Microsoft rolled into E3 with the very clear mindset to steal the show. They rolled out tech, games, promises and sports cars in a flashy showcase that is sure to appease Xbox fans. They had some incredible things here today, thankfully, because for all the glitz and glamour and mind blowing reveals, how was I so bored? While I was floored by several of the reveals there just wasn’t any spark and even the crowd seemed mildly disinterested (at least from where I was sitting). There was also some pretty suspicious wording that went on throughout…
Putting my ADHD aside, let’s look at the good that came out of today. Halo 5 and Gears of War assaulted the screen with some intense and spectacular footage. Fallout 4 received some extended time on screen that made me quiver in anticipation. Recore looked interesting and the Rare package was amazing! Gears Remastered was a terribly held secret but still was a great lead in for Gears 4. Tomb Raider looked very pretty, if not EXTREMELY similar to the first game. I also can’t give Crystal Dynamics any more praise due to the ‘timed exclusive’ debacle.
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“Bethesda revealed that you’re going to be able to use mods on the Xbox version of everyone’s soon-to-be favourite post-apocalyptic RPG. That’s a HUGE step and one that I don’t think is being fully appreciated.”
Speaking of exclusives, I was genuinely surprised how often I heard that today. Microsoft is throwing down hard to make the Xbox One the premiere system and the turnaround in the console sales race is showing that customers are responding. It’s hard to say no when there is so much coming strictly to the Xbox One. PS4 owners have to feel like they are missing out.
There was also a couple of big tech reveals that blew minds. The first one literally turned the crowd into a frenzy as dudes were yelling out in excitement as backwards compatibility was announced. This is pretty amazing. I know that some people have become accustomed to the new gen and don’t much care to revisit aging games, but I love to play my old games. So the possibility to not have to switch back and forth between systems and get an additional bit of a power boost to a game I want to go back to (Skyrim, I’m looking at you) is pretty great.
There was also the Fallout 4 announcement that seems to have flown under the radar. Bethesda revealed that you’re going to be able to use mods on the Xbox version of everyone’s soon-to-be favourite post-apocalyptic RPG. That’s a HUGE step and one that I don’t think is being fully appreciated.
But let’s be serious here. That Hololens Minecraft showcase was stupid. It was stupid how much I lost my mind when I saw that shit (again, not supposed to curse, but did you see that?!). I’m going to have to turn some tricks this summer for some extra coin, because I need that in my life. Some people use ‘need’ flippantly, but I mean it. Food is now a secondary goal for me. Let’s get that on the market and into my home ASAP guys.
But, sadly, there was also some bad that came along with the good. Spending that much time on your ‘new’ controller was silly. Oh, you’ve caught up to everyone else? Great. Thanks for 5 minutes of telling us that. There was also a sad amount of repetition from last year. I know that putting together an extravaganza this size every year must be difficult, but the ID@XBox section of the show was almost identical to last years. If they are working with ‘a thousand’ different creative developers, shouldn’t you have more than 5 games in 2 years?
Also, Ubisoft has a long, hard road ahead of itself to get back into my good books after last year’s hilarious train wreck and bringing the EXACT same footage to E3 AGAIN wasn’t a good start. Yeah, The Division looks cool, but it’s also looked cool for the 3 years they’ve been talking about it. And yeah, Siege looked pretty great, but it looked just as great last year when I saw almost the exact same footage. Talk about deja vu!
There was also a troubling amount to talk about Windows 10. Sure, synergy, cross platform compatibility, blah blah blah, but I thought we were talking about the gaming console that you put together a pretty spectacular show to sell more of. How much of an impact will Windows 10 make on your Xbox? How many cool new things did they just announce that you won’t be able to use without Windows 10? Are they going to try to make people get a Windows phone (dear god no…)? I’m all for new technology to make my gaming better (see the Hololens part), but I’m also concerned when 90% of what was revealed had ‘Windows 10’ also attached to it.
Did Microsoft steal the show today? Not at all but they did a pretty decent job. But as I said above, should I have really been as bored as I was with how many great reveals came out? Maybe I am being a little harder on Microsoft than I should be or maybe Bethesda’s showcase has stolen a bit of the limelight. Regardless, the amount of cool stuff I was shown today made me sit up and take notice. Microsoft may have not won E3 with their presentation, but they may have swayed many. Somehow, I think Microsoft will be happy with today’s presentation.