There’s really nothing else quite like E3. Sure, Comic Con and South By Southwest’s announcements might have more mainstream appeal. But for video game fans, E3 is a three day holiday of back to back surprises and reveals.. It’s where hopes are realized or dashed, billion dollar company’s stock prices fluctuate, and where gratuitous violence and adorable cartoon characters co-exists without question. Every year, thousands of publishers, developers, journalists, and more than a few less qualified attendees descend upon the LA Convention Center for video game’s State of the Union.
While it’s easy to view the Electronic Entertainment Expo as a celebration of consumerism, E3 houses the passion of creators and fans for this unique interactive medium. This year showcased exactly what makes E3 special. A number of shocking unveilings that lit social media ablaze, and confirmation that already announced titles are still on track. With so many memorable moments, it’s almost unfair to limit this list to five. But hey, that’s what the comments section is for.
Here Is The Best Of E3 2015.
Indie Games
Ever increasing in their popularity, indie games have become a staple of E3 press conferences in the past few years. This year continued to the trend with a surprising number of titles unveiled in lieu of traditional blockbuster games. Often criticized for their reliance on established franchises, Electronic Arts introduced the world to Yarny. A charming puzzle-platformer starring a tiny cat made of yarn. Watching the fuzzy feline running from a ferocious gerbil was an excellent palate cleanser for earth shattering explosions, which immediately resumed after Yarny’s debut.
If last year’s Microsoft press conference was an attempt in regaining ground in the indie space, 2015 is the year they surpassed the competition. The ID@Xbox initiative has proven fruitful, with a plethora of new and exciting independent titles arriving first on the Microsoft machine. Tiger and Squid’s Beyond Eyes impressed many with it’s watercolor style graphics and blind 10 year old protagonist. This was followed up by the return of Cuphead, a game resembling the animation of a late 1920’s cartoon. While the concept sounds simple enough, the gorgeous visuals and unique humor must be seen to be appreciated. And that’s really what made the independent games of E3 2015 so special and necessary. While the graphics of larger titles improve between the years, it’s hard to be surprised. Thankfully, that’s exactly where the indie games excelled.
Fallout 4
Yes, we all knew Fallout 4 would be the main focus of the Bethesda press conference, but many questions still lingered. Would we see gameplay? Would a release date be announced? The answers were a very loud and very long yes. Rather than following the pre-release tradition of monthly trailers, Bethesda unleashed a barrage of details over the course of 2 days. Pick your own gender, ethnicity, and look? Yup. Build your own town and defend it from bandit attacks? You betcha. A highly detailed crafting system based around found objects? It’s in there. Playable user created PC mods coming to Xbox One? Um, wow. Really?
The VATS System and signature post apocalyptic world all made a return, but it was the addition of customizable systems that truly turned heads. Rather than accumulating a hodgepodge of useless knick knacks to later be sold for $1 apiece, players will be able to enhance their armor and weapons with a little elbow grease and a work bench. The world is still open to explore, but the ability to create and design your own home from the ground up is almost too good to pass up. It certainly looks like the follow up that fans have been anxiously awaiting for the past 7 years, yet so much more than anyone could have expected.
Xbox One Backwards Compatibility
For the cynical, re-releases and remasters of last generation’s games have been a sort of “nickle and diming” An easy source a revenue for publishers to resell their recent titles for a second time. Who would have ever expected that backwards compatibility would come to a current generation console nearly two years after it’s release. Not many, but that’s exactly what Microsoft did. While the list of approved games is still limited, Microsoft promised to work with publishers to bring many of the Xbox 360’s popular titles to the Xbox One within the next year. Better yet, Microsoft announced that any cloud saves from your Xbox 360 can be transferred as well.
The news is all the more surprising when you consider the Xbox One’s rumored 2013 policies. At the time, it was believe the Xbox One would charge players to play used games, essentially destroying the used games market. Flash forward two years later and Microsoft is encouraging their users to dig up old copies of Mass Effect and Perfect Dark Zero. With improved stability and framerates, backwards compatibility is not only a consumer friendly addition to the Xbox One, it’s the best way to experience your Xbox 360 back catalogue.
Virtual Reality
What a difference a year makes. While Virtual Reality has certainly become an important topic in games culture, it’s appearances at E3 were almost non existent until 2015. Receiving numerous name drops throughout every press conference (except Nintendo), VR became a large portion of E3’s narrative. Oculus held their first press conference prior to the show, revealing their consumer model of the upcoming Oculus Rift headset. Also unveiled were the exciting new Half Moon prototype controllers. These motion tracking devices not only provided the traditional triggers and buttons required for gameplay, but also sensors capable of reading simple hand gestures. Closed door demos resulted in overwhelming positive reviews and stories that sound almost too good to be true.
Microsoft also surprised VR enthusiasts by announcing Xbox One controllers would be included with every Oculus Rift, as well as full Windows 10 support for the headset. They also quickly referenced a working relationship with Valve’s VIVE, though the details were sparse. Perhaps the most exciting section of the Microsoft conference was their live demo of Hololens, an Augmented Reality device that interacts with the real world. A man played Minecraft on a wall before creating a full blown hologram of his game on a nearby table. He stuck his head through a caste to inspect the interior before blowing up a case of TNT simply by looking at it and verbalizing his intention. While it’s still uncertain if the market will embrace this new technology, developers, publishers, and journalists have delivered a strong endorsement.
Real Surprises
It’s almost impossible to express the shocking revelations that came from Sony’s 2015 E3 press conference. Shenmue 3, The Last Guardian, and a Final Fantasy 7 remake aren’t suppose to exist, let alone in the same hour and a half presentation. For nearly a decade, these concepts have been the subjects of jokes and wishlists. Don’t get your hopes up. They’re not going to happen.
But when Sony opened up their show with a full scale gameplay demo of The Last Guardian, a game that hasn’t been seen or heard from since 2009, snarky comments turned to disbelief. Soon after, Square Enix revealed their most popular entry in the Final Fantasy series would finally received a remake, years after the company had dismissed the project for being too time consuming. This was topped off by the announcement of Shenmue 3, a series that has laid dormant for 14 years despite a passionate fanbase pleading for a conclusion.
Either you get it or you don’t. This is the impossible dream. A selection of titles that have been pined for and discussed for years despite the common knowledge they would never be released. For nearly 10 years, E3 has impressed and exhilarated audiences. But it’s also disappointed. Many have aged out of optimism regarding the video game industry and accepted the reality of data driven business models. This year changed that. The impossible is possible. Dreams do come true. Have hope.
Now where’s Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Half Life 3?
