Julius

So, uh. Congratulations to Nintendo for having the best show at E3 this year. Also, to those saying [inserted desired Switch game/service here] hasn't been shown yet, we already know that they're going to be showing other games during the Treehouse, with more news and game reveals. Just be patient. Nintendo did the right thing and focused on their own IP primarily in the Spotlight.

I'll be surprised if they don't, at the very least, tease some games with a montage or something towards the end to show what's coming next year if the majority of the Spotlight beforehand if focused on this year's releases. I think it depends on the balance of first, second and third party games during Spotlight, as I think small first/second party stuff (like Snipperclips, for example) and third party support is going to be exhibited mainly during the first hour of Treehouse news. We still haven't heard/seen anything from Square Enix yet, despite their being scheduled to appear today and tomorrow on the YT@3 stream with two different new games. I would assume that one is Project Octopath Traveller for the Switch, and seeing as they haven't turned up anywhere else, the other game might turn up on Switch too (keeping my fingers crossed for a remake of something, whether it be Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger; this console is ripe for Square's RPGs). News on Virtual Console and whatever that Switch update was (VC being prepped? Finally allowing more customisation?) would be a great help too, and I expect to see Nintendo close out this E3 with possibly 'Game of the Show' in Odyssey and one of the better, if not the best, briefings. They're in a very good position right now, so I hope that they're attempt to capitalise on this can materialise so that we see more great exclusive third party ventures like Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle at next year's E3.

Sony PlayStation Most anticipated games shown: Shadow Of The Colossus, Spider-Man, God Of War So, I'm going to keep my thoughts quite short, simply because I don't want to repeat some of the great things that have already been said here. The pacing was completely off, and it felt like a very quick briefing. Jumping from one game straight into another was bad enough - with no time to give any game a chance to stir in your mind, it felt that, like Xbox, they were just hurling stuff at us. It started incredibly strong, and only seemed to go down hill from there. Instead of capping off the show with a great new reveal, it was capped off with a demo for a game - Spider-Man - that we've already seen before, and I think having a story demo in a 10 minute or so segment, especially considering how many utilisations of QTEs there were, was an incredibly poor choice. Shadow Of The Colossus Remake stole the show for me, and the fact that it was up so early emphasises just how poorly scheduled this thing was. Likewise, God Of War came early, and looks splendid, but again: it's another game that we've already seen. It's nice to see PlayStation making good on their promises of yesteryear, but seriously, they shouldn't have promised a strong Japanese developer presence for their entire presence during their show to culminate in a currently divisive game in Monster Hunter: World, which is aimed at the West anyway, a spectacularly beautiful remake in Shadow Of The Colossus, and Capcom's Marvel/Capcom fighter. Again, where were games like Bloodborne 2, Shenmue 3 and Final Fantasy VII Remake? Where were the big surprises? Solid show, great games, but other than a few games at the start, there were virtually no surprises whatsoever. I can't help but feel a tad disappointed. Here's hoping for next year. Score: 8.0/10

My goodness, this would be great. 3D, first person Prime-like From Software game next year and a more traditional 2D Metroidvania by Yacht Club this year? Dreams, but I'd totally be in!

Coming 2018. Next year is going to be HUGE for Marvel gaming! As for the gameplay: visually stunning, seems very Arkham-like, but with that Spider-Man charm. On the down side, not at all a fan of the real time reaction stuff we've seen take precedent in the Telltale games, it makes the game very linear, and more often than not damages the flow of a cutscene and the overall mechanics of the gameplay, in my mind.

On the one hand, this should increase the potential of their show next year Is it me or did it feel like there was a genuine lack of Japanese developers showing stuff off here? We had Monster Hunter World and Shadow of the Colossus Remake, a game fans aren't sure about and a Remake respectively, but where was Square? Another trailer and an update on a release year for FFVII Remake could have completely changed the narrative for me, as could have other games, such as a Bloodborne 2. Just seemed a bit odd to me is all, and would have broken up some of the monotony of the constant action game stream.

I think for both Sony -- and Nintendo -- having a presence on stage would be a great move, as many fans attending E3 want to see the newest and greatest games promised on the biggest screen possible, etc. Nothing can get you going like a live atmosphere. I think it would be a great move if Nintendo filled the auditorium and just played the Spotlight after a short introduction, because there's nothing to get a crowd going like a nostalgic publisher/developer like Nintendo, and what they could potentially have in store later could bring a few years to some eyes. Same goes for Sony, but the big difference, I feel, is that people watching the livestream shouldn't be getting these weird angles inside the auditorium. Short intro followed by a slew of trailers in a row - perhaps with developer comments inbetween in the video - that feels like a show, and ending it off with a final word from them before showing something else. They almost had it right, but it really, really didn't need to be a live feed this time around, and I think it hurt them.

Absolutely! I just want something -- I mean: anything -- Final Fantasy right now. It's the 30th Anniversary! Man, if we get a release date for Octopath Traveller and a reveal like an FFVI Remake, it could save what I feel has been an average show from everyone but Ubisoft so far.

F-Zero+Metroid: Federation Force Racing On a serious note, though, I kind of hope Nintendo can save what has felt like an average E3 so far with their Spotlight and Treehouse Livestream. I can't remember feeling this underwhelmed watching E3 last year, at least. Perhaps it's because Ubisoft has been the only one to get it right, and surprise us all with Beyond Good & Evil 2? Other than that, there have been very, very few major surprises this year, it feels. It's in Nintendo's hand as to whether or not they steal the show from everyone once again now.

From the Coliseum schedule; Tuesday Wednesday My biggest question at the moment is what on Earth are we getting from Square Enix? With all but Nintendo's show down, I suppose this pretty much chalks off games like Tomb Raider and Remake, unless they're just planning to randomly announce something? One of them has to be Project Octopath Traveller, I assume, so what on Earth is the other game? Especially if it is for the Switch, to be revealed during Nintendo Spotlight? Have I completely missed a SE game announcement? Holding out hope for the FFVI Remake for Switch, @Hero\-of\-Time !

Loved that, but still, nothing yet that's truly made me go WHAT THE----?! and go accordingly nuts. I don't think there's been that big surprise yet, and I had been expecting Sony to deliver (saying this, I loved their show and it's the best so far this conference). You're up, Nintendo.

It looks great, and huge at that. If we get the whole of NY open world, it would be amazing. Not a fan of the real time, slow motion, quick reaction stuff, though. I'd much rather that stay in the Telltale games where it belongs: true linear branching stories. Of course, I don't mind if it shows up occasionally in the game, but if this is every other boss fight, it could hinder my anticipation substantially.

Think this was the big one for me this year, despite it being a remake. It looks fantastic.

Did someone say GOTY?

Right then, ahead of my two most anticipated shows this year (being PlayStation and Nintendo) - which I'm sure I share with many of you - I want to share my thoughts on the four major briefings that have already zoomed by so far this year. I will also list my most anticipated games shown for each conference, in descending order of anticipation, and end each summary of my thoughts with a score out of 10. EA Most anticipated games shown: Star Wars Battlefront II, A Way Out, Anthem Electronic Arts, a publisher known the world over for their multiplayer endeavours and seemingly wanting to squeeze out as much cash from its consumer base as possible, kicked off E3 this year with a small bang. Our first look at Battlefront II multiplayer was had with the Battle of Theed, exhibiting a battle between the CIS and Republic forces, including heroes and villains from across the Star Wars eras. The game looks great - I would argue that this is the best visual depiction of the Clone Wars we've received to date, in terms of fidelity and graphical resolution - and, as a HUGE Star Wars fan, I love how EA have reacted to remarks made about the first game (which it sunk some 130+ hours into). With the original Battlefront II being my personal favourite game of all time - I have literally sunk thousands of hours into that one - and my love of Star Wars, I think it goes without saying that I was extremely satisfied with what I was shown of the game. Also worth mentioning, I think, was the genius move to utilise the likeness of the game's campaign's protagonist, Iden Versio, as the presenter during this segment. Roll on November! A Way Out, by Hazelight Studios, exhibited a great relationship between developer and publisher, and Josef Faras' charisma and charm helped really push this game. Not that it needed any further pushing, mind: a splitscreen, compulsory cooperative prison escape game was always going to be an interesting premise, but some ideas clearly of Faras' film industry experiences add a fresh ingenuity to a game that could have been easily buried in the mix this year. Finally, Anthem, a Destiny-like game that takes place in a futuristic sci-fi setting with masses of creatures on show and a beautiful landscape - which can be explored fully with Iron Man-like exosuits, which allow superhuman abilities and flight - was teased towards the end of the briefing, to be expanded on the following day on show at the reveal of Project Scorpio at the Microsoft Xbox briefing the following day. Like all of the games on show at EA Play this year, this game was beautiful, and followed the unveiling of a new AI initiative by EA known as SEED. This is one I'm definitely interested in seeing more of, especially with one of the stronger BioWare teams having worked on it. However, there were a few drawbacks to the show, in my mind, one such drawback being that the pacing was ABSOLUTELY WRONG. Demos were not expanded upon by presenters on the stage, for example, and felt like short snippets. The editing of the Battlefront II Battle of Theed was dreadful, with the camera often changing at the worst of times (for example, someone having been watched line up a kill for 10 seconds only to not see the pay off, or cutting away from someone who's changing to a hero character). For the games I listed above, perhaps ironically, pacing was fine in their own dedicated segments, but transitions from game to game felt clumsy, and often rushed, with a new Need for Speed demo being shown before jumping into a minute long demo rewind of some NBA Live 18 gameplay, and that really, really hurt what EA had to offer this year, I feel. Score: 7.0/10 Microsoft Xbox Most anticipated game: Sea Of Thieves, Anthem So...I'm going to keep this one pretty short. Microsoft revealed the new Xbox One X in starting the show, and went on to detail a lot of technical terms, which is great for hardcore gamers, and especially those present at E3. I won't try to go too deep into this here, as I have elsewhere on these forums, but this feels a case of way too much, way too late for hardware, and could really hurt Xbox in the years to come, and especially if and when we move on to the next generation of home consoles. I am a PS4 player, sure, but I am by no means a fanboy: I want to see Microsoft push us to new boundaries in the gaming console space, but releasing a console capable of exhibiting 4K at 60fps at this stage into this generation of consoles, where developers have finally begun to show mastery over HD assets in their respective engines of choice, doesn't make much sense to me. No-one is building a unique, must-own, Xbox One X experience right now. As many have agreed, myself included, what matters most at this stage of the console generation is software, even more so the exclusive kind, and once agin, I feel they fell short guys. Like, not-even-close short. Put into perspective: the only game that's really captured my interest from them this year is a game that wasn't even a new reveal, and that's Rare's Sea Of Thieves, which looks like a whole lot of fun (and looks perfect for the VR space that Microsoft failed to expand upon during their briefing, as they had mentioned it last year in teasing Project Scorpio. Anthem looks beautiful on the One X, but I have a feeling that game will look just as good on my HD TV in HD (yes, that was another dig at why the One X was so poorly timed). Likewise, the same problem here as with EA when it comes to pacing. Jumping from demo to demo, with hardly any transition or expansion on stage, this might have well have been a Nintendo Direct. It certainly wouldn't have backfired the way I feel it did, that's for sure. Score: 6.0/10 Bethesda Most anticipated game: Skyrim for Switch Even shorter than the last one, I think. Doom VFR? Cool. Fallout 4 VR? Nice. Skyrim for Switch? Looks like a good portable port! Quake Champions? Not really my thing. Dishonoured 2 DLC? The Evil Within 2? Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus? All neat, but not franchises I'm tripping over myself to see the next installment of. The real kicker here was the constant tease of the rumoured new sci-fi RPG by Bethesda Softworks titled Starfield. The constant tease of their great RPGs, and the hint of another. The starry background prevalent throughout their whole show, and so on. I get why they didn't show it: they love to bring games out the same year as they are announced, and I believe they'll announce it at next E3 for release late next year. The pacing was fine here, with a cartoonishly animated 'Bethesdaland' tour being the source of the flow in this briefing, which I was fine with. Apart from, of course, of course, the fact that it felt Direct-like and had the flow ruined on occasion by reverting back to the stage for a short talk about the games. It just wasn't needed, at all. Score: 6.5/10 Ubisoft Most anticipated games: Beyond Good & Evil 2, Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle This was by far my favourite show so far this E3, and perhaps my favourite of Ubisoft's ever at E3. You saw it come into a physical form towards the end with the developers of Beyond Good & Evil 2 coming out on stage: there was a real emotion and passion on show here that I don't think we'd seen until then at this year's E3, and perhaps that was brought out with the exchanging of company hands due to happen later this year. Everything just seemed to resonate, and there wasn't a single game that was any less than interesting from my perspective. In fact, Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle looks like genuine fun, and has been added to my Switchlist, and it was a smart decision to bring out Miyamoto at the start, and an even smarter one to show off gameplay before the trailer in this instance. If the order had been reversed, the demo would have felt like your typical expansion of a trailer during these shows, but instead, the trailer built on the comedy and mechanics introduced to us in the demo. The Crew 2 looks and sounds technically and visually impressive. Micro-America experienced in a myriad of speedy types of transport? Count me in. Assassin's Creed Origins? Looks visually stunning and mechanically impressive. Skull & Bones? Looks like Black Flag 2.0, but man, what a resurgence the pirate material is having! That Skylanders-like game also looked very impressive - like a more refined and focused No Man's Sky - as did the Winter Olympics DLC for Steep. Beyond Good & Evil 2 brought the house down at the end, and felt more like an encore to a great presentation rather than a "well, if we haven't hooked them yet, we have now" situation. Beautiful trailer, and whilst it may be a few years back, IT IS HAPPENING. And the pacing was PERFECT. Like, seriously. No game took up too much time, or was overshadowed by another by taking up too little time. No transition felt rushed or unnecessary, and there was a flow to their briefing that, again, we hadn't seen this E3. The emotion was on show at Ubisoft, and it was a beautiful way for them to close this chapter and their history and begin the next. And I will gladly wait, albeit in eager anticipation of their next great showing. Score: 9.0/10 Right then: over to you, PlayStation!

Holy smokes. Ubisoft brought an emotion and passion with them to their briefing this year, with a host of great games - releasing within the next 18 months and beyond - promising us a great time. The Rabbids game looks like tremendous fun, and just, wow, the pacing was perfect for me: never too long or too little spent on any of the games, and a great balance of gameplay and stage presentation. Weirdly, my favourite briefing so far this year, and by far my favourite from Ubisoft in a long time, perhaps ever, at E3. If PlayStation can top that I will be crying. Also, they were quick to put up this BG&E2 trailer breakdown. Kudos, Ubi!

Yeah, I'd definitely like to, at the very least, get a trailer for it, just to help gauge the tone of the game. Thinking of watching the Ubisoft briefing with EZA, seeing as we already know - a lot of - what's coming. As if we needed any more confirmation, a Wal Mart listing for the game has been making the rounds. I know Ubisoft has a number of studios around the world, but seriously, they need to get a grip when it comes to game reveals! EDIT Actually, last minute hope for the Ubisoft briefing: Splinter Cell.

Reggie talking to Geoff Keighley on YouTube@E3 earlier today makes for an interesting watch.

My bad, was thinking Wednesday because I've got an exam that day apologies @Goron3 and thanks @drahkon for the correction

17:00 [on Wednesday Tuesday]

Should have played into XBone with the Xbox One R. No doubt the marketing team have missed a trick here.

Reggie has confirmed that Spotlight will be 25 minutes long, with more news to break during the first hour of the Treehouse Livestream. Even more confident now that Spotlight will be focused mainly on Nintendo's first and second party games, with third party games to take centre stage during he first hour of Treehouse (which would also be a great show of solidarity between Nintendo and third party publishers). The promise of Spotlight reveals and first looks could not excite me more.

Huh. Well, I guess that's one hour less of sleep I'm getting tonight. Can't help but wonder why this is; any ideas, anyone?

Considering the success of BOTW last year, and with Odyssey coming this year, this was always going to be Nintendo's -- in terms of software -- E3 to lose, especially factoring in the success of the Switch so far. They've been sending mixed messages since the start of the year, but have started to clear those up and seemingly anticipate, and react to, consumer feedback. This would send the most crystalline of messages, in my opinion, and would be interesting to see simply because of the dichotomy between the Xbox One X's reveal and a potential VC shadow drop: here's the most technically impressive gaming console compared with we love gaming - as you know we're all about gaming software at our core - and we know you do too. I know which message puts a smile on my face, at least...