E3 TL;DW

The yearly ritual summoning of all things gaming has come and gone. The Electronic Entertainment Expo is the biggest gaming conference in North America took place between June 13 and June 15 with some big name companies hosting their press conferences the days leading up to the opening of the main show. But what came out of this year’s conference? Here’s a quick rundown of what you missed.

Star Wars Battlefront II

EA’s press conference was the first out the gate, the announced and teased a lot of sports games but their highlight was more info and extended gameplay footage of Star Wars Battlefront II. The classes look balanced and the method to reward good play looks to be a better system than most other games in the genre. It is definitely shaping up to be a must-have this holiday season after it releases on November 17.

Xbox One X

Microsoft started strong with the announcement of their PS4 Pro competitor, the Xbox One X. Coming in at $399, this powerhouse home console is a really good price for the power it brings, promising 4K for everything that supports the resolution. While not for everyone, those that deem themselves 4K ready might see this as a welcomed addition to their media center.

Anthem

Bioware’s answer to Destiny. Releasing on Xbox, Playstation, and PC in 2018 (too late to compete with Destiny, to be honest) it promises an open world where players don high-tech exoskeletons to take on quests and various other public events. This third-person shooter looks promising, and coming from Bioware the story will probably be excellent.

Monster Hunter World

Monster Hunter is coming to PS4 and Xbox! PC too! We’ll be getting new mechanics such as stealth and baiting as a hunter. We are also promised an open world with drop-in-drop-out multiplayer which lets hunters worldwide join you on your hunt. This game will be a departure from the mainline games but the fact that it’s coming to multiple platforms, PC most importantly, is major for the franchise as a whole. Coming 2018.

Metroids. Two Metroids.

Nintendo kicked down the door and shouted, “WE HAVE METROID GAMES!” They announced Metroid Prime 4 in production for the Switch and a 3DS reimagining of Metroid 2: Return of Samus with updated graphics and new features. Prime 4 was only a logo and a statement that it’s in development. Samus Returns is slated for a holiday release this year.

These were some of the key highlights of E3, but what else showed up?

Bethesda

• Skyrim for Switch features (Amiibo, Zelda gear)
• Fallout 4, Doom, and Skyrim VR games are happening
• The Evil Within 2 announced

Ubisoft

• Skull and Bones took Assasin’s Creed Black Flag’s naval combat and makes it its own game
• Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is XCOM with Mario and Rabbids
• Starlink is a sci-fi Skylanders with space ships
• Beyond Good and Evil 2 was announced

Microsoft

• Forza 7 announce alongside Porsche 911 GT2 RS
• Crackdown 3 got a release date
• OG Xbox backward compatibility
• Xbox One S price dropped

Sony

• Preview of Uncharted: Lost Legacy
• Horizon: Zero Dawn expansion announced
• Shadow of the Colossus getting a remake
• A lot more VR Games
• Closer look at Detroit: Become Human and Spider-Man

Nintendo

• Core Pokemon RPG coming to Switch
• Closer look at Fire Emblem Warriors
• New Xenoblade Chronicles, Kirby, and Yoshi game
• Super Mario Odyssey looks amazing

E3 definitely had a lot of major announcements. A lot of the announcements from the big 3 are titles that are not available until late holiday 2017 or some time into 2018. There’s a lot of things I’m looking forward to, especially Monster Hunter and all the new Metroid games. What are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!