The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 as it’s more commonly referred to as amongst the gaming community, recently held its 24th annual conference in Los Angeles from June 12 to 14.
The heavily advertised and eagerly anticipated event focused on the upcoming products being introduced by software developers, hardware manufacturers and publishers in the video game industry.
The event had its largest turnout since 2005, drawing over 69,000 attendees. The primary focus settled on the various video games that are set to be released in the next few years, garnering a significant amount of hype surrounding some of the notable mentions that were showcased by developers.
Straying away from the typically corporate setup that the event promotes, E3 focused less on hardware promotions — since the industry is still in the middle of the eighth generation of video game consoles — and more on the video games themselves.
Whether you’re a casual or dedicated video game player, the event should be tailored to pique the interest of anyone who enjoys the entertainment medium in some shape or form. There should be something there for everyone and this year’s E3 demonstrated that aspect successfully.
E3 delivered a comprehensive event that sparked anticipation over countless games, many of which are coming out this year.
Delving into the wide array of games that are in the works and set to be released, the bar seems to be set pretty high after seeing the press conferences that took place.
Although EA has been pretty much torn to shreds by countless video game players for their plummeting descent into unabashed corporate greed with sneaky microtransactions used in Star Wars Battlefront II, their presence was still felt. Controversy or not, EA ran a separate event near E3’s Convention Center, but did not participate in the expo itself. They covered several popular games including Battlefield V, Command and Conquer: Rivals and two Star Wars mentions as well.
Ubisoft held its conference on June 11, presenting Assassin’s Creed Odyssey as one of the upcoming developments in the highly popular RPG franchise that is set to be released in October of this year.
Sony delivered its fill of expectations this year with Death Stranding and The Last of Us Part II taking up a great deal of the spotlight.
The Last of Us Part II, is the sequel to the highly-acclaimed and beloved 2013 post-apocalyptic action-adventure game The Last of Us. The first game is noted for having a combination of praiseworthy factors, including story, character development and impeccable visual and sound design.
The cutscene that was shown from The Last of Us Part II at this year’s presentation, features Ellie, one of the main protagonists, kissing another woman. The scene was highly praised for its accomplishment in making a kiss look so passionate and believable, an aspect which is traditionally difficult to animate in video games especially.
Nintendo streamed a prerecorded video presentation on June 12, which focused on Nintendo Switch games that are set to be released in 2018.
A highlight of their presentation rested on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is a highly anticipated fighting game that will be out on December 7.
My personal favourites at the event this year were Bethesda and Microsoft. Microsoft discussed a slew of new game titles that included Halo Infinite, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, Crackdown 3, Nier: Automata, Metro Exodus, Kingdom Hearts III, Sea of Thieves, Battlefield V and Forza Horizon 4.
Bethesda, in turn, has been rocking the gaming world boat with their ingenious marketing tactics and unexpected announcement of Fallout 76. It will be Bethesda’s first online multiplayer game and is set to be released on November 14 of this year.
E3 delivered a comprehensive event that sparked anticipation over countless games, many of which are coming out this year.
Hopefully the stand out titles that garnered a lot of the attention from attendees and critics live up to their hype and events such as this continue to be successful information sessions crafted for fans and their enjoyment of gaming.
