E3 2018

[Julius]

Man, Bethesda really do love a good tease. I’m really starting to feel the E3 hype!

I think that Bethesda Game Studios’ next game (Starfield?) is virtually a lock-in at this point. Doom 2 too. Some moon DLC for Prey. Maybe Rage 2? Admittedly, it wasn’t really on my scope until today (I should do some research). Probably some Quake Champions news too, maybe a mobile game will turn up, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we learn about a Fallout game coming to Switch at this point. 

A month to go!  

[Dcubed]

Oh wow! Sony are NOT hosting a traditional E3 conference this year!

 

https://www.resetera.com/threads/first-playstation-2018-e3-showcase-details-ds-got-sm-tlou2-no-traditional-press-conference.41832/

 

They're going to be doing the Nintendo thing and are hosting a Nintendo Direct/E3 Showcase style video instead!

 

I'm legit shocked! I never thought they'd ever give up the pomp and circumstance that defines their E3 events! This is crazy for them!  

 

Edit: Actually, it might be some miscommunication/misinterpretation going by the thread... It's probably the case, since I can't ever imagine Sony giving up on the bombastic live events they're known for...

Edited May 11, 2018 by Dcubed

[Julius]

2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Oh wow! Sony are NOT hosting a traditional E3 conference this year!

 

https://www.resetera.com/threads/first-playstation-2018-e3-showcase-details-ds-got-sm-tlou2-no-traditional-press-conference.41832/

 

They're going to be doing the Nintendo thing and are hosting a Nintendo Direct/E3 Showcase style video instead!

 

I'm legit shocked! I never thought they'd ever give up the pomp and circumstance that defines their E3 events! This is crazy for them!  

 

Edit: Actually, it might be some miscommunication/misinterpretation going by the thread... It's probably the case, since I can't ever imagine Sony giving up on the bombastic live events they're known for...

I think this could mean we’ll be seeing their deep dives spaced out quite evenly throughout the show, with any game announcements (first or third party) filling the gaps. It should certainly lend itself to a better pacing than the 100 mph start which we saw last year with the likes of Monster Hunter World and Shadow of the Colossus, which really slowed down after that, and the gameplay at the end just felt like it dragged the show out further.

The focus on Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us Part II and Death Stranding is intriguing. We’re getting Spider-Man in September, and I think we’ll get one of the latter three at the start of next year. The phrasing is a bit strange to me: the implication, to me at least, could possibly be that these are the only first party games that we see from the this show — though with Dreams on the way, I doubt that. Then again, maybe that’s more suited for a Gamescom showing? Either way, I think it’s a step in the right direction, as they seem to be going away from blowing their metaphorical load too early.

I think I’ve mentioned it elsewhere (probably in the dedicated thread), but Sony have said that Death Stranding is one of the fastest developments of a title they’ve ever seen, and Kojima Productions has teased that the game will be out before the fictional events depicted in Akira, which is set in 2019. 

It’s honestly probably the event - at least of the Big Three - that I’m most excited for. Now, if they’d just tell us what time the event was actually taking place so that I could update the original post...  

Edited May 11, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Julius]

Here we go. PlayStation time:

Quote

It’s been an exceptional year for games, thanks to genre-defining masterworks like A Way Out, Far Cry 5, God of War, Monster Hunter: World, and Moss.

But 2018 is just getting started. To ring in a new year of incredible new gaming experiences, the PlayStation team is planning a new E3 Showcase — and we’re inviting all of our closest friends. That means you!

Join us on Monday, June 11 starting at 6:00pm Pacific Time as we share a preview of what’s next for PlayStation. We’ll broadcast the show live from E3 2018 in Los Angeles, California via live.playstation.com, Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook.

In a rare break from tradition, we wanted to give you an early glimpse at what to expect heading into the Showcase on June 11. PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios will be at E3 in full force to provide you with an exclusive look at four upcoming titles: Death Stranding from Kojima Productions, Ghost of Tsushima from Sucker Punch, Marvel’s Spider-Manfrom Insomniac Games, and The Last of Us Part II from Naughty Dog.

Of course, we’ll have stellar announcements from third-party publishers and independent developers, who are all busy devising innovative new experiences that will make your heart race and your emotions soar — whether you’re playing on PS4, PS4 Pro, or PS VR.

Stay tuned to PlayStation.Blog to learn a bit more about what’s in store as we count down to June 11, 2018 and another exciting E3 season.

Our journey begins Monday, June 11 starting at 6:00pm Pacific time. Will you join us?

Kicking off at 02:00 in the morning on the Tuesday over here. Again.

I’ll have to miss watching it live this year (I have an exam that morning ), but I can’t wait to watch the trailers and highlights. I have a really good feeling about PlayStation’s showing this year  

We now have a date and time for all of this E3’s press conferences, which can all be found in the first post in this thread!  

Edited May 11, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Hero-of-Time]

Gotta be honest, I'm not liking the sound of that Sony setup. It better not be like PSX where they had chairs on the stage and people came out and talked about the games they were making. It was a terrible show. 

Every year that passes I get the E3 I know and love is slowly fading away. From Nintendo not doing live conferences, to Youtubers that have no business being in front of the camera hosting corporate events and now this.  Hopefully Microsoft go big and still put on a show for us.

[Ronnie]

I said a while back, I think the age of traditional press conferences is coming to an end and Sony and Microsoft will soon be following Nintendo's lead. I didn't think it would happen so soon though.

The signs were there last year tbf, all Sony did was play a sequence of trailers that absolutely didn't need a stage presence.

[killthenet]

You'd think after the dreadful reception PSX had they wouldn't bother trying that type of show again. I think they will just do something more like E3 2016 where they have extended periods of gameplay rather than the trailer after trailer style of last year. Would expect a bit more talking than last year but their won't be anything close to the discussions they had at PSX. 

 

Hopefully the deep dive into Death Stranding is actual gameplay, it's been two years since the reveal so you'd think they'll have some gameplay to show.

[Dcubed]

46 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Gotta be honest, I'm not liking the sound of that Sony setup. It better not be like PSX where they had chairs on the stage and people came out and talked about the games they were making. It was a terrible show. 

Every year that passes I get the E3 I know and love is slowly fading away. From Nintendo not doing live conferences, to Youtubers that have no business being in front of the camera hosting corporate events and now this.  Hopefully Microsoft go big and still put on a show for us.

Yeah, from their coy attitude on social media and their rather vague sounding official blog post, it definitely sounds like it's not gonna be the usual affair; even if it's still a live event in front of an audience.  Sounds more in-line with PSX.

 

Seems like the current tide is turning against the old way of doing things at E3.  Amazingly, Nintendo aren't the ones playing catch-up for a change!

 

7 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

The signs were there last year tbf, all Sony did was play a sequence of trailers that absolutely didn't need a stage presence.

 

Yeah, I'd have to agree with you there actually.  Has been that way for the last couple of years as they've moved away from live demos, demonstrations and stage presence and have moved more towards quickfire trailer reels one after another.  Even MS have been moving in that direction somewhat (though that was more in response to the mass complaints about an overly strong focus on TV TV TV SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS in the early days of the Xbone).

Edited May 11, 2018 by Dcubed

[Ronnie]

44 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Gotta be honest, I'm not liking the sound of that Sony setup. It better not be like PSX where they had chairs on the stage and people came out and talked about the games they were making. It was a terrible show.

That sounds exactly what it'll be like sadly.

Maybe Sony just doesn't have much new AAA stuff to announce since their first party line up this year and next is crazy. They were already struggling to show much new stuff last year. Maybe everything other than Spiderman, Last of Us, Death Stranding and Ghosts of Tsushima is years away and will be on PS5 so the lower key E3 presence to focus on 4 big games is a reaction to that.

[Dcubed]

7 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

That sounds exactly what it'll be like sadly.

Maybe Sony just doesn't have much new AAA stuff to announce since their first party line up this year and next is crazy. They were already struggling to show much new stuff last year. Maybe everything other than Spiderman, Last of Us, Death Stranding and Ghosts of Tsushima is years away and will be on PS5 so the lower key E3 presence to focus on 4 big games is a reaction to that.

I doubt that's the reason.  Dreams should be ready for primetime by this point, then they've got Medievil and Days Gone to show as well.  And that's just what we already know about in terms of major retail releases coming on the horizon.

 

Death Stranding also isn't coming out this year (and there's a good chance it'll actually end up being their big headlining game for the PS5 launch, given that the new KojiPro studio was only recently established and we've seen nothing of the actual game, save for some CG FMV trailers).  So they're clearly not shy about focusing on exclusive games that are still years away here.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Dcubed

[Hero-of-Time]

2 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

That sounds exactly what it'll be like sadly.

Maybe Sony just doesn't have much new AAA stuff to announce since their first party line up this year and next is crazy. They were already struggling to show much new stuff last year. Maybe everything other than Spiderman, Last of Us, Death Stranding and Ghosts of Tsushima is years away and will be on PS5 so the lower key E3 presence to focus on 4 big games is a reaction to that.

Yeah, pretty much what im thinking, as well. Outside of Ghosts of Tsushima, I've already seen enough of the other 3 games they are showing off and don't really wanna see anymore, especially if they go in-depth with them. It's why I don't really care for the Treehouse segments or when developers come up on stage a play the game for long periods. Just show me a trailer that sells the game and then move on to the next thing.

[Ronnie]

Dreams and Days Gone probably the big casualties if they're not featured on stage.

From Shawn Layden:

• Monday, June 11th 2018, details coming soon
• Exclusive looks and deep dives on 4 upcoming Sony World Wide Studios titles
• Death Stranding
• Ghosts of Tsushima
• Spider-Man
• The Last of Us Part II
• Highlight on indies
• 3rd party publishers (as usual)
• No hardware announcements at E3 2018 (PS5 reference?)

[Ronnie]

1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Yeah, pretty much what im thinking, as well. Outside of Ghosts of Tsushima, I've already seen enough of the other 3 games they are showing off and don't really wanna see anymore, especially if they go in-depth with them. It's why I don't really care for the Treehouse segments or when developers come up on stage a play the game for long periods. Just show me a trailer that sells the game and then move on to the next thing.

I can't think of any of their big studios that hasn't already announced what they're working on. It's what happens when you announce so many games multiple years in advance, you run out of material to show later down the line. New hardware being a couple of years away doesn't help either.

I see your point about not liking deep dives, if I'm already sold on a game I'll just ignore it but what they show of Spiderman could sell me on it.

I still think Microsoft put on a great show last year. Sony actually have big exclusives and could put on a great show in that format, but sadly doesn't seem they're interested.

[Hero-of-Time]

6 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I can't think of any of their big studios that hasn't already announced what they're working on. It's what happens when you announce so many games multiple years in advance, you run out of material to show later down the line. New hardware being a couple of years away doesn't help either.

I see your point about not liking deep dives, if I'm already sold on a game I'll just ignore it but what they show of Spiderman could sell me on it.

I still think Microsoft put on a great show last year. Sony actually have big exclusives and could put on a great show in that format, but sadly doesn't seem they're interested.

Other than the original Xbox backwards compatibility announcement, the Microsoft show was pretty poor, IMO. Most things had already been leaked and they lacked any real big exclusive announcements, which is what they've really struggled with this generation.

[Ronnie]

20 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Other than the original Xbox backwards compatibility announcement, the Microsoft show was pretty poor, IMO. Most things had already been leaked and they lacked any real big exclusive announcements, which is what they've really struggled with this generation.

Sorry I should have been clearer, games-wise I would absolutely agree with you. I was talking more about the stage show as a spectacle. I wish Sony would do something similar because unlike Microsoft they actually have the games to make it great.

[Hero-of-Time]

5 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Sorry I should have been clearer, games-wise I would absolutely agree with you. I was talking more about the stage show as a spectacle. I wish Sony would do something similar because unlike Microsoft they actually have the games to make it great.

Ah, I see. 

I imagine the Sony show was a spectacle for those who attended. I think it was last year where the screens and scenery kept changing depending on the game that was being shown. Stuff like flames going off on stage when MH was announced and the hanging dead bodies for Days Gone. Us at home just didn't get to see a lot of it. Then there was also the Uncharted musical opening. I'd argue the spectacle was there but the games were lacking due to seeing a lot of them the year before. Luckily MH saved the show for me.

 

[Sheikah]

Oh wow! Sony are NOT hosting a traditional E3 conference this year!  https://www.resetera.com/threads/first-playstation-2018-e3-showcase-details-ds-got-sm-tlou2-no-traditional-press-conference.41832/

 

They're going to be doing the Nintendo thing and are hosting a Nintendo Direct/E3 Showcase style video instead!

 

I'm legit shocked! I never thought they'd ever give up the pomp and circumstance that defines their E3 events! This is crazy for them! [emoji33] 

 

Edit: Actually, it might be some miscommunication/misinterpretation going by the thread... It's probably the case, since I can't ever imagine Sony giving up on the bombastic live events they're known for...

 

 

Eh? All I saw on Eurogamer was that they are announcing the first party games they will be showing ahead of time. Methinks that's because they don't have any unrevealed IP to announce this year and they're tempering expectations.

 

In my opinion they need to steer clear of the Direct format, empty and lacking the usual atmosphere of the live presentations. Sony have shown they can do live presentations without endless filler, so that's all they have to do.

[Julius]

2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Death Stranding also isn't coming out this year (and there's a good chance it'll actually end up being their big headlining game for the PS5 launch, given that the new KojiPro studio was only recently established and we've seen nothing of the actual game, save for some CG FMV trailers).

Whilst I'm sure that it's not coming out this year, I do think that it's come along much further than us onlookers think. Like I said above, Sony have commented that they've never seen a game as ambitious as Death Stranding developed so quickly (I feel like that might have been Layden?), and I believe both Cerny and Andrew House have stated that they've played the game to some extent, and were both very impressed by how it was going. Kojima Productions have also teased that the game could release before the fictional events depicted in Akira take place (2019), and Kojima-san has previously said that the game would release prior to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which seems to suggest to me that a PS5 launch release is by no means the goal. I don't think that would make much sense anyway, as I think there's a good chance that the PS5 will be backwards compatible (based purely on my own speculation that Sony have learned from the drought that a lack of backwards compatibility brought about at the launch of the PS4), and the PS4 will likely be nearing/around 100 million units sold by the time that this game would launch.

Kojima Productions does seem to be small, by all means (I haven't seen a number thrown about greater than 100 when it comes to staff yet), but I think that there's a very good chance that Guerrilla are helping them with the game. To what extent this could be I'm not too sure, but their presence might explain why this game has seemingly come along so quickly (at least for what it's aiming to be), because I certainly can't see how a studio of less than 100 developers (presumably the majority of which are Japanese) could to grips so quickly with an engine they've never utilised before.

I remain optimistic when it comes to Death Stranding, but I think that The Last of Us Part II is going to be the big swansong for the PS4, and that we probably won't see it released until 2020. Ghost of Tsushima early next year and Death Stranding late next year would probably be my guess for now 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Nolan]

Looks like Bethesda is working on revealing Rage 2 in a slightly more official way. 

[Julius]

2 hours ago, Nolan said:

Looks like Bethesda is working on revealing Rage 2 in a slightly more official way. 

I think that’s a smart move by them in the long run. With the way things are reportedly shaping up, it always seemed like it was going to be their smallest game of this year; I don’t think they would have been so eager to come out of the woodwork to do the same for the other games which might turn up on their stage this year (reportedly Doom 2 and a Bethesda Game Studios game) alongside Rage 2. 

[Nolan]

https://www.instagram.com/bethesda/?hl=en

They added a further 3 images. Almost all of them show 5-14 somewhere in the picture, so I’m guessing the announcement is tomorrow. 

[Julius]

Worst kept secret. Gameplay reveal tomorrow.

I guess it’s confirmed that Forza are missing Horizon 4 and going straight to 5, then?  

Edited May 14, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Nolan]

4 hours ago, Julius Caesar said:

Worst kept secret. Gameplay reveal tomorrow.

I guess it’s confirmed that Forza are missing Horizon 4 and going straight to 5, then?  

I honestly think Rage 2 reveal was pushed forward after the Walmart reveal. It still wasn’t a well kept secret perhaps but I think had the games list not been spoiled they may have waited for closer to E3 (because really I don’t see it being a huge issue to change the dates a bit). 

As for the Walmart reveal, I think they handled it very well. They drew attention back to themselves and poked fun at Walmart. Then slowly teased a handful more of images. 

[Julius]

Nintendo’s E3 site has their video presentation named as the ‘Nintendo Direct: E3 2018’, so I guess I’ll update the original post. 

Aptly named, but I preferred ‘Nintendo Spotlight: E3 [insert year here]’, if I’m honest 

Oh well, less than a month to go now!  

[Julius]

Did someone say “friendly neighbourhood”?