E3 2015 Press Conference Review

With E3 going into wind-down mode, the folks here and Pixel Loadout decided to do a quick review and breakdown of each individual show and conference for this year.  We had some absolutely monolithic announcements to show for this year, but how does everything stack up when it's all said and done?


Bethesda

Without a doubt, E3 started off with an absolute bang. Bethesda Softworks have been a staple company among gamers since their inception in 1986. They have defined two generations of gaming with published works which have set the bar for multiple genres of video games. Games like Wolfenstein, Quake and Doom which popularized the first person shooter. Series spanning 20 or so years like Elder Scrolls and Fallout. This company has no short list of successes, which may surprise many when they find out that Sunday was their first E3 press conference. Pete Hines came out, with zeal and charisma and presented a multitude of game demos and announcements. Bethesda started this E3 off right. They came out with the fourth iteration of Doom, cleverly named Doom, with 20 minutes of blood and guts and hellish monsters, big guns, and high octane gameplay. Featured also was the new map customization called Doom SnapMap. The presentation of the game and the map feature was well received, as it was met with the applause and cheering of over 3000 people in the packed auditorium. Next up to bat was Battlecry which looked like a mashup between Team Fortress 2 and Borderlands. This game was not very well received by the audience and the footage was less than stellar. Dishonored 2 was announced with a cinematic trailer that also looked less than spectacular, but still inspired some cheering from fans of the series when the remains of Corvo Attano’s signature mask were fished out from beneath the murky water. Further more, Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited had further content being announced, with gameplay footage reminiscent of Daedra battles in the streets of the Imperial City in Oblivion. Pete Hines then kicked back on the side of the stage, tablet in hand, and announced the newest Elder Scrolls game, Elder Scrolls Legends, for mobile devices. Some pretty nice artwork was presented, but not much else. The crowd was definitely on edge for more, seemingly unimpressed with the onslaught of cinematic trailers and Elder Scrolls news. With that, Pete Hines brought the event to a close.

Of course he didn’t, it was a complete fake out. Pete Hines, berated by the crowd for Fallout news, introduced the man of the hour, Todd Howard. He strode out wearing a Bethesda Softworks t-shirt with a very old logo. He confidently announced Fallout 4, the much awaited game in the Fallout series, to the roaring crowd. The presentation lasted over 30 minutes, with Howard going over gameplay footage including character customization, display of the new graphics engine, gun and armor customization, new enemies, house and settlement building, and so much more. I implore you to watch the press conference yourself, because it can not be described. The energy was high as Howard further announced the development of a real life Pip Boy included in the collector’s edition or Pip Boy Edition of the game. Use of phone integration with a real life Pip Boy app and the game further excited the crowd. Lastly, Howard unveiled the Fallout Shelter game which is a free mobile game for iPhone, and soon to be released for Android. All of this conference was capped off with the announcement of Fallout 4 being released November 10th, 2015. With that, the conference ended and E3 kicked off. Bethesda Softworks, being the newbie of E3 press conferences made an absolute stunning display that was very hard to follow. Again, it was very surprising they had not done it before. The fans were voracious, the presentations clean and confident, and the mood was electrifying. It was truly a sight to behold. E3 this year seems to be one of the best in my recent memory, and Bethesda had no small part in setting the tone.

-Ryan

Microsoft

Overall I think Microsoft didn't do too badly this year. They avoided the Kinect like the plague but it's nice to see that they realize their core audience isn't interested in a piece of tech that doesn't really work. They focused mainly on the games this year which was once again nice to see. Getting this out of the way first I was thrilled with the implementation of backwards compatibility. My question is why didn't they do this sooner as an incentive to upgrade in the first place? Anyway, games will be rolling out and now I have much more incentive to upgrade if my Xbox One will be able to play 360 games. This will also be good for people that get Gold rewards considering that the Xbox One still has a very small library. The Rare collection was also a huge surprise for me. The Nintendo 64 was my very first system so I was jumping for joy when I saw such favorites like Conker's Bad Fur Day and Jet Force Gemini stepping back into the light after so many years. But let's be honest, 30 games for $30 is a damn good deal. It's also nice to note that difficult games on the list such as Battletoads will have a rewind feature to help tone down some of the punishment.

Halo 5 wasn't much of a surprise however it was nice that we got to see some game play footage of the new Warzone mode. Invasion was by far my favorite mode from Halo: Reach and it seems that adding MOBA elements into other genres is becoming a bit more commonplace which I really can't complain about. The idea of mods possibly being available for the first time to console gamers is a good thing. Even if they charge for it, since consoles really can't have mods anyway, a game can always be enhanced with far more replay value with the addition of mods so good on Microsoft. Cup head, Tacoma, Tomb Raider all looked very polished and fun to play. A new Gears of War was announced which wasn't a huge surprise but it was nice to see that the original game is getting the remaster treatment. It's really the only game in the series that I really got into and it will be nice to experience that again. Last but not least Microsoft unveiled the Holo-lens. The idea sounds cool, I mean come on its hologram, however the idea sounds gimmicky to hardcore gamers much like the Kinect. Of course I also question the functionality of this thing and I'm curious as to how much it costs. Overall though I thought Microsoft did a pretty good job, I'd rate the conference as a solid B+.

-DJ

Electronic Arts

No better way to start of a press conference than with some Johnny Cash and a new Mass Effect title. Despite the fumbles of Mass Effect 3, I am still curious to see where Bioware takes us on this journey to the Andromeda galaxy in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Also from Bioware, another expansion was announced for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I'm not familiar with how the game is doing at the present time but surely Knights of the Fallen Empire will drum up more interest in the MMO. Unravel was a nice little gem that we got to see from the press conference. The game resembles some visual and adorable elements from Yoshi's Wooly World and maybe a hint of some Bionic Commando platforming. Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 was unveiled, this time rather than just PVP there will be 4 player coop featuring new classes where the zombies fight off the garden horde, reminiscent to Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. I didn't play the first one but I'll assume that if you liked the first one or perhaps you're a fan of ME3's multiplayer than this was a nice treat.

Like every year it seems like we can't get through an EA press conference without long boring intervals of sports games. I'm not a fan, if you like Soccer, Hockey, Basketball etc. then you are getting more of the same. Moving on, Mirrors Edge: Catalyst looked phenomenal. The idea too that this will be a more free roaming game rather than the linear story missions from the first one. The game promises more fluidity, better combat, no loading screens and a more in depth story. Fluidity and weird controls were my biggest complaint on the first one so I'm glad to see that they are working on that. Lastly the cream of the crop, Star Wars: Battlefront. I was truly worried about this one considering that Battlefield developer Dice was taking over. My fears that this would be a re- skinned Battlefield game have been crushed. The game looks fun and it brings back all the great things that I remember about Battlefield 1 and 2. The game will feature 1st or 3rd person combat, vehicles and the return of hero characters like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Now, whether the game is actually polished at release remains to be seen. I don't trust EA after their previous efforts, or lack thereof, to make sure that the game is functional at release.

The press conference had some great highlights but seriously, can we ditch the overhype of sports games and the appearance on Pele was a nice gesture but it dragged on waaaaay too long for my taste. Games are key here, it's E3 so stick to it. C+

-DJ

Ubisoft

Ubisoft came up to bat with the usual suspects, but also a few curve balls that I wasn't expecting to see this E3. So let's start things off by going over the new information for previously announced games. Just Dance 2016 will have some form of subscription streaming service....moving on. Assassin's Creed Syndicate had a new cinematic trailer revealed, gang violence in industrial revolution era England shown off (insert Peaky Blinders reference here). The Tom Clancy IPs were represented with The Division's PvP feature called Dark Zone featured players working together, or betraying each other for loot (which looks interesting to me), and Rainbow Six Siege showing off a new trailer and a co-op game play demo. Siege's beta is coming in September. Trials Fusion announces a level expansion pack called Awesome Level Max which features new editable levels and track items to come out in July. Oh, and also The Crew is getting an expansion pack in November.

As far as new things go, two specific games really caught my attention. South Park: The Fractured But Whole was announced as a follow up to Stick of Truth, looking to be more super hero based in the trailer that was shown. For Honor is a medieval sword fighting game, looking like a combination of Chivalry and Dynasty Warriors as they showed off a 4 vs 4 match up after the trailer. Also up my alley was Anno 2205, a city building game which lets you start colonizing other planets.

Then there was Trackmania Turbo which sported a way to procedurally generate tracks. Finally, another Tom Clancy game, Ghost Recon: Wild Lands was announced as a massive open world shooter pitting your team against drug cartels. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty decent event, but Ubisoft is going to have to really wow me if they want to mend the broken faith of gamers for their past few screw ups...I'm looking at you AC: Unity.

-Trey

Sony

A feather falls lazily through the air accompanied only by a crack of light and a dark backdrop gently gliding past a feathered body impaled with spears. Then the darkness breaks and shows a boy… a boy and his giant griffin-like friend. It was then that any contemplation and mystery was dispatched to an excited feeling. The Last Guardian had finally found its way back to E3. This game had all but become as much a fairy tale as games like Half-Life 3, Beyond Good & Evil 2 to name a few.

And that was how Sony started their keynote. This alone would have propelled their conference to brief internet fame. But they also dropped two more bombs, The long awaited remake to a prolific game, Final Fantasy 7, was announced. While the popularity of this entry in the Final Fantasy franchise is controversial among fans, it was a long time coming and many considered it to be a sort of ‘emergency-button’ when the company needed to inject some financial life-blood into its veins. This entry into the series has old and young fans alike as Square has iterated on it with several spin offs, thusly keeping it fresh in the minds of gamers.

And lastly, the third in the hat-trick of reveals was when the announcement of Shenmue 3 was made. While many younger players may not know much about the Shenmue series, it still rests in the hearts of those who played it on the Sega Dreamcast and its sequel on the original Xbox. This game was the largest surprise of the three, firstly since the game had never appeared on a Sony platform and secondly because there was never really a question of the sequel ever being made. It had found itself in the tragic grip of nostalgia and hopelessness.

That’s not to say that these were the only meaningful announcements that Sony made during its almost 2-hour long conference. Many new games, reboots and exclusives were announced throughout. But it is certainly difficult to be remembered, what with these three fantastic announcements sprinkled throughout the show that could single-handedly ‘win’ a show by themselves.

Sony’s conference focused almost entirely on games, as has been their edict for the past few years and just like each of those presentations, they certainly delivered. Though there was a noticeable lack of PSVita.

-Miguel

Nintendo

As far as interesting approaches to the E3 showfloor this year, you have to give Nintendo some credit for mixing things up a bit.  The revival of the Nintendo World Championship was surprising and oddly crowd pleasing, drumming up speed run competitions of old classics, as well as a great opportunity to show off some of the craziness that is Super Mario Maker.  Couple this with some day and date releases of massive DLC content for Smash Bros., and you've got some notable goodwill leading in strong to the pre-E3 stage.

Following up Bethesda, Microsoft and Sony this year was not an enviable task however.  While Nintendo's live event was exceptionally adorable with muppet versions of the big 3 from Nintendo, the game and service announcements ended up being pretty minor.  A showcase for Starfox Zero largely overshadowed a new multiplayer Zelda, more Amiibo shenanigans, and minor Metroid and Tennis announcements.  Still, hearing developer thought processes and getting a wide variety of gameplay footage made for a feel-good presentation.  Also the pacing was very very good, so kudos to this presentation.

-Kevin

Square Enix

Square Enix’s E3 Conference was almost the opposite of Nintendo’s and it was all the worse for it. While they did plenty of announcements, it was just boring. The speakers were far too formal and the general feel of the conference felt like it was treading the line between a gaming conference and business report.

Just Cause 3, Nier (2?), Tomb Raider, Lara Croft Go, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Dragon Quest Heroes, Life is Strange, Final Fantasy 7’s Remake, Final Fantasy 7 HD on iOS, Kingdom Hearts Unchained Chi, Kingdom Hearts 3, World of Final Fantasy, Hitman, Hitman Sniper, Triad Wars, Final Fantasy XV, Star Ocean 6, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and a new IP ‘Project Setsuna’.

So Square wasn’t lacking for games or announcements. I guess it would have been more exciting if Final Fantasy 7 debuted on their stage instead of that of Sony.

-Miguel

PC

Easily the biggest wildcard for the show this year, AMD and PC Gamer's sponsored panel managed to play out more like a late-night talk show than your typical press conference.  Getting Sean "Day9" Plott to host said show was a stroke of genius, all things considered:  He's a super-likable guy who has had his share of live event coverage, and it goes to show.  He managed to ask some good questions to his guests and handled technical difficulties like a champ.  His casual demeanor was also a good match for a later sort of show to boot.  If this continues to be a thing, make sure to bring him back for it.

But if the PC show wants to see future iterations, there are some aspects that need tightening up.  To start with, it's just too damn long, especially for something being hosted at the end of a day at E3.  They needed to either cut down on some of the guests, cut down on the time they had talking to them, or cut out some of the egregious marketing at hand.  I get that AMD has a vested interest in showing off the new hotness that are their graphic cards, but it's hard to get excited about processors and clock speeds on stage, especially if you're not going to give me a price breakdown.

The announcement side was also pretty tepid.  Some niche fanbases are going to get a kick out of American Truck Simulator, Planet Coaster and a new Arma III map, but these look like drops in the bucket when you look at the other panels.  For my money, only Blizzard really felt like they brought their A-game on stage, showing off some Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm content that would all actually be out this year.  It was also interesting to hear about some of the cross-platform synergy Microsoft hopes to pull off with Windows 10 and Xbox One, outside of that however, the night was kind of a yawnfest.  It's a shame really, I had hopes for a PC show, so here's hoping we can see some improvements for next year.

-Kevin