(To be clear, these awards are for things shown at the actual conferences. There are plenty of games that were announced during the show, but if it wasn't on stage, I am not considering them for these awards)
Most Impressive Game:
(The game that I had no expectations for and have really seen nothing about, but really impressed me on stage):
No Man's Sky - (shown at Sony)
Wow, this game really showed well. I knew basically nothing about this game, thought I had heard of it and saw a snippet of a trailer, but seeing it in action really impressed me. The sense of scale was incredible and the thought that you can go to all those stars, all those planets, actually go ON the planet and have it all be seamless. Wow!
Runner-Up:
Doom - (Bethesda) Fuck yeah, Doom! I giggled a lot during the gameplay.
Biggest Disappointment:
(The game that looks really promising, yet left us all pretty bummed afterwards)
Kingdom Hearts III being listed as "Now in Development" - (shown at Square Enix)
Do not get this twisted, son. The game looks fucking incredible! The problem is that they didn't even bother putting a year on it. I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's coming out in 2016, and they could have at least put that on there, but listing it as, basically, "Hey, we are....you know...working on it....so..." kinda bummed me out. You could feel the air being taken out of the room when that came up.
Runner Up:
Sony basically giving no release windows or details about pretty much everything.
"Atta Boy" and "Atta Girl":
(Given to the presenter that you could tell was quite nervous, and you want to give them a big hug and tell them they did a good job)
"Atta Boy" - Martin Sahlin - Unravel - (shown at EA)
Martin was shaking pretty bad. He was super excited to be there, though. You could tell he has put his heart and his life into this game. When he pulled out the little Yarney mascot from his jacket, the camera zoomed in to an earthquake. Martin, I will tell you, you nailed it! Your game looks beautiful, it showed really well, and you can breathe easier. Atta boy!
"Atta Girl" - Genevieve Forget - Rainbow Six: Siege - (shown at Ubisoft)
You could see the "Holy crap" moments in her eyes every now and then, but she powered through and gave a great presentation. If you listen closely you can hear her excitement when Aisha introduces her. When she was done she acted like she just stuck the landing at the Olympics. Atta girl!
Most Awkward Moment:
(The best laid plans...and so on...yeah, here's to a really awkward presentation)
Just Dance 2016 featuring Jason Derulo, crappy audio, and a white guy being a white guy. - (shown at Ubisoft)
Look, I like Jason Derulo. I think he is a hell of a performer and a fantastic dancer. My issue here was basically the entire presentation. Aisha did her best to keep it going, but other Jason, Ubisoft Jason, really didn't seem too comfortable. Then Derulo comes out to a barely working mic and does a pretty average performance. I've never seen him live to know if this was normal or just an off-night. Then the interview afterwards was awkward, Aisha sounded like she said "this song's a huge shit", and the whole thing was just bad. Also, did this really have anything to do with the game besides, hey his song is in the game?
Runner Up:
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided presentation - (shown at Square Enix) This felt like a really bad high school play. "Tell them about...the game...eh?" , "Sure, I...would love to...". Oh boy.
Biggest Surprise:
(The game I had NO idea was coming out until the conference and may have lost my shit)
Ghost Recon: Wildlands - (shown at Ubisoft)
When the trailer started, I had no idea what this was. I was guessing some new Call of Juarez or something. My jam "Friction" by Imagine Dragons came on and I was really liking what was going on. Still, I'm thinking, "The hell is this game?" then BOOM Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Yeah, did not see that coming. Looks awesome!
Runner Up:
StarFox Zero - (Nintendo) We have not seen a proper new StarFox game in quite awhile so it is great to see this series come back. It also helps that it looks badass.
Strongest Presenter
(The games may speak volumes, but the presenter speaks words and helps push the hype meter. )
Todd Howard - (Bethesda)
As I stated during the conference, I like Todd Howard. He gets it. He loves games and he knows when it's time to be corporate and when to be casual. As he talked about Fallout 4 and Fallout Shelter, he talked to us as equals. He put a lot of humor into his presentation, gave us great bullet points for the products, and made us all feel like friends. Best line of the night, when talking about the Pip-Boy app that will launch with the game: "Usually, I find second-screen experiences...they're generally just stupid gimmicks, but as far as stupid gimmicks go, it's the best fucking one I have ever seen". Bravo!
Runner Up:
Shigeru Miyamoto - (Nintendo) It was awesome hear him talk about how StarFox came to be, and I was in awe looking at the original graph paper used to create the original Super Mario Bros. I could listen to him talk about video games for the rest of my life.
Most Adorable Game:
(Some games just make you saw AWWWWWWWWWWWW!)
Yoshi's Woolly World - (Nintendo)
Seriously, this game is so fucking adorable that my eyes rolled back in my head. Add to that, the fact that Amiibo will change the appearance of Yoshi, and you may not be able to play this game because you will be having a cuteness seizure.
Runner Up:
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer - (Nintendo) This looks like a cute and adorable new take on the series. I am really looking forward to it.
Best Game Shown at Each Conference:
(For purposes of talking about more games, I am removing my Overall Best Game from this category and will talk about that by itself. Also, I am avoiding repeats.)
Bethesda:
Fallout 4
Runner Up:
Doom
Microsoft:
HoloLens
Runner Up:
Cuphead (Yes, I know they showed Halo 5: Guardians among other things, and I think they look great. but Cuphead seems like an absolute joy.)
EA:
Need for Speed (Don't worry, I know, just wait.)
Runner Up:
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst (Again...just wait)
Ubisoft:
For Honor
Runner Up:
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
Sony:
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Runner Up:
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Nintendo:
Super Mario Maker
Runner Up:
StarFox Zero
Square Enix:
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Runner Up:
Just Cause 3
Overall Best Game Shown at the E3 Press Conferences:
Star Wars Battlefront
Holy shit! This game looks unbelievable!
Who Had the Strongest Conference?
Sure, there were highs and lows of every conference. A lot of things were talked about, many new innovations are coming, VR is going to be a thing very soon, new partnerships are in place, new games are coming to all platforms, video games, y'all. So while there were things to love about every conference, here is how I feel the companies stacked up. Keep in mind, this is only one opinion, and I am basing it on (A) What was shown (B) How they showed it (C) The pace of the show, among other things. Here we go:
(1.) Microsoft
The show began with a bang with Halo 5: Guardians, they showed new IP's, new indie games (Cuphead looks amazing), introduced backwards compatibility, many big titles, a Gears of War beta happening right now, a slick new controller, and that HoloLens demo stole the show. A lot of quantity AND quality, and it was all delivered in a nice, brisk pace.
(2) Nintendo
I love the digital direct format. This allows them to really take their time and put on a proper show. Plus those Muppets are adorable. Great games shown throughout the show StarFox Zero looks great, Super Mario Maker looks amazing, two new entries in the Animal Crossing series, a lot of love for the 3DS, Fire Emblem Fates will be great, and a giant 8-Bit Mario Amiibo. This was fun. Also, I could listen to Miyamoto talk about games forever.
(3) Bethesda
For the first time out, Bethesda's show was a joy to watch. While the number of games shown was low compared to other conferences, what was show and what was talked about added quality to the show. Doom got me all jacked, new content for Elder Scrolls: Online, a Dishonored 2 announcement and, of course, Fallout 4 stole the show. I'm giving them extra brownie points since this is their first attempt at their own conference, there would need to be more game announcements next year for them to be this high up the list again.
(4) Ubisoft
There was a lot to enjoy from Ubi's show. Aisha Tyler is still a great host, you can tell she enjoys what she does and enjoys the subject matter. Plenty of great game announcements, new South Park game, The Division showed really well, and there is even a March 8th release date (don't count on it though), Assassin's Creed Syndicate had an amazing trailer, Rainbow Six: Siege looks pretty damn cool, and Ghost Recon was a big surprise. For Honor stole the show for me and turned up my hype meter. The only reason this isn't any higher is because of that Just Dance 2016 awkwardness. That really slowed the pace down on the show.
(5) EA
Plenty of great releases coming out from EA. Though, it kind of got off to a weird start with "hey, here's Mass Effect Andromeda" (crowd goes wild), "Holiday 2016"......(crowd goes uncomfortable). Then we get going, Need for Speed looks pretty cool and that FMV-to-in-game transition was pretty impressive, Unravel looks super cute and emotional, the Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 got off to an awkward start with zombie mascot, didn't feel like the crowd was too into it. The sports titles basically came off as "Yo, we made the A.I. better". Though, the new Draft Champions mode in Madden NFL 16 seems pretty neat. Also, Pelè is a living legend and it was great to see him. Of course, Star Wars Battlefront looks so fucking good. I am losing my mind over it. It may seem like I put EA a little low here, but it was awfully close between spots 3 - 5.
(6) Sony
You may think I am crazy for putting them this low, but hear me out. Sony had A LOT of game announcements, a lot of GREAT game announcements. The Last Guardian is a much talked about title, No Man's Sky looked amazing, Final Fantasy VII HD Remake got people out of their seats, Black Ops III will make a fortune, Uncharted still looks so good, even if it took two chances to do it. Star Wars Battlefront looks amazing here too, Horizon looks really good, and there's a lot to look forward to. Here are my issues: the pace was blazing fast, too fast, they jumped from game to game to game to game to game to game and nothing was able to sink in. Also, a real lack of any real details. It was nice to see all these games, but I will quote a friend and say "what do we do with this information?". Very few release dates, no real bullet points about anything. It really left me with more questions than answers. Also, real short segment on Morpheus and almost NO mention of Vita. Is Sony just giving up on it? Just felt rushed.
(7) Square Enix
There were times when this show was downright hard to watch. Great games shown here as well. Just Cause 3 started the show off in a literal explosive way, Kingdom Hearts III looks incredible, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided looks amazing, and so on, but MAN there was a lot of talking. This felt like the complete opposite of Sony. Square Enix's show seemed to drag on there was too much talking, especially near the end. There was a lot of "Now in Development" labels and really no release windows for a lot of what was shown. That Deus Ex presentation made ME feel awkward, and there was a LOT of talk about a NieR game that's basically just concept art, also that helmet freaked me out. Also, I found it odd that there was no gameplay of Rise of the Tomb Raider. Though, I will say, Hitman sounds very ambitious and has a lot of potential. Hopefully Square Enix will step their game up next year with more games and at least some release windows, and a quicker pace.
=======================================================================
That's it for me and E3 2015 press conferences. Hope you enjoyed and look forward to all the goodies coming our way. This holiday season seems to be loaded with great games and next year is already getting hype. Let the freaking out begin!
No comments:
Post a Comment