Sony’s E3 conference was one of my favorites last year, so I was really excited going into this one. It’s only a matter of time before I get a PS4. Would this press conference convince me? Would Sony’s offerings rise above Microsoft’s great announcements?

Well…

Table of Contents

Nintendo World Championships
Bethesda
Microsoft
EA
Ubisoft
Sony
Nintendo
Square Enix
PC Gaming
Nintendo Treehouse

Sony’s E3 2015 Press Conference

Some people like to save the best for last. Others prefer to start with a heavy-hitter. Sony falls into the latter camp, as it began its E3 show by announcing a long-awaited game many people thought would never come at all: The Last Guardian.

I still haven’t played ICO or Shadow of the Colossus, but The Last Guardian looks like a charming game, at least, and the gameplay seemed interesting. (And that giant creature is adorable!) With so many people anxious to get it, this was an exciting way to start the conference.

The next trailer shown was for a surprise game, Horizon: Zero Dawn. Set in a future after civilization as we know it fell, it focuses on the new tribes of humanity in a world populated by machines. This gives it an interesting blend of styles, as primitive weapons and futuristic tech are seen side by side. While I’m not sure yet what sort of game it will be, its sense of mystery and slightly ominous tone at the end suggest it could have an intriguing story. I can’t wait to learn more about it.

Take a look.

A new Hitman game was featured next. While I’ve never played a Hitman game before, it was a decently cool trailer. I’m not a big fan of fighting games (heck, not even Smash Bros), so the following game, Street Fighter V, didn’t really hold my attention. And then it was time for No Man’s Sky, one of those games everyone wants except me. Beautiful, impressive… and just not my sort of game.

Similarly, when Media Molecule demonstrated their new game Dreams, where you can create and share dreamlike experiences, I really liked the concept but don’t intend to play it. My lack of artistic skills, for one thing, might hinder my enjoyment.

Then the show moved onto Firewatch, an intriguing mystery game. I’d heard about it before and thought it sounded interesting. The new trailer confirmed my feelings that I’ll need to keep an eye out for this one.

After that, my interest in the conference waned for a little bit. Destiny’s new expansion, The Taken King, sounds interesting, but Destiny isn’t my sort of game. As for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, which was shown next, I saw enough of it earlier.

Next, it was time for Final Fantasy… a chibi spin-off game called World of Final Fantasy. They didn’t really share much about gameplay or even what the game is about, but it sure is cute. (I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot. Is “cute” a dominant theme of E3 2015?)

And then…

It happened.

I lost my mind a little bit. It’s actually happening.

The Final Fantasy VII remake, which Square Enix swore it wouldn’t do until it created a game that surpassed the original FFVII, is actually happening.

IT’S HAPPENING!

A Final Fantasy VII remake… It blew my mind.

While I was still reeling, Sony went on to show a quick montage of new games coming from Devolver, and then proceeded to break the Internet by announcing a Kickstarter for Shenmue III.

I never played the Shenmue games. With how I feel toward open worlds, they didn’t appeal to me enough. However, I know the name… mainly from fans requesting another one. For Shenmue 3 to be announced, even as a crowd-funding project, on the heels of the Final Fantasy VII announcement… it was mindblowing.

From there, they jumped straight into Batman: Arkham Knight, a game I want and will play. Scarecrow took center stage behind the scenes like in last year’s trailer, although he didn’t glitch the theater this time (that remains one of the best moments of E3 2014 for me). I’m a little disappointed that the Scarecrow missions announced are PS4-exclusives, since I’m playing on the PC, but it was still fun to watch.

Then things started to wind down. Project Morpheus and virtual reality games, streaming with PlayStation Vue, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Disney Infinity (after a general montage of games coming to the PS4 and PS Vita), Star Wars Battlefront, and… Uncharted 4 to finish the show.

My feelings toward Uncharted are… well, let’s just say I played Paper Mario: Sticker Star to completion, played Final Fantasy XIII to completion, and could not bring myself to complete the much-shorter Uncharted. People say the first game is the weakest in the series, though, and I do have the second, so I’ll give Uncharted 2 a try sometime. Besides that, the Uncharted 4 video was… genuinely entertaining.

Well, Sony’s was the most enjoyable press conference so far this E3! I still can’t get over that Final Fantasy VII news… but the festivities are far from over. Tomorrow, we’ll see if Nintendo can top this! To my disappointment, I won’t be able to watch Nintendo and Square Enix’s press conferences live, but as soon as I see them, I’ll be back to share my thoughts.

Last year, Microsoft exceeded my expectations, so I was looking forward to this year’s show. With Halo 5 looming on the horizon, would this press conference convince me to get an Xbox One?

Table of Contents

Nintendo World Championships
Bethesda
Microsoft
EA
Ubisoft
Sony
Nintendo
Square Enix
PC Gaming
Nintendo Treehouse

Microsoft’s E3 2015 Press Conference

As a big fan of the Halo series (single-player and lore, rather than multiplayer), I was looking forward to seeing more from Halo 5: Guardians. The press conference did not disappoint, with new gameplay footage. I was a little disappointed that it focused on Locke’s team rather than the Master Chief’s, but I’m fine with two characters sharing the spotlight like in Halo 2.

Some aspects of the gameplay reminded me of Star Wars: Republic Commando, which is great because that game was awesome. (Side note: now that the Star Wars Extended Universe is non-canon, doesn’t that mean they can wrap up that Republic Commando loose end? The only reason they couldn’t was just in case LucasArts wanted to do something with it. The new canon should make that void.)

A new Halo 5 multiplayer mode was also shown, but I’m more interested in the story. I’ll want to play Halo 5 eventually. The only question is when.

The next game brought with it some names I didn’t expect to see.

Yes, Keiji Inafune and the creators of Metroid Prime are working on a sci-fi game called ReCore. Of all the surprises, this is one of the most interesting to me. I’m not sure what genre of game it is, but the protagonist, setting, and robots look like they have potential. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.

Microsoft moved on to a truly exciting announcement: backward compatibility!

Before the Xbox One was announced, I hoped it would have backward compatibility. I hadn’t replaced my broken Xbox 360 yet, and if the new console could play 360 disks, I intended to just go with it and possibly an original Xbox for the few games I have. Well, that time has passed and I replaced my Xbox 360.

Backward compatibility is still fantastic news, though, and I hope my unplayed games will be a part of the program. It will start with 100 titles playable on the Xbox One, with more to come. From what they said, it sounds like the hardware solution I dreamed of: the Xbox 360 games will be available digitally, and if you put in an Xbox 360 disk, it will recognize it and let you download the digital game.

Eighteen games have already been revealed. I hope this list expands to include Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vesperia, and many others. Xbox 360 fans, share in the comments what games you most want to be playable on the Xbox One.

They went on to show a new, “elite” controller that you can customize. Cool, but I’ve never had a problem with standard controller designs. Bethesda returned to show more Fallout 4, which I cared for as little as I did last night. For Fallout fans, however, you’ll be happy to know Fallout 4 on the Xbox One includes Fallout 3.

EA talked about EA Access, which I don’t care about, and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, which I do care about. I never did get the first Garden Warfare, but PvZ is a quirky series I’m pleased to see expand.

Forza Motorsport 6 was next. Since I don’t like racing games, it meant little to me, but after that, another great trailer appeared!

Ah, Dark Souls III! It seems rather quick after Bloodborne, but it was still an enjoyable reveal (pity it was leaked beforehand). I have a lot to catch up on to be ready for a new Dark Souls game…

From there they went on to show Tom Clancy’s Division and Rainbow Six Siege, which I have no interest in. Up next was a free MOBA game called Gigantic, which was very cute and colorful.

Then it was time for a short indie montage, with trailers shown afterward for Tacoma, Ashen, Beyond Eyes, and Cuphead. Of these, Tacoma was the most interesting to me, with an eerie abandoned space station. Beyond Eyes just looks beautiful.

Microsoft then discussed a new early access program called Xbox Game Preview, which is how some players can already check out the backward compatibility feature. Unless Steam’s early access, this program will allow you to try the games for free. I think that’s great. Paying for in-development builds is one of the main things that turns me away from early access.

Next, the creator of DayZ announced a sci-fi game called Ion. I don’t know much about DayZ, but I’ll need to see more of Ion before I make up my mind. Rise of the Tomb Raider was next, and while some parts looked pretty cool, I’m not sold on it yet either.

And then… it was time for Rare to take the stage.

While not the new Banjo-Kazooie game I was hoping for, Rare Replay will bring 30 games from Rare to the Xbox One in a single collection for only $30. 30 games for $30 is hard to beat, especially when you consider the games in question…

• Jetpac
• Atic Atac
• Lunar Jetman
• Sabre Wulf
• Underwurlde
• Knight Lore
• Gunfright
• Slalom
• R.C. Pro-Am
• Cobra Triangle
• Snake Rattle N Roll
• Digger T. Rock
• Solar Jetman
• Battletoads
• R.C. Pro-Am II
• Battletoads Arcade
• Killer Instinct Gold
• Blast Corps
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Jet Force Gemini
• Perfect Dark
• Banjo-Tooie
• Conker’s Bad Fur Day
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies
• Perfect Dark Zero
• Kameo: Elements of Power
• Viva Pinata
• Jetpac Refuelled
• Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
• Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

That’s an impressive collection of Rare history (thanks, IGN, for the full list). As exciting as it is, though, part of me is a little disappointed that Rare didn’t announce a new sequel…

…but it did announce a pirate-themed MMO, Sea of Thieves. Now, I don’t like MMOs, but I do like pirates. Will Tales of Berseria be my only pirate adventure, or will Sea of Thieves win me over? We’ll see.

The game showed after that looked interesting, but it was just Fable Legends, which has been shown before. After that, they dove into the world of virtual reality: partnerships with Valve, a connection between the Xbox brand and Oculus Rift, and Microsoft HoloLens. And while I’m not a fan of Minecraft, I have to admit that the HoloLens Minecraft demonstration looks really cool.

Finally, it was time for Gears of War. An enhanced remake of the first Gears of War game was announced for the Xbox One, Gears of War Ultimate Edition. I’ve never played the series and have had no interest in it, but some parts of the next trailer–the much-anticipated Gears of War 4–looked pretty cool.

Microsoft’s E3 press conference was good. It had some games I’m not interested in at all, of course, but also some great announcements. Still, I think Sony and Nintendo both have a chance of beating it. Let’s see how it goes…