Nintendo
2015 marks a year of transition for Nintendo. They begin to shutter the WiiU and 3DS as they move towards mobile gaming and NX, their next dedicated hardware platform. As a result, Nintendo’s Direct was fairly short on big announcements, but a lot of content focused on the 2015 Holiday season. You can expect to play Starfox Zero this year, which gives Platinum Games (Bayonetta 2, The Wonderful 101) the reigns to an iconic spacefaring franchise. Transformations between different forms in open levels contrast with the more classic linear ‘rail shooter’ style gameplay. WiiU owners can also get a party going with their favorite Animal Crossing characters in Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival. Of course, Mario was there as well. Celebrating 30 years of the iconic character, they showed more of Super Mario Maker and a new Mario Tennis.
The Nintendo 3DS also saw plenty of love, like The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, which delivers a three-player co-op experience with classic Zelda gameplay. 2016 will also bring 3DS owners a new co-op experience in the Metroid Prime universe, Metroid Prime: Federation Force. A port of Hyrule Warriors is also in the cards — now with characters from Wind Waker. Mario RPG fans can look forward to Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, which crosses over the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario franchises. Fire Emblem fans will be getting a double dose in 2016, with new core entry Fire Emblem Fates and Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei, another crossover of fan favorites.
Square Enix
Fans of Japanese and Western games alike could find something to cherish in Square Enix’s conference. The show opened with a bang, showing off a new trailer for Just Cause 3, which promises explosive chaos to rival the next Fast & Furious film. After an announcement at Sony’s event, Hitman was laid out in clearer detail. The assassination game is promising a return to open-world strategic takedowns, with new missions being added on a 48 hour rotation. The team said they hope to hear from players during the development of new content. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided also got a shiny new gameplay trailer, detailing the ‘Mechanical Apartheid’ tearing apart this cyberpunk dystopia. Even mobile devices got something of note, with a new spinoff — Lara Croft GO. Like last year’s Hitman GO, this title is a turn-based reimagining of the classic franchise that plays out like a board game.
Japanese RPGs were out in full force, building off the massive positive buzz surrounding last night’s jaw-dropping Final Fantasy VII remake announcement. Square also announced a sequel to cult hit Nier, being co-developed by Platinum Games (who now officially have four games in active development, three of which were announced at this E3). The star of the show was Kingdom Hearts III, which displayed a new Tangled-inspired area and a better look at combat. Finally, the show closed with the announcement of a new studio titled Tokyo RPG Factory, which will, shockingly, focus on the production of JRPGs.
AMD Presents The PC Gaming Show Powered By PC Gamer
Typically, the PC gets the short end of the stick at E3. The biggest games at the console manufacturer shows are usually exclusive to that platform, the features that really excite the PC audience aren’t often touched upon. For 2015, AMD partnered with PC Gamer to fix that situation, presenting the PC Gaming Show. Obsidian Entertainment came on stage to present the first expansion to their isometric RPG Pillars of Eternity, titled The White March. Frontier took on nostalgia for a different genre with Planet Coaster — a title that looks to recapture the magic of Roller Coaster Tycoon.
Microsoft’s head of Xbox was even present to talk about the future of gaming on Windows 10 and the company’s past failures in the PC gaming space. To cement the commitment, Spencer announced that Killer Instinct and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition would see PC releases. Finally, Cliff Bleszinski (creator of Gears of War) took to the stage to introduce the world to Project BlueStreak — his first production with his new team, Boss Key Productions.
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