All eyes will be on the Los Angeles Convention Center come the week of June 12 for the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Serving as the biggest video game event of the year, E3 is the place for major announcements, stunning reveals, stock-altering defeats. Be it good or bad, E3 is an exciting five day glimpse into the future of the industry — a glimpse that will hopefully answer some burning questions gamers have.</p>
Will all the new console rumours come to fruition?
PlayStation 4 Neo this. Xbox 1.1 that. Ever since the year changed from 2015 to 2016, it seems that all the gaming media can talk about are these supposed “new” systems and it is driving me bonkers.
It has only been two and a half years since the PS4 and Xbox One launched. TWO AND A HALF YEARS DAMMIT! Why in the bluest of blue hells do we need brand new systems now?
In all seriousness, this generation is in its infant years. The first year was wasted on ironing out all the kinks in the armour as the true next generation titles have only started to roll out about a year ago.
Thinking about this logistically, releasing “more powerful” PS4s and Xbox Ones is just counterintuitive. It alienates adopters of the original system and confuses those interested in making the jump to the current generation. Plus, developers can get a lot more out of these systems before any sort of upgrade is needed. In fact, Sony gave developers access to the PS4’s seventh processor a few months back.
In my honest opinion, the best possible solution is to release slimmer, sleeker, and cheaper versions of the PS4 and Xbox One. The other, scarier option just gives me bad flashbacks when Sony and Microsoft tried to artificially extend the PS3 and 360’s life cycles with forced and broken motion controls.
Can Nintendo survive with only Zelda Wii U at the show?
Nintendo’s relationship with E3 has been complicated these past few years. Moving away from the traditional press conference, Nintendo has tried their hands at multiple different approaches with varying levels of success. But out of everything they’ve done, this year’s plan is the strangest.
Nintendo will be dedicating their entire booth and presence at the show to The Legend of Zelda for Wii U. No other Nintendo title will be on the show floor unless Nintendo is holding back some big surprises – but that is highly unlikely.
On one hand, it shows how confident the Big N is in The Legend of Zelda as they’re betting their entire E3 performance on it. On the other hand, it feels like a silent admission that there isn’t much coming from Nintendo this fall outside of Pokemon Sun & Moon, Yo-Kai Watch 2, and Paper Mario: Color Splash.
It’s a risky decision that I hope pays off for Nintendo. There’s just a part of me that feels one game isn’t enough to impress at E3.
Will Microsoft finally act upon their E3 promises?
Fool me once Microsoft, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Last year, Microsoft came out with a slew of first-party titles and initiatives that seemed to move them in the right direction. Funnily enough, they couldn’t follow up on most of them and we’re going into this conference asking when are we ever going to get the titles Microsoft promised.
Microsoft, it’s nice to show your commitment to steering the ship in the right direction, but you have to act on it. To go months to a year without even a mention of the titles you’ve teased your consumers with for years on end will just lead to frustration.
At the moment, there are only two Xbox One exclusives coming out in 2016 — the recently released Quantum Break and Gears of War 4. That isn’t good. While Microsoft might be trying to offset this by opening up backwards compatibility to more 360 titles, backwards compatibility doesn’t sell consoles alone.
It’s time for Microsoft to get their act together because their audience isn’t going to be fooled again.
