Julius

If I'm remembering right, I think it was at Xbox's bigger pre-Series launch event in the summer of 2020? It's been a hot minute for sure though. EDIT: found it, it was announced at their July event in 2020. Think the purchase of the studio might've also been then too? And yeah I thought so, something along the line of choices, but then it showed the branches and it seems to be about the impact of Two Rock on each individual...so maybe just the impact of the one event/idea, but without the choices? As a trailer I don't think it gave a great idea of what we should expect from gameplay

Lightyear Frontier looks comfy as all heck, that wasn't console exclusive right? Might need to keep an eye on that EDIT: console launch exclusive. I can be patient

Minecraft Builders? Looks pretty cosy! Not my thing but shocks me they haven't done more with the IP

Instantly

This is the most violent take on Somewhere Over the Rainbow I think I've lived to hear so far

Is this Civ VII..? EDIT: wow okay guess not, just veeeeeeeery Civ-like

Nah it's fine, they'll stick a 2 on it, that's all it takes right? But more seriously, hearing Overwatch fans be so confused by its sequel so far says it all. I suppose if you abstract the word "Blizzard" it's pretty much the colder version of "rough waters"

Generic triumphant and jubilant trumpets. I love how generic music makes us go "yup, 'Murica" in our minds More Flight Simulator stuff though, looks great as ever!

Forza - awesome. But am I the only one whose stream is making it look real rough? I'm at 1080/60 and can count the pixels obviously down to the stream, but it makes it so weird for a first look.

We batter him with love and understanding! SHORTS RULE

As soon as it started looking like Nintendo weren't turning up this year I definitely started thinking it made the most sense And right? I had to rewind because I thought I'd missed the release date!

"Today we're doing something we've never done before" Not telling us how many games you're showing off? EDIT: welp

It's a tropical 17°C down here, it's shorts weather! Don't know what it's like up north, but what is this madness?!

Oh yeah, definitely. I actually had to double check when DLC was first announced for Bloodborne and Dark Souls III (it was September and August in their respective years of release) just to reel in my hopes for Elden Ring DLC here, seeing how close they've been to From and Bandai Namco on the (proper) reveals for so their games (Dark Souls III, Sekiro, and Elden Ring if I'm not mistaken?). It could be Gamescom or TGS I guess, but who am I kidding, it'd be smart logistically to save that for The Game Awards when they walk away with GOTY at the end of the year Yeah, for me exclusive JRPG's and just showing any sort of consistency in getting first party projects out of the door (because PlayStation would still probably be my console of preference for third party stuff) would be enough for me to get onboard, because while I've got so much of their back catalogue to catch up on anyways, I just want to know it's going to be strong going forwards. Starfield is the most appealing game to me on their slate, but that's based purely on hopes than any solid evidence of a great game, so hopefully it shows well! Wonder if Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade coming to Xbox is announced here or gets saved for the 25th anniversary stream on Thursday? It's been over a year since it released on PS5, so I'm half expecting it to turn up somewhere. Still waiting on mine, but that's exactly the reason I'm getting one: to stay away from my PC but to get to some of those games so many indie games and JRPG's stuck on Steam wishlisted!

Phil Spencer saying we should expect less CGI and more gameplay ahead of the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase. Man, I hope so. Let's see some HUD's, let's see some dates (windows! You guys are Microsoft, come on!), let's see them really try to sell some more people on Series consoles like myself who are still waiting on Xbox first party consistency before they consider taking the plunge. Fingers crossed Starfield gets a good showing (think having it here and without a solid showing would just continue to bury the confidence in Bethesda we've seen waning the last few years), not really sure what else I want/expect from first party beyond Forza. Hellblade II? Third party could be where it's at for me, mostly in terms of stuff we might see come to Switch and PlayStation. I'm not even going to put out the usual trio of games I normally want at these events because I've been jinxing them, but hey, they could turn up here. Tangential to one of them: Somerville? Anyways, here's hoping for a good if not great show for them. With so many going AWOL this year at Not-E3, I feel like Xbox have a massive opportunity here to really come out swinging. Just, for the love of all that is holy, I swear I'm going to flip a table if you say how many world premieres and games you're showing off at the start of your show. Don't do it Phil, I'm watching you.

Yeah, that E3 2016 Sony showing was something really special. The orchestra live scoring Cory playing the live GoW demo, gah, it was something else! And then on 2017 and the blank faces of people reacting to Bluepoint's Shadow of the Colossus Especially with EZA. The RE VII trailer ending with Jones screaming "demo TONIGHT AHHHHHHHHHH!" was so perfect. Miss those old live E3 conferences with an audience, miss Sony live shows especially - if we're talking specifically live presence at E3, especially with E3 teetering close to death, I think their final showing at 2018 could end up being the last best E3 conference for me (even with all the weird shuffling around that year!) - because they just brought it in a way only Nintendo comparably good, and man, I miss old garage vibes EZA. It wasn't fair on Jones at all at the time really, but their move to the studio was followed by COVID, then Kyle leaving, then Jones leaving, and E3 just being much less magical; it's just been a perfect storm of things going against them, unfortunately. They all seem a little jaded coming off COVID (which I totally get), and they've all been going through a lot (Huber especially), so it's all just...different. Things change, but even more than last year, this year I find that I couldn't really care less about E3 (or Not-E3). I legitimately took a one hour break from SGF because I was so bored and tuned into the end to see the last few games and the Druckmann salt, but it's kind of had a ripple effect where my hype has been drained for everything else; I watched Day of the Devs - which was great! But not for the reasons I love E3: the hype and magic - but haven't bothered even catching up on Devolver, and it's why I'm not really bothering to talk about the events at length like I'd normally want to. I'll probably tune in for Xbox just to see what happens, and obviously the FF VII anniversary stuff, but it's looking more and more like Nintendo is AWOL this year (yeah they can do something else in the summer, but they've been the best show at E3 no question ever since PlayStation left), and we don't even have a Square Enix conference where I can beg for ports. Think this is the year where it's clicked for me more than it has before, as I know it has for others here in recent years, that this just isn't going to be the same anymore I normally return to old conferences pre-E3 but hadn't really been feeling it this year, so reading your love for some of them, think I might have to join you in going back and reminiscing for that E3 pick-me-up

Official guides are on the way courtesy of Future Press...and split between two books, which are £40 each: Seem more like coffee table/collection books than actual guides in this day and age, but they do look cool I guess?

Schreier is saying November, and that the date will be revealed at the end of the month. No delay to 2023 according to him, and seems like September was originally the plan. Guess I'm going to be coming in hot off catching up on the other games and replaying 2018, then weird to wait until the end of this month, makes me wonder if they have a dedicated State of Play planned?

All the sighs: delayed to 2023 A few words on the delay from producer Yuito Kimura: So...guess I'll bump this thread again for a fourth consecutive December at the end of the year

Yes! This and some confirmation on Ever Crisis coming to console once it's all said and done a few years from now please

Another event to add to the agenda: Final Fantasy VII is getting a 25th anniversary stream on Thursday! Time to temper those expectations and not hope for Remake Part II news...right?

Day of the Devs has completely bodied Geoff and Summer Game Fest this year. I want to play pretty much all of these! Do feel sorry for Neil and the team about the TLOU leak, that salt was unreal looking forward to Factions at least, sounds like the project has ballooned but in a way they're ready to tackle, which has got to be exciting!

Makes sense that it wouldn't be at Summer Game Fest now we know to expect TLOU to be there instead, but it does make me wonder where it's going to turn up next and get its release date announced (regardless of if it's arriving this year or next). Would a September Showcase be too late to announce a release date arriving prior to mid-November's TGA cut-off I wonder? I'd want to say yes, but that's the only place it's turned up before, so guess it could also turn up during the summer, but that would be super weird after not having it in a super solid State of Play or at SGF this month.