Microsoft, Sony & Nintendo E3 thoughts

Well E3 might not be over but the Big stuff has all but been shown off now that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have wrapped up this main shows. Of course they can still show off stuff during the week and we will hear about stuff shown behind closed doors and everything.

This write up is just about what we have already seen from the Main 3 and what they plan to bring to the table in the near(or not so near) future.

I know I already did a little round up on Microsoft but i figured i might as well go more in depth(or just repeat myself who knows) than ignore some details. You can always decide what you want to read :)

One thing I will get out of the way Now instead of bringing it up in both Microsoft and Sony areas is it is we can all agree we are slowly moving away from exclusive third party games. It seems we are only getting exclusive content or timed releases, It really does bug me tho. I don't see why they have to do content for only one system. I do get it that maybe they will re release it later on another system for maybe a price but sometimes we never see it on the other systems.

That is a huge bummer for folks that only have a PS4 but have to wait for the timed DLC of Advanced Warfare or wait for INSIDE to come to PS4. Or say you only have an Xbox One and have to wait for or give snubbed on Destiny content. This isn't a nice thing to do to your fans, People who spend money on your content.

But i know some folks will disagree and be like its awesome because i own a *blank* so screw your *blank* but really it is just annoying. But i guess it is a way to keep the console wars alive. Anyways...

Microsoft came out first and it was a very nice surprise to see them focus only on video games. I know last year a lot of people got upset with their Kinect talk and TV talk, let alone the whole old way of the Xbox One that we won't get into for obvious reasons.

This was a whole new year and new start for Microsoft and they did it by showing gamer what they want. Games.

Call of Duty might not be your thing, or honestly my thing but Microsoft knows it is a seller and Advanced Warfare brings their system the timed exclusive DLC that Xboxs fans seem to be accustom to now. Advanced Warfare was not really a shocking or new title to be shown off but it is a little different than previous CoD titles. It has that slight Killzone or Titanfall feel to it but does over all keep the CoDness that most people love. I might not be excited because Im more so sick of the franchise but i can see myself still giving it a try.

Forza 5 had a second in the spot light as Microsoft announced a free track for its fans, nice little thing to do. But the big deal was the announcement of(what had already leaked out) Forza Horizon 2! Of course being a racer it also won't be for everyone but I myself don't really enjoy the race type games but i loved and even beat the first Horizon on 360. So no doubt the second one has peaked my interest but i have to say I'm a little let down it is on 360 as well and not a straight Xbox One title like Forza 5 was. Hopefully this won't take anything away from the game. Nice to hear it is in 1080p as well, Not that it makes that big of deal to me but i know some folks do care.


Evolve was next up and they showed off their Chuthulu monster which looked pretty sweet, I really like the Left 4 Dead kind of game, the team work style. I still hope we see more monsters added in because something does seem to be lacking for me but the game does look very fun.


Assassin's Creed Unity was shown off first at the Microsoft presser(or well it of course leaked out before hand as well) and it didn't really impress me much as I don't find myself a fan of the series. I enjoy the idea of the co-op as adding a friend or two is always a plus. But this showing left me going meh more so than anything, Later on during Ubisofts show i have to say i was far more impressed with their title. Might have to look into the series yet again.

Dragon Age Inquisition was another title that was talked about during Microsoft presser but we saw a lot more during EA's more appropriate  reveal of the game. They teased us with cameos of other characters and some pretty videos. During the gameplay footage they showed i found myself distracted at the horrible UI/HUD and just found myself wondering if that will find itself into the final release of the game, I sure hope not.

Sunset overdrive was something i had already said what really needed to be said in my last post but just in case you may have not read that i will make a shorter version: System seller. Fun. Shinny. EXTREME!

Dead Rising 3 was the main Xbox One system seller or well the first for me and it is always cool to see more content for the game but what Capcom showed off was one crazy cluster Beep of a video. But it happened to still be awesome. Being out now is also very cool but the best part? The name Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Alpha!

Disney Fantasia and Dance Central both got some slight love as well, funny tho because Microsoft never let the world Kinect slip out, kind of sad but whatever, Fantasia should still be a pretty awesome title over all and i actually look forward to it.

Fable Legends was shown off with a 4 player Co-Op bs 1 player as a villain gameplay video, Neat and all but for some reason i just don't care all that much for it at this point in time. I do like the whole D&D feeling i got from watching the villain play and set up enemies to attack the 4 heroes. The beta comes this fall. But i wanted more info than we got.

Project Spark I will keep short since not much more i can add from the previous post. Screw you Rare fans! No new real conked game for you! But please enjoy Project Spark and see what you can build in this Microsoft version of a LittleBigPLanet like title. Im not a big builder but it could still be super fun.


Halo: Master Chief Collection is coming November 11 and will include Halo 1-4 which is the "real" halo series and focus on well Master Chief. it have the first halo remake as well as Halo 2 all remastered, it still allows you to switch back and fourth between the old and new as well. It will include over 100 multiplayer maps! That alone makes me want to play it. I loved so many go the original maps, Hell Halo 2 might be my favorite shooter of all time. Will also be in 1080p and 60FPS, also in a little mini announcement it will come with a live action series from Ridley Scott called "Nightfall" Plus 4,000 achievement points baby!

Halo 5: Guardians was brought up once more, this time showing old Master chief watching himself from the past? or something? Im not too sure but it still looks odd but more than likely enjoyable. Not much was said but we will have a Multiplayer beta this holiday season.

Ori and the Blind Forest might be my favorite thing that Microsoft showed off, its super cute with a Anime like design that is just beautiful. It also reminds me of a 2d version of what the Last Guardian might be like if we ever get that title. Either way I want to play Ori really bad.

INSIDE will be a "First on Xbox" title form the same studios that brought us Limbo, Playdead studios. They showed off a beautifully creepy in game yet scripted demo.

ID@Xbox was up next with multiple titles shown off that include Below and Mighty No. 9, they showed off over 15 titles. Indie games are def becoming the new mainstream games it seems.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was shown as a CGI clip, pretty and i want it now. but its listed as a Holiday 2015 title with a  horrible name.

The Witcher 3 from CD Project RED showed off more in-engine gameplay video in their crazy open world. Looks very nice and should be a nut buy for RPG/explorer fans.

Phantom Dust was announced by Ken lobb, the man behind Killer Instinct reboot, he debuted a CGI teaser and let us know it will be Xbox One only.

The Division showed up and looked pretty nice and Ubisoft later showed it look even better. I still fear it might be too strategy based for me but man is it cool looking and the videos we saw just make me want it now and not in 2015.

Scalebound was shown off from Platinum Games, it was all CGI teaser but it got the giant monster vs little man action a crossed, for folks who enjoy monster hunter i feel like this might be that kind of title. But too early to really tell.

Finally we end with the announcement of Crackdown 3, which is nice and all but we didn't get any gameplay, it did look like it was scripted in game engine tho so thats nice. I was a huge fan of Crackdown and was one of my favorites on the Xbox 360, looking forward to what they can bring us on the Xbox One.

On to Sony's presser, Which man do they know how to talk! They by far upstaged Microsoft in the vocal part of the show but i did find it funny and i won't talk about it much at all but the fact that Sony wasn't JUST games, they took some time to talk stats and TV, which by the way the POWERS segment was horrible and i love everyone involved. But this whole half hour or whatever it was made the show crash for me, but lets get to the games.

No shock that Destiny was the salt to rub in Microsofts wound. You know Bungie has great fun in making Microsoft the lesser company when it comes to their next game "Destiny" as we find out its first on playstation and the beta starts next month. Of course there is also exclusive content on the PS4 as well. The game of course looks really fun and really good looking. It is funny how much you can tell it is still Bungie tho, even in the new showings it screams Halo to me. Not that its a bad thing, it will (we hope) be a deeper and bigger version. Also announced a White PS4 with the game.

The Order 1886 was next, which looks really great but i have to say man was it dark, even on my TV it was hard to make out things at times. Wasn't sure if it was scripted gameplay or not i believe so. It reminded me of some classic resident evil tho which was nice. Love the outfits/settings they have shown us thus far. Should be a great title for Sony.

Entwined was one crazy artistic beauty, I really want to give this a try and the best part of this whole showing was the fact that it is out now on the PS store! I still have that $10 from when i bought my PS4 so i might have finally found something to use it on.

I always enjoy when companies come back to titles the fans love, Infamous Second Son might not be a title i have had the pleasure to play yet but it is at the top of my Gamefly list still, We saw in engine story teaser for upcoming DLC to keep the adventure going.

The shock of the night for Sony was the fact that MM actually lied to us all and showed up at E3 with LittleBigPLanet 3 in hand and showed off some gameplay. I do have to say when the logo popped up on the screen the crowd actually got excited which was really the first time in the night for that, so nice change. They showed off some new characters and what changes are coming to LBP3 but we all have to agree they still seem to have some wonky controls as even the testers seemed to have problems while playing it. Still will be super fun and a possible system seller for some folks.

Fun seeing a new IP which was from Worldwide Studios, Not sure what to say since we got about nothing. But hope that new IPs do well is always something on my mind.

Bloodborne came out after we had some a nice time will LBP3 so the mood changed right away, which was kind of odd and funny but here we jump into the violent action that the creators of Dark Souls plan to release on us some time in 2015. It had a really fun and creepy CGI trailer that might have been In engine footage.

Far Cry 4 seemed to be the show stealer for most folks, but i hate to say i have not really gotten into the previous games. Given i never gave 3 a try so maybe i should. But FC4 looks pretty solid like the idea of being someplace in the Himalayas in an open world style shooter. Big deal was showing off the Co-op and crazy awesome Elephants! The big news in my eyes was the fact that you can invite friends who do NOT own the game to come play with you on PS4, That is pretty sweet. Wonder how it will effect sells or if they have some limits on it.

Dead Island 2 was next up with a fun and enjoyable yet very bright and seemingly  gory CG teaser for the next title. Will more than likely have a comedy side to it after seeing this teaser. But not much to say besides I'm kinda surprised they are just going with Dead Island 2 and not something else.

They touched on both The Last of Us and Diablo 3 coming to PS4 later this year. Both should have slight graphical upgrades but not much else was talked about.

Battlefield Hardline gave us a gameplay trailer, not much different from what we had already seen earlier in the day.

Disney Infinity was talked about as well, I believe they said Hulk was exclusive to playstation? It was quick and HULK SMASH!

Magicka 2: Learn to Spell Again was shown off pretty quickly as well, telling us it is coming to PS4.

Maybe the biggest news from Sony & Friends is the fact that after years of asking and finally giving up thinking people would never see it.... GRIM FANDANGO is coming back baby! In a remastered exclusive to PS4 and wait for it....wait for it..... VITA! Cant wait to play on my Vita.

Next was Sony doing the whole Indie showcase deal and stuff flashed by super fast Broforce, Hotline Miami 2 an other stuff, Should be some fun games coming. Consider most of PS4 games(for sure PS+ anyways) has been based on Indie games it was no shock to see all of this tossed in our faces.

Let it Die  seemed to be a mix of Live action and in engine trailer of some super violent fighting game from Suda 51. It will be an exclusive PS4 game i skip over, Unless something awesome is shown at a later date.

Abzu might be my game of Sony showing, the guys that brought us Journey have a new title that is just as beautiful and hopefully fun as the previous title. Another game i want right now.

No Man's Sky was pretty crazy in multiple ways. So bright and vibrant with crazy colors my eyes didn't know what to do or what i was watching but the in engine gameplay looked pretty cool going from planet to space in some FPS style game. Im not sure how much i liked the space battle stuff but the rest looks awesome. Plus they stated that every plater starts on a new planet. Should be a solid game.

They showed off some new mini games for the Playroom and a good amount of new "Free to play" games coming this year including PLanetside 2.

PSNow open beta on July 31 and PS3 & Vita shortly after, I have to said I'm excited for the Vita beta but from what i have heard titles are slim and poor and what they showed off during the presser wasn't much better. It will grow, we hope.

PS TV was touched on, which i could have sworn it was Vita TV at first? and the specs have changed a bit, being able to play PS4 on a second TV i guess? sounds cooler than i remember when it hit Japan last year. Price is pretty solid at $99 if it lives up to the little hype.

Mortal Kombat X debuted gameplay footage and some crazy fatalities. Im super excited for this title after the last MK and Injustice.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in engine trailer which was the preview we saw the night before(which they joked about i believe) was pretty shinny and i loved the music they picked. Im not a huge fan of the series but i know fans can't wait to get their hands on it.

Grand Theft Auto 5 will be coming to the new systems later this fall, which we knew was coming. But still pretty cool news.

Batman Arkham Knight showed us some awesome open world crazy scale batman action with working bat mobile. Sadly the game ended up crashing pretty hardcore. I didn't like how the bat mobile transformed into some Halo like tank. Nor do i care for the Iron Man bat suit but rocksteady made some awesome batman games and i will give them my money whenever it comes out, as long as they fix the crazy bugs that ruined this showing. Playstation will once again get exclusive missions, Scarecrow Nightmare.

We finally end with the not so shocking "Captured on PS4" footage of the next Uncharted. Sounds and looks really nice, just wonder how close to gameplay this preview was?

That was it for Sony, They did well showing a lot of stuff and talking for ever but at least they had more energy when they spoke to the audiences that previous companies.

Tuesday finally comes around and Nintendo is here to show the world why they still belong in the E3 buzz.

Starting the show off with some fun Robot Chicken style animation and actually keeping that in the show in mini segments was awesome. Really fun an funny I would love to see more.

Smash Bros was of course the first things we see and Nintendo announced that Mii Fighter has joined the battle, Finally you can play as yourself in Smash Bros. It comes in 3 styles a Brawler, A sword fighter and a Gunner. Looked pretty cool for being a Mii. They also showed off the 3DS version with different game modes and lots of customization.

They nicely tossed in the little Skylander like figures in the Smash Bro preview and next they announced them as "Amiibo" figures. They use the same tech as the other series, Skylanders and Infinity. You will be able to upload your stats to the Amiibo its self and take it to a friends house or a tournament? Can be used as a fighter in Smash Bros and support for Mario Kart 8 will be added at a later point. The figures do look a little flimsy for kids but looks nice for people who want to collect them. Now can we get a crazy Pokemon version?

Yoshi's Wooly World was up next and had the creatures in a store full of wool/yarn it was fun and they showed off a stuffed animal yoshi that looks really close to how he is in game. The graphics are awesome for what they are. Suppose to be out in 2015.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker was announced and actually has me looking forward some treasure hunting with my little buddy toad. It looks like the mini games from Super Mario 3D World. Which i very much enjoyed and look forward to a full game based around it. 2015 as well.

The Legend of Zelda. Yes. Oh Yes.  They gave us a quick glance at a horse with "link" on it in a vast open world that looks amazing, very much has that Skyrim feel to it. Talked about how in this title you can explore in different areas and not be stuck to one path like previous titles. Kind of reminded me of the last 3DS versions option. They ended with a scripted scene but looks very cool, also might have been either a very girly Link or well Zelda herself. they say 2015...but we shall see.

They had a very cool live action video that was for the remake of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire that will be coming out for the 3DS, looks like Mega Evolves will be showing up on it as well. Remade like X & Y.

Bayonetta 2 had yet another E3 video... When will this game ever come out? Was neat seeing Samus and Zelda skins. Also will have the first game bundled with it. It finally caught my eye a little bit.

Hyrule Warriors had the creatures tell us how nervous they had been to start this project but hope fans of both series will come together to enjoy this game. I have my doubt as I was not a fan of the Warriors series but seeing other characters from the Zelda series was pretty sweet. 2 Player but no Split screen was a bit lame. Coming THIS YEAR! 9/29/14

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse showed off a little demo and looks to give us a reason to own the gamepad. Should be super fun as Epic yard and the DS title. No date given, I'd say long way off.

Xenoblade Chronicles X had in engine cutscenes trying to make us care for the story. Will no doubt make the fans of the series get a Wii U and maybe grab a few peoples attention.

Mario Maker was officially announced in which you can create your own Mario levels. You can play in either classic or the New 3d side scrolling style. Looked neat but I'm not much of a builder so Im not sure how this will work for me. no date.

Splatoon might have been the shock of the day as seeing Nintendo might have a new IP well worth buying. 4v4  online multiplayer game about territories in which you must cover the land in your teams color. You play as a Squid human thing that can swim in its ink/color to travel and hide. You will find your self walking pretty slow in another teams Ink/Color as well. Looks so neat and super fun. Let down that it might not have any way to do local multiplayer as id love to play this with my other half. 2015.

We end with more Smash Bros and we find out that Palutena joins the battle, Also teased Dark Kit.

Miyamoto talked about the Gamepad and what not saying we will find out more about nintendo at later events in the week called "TreeHouse Live" but other wise that is it for nintendo!

I know this was a pretty long write up but i figured why not? I didn't cover EA or Ubisoft in it but i might write up other thoughts still before the weeks over, Or not?

What was your favorite show? Favorite Game? Anything you are scared of? Sad not to see something?

Till Next time, Watch, Game & Release your mind