 experience. Especially as a first timer, that enthusiasm is so real. The excitement of being able to go into that theme park of a convention hall for the first time, that sensory overload, it's incredible. Unforgettable. I miss it already. The chaos, the madness, the sore feet, waking up early to catch an Uber to the convention center, and making those lifelong friendships with fellow games journalists and other folk that I happened to meet at the conference, that's special, and that's something no TV stream could ever come close to replicating. Despite the stress of spending over three months planning the event, putting it to fruition is probably as close to perfection as I could find. The past three days is a sign of hard work paying off, and taking opportunities as they appeared. I nailed those appointments and met all my personal goals. I met Shigeru Miyamoto himself. He autographed my Nintendo 3DS XL and now it's a relic that I might even put into a glass case and savor for many years. A new "new" 3DS XL might even be a possibility in the books right now. The trade show is incredibly open, and open to many different walks of life, some of whom are even questionable as to why they could be present. I am not one to judge, though. If they're there, they did something right, and they got to experience something awesome. At this point, there's not a single shred of regret in my decisions. I got plenty done, and there's so much room for me in the future to go again, do things, and help change the face of the industry. As far as immediate plans? I have no clue, but it does begin with following up with this monster stack of business cards that I have right here on my desk, and establishing relations with them formally for the first time... or the second time, actually, since I met them already. Would I do this all again? In a heartbeat.
How would I rank all of the conferences? For me it's Microsoft first, Bethesda, then Sony, Square Enix, Nintendo, then EA = Ubisoft, followed by PC Gaming Show in a last place finish. Some good showings, and some not so great appearances this year. Definitely disappointed in Nintendo - but maybe we were just expecting too much after the thunderclap that was last year's conference.
And again - I want to thank each and every one of you for following me on this journey. There's a thank you that goes out again to the GBAtemp Staff and Costello for funding this expedition. And for those that kept me grounded over the past few days at the center, you guys are awesome and you guys know who you are. And that's all she wrote folks. The E3 Experience has now concluded, and until next time. It's June 14-16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Let's hope they beat that 52,200 attendance record again. Time to start writing, folks, hope to see some more people there next year!
Day One of The E3 Experience
Day Two of The E3 Experience
Day Three of The E3 Experience