e3
Latest
Nintendo schedules E3 Direct for June 11th
Nintendo fans, grab your diaries: the company has announced its plans for E3. The house of Mario will start with two tournaments, the Splatoon 2 World Championship and three-versus-three Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Championship, on June 8th. It will then broadcast its now-traditional Nintendo Direct presentation on June 11th, at 12PM ET/9AM PT. The company says the video will focus "entirely on software," reaffirming what we already knew -- Nintendo has no plans to reveal a new Switch at the show. Instead, we expect the company to focus on Super Mario Maker 2, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and the new version of Link's Awakening.
Nintendo has 'no plans' to reveal a new Switch at E3 this year
If you've been waiting for a cheaper, kid-proof Nintendo Switch, bad news: the company won't reveal one at E3 this year. "As a general rule, we're always working on new hardware and we will announce it when we are able to sell it," Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa told reporters in Osaka today. "But we have no plans to announce that at this year's E3 in June." His comments refute a Bloomberg report that suggested a new, more affordable Switch would be released by the end of June. Technically, it could be revealed later in the month, after E3, but that seems unlikely.
Microsoft's Xbox E3 showcase is set for June 9th
Xbox fans now have a particularly big date to mark on their calendars. Microsoft has announced that its E3 briefing will take place on June 9th at 4PM Eastern, complete with an option to watch at home through Mixer. The company unsurprisingly isn't saying exactly what it will show, but it is promising its "biggest" E3 presence to date -- a sharp contrast with Sony, which is skipping E3 and instead decided to spill the beans on the PS5 through an interview.
Sony will stream a PlayStation news event on March 25th
After declining to run PlayStation Experience last year and pulling out of this year's E3, Sony is turning to a different strategy for game announcements and updates. On March 25th, its State of Play streams will debut on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Facebook at 5PM ET.
Leaked memo promises major Xbox streaming news at E3
Google had some major news on the gaming front Tuesday when it announced Stadia, its game-streaming service. Microsoft's Xbox chief Phil Spencer was among those who paid attention to Google's event, and he was quick to remind his team Stadia wasn't the only big-name upcoming game streaming project. "Google went big today and we have a couple of months until E3 when we will go big," he wrote in an internal email obtained by Thurrott.
EA is the latest to nix its E3 press conference
When E3 kicks off later this year, Electronic Arts will be seen but not heard. The company announced today that it will be forgoing its standard press conference at the event. Instead, EA will be focused on EA Play, its annual showcase that will kick off Friday, June 7th -- a couple of days before E3 opens its doors on June 11th.
Does the video game industry need E3?
E3 is not a place for us." Steve Filby handles marketing for Motion Twin, the studio behind Dead Cells, and he's been building and shipping games for the past six years. Dead Cells is one of the hottest independent titles around, following a wildly successful stint on Steam Early Access, where the studio sold more than 730,000 copies in just one year -- before the game was technically finished. It's a bright and sprawling roguelike reminiscent of Castlevania, and since officially launching in August, it's picked up a handful of accolades, including two nominations at the 2018 Game Awards. Dead Cells did all of this without exhibiting at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the video game industry's most publicized trade show.
Sony is skipping E3 in 2019
Sony is skipping E3 next year. It won't hold a PlayStation keynote, or appear at the event at all, it confirmed to Engadget.
'Semblance' is proof of Nintendo's new indie hustle
I found Semblance on the second floor of the Fuego Lounge, squeezed into a booth beside a dance floor and a small stage. It was early afternoon, and waitstaff were restocking the long, rectangular bar in the center of the room as game developers, press and PR handlers flitted from station to station. A cloth tent on the balcony offered psychedelic VR meditation; a geodesic dome on the roof showcased swirling galaxies. And all along the walls inside, indie games waited to be played. Semblance stood out among the row of screens for its energetic, purple-tinged visuals. It's a platformer starring an adorable bouncing blob named Squish, and it's heading to PC, Mac and Nintendo Switch this year. Its conceit is innovative and also glaringly obvious: It's a platformer where players actually create platforms as they go. Squish is able to distort the world, building tall ledges or deep indentations in the ground in order to solve a series of tricky spatial puzzles. Everything about the game is at once super cute and filled with mystery, from the squashy, haunting sound effects to the cartoonish yet deep background animations.
How closing a Hooters will hurt indie games at E3
The Devolver Digital parking lot has been the best part of E3 for half a decade, even though it's technically not associated with E3 at all. A big white balloon marks the spot across the street from the Los Angeles Convention Center where a handful of bullet-like Airstream trailers huddle around tents offering free beer and hot sausages wrapped in tortillas. A giant screen sits under the shade, pixels flashing as a group of people play the latest local multiplayer game under Devolver's publishing label. Some years, an arcade controller with neon dildos as joysticks sits on a low table in front of the screen, waiting for someone to load up Genital Jousting. High-profile indie developers float in and out of the parking lot, showing off their games in the trailers and indulging in the festivities.
RIP, 'Pro Evolution Soccer'
I have a mild obsession with FIFA video games, largely because I like playing with official teams and players rather than fictional ones. But, I always gave Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) a chance. Two years ago, I even wrote that Konami's title was actually better than EA Sports', much to the the disbelief of many of my football friends. A big reason I always kept coming back to PES (aside from its more realistic gameplay) was the fact it had licensing rights for the UEFA Champions League (UCL), Europe's most prestigious club tournament. Since 2008, FIFA players have had to make do with a generic version that EA Sports created, which simply wasn't good enough. You need that UCL orchestral theme song and the original trophy to make the competition feel real. But thing will be changing soon, and Pro Evolution Soccer is going to suffer as a result.
'Arca's Path' is the VR puzzle game I've been waiting for
Super Monkey Ball in virtual reality, but instead of using a gamepad to control the titular sphere, movement is dictated with head-tracking -- that isn't a reductive judgment of physics-based labyrinth Arca's Path, it's just the easiest way of describing the debut game from Dream Reality Interactive.
Arcade classic 'Donkey Kong' comes to the Nintendo Switch
Donkey Kong, the arcade trailblazer responsible for helping to catapult Nintendo into the spotlight, has been re-released on the Nintendo Switch. That's not all -- it will soon be accompanied by the lesser known Sky Skipper.
'Bloodstained' will scratch your 'Castlevania' itch
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SotN) is one of the most influential games ever made. First released for the original PlayStation in 1997, the game has since been ported to nearly every platform under the sun. It perfected the series' core design concept where players could explore gigantic 2D environments at will, collecting new abilities that unlocked hidden-in-plain-sight secrets in previously traversed areas. It also iterated on the superb Super Metroid released for the SNES three years prior. That framework was so well-done that it spawned its own genre ("Metroidvania") and countless games have used it since. Koji Igarashi, SotN's co-creator, has finally brought his crowdfunded (and SotN spiritual successor) Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to E3. How does it play? Pretty close to the original.
The creator of 'Dark Souls' made a PSVR palate cleanser
Titles by FromSoftware, like Dark Souls, Bloodborne (and most probably the incoming Sekiro) are exhausting games to play. Incredible and rewarding, yes, but harrowing too. Perhaps Déraciné is as much a break for FromSoftware's staff as it is for players. The new PlayStation VR game reunites Japan Studio, FromSoftware and director Hidetaka Miyazaki, and centers around gentle environmental puzzle-solving. No swords, no violence and no pride-damaging difficulty -- just some head scratching. Intrigued?
'Call of Duty: Black Ops 4' on PC is all about the customization
Call of Duty is no stranger to the PC. Previous versions of the game have been available on the platform before this year's Black Ops 4, but Treyarch is putting way more energy behind the PC edition than it has in the past. That means a much larger team is working on this version of the game. There's much more attention to detail, customization and other features specifically for the PC faithful.
'The Last of Us: Part II' may jump between two points in time
Naughty Dog's E3 trailer for The Last of Us: Part II gave us a good idea what combat as lead character Ellie would be like, but the story is still largely a mystery. But during a panel earlier this week, game director Neil Druckmann dropped a tantalizing hint about how the game might be structured. It sounds like it won't be the totally linear affair found in the first game. Instead, the narrative may move between two different times, much the way that Left Behind (a three-hour, Ellie-focused add-on to The Last of Us) jumped between two points in time.
Turtle Beach's new headsets have solid audio and won't break the bank
With the rise of games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite, headsets have become essential gear. Like any other personal audio purchase, there are a range of options, offering loads of features and levels of sound quality -- depending on how much you're willing to pay. At E3, Turtle Beach announced two new wired headsets that offer solid audio and decent features without breaking the bank.
PlayerUnknown believes ‘PUBG’ doesn’t need to beat ‘Fortnite’
Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene is in an unenviable position at the moment. His namesake game, PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds was the surprise hit of 2017, going from being an obscure work-in-progress game in Steam's Early Access section to racking up over $60 million in sales in mere months, averaging 2 million daily players on PC and getting a console port via the Xbox One -- all before it hit version 1.0. By all accounts, it looked like the game's continued success was guaranteed. Then Fortnite: Battle Royale happened. This week, Fortnite developer Epic Games announced that in just nine months time, its free-to-play spin on battle royale had accrued 125 million players. (Weeks earlier, PUBG's parent company sued Epic for alleged copyright violations.) But Fortnite isn't the only competition for PUBG. Giants of the FPS world like Call of Duty and Battlefield have announced they're joining the fray, and others will surely follow. Greene couldn't talk about the pending lawsuit, for obvious legal reasons, but when I spoke to him at E3 this week he was candid about the competition and his team's plans to differentiate PUBG from everyone else. Oh and to get this out of the way up front, don't expect PUBG to go free-to-play any time soon. Greene said that the team hadn't discussed it "at all." This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
‘Control’ is a leap of faith for the team behind ‘Alan Wake'
Control isn't what you expect. Rather than the stylized, linear shooters developer Remedy Entertainment is known for, it's a free-form experience that has more in common with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night than it does with Alan Wake. Except, instead of exploring a moody castle, you're scouring the shape-shifting headquarters of a secretive government agency, the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), which has been infested by an otherworldly presence known as The Hiss. There's still shooting, of course, and it all looks incredibly cinematic, with pillars breaking apart and protagonist Jesse Faden using both telekinetic powers and a shape-shifting firearm to dispatch the presence haunting her former coworkers. The entire game takes place within the FBC's headquarters, The Oldest House. From the outside, it looks like a nondescript building in Manhattan. But once you cross the threshold, things start getting surreal.
