Topic: Official E3 2016 Thread

[gpw11]

The new Zelda game looks either like the best thing ever or totally not my thing.  We'll see I guess?

In either case, it's interesting.

[MysterD]

God of War 4 [working title]:
VG247 - God of War 4 is NOT an open-world game.
GameSpot - TC Carson (original voice of Kratos) will NOT be doing the voice-work for Kratos in God of War 4 b/c Sony went with Christopher Judge for GoW 4.

[Cobra951]

That's a weird choice. I don't remember that game being especially popular. I mean I think it did okay, but it seems like an odd thing to bring back. Maybe with the popularity recent shooters seem to be getting? I never finished it, I might give it a whirl if it was real cheap.

Bulletstorm is fun for a while.  But it's shallow, and becomes repetitive.  I didn't play it long.  Good thing I got it dirt cheap.  It's all about chaining skillshots, as I recall.

[PyroMenace]

Here's a list to all the videos and trailers shown at this E3.

[MysterD]

Bethesda Game Studios:
VG247 - Bethesda has 2 unannounced projects that are big games like that of Fallout 4 + Skyrim, along-side of the development of Elder Scrolls 6.

Quake Champions:
GameSpot - Quake Champions is PC first at launch, console versions have not been ruled out for later.

Fallout 4: Nuka World DLC:
Frag Hero - Nuka World DLC will let you become a Raider and even their Leader, if you want to.

Dead Rising 4:
Destructoid - Dead Rising 4 feels like a return to form.
Eurogamer - 14 minutes or so of gameplay from X1 version.
Eurogamer - Dead Rising 4 is a Microsoft exclusive for Xbox platforms + Windows 10 for ONE YEAR.

Halo 6:
PC Gamer - Halo 6 will probably wind-up on both Windows 10 and Xbox platforms.

Crackdown 3:
PC Gamer - Crackdown 3 is part of Windows 10 & XBox One "Play Anywhere" initiative; will be coming to PC in 2017.

Gears of War 4:
GameSpot - Their thoughts on Gears 4.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild:
Shacknews - Their thoughts on the new upcoming Zelda game.
Youtube - E3 2016 Trailer for Zelda: BotW.

[MysterD]

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age:
Kotaku - Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age has an additional 2x's and 4x's normal speed mode.

[idolminds]

Gwent to have substantial singleplayer component. 10+ hour campaign? Yes please!

Nintendo stealth released Rhythm Heaven Megamix on the 3DS eshop. Woo!

They also showed Box Box Boy, sequel to Box Boy. I loved that game so a sequel is great news. The original game is also on sale on the eshop if you havent grabbed it yet. If you like puzzle games and adorableness, get it.

Nintendo had a new IP to show as well, Ever Oasis for 3DS. Looks kinda cool.

[MysterD]

On IGN, I saw this cool game (which is listed on Steam over here) called Absolver - online open world action / melee / fighting game / RPG.
If you ain't seen it, check it out - looks damn cool.

EDIT:
Man, Phil Spencer just had a great interview on Giant Bomb tonight. And Jeff (Gerstmann) was grilling him with all kinds of questions ans journalism. Great interview. Great stuff.

[idolminds]

So Capcom showed Monster Hunter Generations on the Treehouse stream and said that a demo was available now but only if you have a key. You can get one from the $4 tier of the E3 Humble Bundle or via an email to random people that will come with two codes. If any of you has a spare I'd appreciate it, though the demo gets released publicly on the 30th so if not then I guess I'll wait it out.

[MysterD]

Microsoft XBox One, XBox One S, Project Scorpio & Windows 10 PC:
Eurogamer - Microsoft's mixed messages at E3 aren't pretty for XBox One owners.
GameSpot - Dave McCarthy of Microsoft says Scorpio is built to try to "wipe out generational boundaries".
PC Games N - Phil Spencer says Microsoft is committed to PC Gaming on Giant Bomb interview last night.

Side Note: That Giant Bomb Interview last night w/ Spencer was great.

[Cobra951]

Microsoft XBox One, XBox One S, Project Scorpio & Windows 10 PC:
Eurogamer - Microsoft's mixed messages at E3 aren't pretty for XBox One owners.

That's about as negative as an opinion piece can get, and still appear in a reputable publication.  Strategically, it comes at a perfect time, because it can't be repudiated for 18 months, by which time no one will care much about it.  I understand some of the sentiments, but the venue in which they were expressed gives them more credibility than such early speculation deserves.  Redmond may deserve a few slaps in the face, but not before they get fresh.

Having said that, it is clear that Microsoft are switching gears here.  They're heading in a new direction, and the course change has been very quiet.  I don't believe for a second that a 6TF box is going to be used just to make current-generation console games look pretty on 4K screens.  If Phil was serious about that early pronouncement, his myopia needs immediate help.  Proclaimed or not, the new console generation begins in late 2017.  It's slated to be a less painful step up than usual, with full hardware backward compatibility, and this lessens the sting of the shorter 8th generation.  But they will surely blow it if they don't price this thing according to this paradigm.  If they try to make it an expensive "elite" tier, relegating the rest of their user base to a second-class status, they will lose.  Why on Earth would anyone buy a console at a PC price point when all "exclusive" content for that console is slated to appear on PCs as well?  

No, the only way this Scorpio will sell in mass numbers as a console (rather than a tech basis for full-fledged open PCs) is if it's priced accordingly.  Otherwise, Sony will gobble up much of what's left of that pie, because even if their tech step up with Neo isn't nearly as ambitious, it will certainly be enough to deal a blow to the current competition--and they're not doing the "play anywhere" thing with PCs.  Their console remains a unique games venue.  Perhaps Microsoft are fully prepared for that.  They are hedging their bets with Windows 10 and the UWA framework, and they may be perfectly happy with their games business migrating there over time.  

Uncertain times ahead.  What is certain is that no one who has an 8th-generation console already should be buying any further into this market, until all the facts come in.  Sony has yet to come up to bat against the same specter.  Just exactly what is the Neo, what will it cost, and will it render obsolete the current PS4?  Will the hardware remain as originally revealed, or will it get pulled back for further revisions in light of Microsoft's doings?   For now, the fence remains the most comfortable place to perch.

[Xessive]

I can't help but be a bit biased towards PC, since that's my main gaming platform, but the notion of the Microsoft show this year kinda felt like PC is Microsoft's illegitimate child that's finally getting some time with Daddy and some reaffirmation that Windows is still a major gaming platform for Microsoft.

That's all good and dandy but it's worth nothing if the platform is not getting the proper software support it so desperately needs. The Windows Store is a terrible place to get get games. The experience is awful: buying, downloading, installing, and even running the games is terrible. From a technical standpoint, it's a mess.

This article might help illustrate some of the issues resulting from the way Microsoft want to run the Windows Store. That's is the core of the problem; Microsoft are trying to treat PC gaming like console gaming, as a closed system with zero tolerance for user access to the game files.

Given what happened with Lionhead, this movement from Microsoft could be an aggressive reaction to try to cut losses.

[Quemaqua]

Everything that X said. I think Microsoft is going to shoot themselves in the foot if they keep up what they're doing. They want to dominate the PC space by offering us absolutely nothing we don't already have. In fact, they want us to make concessions, and for what? There is no advantage to using the Windows Store for literally anything. I've enumerated my multiple problems with it several times around here, and the experience is still totally broken for me. And these problems have existed since Windows 8 in several cases.

I'm generally pretty anti-Microsoft, but I had no problem with their console business in general until now. They just didn't have games that interested me. There wasn't a reason for me to own a box. And with the way they're pushing things, that's only going to be intensified. I'm not happy with the way Sony is doing things either, necessarily, but they do at least seem to be solidly maintaining the same profile as always, even if they're experimenting with iterative hardware.

We'll see how it goes, but Microsoft has just seemed to have its head up its ass these last few years. Windows 10 was a bad idea, and I know a lot of people who regret making the upgrade, because again, it's asking us to make concessions to their business model without really offering us anything in return. It's just, "Sorry guys, this is how we're doing it now, get used to it." And they have enough pull with the OS market to do that. But they don't in the console market, and they don't in the games market. Nobody is going to switch from getting games on Steam to getting them on the Windows Store, because while Steam has its own problems aplenty, it's a grand platform by comparison.

[Cobra951]

Oh, there's no question that they're applying console rules to their own little walled garden on PC.  That's the only way this "play anywhere" stuff is going to work:  Consoles, phones, tablets, and now Win-10 PCs while inside the MS game-app environment completely restrict user access and other rights.  It's understandable on consoles and perhaps even phones.  No way is a veteran PC gamer going to think it's reasonable on his turf.

But Microsoft is relentless.  They are pushing Windows 10 on people even when they don't want it, and they're using malware-style surreptitious methods of delivery.  If they can pull that sort of deceptive move with a straight face, what's to stop them changing the rules of the entire OS overnight, with a single unstoppable (for most users) update?  We might wake up to new restrictions across the board, with outfits like Valve having to decide between playing nice with the new regime, or having to fall back on alternatives like Linux, which so far have not made a dent on the Windows play space.

[MysterD]

Absolver:
Polygon - Their thoughts on Absolver.
GameSpot - Around 11 minutes with Absolver.

Vampyr:
IGN -> 15 minute Gameplay demo + developer's commentary on Vampyr.
Twitter with IGN - 9 minute Gameplay demo + developer's commentary on Vampyr.
VG247 - You only get EXP (Experience) when you drain enemies of their blood.
PC Games N - Vampyr will let you kill anyone in the game...or even nobody, if you so choose to.

We Happy Few:
IGN - Their thoughts on We Happy Few.
GameSpot - Around 12 minutes of gameplay with We Happy Few.

[Quemaqua]

If it gets any worse than it does, I honestly would probably suck it up and make the switch to Linux. This is about as much as I'm willing to tolerate, and if it goes too much further I think I'll have to do something.

[MysterD]

@Que
I have too many games on Windows, so "no way" will I abandon that flat-out.
But, if I do at some point have to dual-boot Windows with something else such as SteamOS & Linux - yep, I certainly will.

[MysterD]

So, with E3 2016 over with and in the bag here - what has everybody felt are their personal picks for E3 2016?

What were in your opinion the best games, consoles, hardware, and stuff at E3 2016?

So, for everybody's who has been watching a lot of the E3 stuff...

What has stood out for you for Games? Hardware? Consoles?

I don't have a Best Game Shown at E3 2016 Picked overall yet - as there looked to be a lot of great-looking stuff on hand: Final Fantasy 15, Dishonored 2, God of War 4, New Zelda game, etc. I'm sure there's other stuff I didn't mention here that belong here to be nominated, but I ain't picked a final winner here.

Biggest Surprise for me was Absolver - Never ever heard of the game before, and it just came out of nowhere for me. While I might not care much for the always-online aspect, the whole thing of creating your own fighter/combatant/martial artist, setting up their every move and skills, and traversing an open-world ARPG just sounds awesome.

Vampyr for me was a stand-out. As usual, DontNod does some really interesting and unique stuff + has interesting twists on their games - i.e. go see what they did w/ both Remember Me + Life Is Strange - with their rewind/remix mechanics in both games, Remember Me's skill deck, and now w/ Vampyr where you (as a vampire) have to drain enemies to get EXP (experience). The idea of a European-based RPG (looks heavily London-influenced) set after WW1 sounded good for the get go to me, but it was always a question of execution with DontNod - i.e. Remember Me is pretty good, but takes a little bit before both the story + gameplay take off; and Life Is Strange is great UNTIL it totally screws the gameplay + story up in Episode 5 in the last 1/3rd of the episode). I've liked their last two games a lot, even despite their flaws - but this here w/ Vampyr might be the game that their game that I finally fall in love with. I hope I'm right on this one. I didn't expect to see much more than a trailer on this, but IGN's gameplay demo completely sold me on this thing.

[idolminds]

Gwent: Love me some card games!
Grow Up: I just recently played through Grow Home and loved every minute of it. Looking forward to the sequel.
Final Fantasy XII HD: I dont think this was E3 specifically but it was close to it so I'm counting it. Hoping for a PC version.
Titanfall 2: This took me by surprise. I ignored the first game because it was multiplayer only, but the sequel has a singleplayer campaign and it looks real cool.
Zelda: It looked real interesting. Will be neat to see a Zelda game with a more open world and how it all pans out.
Monster Hunter Generations: I'm getting excited for this one. Got into MH4 and might start back into that while I wait for the next game. Some of the new changes sound great. I can play as a cat!
Box Box Boy: Box Boy was great. More Box Boy is even better!
Rhythm Heaven Megamix: Sad about no physical release for North America, but the stealth release at the show was unexpected. I really enjoyed the original on DS.

So a fair number of games for me. Also some returning ones like Last Guardian and such. Quake Champions I don't know enough about to get excited over.

[MysterD]

@Idol

I probably would've gotten way more excited about a new Quake if it had a SP Campaign with a Quake 1-like setting, or Quake 2 Strogg sci-fi setting, or (better yet) a mixture of both.

Regardless, Quake 3 Arena/Team Arena was awesome back in the day and that was really MP-focused; so, I still am looking forward to it and hope Quake Champions turns out good.

[Quemaqua]

Nothing was especially amazing to me, but some stuff looked cool. The Last Guardian at least is looking nice, though I didn't see any extended gameplay. Titanfall 2 actually looked pretty good, and that wasn't on my radar before. Seeing Dishonored 2 reminded me I want to finish the first one, but it was disappointing because "hey look, you can stab dudes in the neck" is about the least appealing thing you can show me in a video game. Was hoping for more interesting mechanical demonstrations. Game still looks real cool. I'd be excited about the new Quake, but all they showed was a dumb CG trailer, so who cares. I'll maybe care after QuakeCon. I hope they do right by it, but I have my doubts.

[MysterD]

@Que
I liked the new Dishonored 2 mechanic where you get a power dealing with time-manipulating.
You can see a game-level in "earlier time" to use to your advantage - to scout out areas and enemies ahead of time, use kills in either time-line to your advantage, solve puzzles, etc etc.

EDIT:
Time Mechanic thingy here:

[gpw11]

@Que
I liked the new Dishonored 2 mechanic where you get a power dealing with time-manipulating.
You can see a game-level in "earlier time" to use to your advantage - to scout out areas and enemies ahead of time, use kills in either time-line to your advantage, solve puzzles, etc etc.

EDIT:
Time Mechanic thingy here:

That's cool but did I actually just watch a Youtube video that maxed out at 360p in 2016?

[Xessive]

That's cool but did I actually just watch a Youtube video that maxed out at 360p in 2016?

Yeah, same here. I thought there was some throttling from Youtube due to high traffic. I manually cranked it up to 720p and it was too slow.. The days of "buffering" are not yet gone.

[Cobra951]

I'm guessing to combat people downloading videos, Youtube has gotten really stupid with buffering, which is now no more than like 15 seconds.  I used to just pause a slow-streaming video to let the buffer fill up, so then I could play it without stutters and halts.  That no longer works.  Hasn't worked for a while.

So the best thing to do, ironically for them, is to download the videos you really want to watch in best, uninterrupted quality.  Google is your friend on this.

Or is that what you mean by "'buffering'".

[Xessive]

I'm guessing to combat people downloading videos, Youtube has gotten really stupid with buffering, which is now no more than like 15 seconds.  I used to just pause a slow-streaming video to let the buffer fill up, so then I could play it without stutters and halts.  That no longer works.  Hasn't worked for a while.

So the best thing to do, ironically for them, is to download the videos you really want to watch in best, uninterrupted quality.  Google is your friend on this.

Or is that what you mean by "'buffering'".

Haha both

It's sad that in 2016 streaming is still not the best option and I quite often have to resort to downloading Youtube videos through alternative means or not watching a video altogether. On the bright side that has made me more selective about what to watch on Youtube.