Jun 082019
Table of Contents
EA
Microsoft
Bethesda
Devolver Digital
PC Gaming
Limited Run Games
Ubisoft
Square Enix
Nintendo
Nintendo Treehouse
EA’s E3 2019 Live Streams
Yesterday, I mistakenly said EA was having a press conference today… because I thought they were.
Instead, EA opted for a series of “EA Play” live streams starting at 12:15 PM ET, with specific games being shown in half hour segments:
12:15 PM: Countdown to EA PLAY
12:30 PM: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
1:00 PM: Apex Legends
1:30 PM: Battlefield V
2:00 PM: EA SPORTS FIFA
2:30 PM: EA SPORTS Madden NFL
3:00 PM: The Sims 4
On one hand, this is kind of disappointing. On the other hand, unless they have surprise announcements in between segments, we know exactly what parts to watch. (Their website even outright suggest you tune in only for the games that interest you.)
I usually go through EA’s live streams being excited for one or two things and then write about how the others were games that don’t appeal to me, while waiting patiently to see if anything else interesting will pop up. This time, I can say in advance I’m excited for Jedi: Fallen Order and then nothing else.
Let’s take a look.
It started out with a bit of talking about the planned live streams, and then we got a countdown until the Star Wars coverage would begin. (Did EA take inspiration from how Sony handled its show last year?)
Finally, it was time for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. They cheered over single-player games not being dead, so it really seems like they’re pushing that idea with this game. Then it was time for a 15-minute gameplay demo.
The most interesting part was the Force powers, since it looks like you’ll have a lot of different Force abilities and be able to use them in creative ways to fight your enemies. The lightsaber combat also looks like it’ll be handled well. It reminds me a bit of The Force Unleashed. Not a lot of details about the story from this demo, although the main character is accompanied by a droid companion.
They also confirmed that there will be no dark side path, with the rather dubious explanation that they need the character to be in a certain place in canon. This does suggest they’re really planning on a story-focused experience… but I can’t help but find their reasoning faulty since past Star Wars games have simply had one outcome be canon and the others non-canon.
Anyway, Fallen Order seems like a fine game, and I’m still interested, but I’m not dying to get it.
Once the Star Wars segment ended, it was time for the remaining games on the list – none of which I’m interested in. So that’s it for our EA coverage! Come back tomorrow to talk about Microsoft, Bethesda, and Devolver Digital’s press conferences.
What did you think of EA’s live streams and Jedi: Fallen Order?
Regarding canon, didn’t Disney declare most of the games and existing books to be non-canon so they could redefine canon going forward? In that sense, I could see why they may need to stick to a linear story without choice. Plus, adding in choice makes the story less linear, and we end up going to some kind of mass effect situation with player choice and how much it affects things. It kind of makes sense that they are avoiding that controversy by making it more linear story-wise.
Yes, the old expanded universe was made non-canon, but I still don’t see how that affects this.
Take Knights of the Old Republic, for example. In the old canon, KotOR’s light side (and male protagonist) was canon. You still could play however you chose, with multiple outcomes, but as far as the rest of the series was concerned, light side ending was canon.
The Force Unleashed’s light side ending was also part of the old canon. Starkiller canonically helped start the Rebellion. You still could play the path where he ended up as a rampaging Sith Lord destroying the Rebellion, it was just non-canon.
So here, Disney decides what’s canon going forward.. A game could still have that as a canon path, but also have a non-canon path.
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