E3 2015 Post-Mortem Part 2: The VR competition heats up

The big three

Oculus Rift

Specs

• ·         Two OLED screens (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display
• ·         2160 x 1200 Resolution
• ·         Refresh rate of 90 Hertz
• ·         110 degrees or greater field of view
• ·         1 HDMI port and 2 USB 3.0 connectors
• ·         6DOF (Six Degrees of Freedom) Head Tracking
• ·         Constellation tracking system (For precise, low latency movement)
• ·         External sensor (Plug into the back of your computer for easy setup)
• ·         Integrated 360 degree sound headphones (External headphones can also be used)
• ·         Ergonomic design for full adjustment of lens distance.
• ·         Also incorporates users with glasses. Wrapped in fabric for comfortable viewing

Just before E3 2015 began, the final iteration of the Oculus Rift headset was revealed to the world at the company’s own press conference. The company had a surprising amount of announcements to make including a partnership with Microsoft and Windows 10, support for Unreal Engine 4, as well as several new game announcements. Some of the more notable titles include sci-fi sim Eve: Valkyrie and a new title from Insomniac Games: Edge of Nowhere. But above all else we finally had a release date for the headset; the first quarter of 2016. From what we’ve seen, there’s plenty of evidence that the Oculus Rift is pushing along at a good pace and it appears to be ready for consumer consumption, not to mention having all the support and partnerships it needs to make a proper impact. This could be down to how the Oculus was the first on the modern virtual reality scene and with the support of countless backers on its kickstarter campaign, there’s proof that interest has grown larger than both Microsoft and Sony efforts put together.

I was lucky enough to try an earlier version of the Oculus Rift developer kit for myself down at Bournemouth University. The roller-coaster demo I saw through the headset was an incredibly surreal experience despite looking a bit rough around the edges. What you see when wearing the headset (and indeed for all of its competitors no doubt!) transmits signals to the rest of your body, creating the illusion that I was on that roller-coaster minus the g-force. The only real concern that has arisen for the Oculus Rift is its acquisition by Facebook last year; many gamers are concerned that Facebook will use the device in lacklustre ways, such as virtual Farmville and other “games” along those lines. Another small issue was the idea of streaming Xbox One games through the headset; the idea of making a screen through Oculus felt pretty pointless. Why do that when you can simply play on an Xbox console as normal?

Hololens

Specs: Not yet revealed by Microsoft

As a major component in Microsoft’s Windows Holographic programme, Hololens has already been generating a fair bit of excitement since its initial reveal at the Windows 10 event earlier this year. At E3 this year, Microsoft went a step further by showcasing how the headset would work with gaming. The game in question was Minecraft; in the demo, Mojang brand director Lydia Winters controlled the game using a tablet, while Saxs Perrson wore the hololens to view the game world projected onto a table. The team used a second hololens headset to display the augmented reality display to the audience. Having a screen projected onto a wall through the headset was impressive enough, but when the table transformed before our very eyes to a Minecraft world, a collective cheer went up in the crowd. Even I was dazzled by the seemingly magical presentation and wondered at the possibilities. Imagine playing a strategy game at a table with a fully interactive map and voice commands as opposed to a television screen. The massive potential for Hololens extends beyond gaming as well, with the initial reveal showing off applications for work, science and communication.

With great excitement also comes great scepticism however; for Microsoft, overzealous marketing and misrepresentation have met before. Despite selling incredibly well (which was most likely down to its marketing campaign), the Kinect was an utter failure in the eyes of legions of gamers who became more and more baffled that the corporation was endlessly shoving the device in everyone’s face when really the Xbox brand was perfectly fine without it. Does anyone remember the Project Natal trailer back in 2009? Before the Kinect turned into a laughing stock a year later, the device looked quite promising; it showcased features such as scanning gear to play and having family members take on different roles in a Formula One race. Yet when Kinect was finally ready for consumption, most of these features had completely disappeared, leaving us with a highly inaccurate, poor value product.

The Hololens demo for Minecraft drew massive cheers from the audience at E3 this year, but we weren’t the ones who were actually wearing the headset to properly prove that Microsoft is onto something big. If Microsoft makes the same mistakes with Hololens then their reputation in the eyes of consumers might not withstand another blow like that. Hololens may be the most ambitious product in terms of versatility, but I’ll wait until I try the device for myself before I believe the hype.

Project Morpheus

Specs

• ·         Refresh rate of 120 Hertz
• ·         Two OLED screens with a 1920 x 1080 display
• ·         6DOF Head Tracking
• ·         Stereoscopic 3D support
• ·         Unwarped output to a television screen

Sony’s headset looks the closest to an actual consumer product; the design looks really slick and has a strong consistency with the other products Sony has put out. Having been in development behind closed doors since the seventh console generation, Project Morpheus is being designed to work with both the PlayStation 4 and their main handheld, the PlayStation Vita. It’s still in the prototype stages at the moment and won’t be released until the first half of 2016. We saw a fair few titles at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference but nothing was really finalised. That’s the main issue with Morpheus right now; they seem to be lagging behind the competition in terms of hardware progression and development right now. We’re sure to see more information and demos over the coming months.

Other competitors

Valve and HTC’s Vive

Specs

• ·         Refresh rate of 90 Hertz
• ·         Over 70 sensors including a gyroscope, accelerometer and
• ·         Two screens with a display of 1080 X 1200
• ·         15 X 15 feet tracking space
• ·         Compatible with external headphones

The Vive is part of HTC’s RE product range and for the project, they have teamed up with renowned PC developer Valve Corporation, who in turn will use the headset for their SteamVR program. Like Oculus, Valve has been putting out software development kits and speculation suggests that they have set a tentative official release date for November this year. The headset will also be compatible with Unreal Engine 4 along with various HTC software packages.

StarVR

Specs

• ·         210 degree horizontal and 130 degree vertical field of view
• ·         Dual 5.5 inch quad HD panel with a definition of 5120 x 1440 pixels
• ·         Combination of gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers for position tracking
• ·         Real-time 6DOF head tracking
• ·         IMU and optical sensor fusion for low latency

Developed by Starbreeze Studios, StarVR looks like the most futuristic and complex of all the VR headsets and it seeks to challenge the Vive for the SteamVR program. The studio aims to combine its knowledge of game development with its own VR headset, which was first put into the concept stages in June 2011. StarVR was also shown off on the E3 show floor with demos for titles such as The Walking Dead from Overkill. In my view, the website appears rather bulky and this may degrade comfort while wearing the headset. Press kits are already available for StarVR, but the headset has no proper release date as of yet.

Final thoughts on VR

It’s been several decades since we last heard about the idea of virtual reality; back in the nineties it seemed like the way of the future. Unfortunately with limited tech and poor design philosophy efforts into VR back then were short-lived. The biggest case of this was the Virtual Boy from Nintendo; with a middling critical reception (especially the fact that the device caused eye-strain and headaches!) and poor developer support, the system only lasted around half a year before being discontinued.

Nowadays the technology is sufficient enough to provide a fully immersive experience and E3 2015 saw more information and news on VR than any other before it. Could it be the next major step for gaming? Quite possibly; if game design is slowly becoming more and more stagnant then the next logical step could be to boost the immersion of games with future iterations of popular franchises, particularly those which unfold from first-person perspectives. While many of the new IPs that make full use of virtual reality look fairly basic at the moment, we may start to see more unique ideas that stem from the technology in the future. The support for VR is both extensive and strong with Oculus investing ten million dollars into indie game development on the Oculus. I’m looking forward to seeing how VR develops in the future.

Keep an eye out for part 3 of my E3 2015 post-mortem; “The best of the rest”.

Click here for part 1 of the post-mortem: Ranking the press conferences

(All YouTube videos are the property of their respective owners; I do not own any of the videos used and am using them for the purpose of criticism and review)

E3 2015 Post-Mortem Part 1: Ranking the conferences (Second Half)

Click here for the first half of "ranking the conferences"

Sony

The good

• ·         The Last Guardian’s return

To kick off their presser this year, Sony decisively silenced all who believed The Last Guardian had been cancelled with a full-blown gameplay video. The video showed the various ways the boy interacts with the Griffin, as well as some light puzzle gameplay. After numerous rumours and speculation, some began to doubt that Team Ico’s next project would ever be released; it had been six long years since the game was initially announced after all. But Sony put those doubts to rest from the offset and it was a brilliant way to begin their press conference, grabbing our attention straight away, particularly the fanbase of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus who have waited years for this announcement to arrive. The excitement generated by the announcement is sure to hold up until 2016; my only concern is how the game itself will hold up. Compared with all the other AAA games at E3 this year, The Last Guardian seems to be the most simplistic which may not hold casual players over considering the massive gap between it and its predecessors.

• ·         Final Fantasy 7 HD… At long last!

In yet another surprising moment from Sony’s presser, Final Fantasy 7 HD was announced. Ever since the PS3 tech demo at E3 2005, fans of the venerable game have been clamouring for a remake; the infamous incident at the PlayStation experience event last year didn’t help matters, damaging Square Enix’s reputation in the eyes of fans. At E3 2015 the remake was finally confirmed and massive cheers erupted from the crowd. The original Final Fantasy 7 on the PlayStation 1 is one of the most beloved and acclaimed RPGs ever made and it also touched players in a way that few games could back then. My guess is that either Square Enix caved after the anger they received last year, or Sony persuaded them to make the title in order to satisfy the fans. Whatever the case it’s great to see that the fans will at long last get what they have been waiting almost twenty years for.

• ·         Shenmue 3 kickstarter

Sony didn’t stop at Final Fantasy 7 HD; instead they continued to unleash an unstoppable burst of utter excitement with the announcement of Shenmue 3 on Kickstarter. Shenmue, like Final Fantasy 7 is an incredibly popular title and for years fans have wanted the story of Ryo Hazuki to be concluded with Shenmue 3. Another dream came true this year with Sony’s announcement, which saw series creator Yu Suzuki come on stage and counted down the kickstarter campaign. From here the website itself was quite literally broken as legions of fans poured in their funds, raising one million dollars in just 102 minutes. The power of Shenmue and the announcement as a whole simply cannot be understated; it was another epic moment which made Sony’s conference so memorable this year.

The bad

• ·         No mention or talk of PlayStation Vita

Unlike the Kinect (which I’ve always felt was a massive rip-off), Sony’s PlayStation Vita had all kinds of promise when it was first unveiled in 2011 and ever since then, all it has done is fall further and further in the eyes of both consumers and Sony themselves. The promise of full-on AAA games on a handheld was never realised no thanks to the failures of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified. Nowadays the device is barely acknowledged, making it feel like a wasted investment; a huge shame given the potential it initially had.

• ·         Very few titles for the rest of 2015

Where Microsoft laid a strong claim to the best exclusive blockbusters for the rest of 2015, Sony had the complete opposite; now that Bloodborne and The Order: 1886 have been released to varying degrees of success, what is there to look forward to from PlayStation 4 in terms of exclusives for the rest of 2015? Not a whole lot besides Until Dawn and the Japanese RPG Persona 5, which doesn’t exactly have a wide appeal. The waiting game is nothing new with Sony; it took around two years for the first heavy hitters to arrive on PS3 and fans have been asked to wait several times before. Instead of rolling out more titles for 2015, Sony is instead snapping up all the exclusive deals it can find to make their system seem as attractive as possible for multi-platform titles. More on that further down.

• ·         A rather basic showing for Project Morpheus

With Oculus and Valve partnering with Microsoft for the use and distribution of their virtual reality headsets, Sony’s own effort; Project Morpheus was expected to have a fairly sizeable presence this year in order to counter its main competitors. Unfortunately this was not to be as Sony showed off basic concepts, rather than proper demos and functionality for the headset. Compared to what Microsoft offered, the short talk on Project Morpheus felt quite laughable by comparison. If Project Morpheus is going to take a firm position in the rising VR market, they’re going to have to show and present a lot more to instil confidence that the headset is keeping up with its biggest competitors.

• ·         Exclusive content: Not really a win on Sony’s part

Sony’s conference was absolutely loaded with exclusive content this year; it’s no exaggeration that literally every single multiplatform game had some sort of exclusive deal at the end of it. This included the new Hitman game, Batman: Arkham Knight, Street Figher 5, the Taken King expansion for Destiny, Disney Infinity, and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Even Call of Duty, a franchise long associated with Microsoft has now swapped their allegiance to Sony with Black Ops 3. While this move may impress stakeholders, for the gaming community it’s a pretty disdainful move to take. Cutting content off from the other platforms to make the PlayStation 4 version look better really doesn’t have any point to it; it is real exclusives, not exclusive content which should be used to move units and all this sugar coating won’t do Sony any real favours. All it does is fuel the fires of fanboyism and give off an anti-consumer vibe which Sony really doesn’t want to be doing after gaining a massive lead in sales.

Final Score

Going into E3 this year, I thought that Sony’s presser would be quite bare-bones; that they would simply shrug their shoulders whilst proclaiming their lack of AAA exclusives for the rest of the year. While the latter is mostly true, the corporation did anything but shrug their shoulders and refused to let the competition slip in front of them. Sony proved once again this year that it’s still the king of the high profile reveals and the most exciting games that fans have been waiting years for. The cheers that went up on the announcements of Shenmue 3 and Final Fantasy 7 HD were certainly the biggest of the show and that’s what Sony has always had a knack for; building the strongest anticipation while keeping their low points disguised. For now the hype train Sony has generated since day one with the PlayStation 4 will have to suffice, until their big titles arrive in 2016 but for now, Sony has another solid press conference under their belt.

7/10 (Good)

Nintendo

The good

• ·         The return of Starfox

The Starfox series has awaited a full resurgence for many years. The last major console release was Starfox Assault on the Gamecube ten years ago. Since then we’ve seen a couple of handheld titles and a re-release of Starfox 64 on the 3DS but never a fully-fledged sequel on a new console. Having skipped the Nintendo Wii, the series is making its return with Starfox Zero and the trailer shown at Nintendo’s event looked very promising. Featuring both air and ground combat with the use of the Wii U gamepad, Starfox Zero looks set to be a welcome return for a franchise on hiatus for far too long.

• ·         Xenoblade Chronicles X and Super Mario Maker

As bare-bones as Nintendo’s event seemed it was satisfying to see both Xenoblade Chronicles X and Mario Maker make appearances. Both titles will be the biggest heavy-hitters the Wii U has to offer this year and they both made impressions in their own ways. Xenoblade for its massive ambition as a sequel and Mario Maker for the sheer potential it contains in allowing fans to create their own side-scrolling levels for the first time. Mario Maker in particular looks very extensive with multiple art styles, items and components to choose from. Both titles are sure to maintain the momentum the Wii U has at the moment when they release later this year.

The bad

• ·         Too much focus on the 3DS

For the amount of success the Wii U had last year, Nintendo seemed quite reluctant to talk about their console at their event, choosing instead to focus more on 3DS titles. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this focus was Metroid Federation Force; fans have been waiting five years for a new game in the series and this new 3DS title was not what they were expecting. Federation Force has no Samus Aran, and no exploration that the series is known for as well as a pretty lackluster graphical style. The reception was so bad that a change.org petition was created to cancel the game’s development, currently standing at over twenty thousand signatures. The announcement caused a pretty sizeable backlash and this has caused Nintendo to reiterate that Samus will make an appearance and that the game will feature a proper single-player campaign. Nintendo fans have been more vocal about Metroid: Federation Force than any other title made by the company, something which may have been fuelled by the polarising Metroid: Other M in 2010. It does also raise the question as to whether a petition is too radical a response or whether the consumer should simply refuse to buy the game and let it suffer poor sales, thus sending a message to Nintendo as to what the fans really want.

Final Score

The biggest problem with Nintendo’s event this year was its lack of spark or promising titles; after the Wii U made such a strong comeback in the console market last year, fans were eagerly awaiting what Nintendo was doing next to keep the system in line with its competitors. Unfortunately the show felt by the numbers to me; aside from Mario Maker and Xenoblade Chronicles X, there really wasn’t anything worth sticking around for. There could have been more details on the highly anticipated Zelda title for the Wii U or maybe even a brand new 3D Mario title which would serve as a successor to the Super Mario Galaxy games. Instead Nintendo saw fit to focus more on the 3DS whilst also withholding details on its next system, the NX which would have been the more reasonable option to take.

5/10 (Average)

Square Enix

The good

• ·       New details on Kingdom Hearts 3

The highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3 has been relatively quiet since its reveal two years ago at Sony’s E3 conference. Legions of fans have been awaiting the first snippets of gameplay and Square Enix delivered just that at their conference this year. The flashy combat saw protagonist Sora teaming up with Disney’s Donald and Goofy to take on several new types of enemies while traversing a lush green environment. The game looks pretty good so far with a substantial visual upgrade. Chances are we may see news about a release date soon with development having gone on for two years.

• ·         Just Cause 3

Some might say that Just Cause has come closer than any other open world franchise to rivalling the Grand Theft Auto series in terms of sheer popularity. It drops both realism and story in favour of pure, unadulterated fun in a massive sandbox. The gameplay has always been explosive, and over-the-top with a prime emphasis on causing as much chaos as possible. That’s exactly what Just Cause 3 sets out to do and the newest trailer shown off at E3 this year has exactly what fans are expecting. Ideally the game needs to improve on the flaws of the second, which included the shooting mechanics and slightly overzealous physics system. The other danger with Just Cause 3 is that it may end up feeling like Just Cause 2.5 and won’t take many risks with the formula. There’s also no multiplayer which is a shame, given how popular the Just Cause 2 multiplayer mod has become.

The bad

• ·         An overall dryness to the whole event

If one company can be too overzealous in its efforts to engage the audience, then another can be too dull and dry. Square Enix’s presentation could have been better; it often felt as if they were reading off a script and weren’t that engaged with the audience. It felt a little too formal for my taste too, as they had a rather routine applause at the end. To excite your fans, it not only takes strong showings and detailed gameplay demos, but passionate developers as well. It’s why the brief talk of Unravel made EA’s conference a little more bearable. If Square Enix is to do another conference next year, it needs to keep this in mind and that way it will be that much more engaging.

Final Score

Square Enix’s E3 debut was fairly competent but nothing special. Games like Kingdom Hearts 3 and Just Cause 3 did excite, but most of the other announcements ranged from average to fairly dull. SE suffered from the problem Ubisoft had in previous years in that the footage they showed was what we had already seen because it had been broadcasted at an earlier conference

6/10 (Fair)

PC Gaming Show

The good

• ·         Extensive talk on technical specs

One of the biggest components of gaming on PC is the technical specifications. People love to build the most powerful rigs and with this come games that look absolutely stunning with the boosted hardware. It was satisfying to see that the PC gaming show didn’t gloss over this aspect, homing in on specific details of graphics and development tools that enrich the PC experience. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Killing Floor 2 were the biggest highlights, showing a variety of upgrades from screen space reflection to bloody entrails physics. Above all else, the PC gaming show knew its audience well and tailored it to fit their specific interests.

• ·         Games of many types and genres

Of all the conferences at E3 this year, the PC gaming show had the strongest variety of titles to show. We saw all kinds of games including new projects, updates on existing titles such as Guild Wars 2 and Killing Floor, atmospheric titles such as Soma, new expansions for Heroes of the Storm and Pillars of Eternity and heavy hitting titles including Gigantic and No Man’s Sky. Having a diverse selection of titles gave the PC gaming show a strong impact that kept the audience guessing despite the lack of massive announcements.

The bad

• ·         A slightly bloated running time

At two hours and thirty minutes, the PC gaming show was the longest of all the press conferences at E3 this year. The in-depth discussions did fill in most of the time quite well and succeeded at putting out information to both the audience and PC gamers everywhere but the show did drag towards the end and my attention started to wane a fair bit. As a result, the likes of No Man’s Sky and other titles later in the show did have less of an impact simply because people were straining to pay attention. If they were to streamline some of the Q&A sessions and trim down the commentary slightly next year then it may be able to maintain interest more effectively.

• ·         Nothing from Valve :(

With so many dreams being realised and so many anticipated titles finally on the way, there seems to be only one that we still know nothing about; you know what it is, Half Life 3. There could not have been a riper time for Valve to make their return to game development; they haven’t made a game since the release of DOTA 2 in 2013 and the PC gaming show seemed to be the perfect spot to make a big announcement. Unfortunately Valve remains as frustratingly tight-lipped as ever on both their games and their efforts into the PC and VR hardware sectors. Waiting over seven years for a game that we know nothing about has been a slow and arduous process for the fans; one of the audience members even called out for Half Life 3 during the presentation. For now, the wait will continue to drag on not just for the elusive entry in the Half Life series but also Valve’s next move as a whole.

Final Score

The debut of the PC gaming show was a relatively good effort. It felt much more down-to-earth than the other conferences with the structure of a talk-show, less marketing buzzwords and more of an easy-going mood. This is evidenced by Phil Spencer’s frank discussion that homed in on the fact and the laidback style of presenter Sean “Day9” Plott. It was also really refreshing to see a proper focus on PC and the more technical side of gaming specifications and tools that developers use to make titles on the platform. Hopefully the show will make a return to E3 next year.

7/10 (Good)

And that wraps up part 1 of my E3 2015 Post-Mortem; for the next part I’ll be looking at the VR tech present at the show.

(All YouTube videos are the property of their respective owners; I do not own any of the videos used and am using them for the purpose of criticism and review)

E3 2015 Post-Mortem Part 1: Ranking the conferences (First Half)

Bethesda

The good

• ·      Fallout 4 (The whole demo!)

After the initial trailer sent a shockwave of excitement throughout the industry, Fallout 4 quickly became arguably the most anticipated title of the entire show. When it came to delivering at E3, Bethesda absolutely smashed it; so many new gameplay facets were shown in addition to mod details. Base-building, nearly endless customisation, seamless character creation, fully voiced protagonists, improvements to the shooting and an awesome power armour segment all laced together in a thirty minute presentation to build the ultimate anticipation. For many including myself, Fallout 4 was the game of the show; no other title had as much revealed and no other title had me more excited. There’s no doubt in my mind that the game is shaping up incredibly well and is sure to be a huge hit when it arrives later this year.

• ·      Dishonored 2 reveal

In 2012, Bethesda launched a new franchise called Dishonored; with its detailed setting and excellent choice-based gameplay it was another great addition to the stealth genre. In one of the more surprising moments of Bethesda’s conference, we saw the reveal of Dishonored 2. Set in a new location on the island of Serkonos fifteen years after the events of the original, the game will follow both Corvo Attano and Emily Kaldwin as they attempt to uncover the corruption behind the Dunwall rat plague. Judging from the initial trailer, the game’s oil painting style crossed with steampunk is in full effect and the game appears to have several new powers, most notably the summoning of dark spirit arms which aid in both traversal and combat. I really enjoyed the original Dishonored and I’m really looking forward to what Arkane Studios has in store for us next.

• ·      Doom demo

Another franchise making its long-awaited return this year is Doom; eleven years on from Doom 3, some were left wondering whether the series still had a place in modern gaming, given how the shooter genre is dominated by modern military shooters. But the Doom reboot was capable of making an impression with its fast-paced bloody carnage. Powerful weapons, grotesque enemies and the hellish settings are back and they’re looking better than ever before with the power of modern hardware. The surprise success of Wolfenstein:The New Order last year was a strong resurgence in classic single-player shooters. The Doom reboot could continue this trend, provided ID Software backs up the action with strong pacing and replayability.

In conclusion

With three hard hitting titles and other worthwhile news, Bethesda’s first E3 conference turned out really well; their demos and news were both incredibly exciting, but it was Fallout 4 that carried the day. Following the initial reveal trailer that built the excitement to a fever-pitch, Todd Howard made a solid and worthwhile follow-up that told everyone what they wanted to know about the game, including all kinds of new gameplay components. This is what a demo should be and Bethesda pulled it off brilliantly for their first try. Hopefully we’ll see them again at E3 in the future.

8/10 (Great)

Microsoft

The good

• ·      Not a single mention of Kinect or any other multimedia function

Kinect is finally gone, and very few of us will or should care where it went. At long last, Microsoft has finally realised just how much the peripheral was holding them back and dropped it out of their conference. Aside from a few voice commands, Kinect titles and functionality were completely barred and this was by far the best decision Microsoft made when it came to their conference this year. 100% focused on games and 0% focused on the things that had dogged them in the past, Microsoft’s conference knew exactly what it wanted to do and it concentrated on that to the max. There were hardly any deviations, no pointless fluff that got in the way and this is a testament to the hard work Phil Spencer has been doing to turn the company around in the eyes of the gaming community.

• ·      Backwards compatibility

When it comes to moving between console generations, the jump from Xbox 360 to Xbox One and PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 has been the slowest and most delayed in the history of the industry. Without backwards compatibility, early adopters have been forced to rely on either HD re-releases or streaming services such as PlayStation Now to relive the classics from the previous generation. All that changed at E3 2015 with backwards compatibility on Xbox One; while this may seem rather late considering how long the new systems have been out, the move may send ripples across the industry and serve as an accelerant to moving on from the previous generation. The question remains as to how well Xbox 360 games will run on the Xbox One but Microsoft appears to have the right infrastructure and resources to make it happen. In time the feature should prove a strong incentive for 360 owners to migrate as well as offer a boost to value which is absent from Sony and the PlayStation 4.

• ·      Actual new IPs, along with the Rare Replay collection

I’ve been quite critical of Microsoft in the past for reusing the same franchises over and over on Xbox, solidifying a reputation as a so-called “bro-shooter” system; this includes the likes of Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War and Forza. But 2015 I will remember as the year Microsoft really started to innovate with its exclusives on Xbox One. Of course we saw the expected gameplay demos for Halo 5: Guardians and Gears of War 4, but there were also several new titles that proved Microsoft’s willingness to invest in new franchises, something which they had been severely lacking. The sci-fi romp Ion, pirate-themed Sea of Thieves and scavenging Recore should hopefully be strong additions to the Xbox One’s library. Rare also made a full comeback this year. Freed from the shackles of Kinect, they’re free to focus on their new project Yooka-Laylee as well as Rare Replay; a collection of the developer’s greatest hits. Focusing on new projects is another step forward for Microsoft and if they continue to innovate in this way then they may be right on track to fully winning me over.

The bad

• ·      Scripted demos

While Microsoft does have the strongest exclusives games for the rest of 2015, the demos of their major titles did leave a lot to be desired. Halo 5: Guardians looked quite good with its squad-based gameplay but demos for Rise of the Tomb Raider and Gears of War 4 just didn’t have much going for them. With its controversial acquisition of Rise of the Tomb Raider, Microsoft has practically created a grudge match between it and the Uncharted series on PlayStation and it really shows. The impression I got from the demo is that Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics are doing anything and everything to best Uncharted in order to, quote “put the franchise on top of adventure gaming”. While the avalanche demo was great to look at, it didn’t show off how Rise of the Tomb Raider was setting itself apart from its biggest competitor. A later demo shown behind closed doors presented the light RPG elements of the game and this would have been a better thing to show at Microsoft’s presser. As for Gears 4, it was pretty average and nothing more; very little in the way of new gameplay scenarios and even less details on the plot for the new game.

• ·      Pricing of the Xbox One elite controller

It’s a small gripe, but it still feels pretty stingy to me; Microsoft announced a new controller for the Xbox One this year known as the Elite wireless controller. It features moddable components, a connector for headsets, improved triggers and profile integration with the Microsoft’s cloud storage. Weighing in at 348 grams, the elite controller has the potential to be a major upgrade in terms of feedback, but the $150 price tag (which translates to around £95 in the UK) will no doubt raise some eyebrows. Personally I wouldn’t pay more than £70 for a controller, even with all the physical upgrades. There’s also the question of the types of headsets which will work with the controller; Microsoft has taken criticism in the past for only allowing specific branded accessories to work with its hardware and would be another helpful step forward if they were to be more flexible in this regard.

Final score

Overall it seems that Microsoft is right on track to making a full comeback; they’ve cut the crap that bogged down their conferences before, reduced the rehashes of popular franchises and have a wide array of collaborations and partnerships under their belt. The only real downside was the demos; they seemed a little too scripted for my liking. While Microsoft had a rough start with the Xbox One, this year’s show was definitely their best in years and proof that the company is capable of listening and taking our feedback on-board.

7/10 (Good)

Electronic Arts

The good

• ·         Star Wars Battlefront gameplay revealed

The new Battlefront had a lot to prove at E3; following its initial reveal at E3 two years ago and a somewhat dubious CGI trailer earlier this year, gamers were anxious to see proper gameplay. EA delivered just that with a multiplayer match on the planet Hoth featuring AT-ATs, Snowspeeders and Luke Skywalker clashing with Darth Vader. It looked great, with the snow, character models and explosive action looking appropriately detailed and EA would later reveal cooperative missions and a survival mode, adding more meat to the overall package. Despite the gameplay reveal looking fairly good, I’m still very sceptical about the overall package; I just can’t feel so excited when the game has dropped so many features including space battles, instant action and galactic conquest which were all staples of the previous games. Inevitably it will fall to the gameplay and the business practices contained therein to make up for the lack of content when Battlefront is released in November.

• ·         Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst gameplay reveal

After showing a fairly basic concept video at E3 last year, we finally got a first glimpse of the new Mirror’s Edge, now branded “Catalyst”. The stage demo told us many things, from confirming the game is a prequel to Faith’s story to the fact that using firearms will not be an option when playing the game. The game will also have a full open world in the form of a city oppressed by a power-hungry government. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a title which has been desired for a while by the fan-base and the game seems to be shaping up quite well. The open world has a lot of potential to build atmosphere as well as offer a huge array of avenues to play around with the parkour based gameplay. It’s just a shame that all of this info was confined to a mere five minutes of EA’s presser; we all would have wanted to see a lot more.

• ·         Unravel: A possible future for EA in indie development?

While it was the only original IP at the conference, Unravel served to highlight a possible future for EA in the indie scene. Allowing lone developer Martin Sahlin to nervously, yet tentatively take to the stage to talk about his ideas and his studio was a generous move, showing that the corporation is willing to take risks and support new projects, assisting up and coming developers in the process. Unravel is looking to be a very different and artistic kind of game and it’s a breath of fresh air to see this sort of thing coming from EA. The indie scene simply cannot be ignored nowadays and I hope that EA continues to make positive steps like this (and an end to their awful practices of course!)

The bad

• ·         The utterly pointless appearance of Pele

EA surprised everyone by having the biggest celebrity appearance at their presser; the legendary Brazilian footballer Pele. But unfortunately all that time and effort went to waste as the corporation and David Rutter saw fit to talk about “the beautiful game”; something which had absolutely nothing to do with FIFA itself. Pele clearly had far better things to do with his time than appear at E3 this year and didn’t talk about FIFA one bit, instead talking about his own experiences in real life football. It had no business being at E3 and would have been far better suited to a football press event. This is my personal message to EA; don’t try to make the FIFA game series seem artistic and meaningful by inviting a celebrity to your conference. At this point a vast majority of us know full well how lacklustre and stagnated the series is. It may raise football in the eyes in American audiences but this was the wrong place to do it.

• ·         Mobile games… Ugh.

We’ve seen companion apps and second screen experiences at E3 before but EA sank to a new low this year by featuring fully-fledged mobile games such as Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Minions: Paradise was the biggest offender though, bearing traits similar to Clash of Clans. The plus signs next to the currency symbols to the right of the screen were a dead giveaway; microtransactions are likely to plague this game from top to bottom. Ultimately even showing mobile games at all was a complete waste of time and only succeeded in driving my attention away from the conference while this painful segment was presented.

• ·         Endless sports games… AGAIN!

Yet again EA’s conference suffered from poor pacing this year because of far too much talk of sports games; while this may be enjoyed by fans of hockey, basketball, American football and the like, it constantly distracted and delayed from what everyone was excited to see. At this point, EA should take a step back and realise that their sports games should be relegated to a separate conference; they read off the same old scripts every year, bragging about incremental improvements. Frankly I’m getting pretty sick of it at this point; it’s as if we had Infinity Ward talking about fish AI in Call of Duty Ghosts, then they made us listen to it over and over again every year.

Final Score

If EA’s conference proves anything, it’s that the infamous corporation is so out of touch with both gamers and the industry as a whole. The few games that we were excited about were quickly buried under a mound of painfully dull sports presentations and a rather insulting segment on mobile titles. These are mistakes which have occurred multiple times over the years and it’s baffling why the company still insists on making them time and time again. The company also remains very hypocritical when it comes to their business practices, pointing out that they’re listening to feedback while having in-app purchases clearly visible on their mobile titles. EA’s conference was easily the worst of the show this year.

4/10 (Poor)

Ubisoft

The good

• ·         For Honour

Ubisoft’s lone new IP this year was a visceral melee combat sim in which armoured knights and powerful samurai clashed on a medieval battlefield with combat that seems to advance the swordplay found in The Witcher and Souls franchises. It was a very intense and bloody affair with parrying, dodging and finishing moves all playing a role in the one-on-one duels. At the best of times it reminded me of the combat seen on Game of Thrones; converting this kind of impactful fighting could bring a new take on the medieval setting. On the other hand, there’s also the concern that the game’s scale could be diminished with players being locked into two-man fights. The Chivalry series has also experimented with a similar kind of combat before; can For Honour set itself apart?

• ·         Proper continuation and advancement of popular titles

Though Ubisoft’s presser wasn’t filled with new ideas for games, they did succeed in bringing back successful titles for another run as well as take a few steps forward for one of their franchises. With a massive critical and commercial success under its belt, 2014’s South Park: The Stick of Truth made itself known as the best video game adaptation of the raunchy cartoon. Ubisoft smartly decided to continue the series with South Park: The fractured butt whole, which looks to have more wacky humour and more of the crazy RPG gameplay that worked so well in the original as well as bringing back Trey Parker and Matt Stone to assist on its development. Trackmania Turbo is a much enjoyed arcade racer and Ubisoft’s acquisition, along with a full set of creation tools will bring its fanbase on-board. Finally, we had Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which transports the tactical shooter series into an open world with many different options for combat. This kind of tactical freedom could inject new life into the series, which hasn’t seen a proper main entry since Ghost Recon Future Soldier in 2012.

The bad

• ·         AAA titles that are hard to get excited about

Ubisoft’s AAA franchises have fallen on hard times in recent years and it’s becoming more and more difficult for them to find that spark that can reignite their biggest titles. This problem held true for The Division and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Division promises a highly dynamic and evolving game world where any player could be a friend or foe; but aesthetically the game looks very similar to Ghost Recon and the game is also at risk of falling into the same trap as Destiny, a game which promised and undelivered similar things. As for Assassin’s Creed; the series is so tired that barely anything will get me excited anymore. Yes the Victorian London setting has been a popular location for Assassin’s Creed, but the demos I saw felt so ho-hum and no different from Unity the year before. If only Ubisoft would dump the yearly cycle, they could come up with far more creative ideas for the series.

• ·         Awkward presentation… Again!

Trying to be hip and cool for the audience at E3 2015 has always come off as awkward, even irritating at times and nowhere was this more evident than Ubisoft’s conference this year. I don’t mean to slam Aisha Taylor; she has tried her best to bring a kind of flair to the show over the past few years. But when it devolves into buzzwords, dance contests and the cringe-worthy “Let’s make a MEME!” that’s when it slows the show to a crawl and distracts from all the positive aspects of Ubisoft’s presser. If Taylor and the Just Dance crew are to return next year then I’m sure it would greatly benefit the conference if the awkwardness was toned down a fair bit.

• ·         More expansions, less new titles

Ubisoft is in need of new ideas; many of their most popular franchises have become stagnated and tired whilst others have made the company infamous for its more recent business practices. Because For Honour was the only new idea they had to show, their press conference inevitably fell flat because many of the things we saw were expanding on things we already had, rather than innovating in fresh ways. Some of the expansions included Awesome Level Max for Trials Fusion, Anno 2205, Wild Run for The Crew and Just Dance 2016 (Let’s face it, the new dance game can’t really count as a fully-fledged entry). It really does take the wind out of a conference when many of the titles shown are simply expanding on titles which already came out.

Final score

Ubisoft’s presser was standard business this year. It wasn’t poorly put together like EA’s but it wasn’t really that memorable either. While the demo for The Division and some of Ubisoft’s new acquisitions did excite a little, but underwhelming expansions and an awkward presentation did end up undermining a fair chunk of their E3 conference. Ubisoft needs both new ideas and a new spark to their franchises to really excite us at next year’s show.

6/10 (Fair)

See the second half of "Ranking the press conferences" by clicking here

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