Julius

Totally understand falling out with the series due to outgrowing it at some point, it happened to me with White 2. I still haven't played that game, actually. Perhaps the driving force in me returning to the franchise after that is having a younger brother to share the franchise and experiences with, which was refreshing (as my "outgrowing" of the series came around the time everyone outgrew Pokémon at my age: moving up to high school). I agree that the games haven't changed that much, in terms of gameplay at least, but considering Sun & Moon shakes up the franchise in a few ways, I really think we could see something major this time around, similar to how Breath Of The Wild, and seemingly Super Mario Odyssey, have shaken up the formula in their respective franchises, and I think the key to those games shaking it up is taking the core aspect of each franchise -- adventure and platforming, respectively -- and then putting a spin on it that makes perfect sense but feels fresh too, such as having a seamless open world in BOTW or throwing your cap and embodying what it lands on in SMO for more complex and new twists and the aforementioned core aspects. Which is, I think, where you run into a problem with Pokémon. What is the core aspect of this franchise? It's an RPG, sure, so perhaps it should lean heavily into story and levelling up? We saw glimpses of this in SM, with a lot of cutscenes and great story moments. But then again, the franchise has always - technically speaking - been an open world experienced in a linear fashion, so perhaps you take that and put a twist on it by making it a seamless open world (hey, Nintendo have done great with it so far, so I don't see why MonolithSoft or their core team couldn't have gone over to help Pokémon out on this) experienced in any order you want. You want to take on the gym furthest away? Sure, go do it in whatever order you like! Heck, a combination of branching story and open world really opens up the possibilities, and we got to choose lines for the first time in SM for our characters to speak, so what about dialogue/action trees? I don't know what they'll do. In fact, I have no idea; and that's exactly why this intrigues me the most. Unlike Zelda, Mario or Metroid, I find it difficult to pin down one core aspect of a franchise like Pokémon to put a spin on, so it will be interesting to see what they do. Whatever it is, I hope we have full camera control and not fixed camera angles. Oh, and continued customisation support would be great too.

Any particular nitpicks with the games that you can remember? Came out at a key point in my childhood, hence my nostalgia for them, but to each their own! As for remakes being the first Switch core series Pokémon games, though, history goes against it: every single core series Pokémon game to be the first on a new console has started off a new generation of Pokémon games, with a new region and set of Pokémon to boot. I'd rather become familiar with a new engine in a new region before going back to an old one, anyway

Man, I really, really want this. Not my first games, but it was around the time Pokémon really clocked with me and my friends back in primary school, so I'd be pumped for that. I mean, just imagine what they'd do with the soundtrack... Then again, if this game has an engine anything like Xenoblade 2, Odyssey or BOTW, I'd love to see how a new generation of Pokémon designs turn out in such a setting.

For me, sure. Ubisoft's, I agree, was great. I had few expectations and was blown away; I was a bit let down by the way Sony decided to handle their showing, and I think the pace was a bit off (seemed top-heavy leading with the massive newly announced titles to end with a demo of a game we saw last year). Nintendo's I loved as, very simply, it revealed release dates and confirmed titles in development, and I have a desire to play more of those games than those shown off at PlayStation. And there are still more announcements to be made, from the sound of things.

Was starting to lose hope in Square Enix, then saw this tweet; [TWEET]874674543255736320[/TWEET] Wonder what they might have in those trailers and what the 30th Anniversary FF stuff has in store...

Right, Reggie, you've given us the pay off with Metroid this year, as you hinted. Now how about Mother 3?

I think Autumn 2018 is, at the very least, on the cards for this game. Not enough to commit to "I am 100% certain"; feels like a 50-50 at this point, for a number of reasons. We have no idea how long it's been in development, but considering that Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle has been in development for 3 years, and considering just how early they start working on new generations, with two teams working on Gen VI, for instance, and just how closely knit Nintendo is with Pokémon and other second parties such as MonolithSoft, it could have been in a development for a while by now. If this game is going to have massive scope - which we've seen now with a number of first party titles, such as Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Odyssey, on the Switch - I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that MonolithSoft will have helped to some extent in massive world design (as they did with BOTW). Let's not forget too that HD assets of each Pokémon- and alternate forms - were found in Sun and Moon, and I highly doubt these will go to waste anytime soon; actually, I'd be fairly confident in saying that they'll be used as the basis of the models we see in Pokémon Switch, and that would cut down development time rather drastically.

I don't know what the problem is with it being on 3DS. Seriously: with close to 70 million units sold, why wouldn't you release a new entry in a beloved franchise? Not everyone is a hardcore Nintendo fan, and nowhere near all 3DS users are. This would be an excellent time to capitalise on an established franchise on an established console to promote a franchise giving a sequel to a game that came out a decade ago. Not everyone has nostalgia for Metroid, and I'm all for more people getting into the franchise with a great new entry.

Would love for them to do this. Safe to say, it's been a while.

Agreed, been saying this for a while. Nintendo are being very smart. If they don't know a release date because they don't want to commit to a finalised development time for whatever reason, it's a better move to act in such a way than to give a release date and delay it time and time again, as many publishers - including themselves - have done before. Extremely excited for whatever this is, whenever it may be.

2.5D METROID WAHOO!

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?