E3 2017 - Conference times and general chat

[Todinho]

Found this great video about what makes a good press conference and I think he's spot on, great stuff:

[seansthomas]

Overall a decent E3 showing but no major standout surprises. I'll talk about some of my highlights.

Sure, we've had Metroid Prime 4 and it's nothing short of a miracle to see it happen but sadly nothing concrete was shown. On the plus side, seeing AM2R get taken offline makes even more sense now the 3DS game Metroid: Samus Returns was revealed during the Treehouse last night.

Super Mario Odyssey looked so fresh and exciting that I stopped watching it half way through and now i'm in media blackout mode for that game. I did the same with BotW and it paid off immensely.

Spider-Man on PS4 looked brilliant and something i'll definitely play. Big fan of Insomniacs work and this didn't disappoint. Monster Hunter Worlds is exciting. Hopefully they capture the essence of what makes the more traditional MH games so much fun but capturing a new audience with some "quality of life" design improvements.

BG&E2 was a nice surprise even if the tone felt a little off to me when compared to the first one. It's an incredible CG trailer though and if the game manages to recreate that world in-game then we're in for a good time.

Mario & Rabbids was a delight to behold. Despite it being leaked beforehand I was genuinely surprised by most of it. Mario X-Com with some beautiful Mario 3D World style visuals was something I didn't expect and it's out soon-ish!

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus had me laughing and looked more like Doom than the previous two Wolfenstein games. I'm in.

Sea of Thieves had another trailer which felt like the other trailers with added sharks and Mario 64 cannon firing players. I was hoping it'd be out this year but ultimately a new Rare IP will have my money day one regardless of when it comes out.

Oh and while Anthem looked good I can't help but feel that it won't look like that on release. Well, not on my old and crusty original Xbox One.

Other games which look new and fresh. A Way Out, Ooblets and The Last Night

Had the exact same highlights, with added Absolver. Left me a bit cold. Even Nintendo's showing was decent rather than amazing I thought, given that the Metroid reveal was literally a logo.

I do wonder if the volume of cgi trailers and lack of decent in game footage was due to BOTW. Developers haven't had long to react to that game and I suspect it's making a lot of open world franchises rethink a few things. But who knows...

Sea of Thieves looked really intriguing. Mario looked mental. Hope it's not all open world exploration though and remembers to be a platformer at points.

[countstex]

Quick question that's been nagging me in the back of my mind about the Beyond Good and Evil CGI thing. Was it just me or was it a case that all the males were animals whilst the females remained human. Whilst that could be an interesting take on sexual roles, it also meant the women could remain 'sexy' .. a worrying stance for a game series which originally did quite a bit for pushing female protagonists.

[Alex79]

I think you may be looking too deeply in to it. The only thing that struck me about the trailer was the overused gratuitous swearing. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with bad language at all, but it seemed a little pointless and unnecessary to me.

[KSubzero1000]

Was it just me or was it a case that all the males were animals whilst the females remained human. Whilst that could be an interesting take on sexual roles

H-How?

[countstex]

Was it just me or was it a case that all the males were animals whilst the females remained human. Whilst that could be an interesting take on sexual roles

H-How?

That males are more animalistic, baser beings that lack higher cognitive behaviour. We'll all pigs, and none-homosapien apes and various other creatures. Would be a bold statement!

[KSubzero1000]

Huh-huh, and then you go from there to worrying about the representation of the female characters?
I don't understand politics sometimes.

Edit: To be clear, I don't think UbiSoft has put that much thought into all this. But if we're assuming that's the case, it seems odd to me to find the representation of the male characters interesting but to be worried about the sex appeal of the female characters. Weird contrast.

[countstex]

Indeed. Like trying to appease all at once, which usually leads to failing all

You do see it sometimes though. The opening cinematic to Never Winter Online has an undead female. Face full of holes, limbs with shrivelled skin and bandaged, and yet somehow perfectly maintained perky breasts.

[Craig]

I loved the visual style of the Beyond Good and Evil trailer, but the dialogue between the monkey and the pig made my toes curl. Again, no problem with swearing, but people don't swear like that so it sounded incredibly forced.

It doesn't help that the plot of the scene was 100% out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Getting cash for an idol, but the other guy somehow didn't realise, and then immediately it melts, and the protagonist gurns to the camera.

The cartoon plot mixed with a gritty world and cursing made incredibly uncomfortable bedfellows. Which is a shame, because I loved the world and atmosphere it was set in until the characters started talking.

[KSubzero1000]

You do see it sometimes though. The opening cinematic to Never Winter Online has an undead female. Face full of holes, limbs with shrivelled skin and bandaged, and yet somehow perfectly maintained perky breasts.

Oh yes, certainly. I'm fully aware of the issues of gratuitous sexualization of female characters within the industry. I think it's a perfectly valid and useful conversation to have. But it's the juxtaposition of your two statements that caught me by surprise. I'm sure it came from a good place, it just seemed a bit backwards to me.

[countstex]

You do see it sometimes though. The opening cinematic to Never Winter Online has an undead female. Face full of holes, limbs with shrivelled skin and bandaged, and yet somehow perfectly maintained perky breasts.

Oh yes, certainly. I'm fully aware of the issues of gratuitous sexualization of female characters within the industry. I think it's a perfectly valid and useful conversation to have. But it's the juxtaposition of your two statements that caught me by surprise. I'm sure it came from a good place, it just seemed a bit backwards to me.

Hence why I brought it up. It had me confused as well. Had my mind asking all sorts of questions which ended up distracting me from the joy that should have existed for another BGAE game!

[Flabyo]

Well this should deal with one thing you said:

[Flabyo]

I think this has been a fairly decent e3 to be honest. Ok yeah, most of the big surprises were nothing more than 'this thing exists' teases, but there were plenty of games I know I'll definitely be getting.

I like the Assassins Creed games, so a new one of those is welcome. Far cry 5 looks to be an interesting enough twist to make me give that series another chance.

Plenty of great stuff for the switch shown. I was getting one for Splatoon 2 anyway, but it's good to know that there's at least one good title every month after that for the rest of the year.

Mario Odyssey looks great (been watching it a bit on the treehouse stream, there's more gameplay variety there than I was expecting), but for me game of the show is Mario + Rabbids.

It's not the genre I was expecting, and from watching the treehouse stream of it, its extremely deep and has some gorgeous animation in it. That it still surprised even though its existence leaked ahead of the show is testament to just how out there it is.

[countstex]

Well this should deal with one thing you said:

See, that looks like a much better mix than the trailer suggested. Cool.

[seansthomas]

The preview of BG&E2 I read the other day was interesting. Very raw apparently, but part of the game involves a mechanic to control time. Not superficial weather effects, but ACTUAL TIME. So you can turn the planet's axis to affect the sun's position and alter the game's structure if I understood it right?

That's pretty cool. Think there'll be some fascinating systems in future games. Nemesis system and BOTW have shown a huge leap. Hope more follow.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

This is coming in reeeeeeaaalllllyyyy late, but I came across an article that pretty much summed up my feelings towards E3, and AAA games in general.

To wholesale cut-and-paste a particular section that hit the nail on the head for me:

This isn’t about not being able to stomach violence: as indicated, I’m genuinely looking forward to these brutal games. I get starry-eyed thinking about the new Doom.

Instead, I’m disappointed that so much time and effort goes into only allowing players to interact with these fascinating game worlds with weapons. This doesn’t mean I want The Evil Within to be a hugging simulator or Far Cry to become (only) a fishing adventure. Rather, I want more games, from the ground up, to negate violence or combat as even necessary to solve problems and progress.

Link to original article here.

[seansthomas]

This is coming in reeeeeeaaalllllyyyy late, but I came across an article that pretty much summed up my feelings towards E3, and AAA games in general.

To wholesale cut-and-paste a particular section that hit the nail on the head for me:

This isn’t about not being able to stomach violence: as indicated, I’m genuinely looking forward to these brutal games. I get starry-eyed thinking about the new Doom.

Instead, I’m disappointed that so much time and effort goes into only allowing players to interact with these fascinating game worlds with weapons. This doesn’t mean I want The Evil Within to be a hugging simulator or Far Cry to become (only) a fishing adventure. Rather, I want more games, from the ground up, to negate violence or combat as even necessary to solve problems and progress.

Link to original article here.

Yeah I agree. It's what puts me off a lot of games. I look at a lot of trailers for AC, Battlefield, etc and feel nothing. The rewards for the violence in those games seems shallow and often attracts a type of gamer I don't relate to.

I like games which make violence either silly and OTT (Bayonetta, Doom, ARMS, Splatoon etc) or tactical and often best avoided (ZombiU, Resident Evil, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Xenoblade Chronicles, Breath of the Wild).

It's why I genuinely think the best post-game DLC you could make for a title like BOTW would be missions like Tarrey Town; to rebuild Hyrule, help people out, make bridges to unite cut off settlements, help people settle into new cities, use magnesis to finish off building work etc. Xenoblade Chronicles did this with Colony 9 and it was so nice, amongst all the battling and bad guys, to have the option to do something good in a game for once.

It's why Shadow of the Colossus always resonates with me more than anything like Far Cry 3 or Star Wars Battlefront. As that game went on, I repeatedly questioned 'should I be doing this? Should I be killing these beautiful, graceful beasts to potentially save one person close to me?' That experience has stayed with me for years, but it's pretty damning of gaming as an artistic entity that few other titles have ever tried to ask similar questions outside of the odd cult indie title.

[Stanshall]

Not much to add but big up the last two posts. That's why I come here.

[KSubzero1000]

I'll just repost this given how you guys are talking about this here:

In other news, I've stumbled upon this video criticizing the heavy focus on combat and violence across the video game landscape. I think the author makes some valid points and it might be of interest to the one or the other around here.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I'll just repost this given how you guys are talking about this here:

In other news, I've stumbled upon this video criticizing the heavy focus on combat and violence across the video game landscape. I think the author makes some valid points and it might be of interest to the one or the other around here.

Thanks for the repost... it's very easy to miss things!

I saw the Assassin's Creed Origins trailer in that clip, and think back to the last AC game I played and enjoyed, which was Black Flag. And I think how much better that game would have been had they dropped the AC IP, and just made it a pirate game, where you could use violence, or you could forge alliances, or parley, or trade. A proper pirate game with that engine would have been great, and AC Black Flag was held back so much by it's own IP.

Origins is looking like more of the same...

And I love that Persona 5 brought back negotiations with enemies - it adds so much persoanlity to the world. I haven't play any proper SMT games yet (in the backlog), but I think that was a big part of previous games? Do correct me if I'm wrong.