The E3 Debrief
As predicted, the Xbox One came in above the price of the PS4.
Right now there are a few games that seem to have potential.
Titanfall, an Xbox exclusive, looks to be very similar to the COD franchise, but it does have a few things that set it apart, namely the Titans, the large robot armors. obviously the first thing most people in the US will think of is Transformers, while Japanese audiences will think of Gundam. The concept is much closer to Gundam, but neither iterations of games in those worlds have involved a pilot being able to freely enter and exit their robot. So, it should be something interesting to see how the final product of the game turns out.
They teased a new Star Wars Battlefront, but had no details, so there's not much to say about it other than the obvious, which is that it's an easy leading title.
EA also announced a new Need for Speed. The series has been fairly hit or miss for years, mostly miss. It won Racing Game of the Year last year, which honestly seemed a bad choice for me given how boring of a game it was. I personally preferred Forza Horizon much, much more.
Speaking of, Forza 5 was announced as well. The Forza games have been decent, though again not the best in their genre. I know it goes against popular opinion, but I do think that Gran Turismo is a much better console driving sim than Forza. Therefore I'm more looking forward to GT6 than I am Forza 5. But GT6 is a PS3 title, not a PS4, so I guess I'll have to wait to see the matchup between GT7 and whatever Forza Turn 10 is up to by then.
As was also expected in video game circles, the beleaguered Final Fantasy Versus XIII that Square Enix announced years ago, has been renamed Final Fantasy XV. This was a move that's been rumored for some time. If anything this should reassure fans than a game will finally be made and released. The question is how much like the game that was originally promised all those E3s ago will this one end up being. After all, Versus XIII was more like a battler than an RPG. I think we still need a little more time to find out what the gameplay and story will be, but it looks good so far.
Square Enix also has promised Kingdom Hearts 3. Again, it's a game that has been rumored/anticipated for a while now. I think in general Square fans are just in a wait-and-see mode. Square has been a bit bad at delivering titles as expected, the prior note on Final Fantasy the most recent example.
There isn't much from Nintendo that is new in terms of games we didn't know were on the way. There's the Mario Kart we knew about, the new Donkey Kong Country we knew about, the new Smash Bros. we knew about. Most exciting for me personally is Bayonetta 2. Absolutely loved the first one. Was disappointed when Platinum Games said they wouldn't be able to make a sequel despite wanting to. I had mixed feelings about it being then revealed last year that it would live on as a Nintendo exclusive. The original Bayonetta was a multi-platform game. It was a great relief that the game series would survive, and the trailers from this E3 seems to show that it will be as fantastic as the last, but I wish it could have stayed multi-platform.
It's ultimately likely to be a moot point since my brother will likely buy a Wii U, and I at this moment will likely buy a PS4 at some point, but in general and in principle it's usually preferable that a multi-platform stays a multi-platform. My worry is that this iteration of the game will see poor sales not because it is a bad game but because of the console it's on. That's not to say anything particularly disparaging about the Wii U, but it has a negative view in general in the gaming community, and Nintendo itself is not at all known for games as provocative and mature as Bayonetta except in some select instances and in cases of a few multi-platforms, so there isn't likely to be a big base for such games naturally on this console. I don't know that many of those who enjoyed the first game on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will have or want to spend money on a Wii U for this game while likely buying and XBOne or PS4.
So, the question is always about who the winner is. Nintendo announced a number of games that will have fans of the company content, including a few for their handheld. But there was little to no quick relief, which is what the Wii U needs in order to not get lost in the big storm of releases when Xbox One and PS4 launch later this year.
I started this week saying it would be Sony's E3 to lose. They would succeed so long as they didn't announce they were also doing any of the bad things Microsoft was. What Sony gave us was an interesting an somewhat cool design of their console, a new Metal Gear, Destiny, and mostly avoided the Xbox issues. Time will tell how much heat they'll catch for charging to allow online multiplayer for their games now, but considering Xbox has been doing this all along through Live Gold, they might get by without too much ire.
Fans of specific consoles will all claim that their console won. Every console did produce some content their respective fans should be happy with. But it would seem quite obvious that Sony won this E3. After all, E3 is about the most entertaining platform and delivering the best games. At the moment Sony seems to be ready to provide the most/newest of that with the fewest strings attached. Coming off E3, they have left the best impression of themselves as a company.
Presentation is of course one thing, while reality is another. They've won E3, but they still have to follow through and deliver on their promises. For the sake of gamers, let's hope they do follow through.
Right now there are a few games that seem to have potential.
Titanfall, an Xbox exclusive, looks to be very similar to the COD franchise, but it does have a few things that set it apart, namely the Titans, the large robot armors. obviously the first thing most people in the US will think of is Transformers, while Japanese audiences will think of Gundam. The concept is much closer to Gundam, but neither iterations of games in those worlds have involved a pilot being able to freely enter and exit their robot. So, it should be something interesting to see how the final product of the game turns out.
They teased a new Star Wars Battlefront, but had no details, so there's not much to say about it other than the obvious, which is that it's an easy leading title.
EA also announced a new Need for Speed. The series has been fairly hit or miss for years, mostly miss. It won Racing Game of the Year last year, which honestly seemed a bad choice for me given how boring of a game it was. I personally preferred Forza Horizon much, much more.
Speaking of, Forza 5 was announced as well. The Forza games have been decent, though again not the best in their genre. I know it goes against popular opinion, but I do think that Gran Turismo is a much better console driving sim than Forza. Therefore I'm more looking forward to GT6 than I am Forza 5. But GT6 is a PS3 title, not a PS4, so I guess I'll have to wait to see the matchup between GT7 and whatever Forza Turn 10 is up to by then.
As was also expected in video game circles, the beleaguered Final Fantasy Versus XIII that Square Enix announced years ago, has been renamed Final Fantasy XV. This was a move that's been rumored for some time. If anything this should reassure fans than a game will finally be made and released. The question is how much like the game that was originally promised all those E3s ago will this one end up being. After all, Versus XIII was more like a battler than an RPG. I think we still need a little more time to find out what the gameplay and story will be, but it looks good so far.
Square Enix also has promised Kingdom Hearts 3. Again, it's a game that has been rumored/anticipated for a while now. I think in general Square fans are just in a wait-and-see mode. Square has been a bit bad at delivering titles as expected, the prior note on Final Fantasy the most recent example.
There isn't much from Nintendo that is new in terms of games we didn't know were on the way. There's the Mario Kart we knew about, the new Donkey Kong Country we knew about, the new Smash Bros. we knew about. Most exciting for me personally is Bayonetta 2. Absolutely loved the first one. Was disappointed when Platinum Games said they wouldn't be able to make a sequel despite wanting to. I had mixed feelings about it being then revealed last year that it would live on as a Nintendo exclusive. The original Bayonetta was a multi-platform game. It was a great relief that the game series would survive, and the trailers from this E3 seems to show that it will be as fantastic as the last, but I wish it could have stayed multi-platform.
It's ultimately likely to be a moot point since my brother will likely buy a Wii U, and I at this moment will likely buy a PS4 at some point, but in general and in principle it's usually preferable that a multi-platform stays a multi-platform. My worry is that this iteration of the game will see poor sales not because it is a bad game but because of the console it's on. That's not to say anything particularly disparaging about the Wii U, but it has a negative view in general in the gaming community, and Nintendo itself is not at all known for games as provocative and mature as Bayonetta except in some select instances and in cases of a few multi-platforms, so there isn't likely to be a big base for such games naturally on this console. I don't know that many of those who enjoyed the first game on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will have or want to spend money on a Wii U for this game while likely buying and XBOne or PS4.
So, the question is always about who the winner is. Nintendo announced a number of games that will have fans of the company content, including a few for their handheld. But there was little to no quick relief, which is what the Wii U needs in order to not get lost in the big storm of releases when Xbox One and PS4 launch later this year.
I started this week saying it would be Sony's E3 to lose. They would succeed so long as they didn't announce they were also doing any of the bad things Microsoft was. What Sony gave us was an interesting an somewhat cool design of their console, a new Metal Gear, Destiny, and mostly avoided the Xbox issues. Time will tell how much heat they'll catch for charging to allow online multiplayer for their games now, but considering Xbox has been doing this all along through Live Gold, they might get by without too much ire.
I said hat Xbox would have to really wow everyone to overcome the avalanche of negative publicity they've had. It is still debatable how the perceived negatives will ultimately be received in the full market, but it is clear right now that they do not have the winds at their backs. It doesn't help either when your answer to those expressing concern about the direction you're taking is basically, "stick with our last system" (to hear just the not very smart comment, start around 1:30 for context, 1:50 for the actual statement).
Fans of specific consoles will all claim that their console won. Every console did produce some content their respective fans should be happy with. But it would seem quite obvious that Sony won this E3. After all, E3 is about the most entertaining platform and delivering the best games. At the moment Sony seems to be ready to provide the most/newest of that with the fewest strings attached. Coming off E3, they have left the best impression of themselves as a company.
Presentation is of course one thing, while reality is another. They've won E3, but they still have to follow through and deliver on their promises. For the sake of gamers, let's hope they do follow through.
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