Topic: E3 2018

Not been blown away by E3 so far. Think I’m suffering from a case of sequelitis.
Some of the games announced so far look good, but they don’t really excite me- they’re just a thing & they’re coming.

I’m looking forward to Starfield & ES6, but they’re next gen games.

I’m hoping Square & Ubi hit home runs, as I think Sony & Nintendo will have very ‘safe’ shows (nothing unexpected).

@Fight_Teza_Fight Same here. Only thing I was impressed by so far was Cyberpunk 2077's trailer. To be honest, the previous teaser didn't do much for me. Still would like to see some gameplay, though.

@WanderingBullet By the sounds of it, Cyberpunk is still ways off. Probably next gen too.

@WanderingBullet I really expected much more from the Cyberpunk trailer. After all the hype, build up & time I expected some gameplay.
I don’t feel like I know any more about the game.

OK, so I was just too tired to stay up for Bethesda, but my thoughts on that and MS:

MS - A good show, certainly very few lulls and they had spent a fair penny on it. MS got across quite well that it is heavily investing in the future, which is what everyone has said they want to see, which from a competition side is good for the industry, we hope, as more investment is good and I think it means they are going to come out guns blazing next gen and Sony will have to pull out all the stops to keep on top. For consumers, all good. That said, I feel a trick was missed with them not outlining their strategy. They mentioned working on the next gen but where does that leave the X? Are they going iterative, or will there be a whole new generation? I think if they had outlined that, particularly if their strategy is iterative then it would have really placed them on a clear path. Other than that, for exclusives - well, Ori interested me. Everything else is largely multiplat and would have been on it anyway.

Bethesda - Underwhelmed, I thought they would have one last massive this gen reveal other than Fallout 76. Everything else was just a bit vague. Oh and their Skyrim fridge joke ruined a sketch I was putting into my next podcast so, thanks for that. Anyway, not sure about Fallout 76.

@Octane Really? Oh, well... :/

I never understand anyone that gets excited by a CGI trailer or even one that uses in game graphics.

Sekiro is a day one for me. I can see some people that played Nioh being put off as it is based in the same era. But I've not played Nioh and probs never will.

Sea of Solitude looked good, reminds me of a Team Ico (yes i know they are not called that anymore) game and Rime.

Metro i was impressed by. I really need to play the first two games which i own. Next feb and march is already looking stacked.

Everything else I've seen looked only ok? Devil May Cry looked awful. Halo 6 looked a long long way off. MS seem to be gearing up for next gen with the acquisition of the new studios. And they are still over reliant on there tried and trusted franchises. Fallout 76 i have zero interest in being mainly an online game and building, which was the worst thing from Fallout 4.

@Rudy_Manchego I kind of agree about MS and their 'long' term plans BUT I do think they have intimated what they intend to do in previous years. Unless things have changed, they stated that they wanted your games to move with you - regardless of the 'generation' of hardware you play on. In other words, the X2 will still play X1 games and probably better than they play on Current hardware - thanks to the fact that a lot of games run with dynamic resolution and frame rates.

What I see happening is that the Slim/OG Xbox getting phased out when the 'next' console releases with the 'X' becoming the 'base' model. Unless some games really require a decent CPU for AI, Physics etc then I can see the X running the same games at a lower standard - both in terms of visuals and performance. Its possible that the next box will have some 'unique' software - probably later on down the line and I wouldn't be surprised if the X has some software the OG/S XB1 won't run either. There is such a big difference between the base and X consoles that will mean the life span of the two should be vastly different - even within their 'remit'. With the PS4 and Pro being much closer, if a game can't run on a PS4 at 720/30, then it won't run at 1080/30 on a Pro - the 'minimum' level of each. A game that is struggling to run at 720/30 on a XB1 should run at 1440+/30 on an X. Even if the XB1 had to drop to 540p, the X could still offer UHD (over 1080p) resolutions - depending of course on where the big issues are of course - after all CPU's are not that different. Point is, the XB1 is going to reach its 'breaking' point sooner - but MS don't have a track record of 'long term' support after a 'new' generation launches like Sony do.

I know this is speculation but there have been snippets of information given out over the past few years that have formed the basis of this. It would be quite bad to abandon the X just because they built such a 'weak' base console that reaches its limits much sooner.

I know that 'resolution/visuals' doesn't necessarily matter, but if you are having to scale those down so much just to get a reasonable and playable frame-rates, then you know the console is on its way out. I do think there is a certain level of acceptability and in the case of the current Gen, and the minimum would have to be HD 720p and 30fps. If the the combination of CPU and GPU cannot deliver this, then its time to move on. The fact we have basically reached the 5yr mark is still exceptional - probably helped by the Pro/X but then the rise of 4k TV's and VR also had an impact. If we do get 'next' gen in 2019, it will still be the 2nd longest generation in history - and this generation has seen much greater advances in display technology. The PS3/XB360 were built for HD and lasted through the HD era but the current gen were built for HD but 4k, HDR and VR have since released. Would the PS3/360 lasted as long if the were built for SD and then a year later, HD came along? I doubt it...

What is good though is that MS are committing to the future - not just in terms of building up studio's and increasing their output of software BUT that they are also committing to the future of the Xbox console too. They could very easily of just decided to stop making the console and just make software or sell off their Xbox division. After all they have a massive PC install base.

As I have said many times, the 'Best' and 'winner' of E3 for me is the presser that shows me the most 'new' (premiere reveals) and the most interesting games to 'me' - not the one that has the 'most' exclusives or the most games where 90% were shown last year. I couldn't care less if a whole sector of other gamers get to play them too because they are multi-platform - I care that I can play them on my consoles and owning both a PS and XB means I can choose which platform to enjoy them on.

As it stands right now, after 3 big shows, MS is way ahead of the others because it showed an amazing array of games I want and being honest, they are much more likely to be bought and played on Xbox too. Sony's conference, I doubt will show anywhere near that many games - maybe more than 18 'exclusives' (but doubt it) and the 'multi-platform' games they do show, will most likely be played on Xbox by me too - unless they release on the PS5/XB2 and the PS5 is 'superior'. However I don't care that a lot of you will be playing and enjoying the same games I will on PS4 and that Sony have some fantastic exclusive that I will also enjoy. Its much better that we, as gamers celebrate the fact that there are a LOT of great games coming that the majority (unless you own just a Switch) can enjoy - whether you enjoy them on PS4 or other platform.

After Microsoft, I don't expect anything beyond the four games Sony already talked about.

@BAMozzy Completely agree that as gamers, we all win (and I have a PS4, Swtich and Xbox One S so either way, woo hoo).

The investment is great. I'll admit I am disappointed about Ninja Theory, just because they made such a great game in Hellblade and a big part was that they proved an appropriately priced 'AA' title could be a success but either way, maybe they needed big publisher support. I think that the race for next gen. whatever shape that may take, is on and MS are investing big. As gamers, we can only win.

As an aside, what this gen has shown is that first party exclusives play a big part in hardware sales but also in providing titles that third parties won't. Naturally third party publishers need to sell titles and want ongoing revenues which means they will want to appeal to their core demographics. First party titles, therefore, have taken on more importance in fleshing out the library with more experimental titles. For example, God of War would be a huge risk for a third party, but a smart risk for Sony to promote brand awareness. If MS are also coming round to that approach, taking risks then we might get more games like Halo and Gears back in the day when they first launched and that is what I want as a gamer.

The presser was long and entertaining, few misfires and a great bunch of games I'll no doubt play on whatever console I choose. My feeling is not so much games, but direction. I feel that MS showed they are staying in the console space and are committed to it which is good but I think if they had tied it together into a simply explained plan, it would really have spoken about what the Xbox brand is about. They have some incredibly pro gamer products and services - Gold, BC, Game Pass and if they tied those all into a coherent soundbite strategy, that would have been a huge masterstroke.

I agree that they have indicated their strategy but never really spelt it out. Maybe they don't want to do so as it might give SOny an edge but I believe their strategy is very different and it might encourage Sony to adopt some of their good practices.

So I feel that the presser really showed some great games, but Microsoft just shied away from giving away anything about the future other than there will be one.

There are a lot of games coming to PS4 and Xbox One it seems. Very packed between now and March.

Shame about Switch but hey, cant win em all

The highlight so far not including games is the video presentation by Tinybuild.

@Rudy_Manchego Ninja Theory struggled with Hellblade - not in terms of the finished product but in the time it took, the fact they could only fund development for 1 console and of course didn't really get the backing and advertisement they really deserved. Joining Sony with the likes of Naughty Dog, GG, Sucker Punch etc isn't necessarily going to help them stand out - assuming Sony would even want to buy them up and remaining independent isn't necessarily going to help either - yes they may have had success BUT they probably can't grow or invest heavily into their future. It maybe disappointing for Sony fans but then Studio's like GG were independent before Sony bought them - their first game was on Xbox too.

I know Exclusives form the identity of the console and will help to shift consoles. Lets not forget though that Forza is an award winning franchise - often the 'best' racing game of the year and games like Ori and Cuphead too. Halo may well of dropped since 343 took over and Gears, whilst not particularly original now was innovative and both award winning franchises. Maybe MS haven't had that great and generation defining exclusive so far - like Halo defining the OG Xbox or Gears defining the 360 with Forza being the 'best' racing game consistently throughout - but that doesn't mean that we haven't seen 'new' franchises tried - Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, ReCore, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay etc. MS has had 'success' with spin-offs like Halo Wars and most notably Forza Horizon - both of which are 'different' enough to be separate - even if they do get lumped in with their other games. Believe it or not, MS released more exclusives than just Sea of Thieves and State of Decay since E3 2017 - we had PUBG, Super Lucky's Tale, Forza 7, Fable Fortune, Cuphead and some other indies that may/may not of been released at a later date on other consoles. Granted its not a 'lot' or a lot of 'big' AAA 'must have' critical successes but its not 'nothing' and its not like the multi-plat games haven't looked and/or run better on the X in the last 8months or so. BC, regardless of whether you enjoy 'old' games or not adds to number of games and 'exclusives' available to the XB1 and a lot are the 'definitive' console version. Bayonetta looks and plays best on XB1 - better than the latest Switch version. Of course the Switch allows you to play on the go but the point is, BC has some incredible games - Just because Red Dead is Old, doesn't mean its not great and the X version is the 'best' version to play. Its not just 3rd party either as games like Forza Horizon (the original) is now in 4k on the X.

In the here and now, if we are talking just about the present +/- 2yrs, then maybe the Xbox hasn't been able to keep up with the multitude of studio's that Sony have at their disposal. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony outnumber MS studio's by 3 maybe even 4 to 1 so they should be out-putting more than 3/4x the volume. As for the type of games Sony are making, well they are not alone in that. Arguably MS's are more on 'trend' which for us 'older' gamers maybe disappointing as that seems more 'service' based but God of War (for example) is still just a Story driven linear game - which isn't that different from Wolfenstein or Evil Within or Tomb Raider as that has a more open Hub area to it and some RPG elements too. H:ZD isn't all that different from Assassins Creed (lately) or Far Cry - an open world action game with some RPG elements - not quite to the same degree as games like the Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Mass Effect, BioMutant etc. Granted Sony's studio's have excelled in production values and built on existing franchises as well as delivering some new IP's too but they are NOT the only ones delivering on Single Player. To a degree, you can argue that MS tried to deliver SP games - Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, Recore etc but sales would indicate that's not really what the majority wanted. One of MS's big strengths is its online system and you can also argue that they are playing to their strengths. Its not like Halo, Forza (either) or Gears don't have Single Player offline playability - Forza Motorsport has always had a robust career mode and its only FH4, the 11th 'Forza' game that is 'online' specific. Whether you liked Gears 4 or not, it was still as long as Uncharted 4 and had a more expansive MP/co-op suite - its still a technical showcase - thanks to the storms/weather - Digital Foundry rate it as 1 of the best technical games this generation. I know games like this though still live or die on their 'story' and character development more than their game-play - as long as the game-play isn't terrible. Uncharted isn't exactly the 'best' when you analyse the combat, puzzles or platforming BUT it is 'solid' and its the story and characters though that really takes it to the top.

MS may not want to commit to a specific long term strategy which I think is OK - it allows for some flexibility as we all know, things can change and change quickly. The reason a lot of 'older' games don't run that much better today is because things changed that devs didn't foresee. They expected a steady increase in CPU single core speeds but what happened was multi-threading and increase in the number of cores. Where they expected CPU's of say 8ghz by now, we have 4ghz but now 8+ cores with multiple threads. They expected that the workload allocated to a single core would get faster and thus improve the game BUT because the speed hasn't greatly improved and games now share the workload across multiple cores to achieve the result, these old games struggle a bit. Take Dark Souls as an example - even an i7 (upclocked to 4.5ghz) GTX1080ti can't run the original at a locked 60fps at 4k, a 1060 can't run it at 1800p (the same as the Pro/X version) at 60fps and consoles run the updated game, with much better lighting, shadows etc better with a 2.1-2.3ghz CPU.

Point is, if you outline your plans, then you lose the flexibility to adopt to the market if necessary and it can also affect your near future too. If Sony or MS said they were releasing a next gen console in Nov 2019, wouldn't that have a detrimental impact on hardware sales in the meantime as people wait. If people know that the XB2 will play all the XB1 releases better on launch, why buy these games now too, why not wait until the next console comes along - maybe just make do with your Back catalogue, free monthly games and any 'sale' game that comes along - save your money up for a big splurge when the next gen arrives - all these games should be cheaper by then too and likely to drop quickly if a lot of people aren't buying them. If they do 'change' direction, then you will get all those people criticising - even if its a 'positive' change. You know they will be on the internet having a go and using what was said as a cast in stone statement. its the same with games that may get delayed to offer a 'better' product but there are still a LOT that complain because the date was 'cast in stone'. I am 'happy' with the way things are left a bit more open although they were also 'cast in stone' with regards to their commitment to the future - not just 'words' either but backed up by action with 5 new studios - 1 of which I believe is being built from the ground up - not ready built and just acquired.

Overall, I was happy with MS's show. As I said I couldn't care less if the majority of games will be enjoyed by a much greater audience than just those on MS platforms as at the end of the day, its all about what games I can play - whether 1st or 3rd party. I don't care that the majority here will experience those on PS4, I can still chat and share my experiences with those gamers even if I play them on Xbox. Its not Blue vs Green on these, me vs you but we as 'gamers' enjoying these titles on our platform of choice. If those 50games had all been Xbox games, then a LOT of gamers would be greatly disappointed and if you only own an Xbox, it doesn't matter if most will be on Sony too, its not stopping you from playing and enjoying them, its still 50 games you can play on your Xbox...

It depends on the CGi trailer, the game and or associations with that game. Take the Last of Us 2 reveal for example - that could be ALL CGi - in game rendered or otherwise BUT its what that game reveal signifies to a lot of people.

Firstly that a 'beloved' franchise is confirmed as coming - something that many fans have wanted. 2nd its revealing that characters are returning, characters that people have become attached to. 3rd its not important to have background on the lore or game-play as that was established before. 4th, knowing the developers, their history and previous game(s), you know what to expect (to a degree) of the game-play, the actual visual quality, the general 'story' quality etc. Often the game isn't months away so they can reveal 'snippets', changes (if any) to the basic mechanics or fundamental layout - like moving to a more 'wide-linear' approach for example anyway so its not necessary to show a 5/10min segment of actual game-play.

If you are referring to a 'new' IP like Cyberpunk, some of the above is still relevant. The lore for example is known because of its source material so you get an idea of the setting, the layout of the world etc. You have an idea of the way CD Projekt Red construct their open-world games, their story and the 'impact' of decisions - even the impact from side quests on the main story line too - some have quite big impact too. You did get a better idea of the world, the characters you are likely to see, the type of weaponry, vehicles etc.

Its not like Days Gone or H:ZD which are trying to introduce a whole new 'experience' with no established background. Ghost of Tsushima set up its 'background' by stating its based on 'fact' , the invasion of Tsushima by the Mongol empire in 1274. That alone sets up the lore and background and we don't 'need' to know exactly who we are playing as but the fact we play as the one of the 'last' samurai fighting for your and Japans freedom sets the game up immediately. No need to explain or show exactly what the game-play offers - at least not that far in advance, no need to try and explain what 'time' period it is, how long after an apocalyptic event it is, the character we are playing and how they fit into the world etc etc

I'm thinking about skipping Ubi's conference. Aside from Splinter Cell and one of Michel Ancel's games, I can't think of anything that'll interest me that much.

@BAMozzy my main worry is that MS will do to them like what they did to Rare and gut it until it's a shell of what it was

like i said in another post, not many NT games appealed to me but the ones i did play were fun and i would hate to see them broken into nothing

still at least it wasn't EA that brought them

@FullbringIchigo well Rare is back at its best now with Spencer at the helm, and if you watch a video that Ninja Theory guys posted you'll see that they will have a creative independence so there's nothing to worry, as long as Microsoft has this same attitude and strategy.

I also find it strange that many people on the internet write that Microsoft is always about the same IPs but we don't see these arguments for Nintendo or Sony... If we look at Sony and the games they have released so far (released not announced) then only hzd is a notable new IP made by their first party studio. The rest new IPs were made by either outside companies (Bloodborne, Quantic Dream) or they underperformed (drive club, the order).

When is Square? I thought it was now.

Hmm, I might stay up to watch SE's press conference.

Sadly E3 hasn't been great for me so far. EA was dull, Microsoft let's face it showed 3rd party games and studio acquisitions without any real reason to buy an xbox. And bethesda showed next to nothing with their last two been next gen titles. If there's one word to sum up E3 so far it's Teaser, cos most of what's shown has been largely 2 minute cgi teasers without any real substance to them. Hopefully Sony tonight will show actual gameplays.