Ah, that time of year, Christmas in June, heaven on earth, nirvana. This is E3, the Electronics Entertainment Exposition, a wonderful time for gamers everywhere. A time of love, peace, and fanboyism. E3 is where all of our favorite developers, publishers, and brands come together to showcase what they have been working on, and reveal the projects they have tried so hard to keep secret.
With all of our major Press Conferences, Showcases, and Presentations out of the way, at this point I want to reflect on what was upfront and in our face over the last Week. What am I excited for? What was I hoping for, but didn't get? And who had the best overall showing? Let's break that down starting from the top.
Today let's discuss EA Play:
Year after year we have losers and we have winners. Somehow over the last half a decade, EA just keeps losing the 3rd party battle. Especially now that Bethesda is apart of our yearly conversation, it's becoming harder to separate yourself and stand out. Frankly, it's starting to become sad. Especially considering just how large of a company EA is in this industry. It’s starting to wane on me that they really only do 3 things anymore; Battlefield, Sports, and talking about Battlefield and Sports.
I love EA. I always have. I love Battlefield. But please, we need to have more than 10 games from you. If only due to the fact that over 40% of those games are things we already know are coming, based on a history of annualization. Those of course being our Madden, FIFA, and NBA Live, on top of our bi-yearly Battlefield. And the other game you discussed is already available, being “Battlefront 2”. That's 4 out of 10.
One game wasn't even shown, just briefly discussed. As much as I adore Andrea Ranae, You could tell she was trying really hard to get us more out of Respawn’s, Vince Zampella, than Electronic Arts were willing to share on our new venture with “Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order”. Annoyance aside, I am excited from the title alone.
The other 4 didn't have the best showings either, I appreciate that “Unravel” was large enough it's first time around to warrant a sequel. And I appreciate that they changed it enough to have me once again interested in what I hope becomes a stapled Indie darling. But while “Sea of Solitude” was interesting, I really felt turned off from it being slated to released so far from now, in early 2019. You can't tell me that's all you had available to show for your EA Originals. I loved that concept, I loved the presenter, and I love that EA is standing behind something so against the mold. But surely you have something sooner available? Right?
Then, we had “Command and Conquer: Rivals. A game series older than most. A franchise that has a following and has the ability to sell on its name alone. I am all for mobile games, but what was this? You don't need to shoutcast a mobile game to get people's attention. We could have gotten the message and even more excitement with a two minute trailer in front of a heavy metal military-esque tune. This brought the conference to a halt. But I digress.
That lull led us into the stinger everyone was waiting for, “Anthem”. Bioware’s newest endeavor and the game from EA that literally everyone wanted to see. I personally am not as excited as most. But it's a game I am keeping on my radar nonetheless. I loved that we got to see more, and we were given a presentation and panel styled look with questions being answered, and almost a no-holds-barred mentality shown. This left me wanting to learn more and interested in how this game will pan out.
Overall EA was a let down, not horrid however. Sadly there was no word of “Skate 4”, no Bad Company, and no Dragon Age. Basically every game rumored to show, and speculated to be far along in development, wasn't even heard from or acknowledged. And what happened to that Criterion prototype from 2014? This Conference wasn't exactly Electronic Arts at it's best. But it also wasn't it's worst. I love hearing updates on how gamers are influencing the industry. Hearing that Josef Fares studio, Hazelight, received enough love and funding to allow them to buy a new studio and expand. I'm glad that the major hitters aren't allowing loot boxes into their games this year around. After everything that happened last year with Battlefront 2 it's good to see a change from the top of the ladder. We all have a voice. And it seems this time at least, we were heard.
What am I excited for?
Battlefield 5
Unravel 2
Jedi: Fallen Empire
What did I want to see?
A Better Display of Anthem’s Story
Skate 4
More Than Just A Jedi Name Drop
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