Next week, major games publishers converge to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the most anticipated gaming convention in the world: the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3. This post will highlight some of the more interesting ‘storyline’ running up towards the first conference on 11 June.
Microsoft Moves Conference Date and Booth Venue.
For some, this doesn’t seem significant. “So what MS does something different this year,” you may ask. But bear in mind that they have an Ace in The Hole for this year’s E3 in the form of Project Scorpio. The 4k UHD console is stated to be formally reveal in their E3 press conference on the day after EA Play, so expect to see the console itself, its spec and price being shown,as well games showcasing the Scorpio’s power. And to keep tight secrecy from their rivals (i.e. Sony and Nintendo), they have moved to a completely different hall that’s just in front of the entrance hall. How nice of them.
What Can Sony Bring To Its E3 Conference This Year?
Sony without their main rival to accompany them this year has bought out a bigger hall space to cater for the possibility of more games being there. And at the time of writing, they’re painting the LA billboards with God of War advertisements, so presumably a Summer/Holiday release will be announced at their conference. Day’s Gone, you know that interesting zombie horde mower gameplay we saw before the end of last year’s conference, may get more screen time this year, as well as David Cage’s Detroit Becoming Human. Oh yeah, The Last of Us Part 2 was announced late last year, so we might see another trailer, hopefully.
And what about Death Stranding, you say? Who knows. Although, Sony does love their surprises, so expect to be pleasantly surprised.
Can Nintendo Capitalize With The Switch?
After a much needed revival for the Kyoto-based company after the disappointment of the Wii U, Nintendo will be doing a “Nintendo Spotlight: E3 2017” Direct with a Treehouse Live@E3 stream right after, as they had done so in the past.
Expect the likes of Monster Hunter XX and Lost Sphear being announced during the direct as well as gameplay footage for Fire Emblem Warriors, Super Mario Odyssey and maybe the release date for some of them as well. The rumor mill for this one is quite substantial as well, ranging from a Switch edition of Pokemon Sun/Moon, that strange Mario and Rabbids RPG to a Switch port of Super Smash Brothers. So if Nintendo can play their cards right, maybe they can attract more players onto the Switch.
What about the Rest?
EA will kick things off at E3 with their EA Play event on Sunday. Expect FiFA, NFL and more sports game being shown there along with a gameplay trailer of Star Wars Battlefront 2 , Need For Speed Payback and maybe even Bioware’s new IP. Then on Monday, we’ll see the latest offering from Bethesda. They have been solid during their last two events, so expect great things from Beth.
Ubisoft has a good lineup of games wanting to be shown gameplay at Ubi@E3 with the likes of Far Cry 5 , AC Origins and The Crew 2 along with the their list of unannounced games bound to be shown there and it sounds promising for the French developer. But if that’s not your thing, then we have PC Gaming Show for you, showcasing upcoming PC games and Indies titles that may cater to everyone, which is good for a showcase that’s in their third year.
And out of nowhere, Indie pubishers Devolver Digital has announced a ‘press conference’ for fun on their twitch channel on the same day as Bethesda and in their words,”enjoy the inevitable train wreck”. So that might be fun as most of Devolver’s release are quite soild on it’s own.
Conclusion
Though it’s seems to be a smaller affair compare to last year with the new public access of E3 2017, the hype for new games to be shown or reveal never seems to die down, so get ready for three filled days of news, shocks and utter disbelieve during the event that seems to be amaze everyone year after year.