Whenever I’ve interviewed a games industry executive over the past few months, I’ve asked them what single thing will revolutionise video games in the next five years.

The annual ritual is almost upon us: waking up at ungodly hours, rugging up in a blanket and slamming several coffees until the hype kicks in. Welcome to E3 2018.

So EA kicked off the long weekend, and now it's Microsoft's turn. Are you ready for almost two hours of trailers and announcements? Let's begin.

It's not the loot boxes that bummed me out about October's Shadow of War. When playing the game, you can easily ignore them. I had a harder time ignoring the game's bummer mood, ugly scenery, trite and tedious quests and mechanical messiness. I liked its predecessor. I wanted to like this game. I bailed halfway but recently tried the game's expansion.

With Black Friday fast approaching, the pre-Christmas sales are ramping up. Microsoft have unleashed their Black Friday specials early this year for Xbox Live Gold users.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite releases today and has a sizable collector's edition. The package includes a number of goodies, including statues and replicas, but some fans are rethinking the $299.95 price point after seeing early images of its questionable Infinity Stones.

"More is more" must be the mantra of the makers of The Division, Ubisoft's fun but flawed post-disaster shooter that has somehow not collapsed beneath the weight of the latest mound of content added to it.

It looks like Microsoft will get some extra marketing mileage out of Project Scorpio, the codename for the Xbox One X. Leaked images purportedly show the gruntier build of Microsoft's console will have a limited release form, called the "Project Scorpio Edition".

At E3 in Los Angeles last month, there were several obvious points of distinction between Assassin's Creed Origins and the 10 or so major Assassin's Creed games before it. It will be the first AC in ancient Egypt. The first with stargazing puzzles and swimming hippos. One thing I heard about but didn't see, however, seems the most franchise-shaking.

A few years ago, Kotaku introduced online nicknames for Japanese fans of the three gaming platforms. Now, let's take a look at monikers given to Korean fans of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Project Scorpio will be a major drawcard at this year's E3. And we'll no doubt hear more about the raw hardware, all the games it can play at 4K, and how nice HDR makes everything look. But there's one thing I badly want Microsoft to do with Project Scorpio, and it's a lesson they can learn from Sony.

Ghost Recon Wildlands seems innocuous at first glance. It is a passable open world shooter where cooperative play leads to exciting gunfights and silly vehicle stunts. But Wildland's core is far more insipid. It is propaganda. It is jingoism made playable, perpetuating the failed logic that all it takes to solve the world's woes is enough ammo.

I've been sneaking and shooting my way through Resident Evil 7 for the last day and loving it. It's a big breath of fresh air that's pretty damn terrifying. Here are some early thoughts on what works and what doesn't.

Titanfall's official Twitter account is taking a rather active approach to their marketing. The account is messaging users who make the smallest mention of wanting to play a new game.

Innovation is like a game of telephone. Someone creates a message, but as it spreads, it loses its meaning. Lessons that seemed clear back in the first-person shooter's formative years became taken for granted and eventually forgotten. Shooters today are all about weapon limits, level design set pieces and regenerating health. Doom's return in 2016 was like finally hearing those original lessons with startling clarity. Its immaculate design is a defiant reminder of the strength of classic shooter design.

Dirty Worka and Carbine King - not their real names, as you may have guessed - are two Grand Theft Auto Online players who clash about one important thing. Dirty Worka hates the rampant cheating in the game. Carbine King is a boastful cheater. Despite this, they're friends and sometimes play against each other.

I had read our positive review of the 2015 Xbox One version of the game. I'd seen colleagues say it was one of the best things on that console. But I really had no idea how good Rise of the Tomb Raider was until I finally played it the PS4 version last month.

Dishonored 2 lives and dies by its level design. Tricky guard patrols and magical abilities don't mean much without a good playground to sneak around in. Luckily, the game has one of the best levels in recent memory: The transforming Clockwork Mansion.

The $US15 "Survival" expansion to 2016's second most-intense emotional rollercoaster, The Division, seems to be a very good addition to the game. Emphasis on "seems to be," because I can only extend so much praise to a clever but brutal game mode that keeps killing me.