3 Things We Learned From E3:
1) Microsoft is not throwing in the towel
2) Sony is on top of its game and will remain on top for a while
3) Nintendo hates its fans.
E3 2015 has pretty much solidified the standings, as Sony remains on top, Microsoft is following nice and close in second, and Nintendo is all but irrelevant at this point---not even sure how the PR can handle the current backlash. Another major change happening in E3 is the importance of the publishers and developers impressing the media and the attendees. So now there’s much more focus on conferences from EA and Bethesda. With the Top 2 displaying similar lineups, the differences become nothing more than surprises, business decisions, pricing, and additional features within the console.
So with that, and the overwhelming amount of companies that fall off the gaming wars, you’ll see larger developers and publishers rev up the marketing during this weekend. Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront pretty much led the way, taking almost all the attention from the decisions of the Playstation 4 and the XBox One. Never been an EA fan, especially after its legal monopoly on football games, but Battlefront looks darn good.
On to the Big 3. Microsoft shocked the world by offering backwards-compatibility, which was something the XBox had been trying so hard to deviate from. Microsoft had spoken out against it for years, which made this all the more surprising. The XBox One has had an interesting history of backing away from some of its original decisions, with the infamous DRM insanity from a couple years ago being the best example. Can’t blame them for throwing the kitchen sink into keeping the lead in the American market and attempt to creep into the European scene. The XBox 360 had a slew of spectacular games that deserved a second shot with the One, especially during the downtimes as we are seeing less and less major titles being produced nowadays.
The gaming industry is doing a strategy that’s similar to Disney’s cinematic technique: less is more. Less games produced, but throw more money and resources within these games. Grand Theft Auto 5 needed 5 years---but after a good marketing campaign and gamer’s support of the don’t-rush-art approach the game sells over 45 million copies amongst four consoles. So with that, you need software to hold the gamers over while they wait the next major title. Let’s be honest, outside Halo 5 is there any major exclusive XBox title that can move hardware sales? Not really. So backwards-compatibility, reaching into the past is definitely the direction to go, especially when Sony remains hesitant to do the same.
But dear God: The Final Fantasy VII remake. After years of begging and pleading for a remake to one of the last excellent JRPGs (honestly, we haven’t seen much JRPG goodness post-90s), we are finally getting it. Let’s forget the fact that Square Enix’s track record hasn’t been good in in a decade, Final Fantasy VII-2 is a reality. Not only did it remove some of the momentum from WiiU’s exciting Xenoblade Chronicles X, but combined with Shenmue 3 Sony is pretty much conquering the Japanese region in terms of consoles (The 3DS is still wickedly popular over there).
Although Sony won’t budge on their backwards-compatibility, its Playstation TV/Now/Live features cover up most of the damage from being the only console of the three lacking support of previous generations. Sony doesn’t have much to offer this year, but with such a successful run so far and outstanding third-party support the Playstation 4 has very little to worry about. The conference of Sony didn’t deliver the most hits, but delivered the most memorable blow.
As for Nintendo. Good ol’ Nintendo. The WiiU support is about dead, there was no mentioning of Zelda (that should stir the pot because if they can’t reveal anything now, I smell a delay to the next generation), the big Retro Studios announcement was a pure dud, Star Fox Zero doesn’t exactly impress (and no online support? Seriously?), and aside from Mario Maker and Xenoblade, do we really have anything to be excited over? No big surprises, no mention of Gamecube in Virtual Console (a pure miss for the past 5 years), no F-Zero, no major Metroid title, and just nothing that could possibly help Nintendo get out of its funk with the gaming crowd.
Nintendo is on some ugly crossroads. You have Nintendo of America constantly trying to clean up the shenanigans coming from the Japanese department, and you have the Japanese division continuing its bitterly stubborn ways and not trying to adapt and shift into the new age of gaming. At this point, Star Fox Zero not having online support is inexcusable. At this point, fumbling the Metroid franchise YET AGAIN after Other M ruffled the wrong feathers is also inexcusable. Lastly, not a single peek of the upcoming Zelda game is disastrous---and inexcusable. Nintendo did not win any fans during this E3, and really couldn’t give much of a convincing argument as to why you should invest in the WiiU. The system is being abandoned quite hastily—despite Super Mario Maker potentially being the most rewarding video game of 2015.
All in all, this E3 did deliver plenty of goods and surprises. The XBox One all but eliminated its ugly reputation that had been developing a few years ago after the influx of PR hiccups. Sony and the PS4 continues its reign at the top as they continue to pour money into remakes and sequels that we desire for the sake of making them exclusive to increase the value of the console. Then there’s Nintendo, making us sigh repeatedly. If you are a gamer however, there’s plenty to be excited about---even if most of the good stuff won’t come for several months.
