The Electronic Entertainment Expo is happening all week in Los Angeles, with the biggest developers in video games showcasing their latest titles and making huge announcements. Follow the action with the Emerald’s daily recaps.
Microsoft
With boastful claims that this year’s press conference would bring “the greatest lineup in Xbox history,” expectations were naturally set high. As expected, detailed demos for Rise of the Tomb Raider, Halo 5: Guardians, and Forza Motorsport 6 outlined the core fall lineup. This year will also bring Rare Replay – a collection of 30 games celebrating the legendary developer’s 30th anniversary, available for just $30. Rare also showcased a new pirate MMO, Sea of Thieves, which they promised would be its “most ambitious game ever.”
The biggest surprise came from Phil Spencer, who announced that backwards compatibility with 360 titles will be coming to the Xbox One this Holiday. A new ‘Elite‘ controller will also hit shelves, offering interchangeable parts and deeper levels of customization. Another surprise came in the form of Recore, a new IP from Keiji Inafune and several creators of Metroid Prime. We got a look at Minecraft in Hololens, Microsoft’s new augmented reality experience. Finally, a sneak peek of Gears 4 showcased a more horror-oriented take on the franchise.
Electronic Arts
Buried among over half an hour of updates on sports, mobile game announcements, and an extended interview with Pele, Electronic Arts did show off some new retail titles. Need For Speed promises to be a gritty counterpart to this next generation of shiny race car games, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst will transition the parkour fun into an open world. New IP Unravel also promises to tug at heart strings, while Mass Effect: Andromeda teased a Western vibe. Finally, the show ended on gameplay of Star Wars: Battlefront, showing off the full scale of classes, vehicles, and heroes available to players.
Ubisoft
The french publisher opened with a sequel to last year’s South Park: The Stick of Truth with superhero spin-off The Fractured But Whole. The title was the brainchild of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who are again writing the script for the game. Following South Park was For Honor — a new multiplayer sword combat title that appears to blend Dynasty Warriors character action with tactical dueling. Teams of four will duel it out as vikings, knights, or samurai.
Rainbow Six Siege was the biggest star of the show, displaying its returning Terrohunt mode and story content, starring Angela Basset (American Horror Story). The show closed on another Tom Clancy property — Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which puts co-op teams in a massive open world to hunt down drug runners.
PlayStation
Sometimes in the lead up to E3, fans will write out dream lists of what they hope to see. A list of unbelievable demands that no company could ever hope to fulfill — or so we thought. Sony’s press conference played out like a machine gun of fan-favorites. The eternally-delayed The Last Guardian. A full HD remake of Final Fantasy 7. A (crowdfunded) sequel to Shenmue, which has been in purgatory for 14 years. New IP after new IP (like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Dreams), mixed with exciting indie hits (like Firewatch and No Man’s Sky). A dose of incredible new technology that takes you to a new world. This was closed with massive triple-A hits, Call of Duty:Black Ops 3, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and Uncharted 4. But of course, no company could actually string that sort of show together, right? Right?
Asking “Who Won E3?” is a pointless question, but damn — Sony seems determined to answer it.
Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @Mushroomer25