Welcome to the first actual day of E3 2015! Unlike the battlefield that was Day Zero, today was a little more chilled. Despite this, things still happened. Some of them were great. Some of them were not.
Today’s events included press conferences from Nintendo and Square Enix, along with the first (and maybe last) dedicated show for PC gaming. It’s also the first day we were able to hit the floor, play some games and ask some questions, so you’ll find highlights and lowlights from all those things below.
LOSERS
PC GAMING SHOW – It sounded so good in theory! Give the PC, normally a neglected platform at the big show, an E3 platform of its own. In execution, though, maybe there’s a reason it’s left in the dark for the week. Despite the best efforts of the show’s host, the ever-loveable Day9, this show was a snoozefest. Interviews were awkward, footage was often underwhelming and the brand intrusion from AMD was a bit much, even within the context of E3.
Don’t get me wrong, there were cool games on show here. This just wasn’t the way to show them off.
NINTENDO – I know, there’s a reason Nintendo’s E3 shows are often a letdown. There are Nintendo Directs for the good stuff. But still! Even taking that into account, today’s showing was bleak.
And what the hell is up with that Metroid game?
PERSONA 5 – Persona, I love you. I love you so much that a new Persona 5 trailer was literally the one and only thing I was genuinely looking forward to from this E3. Instead, we got the same trailer we saw a few months back. It was even still in Japanese. This game is supposed to be out in a few months! Super disappointing.
WINNERS
HOLOLENS – Oculus Rift still gets all the headlines, but Microsoft’s own VR offering (well, technically it’s Augmented Reality, not Virtual Reality) is quietly winning people over. Super-impressive Minecraft and Halo demos will do that for ya. Provided they don’t glitch out (which the Halo one did while Stephen was playing).
GENEI IBUN ROKU – Aka Shin Megami vs Fire Emblem. Just look at this fucking trailer.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND (THESE PUPPETS) – OK, so not all of Nintendo’s show was a disappointment. These puppets will, Act of God/Crusader Kings III reveal aside, end up being my favourite thing about this year’s E3. I would buy a plush Iwata over an Amiibo any day of the week.
KINGDOM HEARTS III – I can’t stand Kingdom Hearts, but I am assured by my colleagues that this trailer was very much a winner.
DEUS EX: INVISIBLE WAR – I can very much stand Deus Ex, and I can assure you this trailer was a winner.
PLANET COASTER – Well, this looks like something millions of people around the world might slowly and quietly grow to love. Guess the PC show wasn’t a complete write-off.
And that’s it! Know that if a game/trailer/piece of news isn’t here, that’s because it was found to be palatable/acceptable/inoffensive. Join us tomorrow for more freshly-baked hot takes.
Comments
15 responses to “E3 2015 Winners & Losers: Day One”
DEUS EX: INVISIBLE WAR?
PC game show was boring af. This is the supposed master race?
I would add No Man’s Sky to the Losers list since they still haven’t mentioned what you will actually be doing in the game besides visit a planet for 2 seconds.
wait, they remaking or they got the name wrong?
the got the name wrong
I think No Man’s Sky is going to be a massive let down –
@ 5:03 He pretty much just talks about finding and naming things… he dodges combat questions on combat with other players…
I really hope its not a let down, but I feel the hype train for this is flying head on with the disappointment wall.
Unless there is a mechanism to help players locate other players, it is supremely unlikely that you’d ever run into another player, just based on random chance. If I were the developer, I’d put in some hubs or at least server-based ‘events’ that could draw people into proximity with each other.
Perhaps the author’s from a glorious mirror universe where Invisible War never happened and this is the third Deus Ex game?
Nintendo’s one really was a let down i think apart from a few games like zelda.
Hahahaha, invisible war! :p
can one of the losers be the people who went to change.org to do a petition asking Nintendo to scrub the new metroid game cause they didnt think it should be a Metroid game? sick of entitled people…..
Maybe you should start a change.org petition to get that added to the article?
After what I saw at the Nintendo event I just feel like Nintendo and I need to talk about our relationship.
Agreed. I am steadily losing faith in everything Nintendo. That Metroid announcement was so underwhelming I nearly cried. I’m sure they are pushing everything back for the new console, but FFS, throw us a bone you bastards!
The only thing that comes to my mind when thinking about the Nintendo conference was the Ubisoft conference where they went on about listening to fans and taking on board what they say. Nintendo evidently don’t share the same philosophy.
Couldn’t just say you weren’t a fan of it, can’t stand is a bit harsh for the best game of every year
Microsoft’s conference was probably the winner overall. I know there’s a niche group of hardcore gamers that tried to make The Last Guardian and Shenmue 3 a big deal, but seriously, Shenmue is a game that won’t sell well, hence why the series was all but dead and the Last Guardian looked atrocious. PS3 level visuals and janky gameplay.
Microsoft’s show was definitely on the safe side, but what they showed looked legitimately good and will most likely be stuff that actually sells units.