E3 2014 is over, and we’re breaking the fabric of time and space in order to celebrate. In this inaugural cross-platform, cross-network, cross-website extravaganza, the editors of Nintendo Life, Pure Xbox, and, er, Push Square have put aside their boxing gloves, and joined forces to bring you this industry wide look at all three major console manufacturers at this week’s Los Angeles-based show. Their conclusion? That gamers won the event – not Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony.
Thomas Whitehead, Editor - Nintendo Life
It's been a peculiar E3 from a Nintendo perspective, but I do mean that in a good way. After a tame E3 2013 in retreat, it was a confident and resolutely self-identifiable performance from the big N, as it seemed to drop pretence and put its cards on the table. It didn't even pretend to present itself in the same domain as Sony and Microsoft, and in the process showed its unique qualities and that it's trying to entertain consumers of various types, rather than the press and its most demanding fans.
Though I felt its pacing dipped in the final 15 minutes, the Digital Event was certainly refreshing and, pleasingly, quite a slick effort. Nintendo clearly invested a lot of money in the production, and the Chicken Robot animations and Reggie vs. Iwata face-off at the beginning were wonderfully entertaining. It was full of surprises, too, while also pinning down a few key releases for the rest of 2014 that should, in theory, see Nintendo through Fall and the Holiday season with some enticing releases to suit various tastes. Those with a love of action have Hyrule Warriors and the two Bayonetta games (a cool extra), with Smash on 3DS then Wii U, too, and let's not forget that Pokemon will be a big deal for 3DS. Some of the new games look promising, and I have to hold my hands up and say Splatoon has caught me off guard. I'm on video shortly after the Digital Event complaining about its prolonged presentation, but it's really seized the day and won a lot of praise; I'm now rather keen to play it.
As for the Smash Bros. Invitational, that was a lot of fun and was, again, rather slick. Occasionally the announcers got themselves in a tangle and Geoff Keighley looked absolutely exhausted, but the Wii U early build held up brilliantly under a tough examination, with the Treehouse staffer managing the debug unit doing an outstanding job. The real stars were the live audience, though.
Those were solid aspects for Nintendo, with two developer roundtables doing a good job of building more hype – especially that which turned out to be Code Name S.T.E.A.M; yet the Treehouse team stole the show. The rolling broadcast spent (I think) over 20 hours showing games, and it was simply dedicated professionals having fun showing new titles and sharing how they worked; that was it. Simple, not always smooth, but full of passion and again showing a human side to Nintendo. As a company quite rightly accused of being aloof and insensitive at times, this E3 it did a great job of loosening up and showing the humanity of those that turn the wheels.
That final point is where I think Nintendo triumphed, on its terms, this E3. I'm not going to say it 'won' though, because I'm not a fan of that yearly contest. It was certainly different, however. I quite enjoyed both efforts from Sony and Microsoft, on that score, as both focused on games and showed a lot of exciting projects, albeit – slightly more-so than Nintendo, by a smidge – relying more on 2015 games. Both pitched their causes well, but I do roll my eyes at nonsense PR-speak and bullpoop phrases – whoever used them – like "delivering a unique, connected experience like you've never seen before", or whatever the heck they were saying. That's not how normal human beings speak, and I may be a member of press that's supposedly the target of that dialogue, but I grow tired of it. Just talk to me about games. That's what I, as a gamer, want.
That's why I loved Nintendo's presence this year. I looked with envy at the broad range of stunning third-party titles on show elsewhere – Batman: Arkham Knight, yikes – but most enjoyed Nintendo's honest charm and many hours following the Treehouse team. There's also a determination from Nintendo to do its own thing, whether sticking resolutely by the GamePad or producing a tactical shooter that's also cornea-burning in its brightness. In other words, it showed guts.
In any case, E3 was great for fans of all three major manufacturers, even if on a personal level I'll take Nintendo's whimsy and focus on fun above all others. What an E3 it was for gamers.
Ken Barnes, Editor - Pure Xbox
It would have been hard for Microsoft not to have improved upon last year’s catastrophic Don Mattrick-led E3, so I was impressed to see that they went ahead and tried to do more than the bare minimum to get gamers to listen to their vision for the Xbox One. The conference was slickly put together and was designed to have an impact and deliver on Phil Spencer’s pre-show promises. He said that the presentation would be about games, and that’s exactly what he delivered. Three minutes or so of introduction and corporate barking, and then an hour and a half of games, games, games. Brilliant.
Kicking off the set with ten minutes of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare wouldn’t have done much to detract from the perception that the Xbox brand is synonymous with bland FPS titles though, even if the game looked significantly more interesting than in previous years. But things quickly picked up. Given the reception that Evolve has garnered at the show, the news that the beta will be exclusive to Xbox One is bigger than was first thought. Assassin’s Creed Unity did well on the Microsoft stage, and the first-party announcements were good, generally. It felt like a bit of a "last stand" at times, with the company desperate to prove that they still have a horse in the hardware race despite their shoddy start to the generation. Sunset Overdrive, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Forza Horizon 2, Halo 5: Guardians (and the beta) and a wave of great-looking indie titles just about got the message across that despite what you're reading, the Xbox One isn't done yet. Not by a long chalk.
Platinum’s console-exclusive Scalebound was of great interest – as anything from Platinum usually is – and Ori and the Blind Forest looks like it could have the quality required to post some good numbers. The return of Crackdown was a surprise to say the least, but I think people were expecting to see more from some other franchises. A reboot of Phantom Dust was apparently pulled from the freakin’ moon, given that the even the forty people that completed the game back in 2004 didn’t see it coming, but it was an interesting announcement at least. The Conker pack for Project Spark is nice, but it feels like a rushed tip of the hat to the franchise, whereas a complete lack of any new titles in the Gears of War franchise was disappointing.
It was a show where Microsoft couldn’t get away with boring the crowd to sleep by reciting press releases, or fumbling their lines over new hardware or functionality. They avoided the pitfalls and also managed to focus on controller-based games aimed at gamers, rather than bringing annoyingly happy children to the stage to demonstrate super-bright-happy-joy-joy Kinect titles aimed at families. It wasn’t perfect by any means – they nearly lost the pacing entirely when the laughably wooden voice acting in the multiplayer demo of The Division stopped being funny and started making everyone want to stick chewing gum in their ears – but on the whole, it was better than expected.
With regards to the other platform holders, Sony’s event was a solid affair that was unfortunately plagued by too much corporate speak and more than a few audio issues. Some great looking titles, such as No Man’s Sky and Bloodborne were packed in with some big announcements such as the unveiling of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and the next-gen launch of Grand Theft Auto V, but the pacing was all wrong for me. If they’d cut out the entire section about Powers and maybe had been clearer about how they’re positioning the PlayStation Vita over the upcoming holiday season, the show would have been the better for it. But still, a confirmed date for The Last of Us on PS4 was enough for me to deem the presentation a success.
Nintendo’s digital presentation was beautifully whimsical, with the genuinely funny claymation interludes brightening up what I thought was a relatively content-light initial showing. But I was happy to see that the meat of the content was to come in the hours and days that followed, in the Treehouse and with events that catered perfectly to the die-hard Nintendo fan. It was concerning from a Wii U owner's point of view to see every other game marked as being due out in 2015, though. I’ve no doubt that most of the titles shown in the digital presentation will feature in next year’s presentation, too. Not that I wouldn’t wait a million years to play Yoshi’s Woolly World and Bayonetta 2, because I totally would.
All in all, anyone would be hard-pressed to declare any one company to be the winner – they all had their faults and they all had their highlights – but I think we can all agree that the event as a whole shows that the industry is in rude health and capable of serving more types of gamer than ever before.
Sammy Barker, Editor - Push Square
With the bluster of last year’s new console battlefield a distant memory, E3 2014 was always going to be a somewhat lower stakes affair – especially for policy sparring partners Sony and Microsoft. While the former had been uncommonly quiet in the months leading up to the big show, I was expecting a game-centric display in line with the Japanese giant’s catchy ‘For the Players’ marketing message – and that’s largely what the organisation delivered during the Los Angeles-based event.
Borrowing from its competitor in green, the PlayStation maker’s press conference opened at a breakneck pace, underlining its commitment to third-party partnerships with first-person foray Destiny, indie outfits with the ‘available now’ Entwined, and first-party investment with the unexpected unveiling of LittleBigPlanet 3. It was a flawless start from a firm that’s performed largely impeccably over the past 12 months, although the media briefing hit a bum note with new boss Shawn Layden’s sleepy sales and services heavy interlude.
In fact, it’s still an area where I feel that Sony succumbs to its competitors; the manufacturers may lay on press conferences by name, but they’ve evolved into fan focused affairs over the years – and a company that’s streaming its show into dozens of cinemas across the United States should really understand that better. In that sense, Nintendo’s decision to circumvent the onstage theatrics with its Digital Event perhaps made the most sense, but even Microsoft, with its more traditional format, seemed far more capable of actually getting to the point, and re-centring its focus on games.
Pacing problems aside, though, I think that this year’s convention was all about each manufacturer proving itself to both consumers and critics – and I think that they were all successful in that regard. As already alluded, the Redmond-based organisation had the task of demonstrating that the Xbox One is a games machine first, and it succeeded with a mixture of fresh franchises and former favourites. Meanwhile, the House of Mario had to evidence that the Nintendo Wii U’s maligned GamePad is more than just a gimmick, which it achieved with new properties like Splatoon.
Sony, on the other hand, with its seven million selling PlayStation 4, needed to paint a more positive outlook for early adopters, and I feel that it did that with From Software’s dark Demon’s Souls-esque exclusive Bloodborne, intriguing indie No Man’s Sky, and the return of Naughty Dog’s anticipated Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. If there’s any disappointment in the PlayStation Nation, it’s that the PlayStation Vita clearly remains a footnote in the format holder’s list of interests, with even its microconsole PlayStation TV shunning the handheld-inspired branding that it adopted overseas.
I suppose that some pundits may argue that 2014 is not shaping up to be a vintage year for games, and with The Order: 1886, Crackdown, and The Legend of Zelda some way away, it may be hard to disagree. However, among the retreads and re-releases at this year’s big show, I felt that there was more than enough new and interesting stuff bubbling beneath the surface to hold my interest over the coming months. And as such, I don’t think that any of the manufacturers ‘won’ E3 – gamers did.
What were your thoughts on this week’s E3 2014? Which manufacturer do you think stole the show? Were you impressed with all of the offerings? Remove your console warrior cap, and share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Comments 38
Well, well - this is different, isn't it?
I thought all 3 were good presentations although I do think the best of the 3 was Nintendos that robot chicken stuff was great plus the Star Fox tease at the end
and all 3 showed some great games Uncharted 4, Halo Collection and new Zelda just for starters, all in all this years E3 was great for gamers on every system
the one that I'm looking forward too most are
Uncharted 4
Zelda Wii U
Hyrule Warriors
Dragon Ball Xenoverse
Assassin's Creed Unity
Rise of a Tomb Raider
Star Wars Battlefront
Halo Collection
Sonic Boom (I know but I grew up playing Sonic on my brothers Megadrive so I have a soft spot for him)
@get2sammyb I want more of these features!
Topic: I think the big three did an commendable job with their press conferences, although i think their all guilty in ignoring their platform(s). 3DS, PS3/PS Vita, Xbox360 where they were plenty of opportunities to mention them (cross gen games?) Forza Horizon? LBP3? However, they did good i feel there were no megaton surprises this year, we all knew Uncharted 4, Halo 5 and Zelda U were making appearances.
Great article! I agree with what everyone said, completely. Each company did exactly what they needed to do this E3, and it's really going to show this coming year as their releases start hitting shelves. The phrase "winning E3" really needs to be phased out, as every year each company has their highlights and faults.
@Punished_Boss We're definitely going to do more I think. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!
What a terrific write-up - and a great idea! Like you all say, I think this was a pretty consistent E3 across the board - some really great stuff all around.
Oh, and that photo of Miyamoto is my new favourite thing ever.
I agree with everybody everyone had great conferences except EA
I'm surprised no one has said this, but I think Ninrendo completely botched presentation and pacing. Their digital direct was their stage show equivalent, and they were doing okay in that. I think where they really messed up, is announcing all the games for 3DS and Wii U in the treehouse. That was an after show, and shoulnt have had so many. Nintendo could have had a lot more thunder and hype by announcing all the rest of the first-party and third-party games for both systems (mostly 3Ds here) at the direct. They lacked impact and felt less important because Nintendo practically swept them under the rug.
I know a lot of people didn't Shawn Layden's part of the conference but if your unsure about him then I suggest you see the interview he did on Playstation youtube channel, he comes across very well and plenty of enthusiasm...pleasantly surprised.
@adf86 I think Shawn Layden's great — I just thought he got given a duff segment!
First and foremost, Brilliant idea. Fantastic to see collaboration between sites and even handed picture of events. Would be great to see this again when appropriate.
That being said, my take is that MS gave the slicker presentation and perhaps a slight upper hand with new game announcements (with the caveat that many were pure CGI). Sony's definitely dipped in the middle, especially with the Powers TV show stuff which went way too long. (I didn't mind most of Shawn Layden's presentation). At least they turned it around and ended well.
But at the end of the day, I would say Sony can go away victorious. Why? Because if you look at gaming websites, 60+% of articles are about the PS4. The other 40% shared between MS and Nint. If you look at Amazon, 2 versions of the PS4 are in the Top 10 best sellers and 2 versions XBox are in the 40s and 50s range. Which is exactly the situation as before E3.
In other words. I don't think that MS has achieved any momentum shift from E3. They certainly didn't make things worse, but I am not sure they converted anyone who was not already converted either. So Sony managed to do enough and I believe will continue to go from strength to strength.
Is the first year of consoles on E3 any good? I will wait till next year because I didn't expect any big WOW moments for anyone at E3 besides Nintendo showing Zelda which I've been waiting a long time for that style of Zelda game. Other then that, there was no WOW factor at all for Sony this year, not even one for Microsoft. I'm pretty sure the WOWing will start next year for Sony.
I think all three shows had their moments but were spoiled by unnecessary sections. All would get a six from me, Sony being the lowest of those sixes. They could have showed Shenmue 3 and I still wouldn't have rated it higher as that guy talking for four hours is the main memory I have of their show.
As for the rest of the exhibition I think if forced to choose a winner I'd go for Nintendo, just. Their new stuff is exciting and, most of all, looks fun. There's more exclusives on the Wii U I would want than on PS4 and Xbox One combined. But as I've said before it depends what you wanted to see. I wanted stuff for this year, Sony gave nothing. Microsoft gave a few things, Nintendo gave quite a few, hence them winning for me.
@Punished_Boss 3DS has the best looking new IP for me. A new RTS from Intelligent Systems is always a reason to celebrate and Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. looks luscious.
@Ginkgo Dunno what sites you go on but every one I've been on has been majorly Nintendo-oriented since their Direct Live, One of, if not all, of Smash, Zelda and Star Fox (despite not being shown) are always at the tops of sites. There's a lot of PS4 and Xbox One stuff (Far Cry 4, for example) but besides the odd bit I've seen nothing much about Microsoft and Sony exclusives. Admittedly that's probably because of the steady stream of infomation Nintendo released over the three days.
@adf86 He looks a nice guy who is passionate about gaming. But there's a huge difference between an interview and public speaking. He isn't a public speaker. It was almost as bad as a Ricky Gervais attempt at an E3 speech, so dull and cringe-worthy.
I think Nintendo actually had a strong e3. I am buying a wii u as my second console to the ps4 after watching them at e3
Overall I feel the treehouse approach gives games a lot more time to be seen and explained, thus generating more hype and being more informative than a 2 minute trailer. Plus you get to see the actual developers explaining things. I know I followed Sony and MS on Monday while I followed Nintendo Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Also kudos to all three Nintendo Life, Push Square and Pure Xbox for this feature and their overall coverage.
OddSock stole the show for me Loved SONY's E3 show & the other 2 i don't care about & never watch their shows anyway.
@sinalefa Sony did the same thing as Nintendo they had live conversations with developers on Twitch unfortunately they didn't really show that much new gameplay
Great article guys. I would love to see more like these.
I thought all 3 were great for different reasons. Here's my thoughts
Nintendo — Did great and they restored alot of faith to its consumers with this E3. I almost had that old Nintendo fell again when I heard some of their announcements it seems to me they are starting to remember what made them great to begin with.
Sony — Was alright it wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. I am looking forward to Destiny and Batman and The Order but those are ones I wanted before E3. Really the way Sonys sales have been with the PS4 they really didn't have to do too much like Nintendo and MS had to get back into the race.
Microsoft — It seems to me that once they got rid of Mattrick they were able to focus on what brought them to the dance with Sony and Nintendo. It not a surprise that for one thing the Kinectless Xbox One is selling better then the original one. They showed off alot of games instead of apps for the Xbox One like last years E3.
I honestly think with MS and Nintendo stepping up their game like they did we are going to have a good race this gen. But then again these races don't mean that much to me I just play what I like no matter what console they are on.
@AeroZeppelin
I did not know. Don't remember seeing anything here ( as opposed to NL front page link to the treehouse live feed) but I wonder if Naughty Dog was there?
Pretty much agree with all three reporters. Overall though i though it was a good E3. I just can't wait for Destiny to come out! i'm getting a little burned out on COD and could use a new online multiplayer to play!
@sinalefa Sadly no Naughty wasn't there Btw Sony uploaded all there Twitch E3 coverage videos to there youtube channel in case you wanted to watch some of the Dev interviews and the games they showed and talked about
@AeroZeppelin
Oh, great! Thanks a lot, I will check them out, specially the No Man's Sky stuff.
Nintendo easily had the most exclusives I want for the near-future at least. It's a shame the company can't iron out its pathetic multiplat offerings but there are at least 5 exclusives I'm after and maybe that list will grow at Gamescom or TGS. As far as home console gaming, this upcoming year will be Nintendo's best since 2010. Not that that's too hard to do though because they completely took 2011-13 off.
Sony and MS both had a ton of great multiplat stuff and a few exclusives that look interesting. Even have to admit some of the indie guys impressed, especially the team behind No Man's Sky. Sony should buy them and give 'em a slightly higher budget.
This was a great read! Really refreshing not seeing any stupid fanboy BS.
When all is said and done, I liked Nintendo's event the most - though there were definitely PS4 and Xbox One games that interested me greatly. All in all, this was a great E3 for everyone. Hopefully it'll be the same next year!
@get2sammyb for one I believe Sony did well but the pacing was off.. I wasn't excited really at all until they showed lbp3 and the other Triple A titles. One game managed to catch me by surprise and that was no mans sky. Which I cannot remember if they were talking bout it coming out for ps4 vita and ps3 with cross buy as well. Still it made me want to throw my wallet at the screen. It seems like a game were anything truly is possible. And I hope it turns out well. However I do feel that Microsoft made me more excited all the way through... Which is strange because I'm not a big Microsoft fan at all. Lol. But I did like their press conference a little more than Sony. But I would have to say Nintendo is the press conference that made me laugh and made me feel like a kid again, in a good way. I will definitely be trying to get a Wii U for me and the family for its friendly games and Zelda games.
And on another note, great article! I really enjoyed reading it!
@Demi_God Bloodborne trailer+demo (BOOM) Uncharted 4 (WOW)
A good article, nice to see a broader perspective on here.
I was actually blown away by Nintendo's conference this E3, for the first time in a long time. Just game after game after game, and they all looked so crazy good too. So many great Wii U exclusives on the way, I lost count like 5 or 10 games ago lol.. 3DS was par for the course, definitely on the lower end of content. But I must say there are 2 games on the way that make it all worthwhile- STEAM, an amazing new SRPG from the masters that brought us Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, which will be THE best game of 2014 across the board. I can live with that.
As for Microsoft, it was a decent conference I must say. I just got my Xbox One, and I'm waiting on some games for it atm. I bought it strictly for exclusives, since I buy all my multiplats on PS4. With that in mind, I was pleased to see that Sunset Overdrive and Halo Master Chief are both coming this year, with a number of other exclusives to follow, Platinum exclusive Scalebound being of particular interest. All in all, solid effort.
As for Sony, if I'm going to be completely honest here, I wasn't impressed. Now, that's not to say the PS4 doesn't have a great lineup. In fact, I have a TON of games pre ordered for it atm. Game for game, probably just as many as for Wii U, which is around 15 games I think. Thing is, most of them we already knew about. As for new announcements, I'm not really diggin' Bloodborne, and I never did like Little Big Planet, though I will admit this new one kind of looks interesting- I may give the franchise one more try. Other than that, the GTA5 and Final Fantasy Type 0 was certainly appreciated, but not the kind of thing that's too exciting. I think what stole the show for me was No Man's Sky. That was easily the best looking newly announced game on PS4. As for Vita announcements, well, let's not go there right now.
So that's my take on this year's E3. Don't kill me for saying this, but to me Sony definitely underwhelmed, fortunately they had such a strong PS4 lineup before E3 that it doesn't really make much of a difference. Vita was a buzzkill this year though. Microsoft had a decent presentation of exclusives, which is appreciated since I don't buy multiplats on the system. And Nintendo blew the breaks off, which is good because the Wii U was pretty thin on games before E3. Now it's balanced out with the other 2 consoles, finally. As for 3DS, I thought it was 'meh', but again, STEAM and MH4U, 'nuff said. Alls I know is I've got like 50 friggin games pre ordered across all five systems, so yeah, it's all good here.
ugh, now that is just ridiculous. I understand that people have their preferences but I can clearly see the biased people in this section shrugging off Sony as if nothing good came out of their show. Don't get me wrong from my previous post as I said, there were no WOW moments but neither MS or Nintendo had those. If people are going to tell me that Sony showed nothing good or very few but MS was better, I really don't see it. If anyone needed a huge boost it was MS and they didn't get it. While they did show games, they really needed something to show off the Xbox One and nothing in there happened. Crackdown and fable? meh
Nintendo won the show but here's what caught my attention.
MS:
Halo 5
Halo MC Collection
Fable Legends
Project Spark
Ori and the Blind Forest
Below (hope this is multiplat eventually)
Sony:
Defense Grid 2
Little Big Planet 3
Abzu
No Mans Sky
Uncharted 4
Gunship X (Vita)
Multiplatform:
Batman Arkham Knight (incredible.)
Inside (from creator of Limbo)
Mirror's Edge 2
Lara Croft Temple of Osiris (Guardian was great, looking forward to this one.)
Evolve =interesting concept but will never get it.
Rise of the Tomb Raider Rises: Rise (uhg..Idk, I miss old TR Legend series.)
Destiny (it's hard not to be attracted to it, but the online turns me off.)
MGS V PP (so dark and grisly though, idk.)
Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time (awesome!), Cup Head, Bro Force (Idk, maybe.), Counter Spy (Idk, maybe.),Tengami, Cubemen 2, Nihilumbra (maybe.),Teslagrad, Two Brothers (maybe.), Wooden Sen Sey, A.N.N.E., Earthlock, Chariot, Affordable Space, Shovel Knight, Stealth inc. 2, Shantae games. Some other indies I can't recall right now.
Nintendo:
Pushmo World
Smash Bros Wii U
Yoshi's Wooly World
Capt. Toad
Legend of Zelda Wii U
Hyrule Warriors
Xenoblade Chronicles X (story will blow probably, imo.)
Mario Maker
Splatoon (maybe, if there is offline as well as online.)
Mario V DK
Star Fox and Projects
(2D and 3D Metroid were mentioned favorably so that's nice.)
Codename STEAM
Theatrhythm Curtain Call
FF Explorers
@N711 to be honest those 2 trailers did nothing for me especially as we already knew about these games. Yes they look great but uncharted was just a cgi announcement trailer. I would rather wait for some gameplay.
@rastamadeus For the %, I counted tabloid articles on N4G. (Waiting for the backlash as we speak)!
Honestly though, my comments were more directed towards Xbox than Nintendo, as I see it more as a direct competitor to PS4 and Wii-U much less so. It lives in its own space. I have seen no evidence yet that XBO has gained any traction from E3. MK8 was huge for Wii-U, combined with a good E3, perhaps its fortunes are turning.
Personally most of the games I am looking forward to in 2014 are multi-plats. PS4 seems a better option for them than XBO, and most are not on Wii-U.
Here is what I said over at Nintendo Life
I can only comment on Ninetndo's E3 presentation as it was the only one I watched. The reason for this was Sony's presentation was a traditional conference that was held at 2am BST and I have no interest in MS anymore. Nintendo's second E3 direct was more polished than last years and because it was a 45min video I could watch this on you tube when I got home from work (5pm finish) and to be honest I have no love for the traditional E3 presentation.
The treehouse format worked very well, but by day three I think they were struggling a bit as they had covered all the upcoming game content.
I can eventually see Sony & MS adopting this approach as from reading various websites it seems Nintendo approach to E3 went down very well.
Games that have interested me for the rest of this year and looking to buy are:
Nintendo
Bayonetta 1 & 2
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
Hyrule Warriors or Smash Bros
Sony
The Last Of Us
Infamous Second Son
Plant Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare
Next year though promises to be a good but expensive year as there will be Zelda, Yoshi, Xenoblade Chronicles X (I don't expect it to be released this year), The Order 1866, Witcher 3, Starwars Battlefront and Dragon Age.
Bloodborne.
The ultimate gamers dream.
@Mrskinner it was not CGI its ingame real time and even digital foundry is mindblown by it as for bloodborne we didn't really know about and especially about the demo
@Jaz007 What games did they announce in Treehouse Live? Project Giant Robot and Project Guard both are a long way from coming to the Wii U, if they ever do. Star Fox was one omission that I missed from the presentation however I'm not sure that it had been developed enough to be in the presentation. The only real game that was shown off in Treehouse Live was Code Name: STEAM and I don't care about that game.
I agree @Farmboy74. Treehouse Live did get pretty boring by the third day as they were going over everything that they said in days 1 & 2.
@jjmesa16 They announced Mario Party 8 and Devil's Third (well, this one we IGN). They also announced a new 3DS IP called Steam. They announced a bunch of 3DS third-party games too. All of which, should have been in the direct where it would look more impressive and when people are in hype mode.
@Jaz007 I did forget about Mario Party 10. That should have been in the presentation. What other 3DS games were announced during Treehouse Live? Just curious as I didn't get to watch some of day 2. I know there were so indie games but I believe they had an indie reel in the presentation.
@rastamadeus Saw this article today, and thought back to our conversation.
http://www.icopartners.com/blog/archives/3584
Although my %s were overstated (not surprised considering my highly scientific method) I think the article directly supports what I was trying to say. Which is that XBO gained no momentum from E3, hence Sony can walk away feeling like they did what they needed to do.
The Wii-U, which as mentioned I see as more complimentary rather than a direct competitor, had a good E3, and riding on the back of MK8 is sitting in the best place it has been since launch.
Tap here to load 38 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...