E3 2017 - Conference times and general chat

[dezm0nd]

It's May! It's time to get stupidly excited over games (and lies!)

Here are the conference times (UK) according to IGN UK. Not much to go on just yet but I figured I'd get the ball rolling.

Saturday 10th June 2017
EA - 20:00 BST

Sunday 11th June 2017
Microsoft - 22:00 BST
Bethesda - 03:00 BST

Monday 12th June 2017
PC - 18:00 BST
Ubisoft - 21:00 BST
Sony - 02:00 BST

Tuesday 13th June 2017
Nintendo - 17:00 BST

I'm hoping for Quake Champions to get a release "right now" during Bethesda's conference. It's a good game from what I've played so far.

Really don't know what to expect from the others. Nintendo has a great opportunity to show their deck but we should never expect them to do what we think they should do.

[skidoosh]

I'm really interested in what Sony & Microsoft have this year. Sony more because everything's out hardware wise so we should see more from Santa Monica, Bend and Naughty Dog. Microsoft for Scorpio. I'd love to say Halo, but if they never release another it'll be no great loss at this point.

[Flabyo]

Nintendo are probably just putting out another Direct video, they haven't done a live press conference at the show for years now, they do have their treehouse stream though, but it's not the same.

[Stanshall]

Apparently that's the case, but they also supposedly have occupied the largest floor space of the three big guns.

[Suits]

ODST 2, Metroid and Captain Toad 2.

That's my ideal sort of of thing I'd get proper excited over I think.

Forza 7, Halo 3 Remasterd and Animal Crossing amiibo Festival 2 is probably what we'll get.

[James]

I quite like Nintendo's E3 approach. The Directs (E3 and otherwise) took me a year or so to get used to, but I honestly don't feel that much is lost by it not being live. On the plus side, much of the stuff I find cringeworthy about the live conferences (including Nintendo's prior to E3 2013) seems to be ameliorated.

With EA having moved from their Monday slot last year and MS following suit this year, the old MS/EA/Ubi/Sony marathon from about 5pm - 4am (BST) is looking a bit scant. Nonetheless, I'll be up until who knows what ridiculous hour to watch the conferences live.

[dezm0nd]

Added Sony time and date.

[Todinho]

Today I've watched some of the reactions to Sony's conference last year and I this year I sure hope we get a release date for Detroit, Days Gone and God of War, getting a release window for Spiderman and Death Stranding would be nice too, but those 3 games looked to be pretty far in development so it would be nice to know when they are coming out.

[dezm0nd]

Was last year the big one...? FF7 remake and Shenmue 3? I don't see e3 getting better (in terms of impact) than that this year, sadly.

Unless they decide to announce half life 3

[KSubzero1000]

I'm equal parts excited and nervous about the new God of War...

Otherwise, I'd love to see more of Death Stranding, RE2make or Switch!FE, but I'm keeping my expectations low on that front.

A real highlight for me would be a surprise announcement of another Bloodborne-style Souls spinoff in a completely new setting. But I don't think we would be seeing it so soon even if one was in development, so again, low expectations.

And while I'm at it, I'll take a proper Metroid revival, please! Add F-Zero to that (even a port of GX would go a long way), plus a full-fledged 3D Golden Sun sequel with Xenoblade-level production values and we're in business, Big N.

Edit: Is it too soon to expect to see anything new from Platinum? And what's Shinji Mikami up to these days?

Edit: The more I fantasize around, the more I'm gonna regret it, aren't I?

[dezm0nd]

I'd love to see that Resi 2 remake, too. After enjoying 7 I am right up for more Resident Evil

[KSubzero1000]

Basically, I want to see RE2 being remade the same way the original RE was remade. Pre-rendered backgrounds, fixed camera and tank controls and all that. But I'm afraid that it might be too risky for Capcom to want to put all their eggs in that basket...

I think an interesting solution would be to forego the pre-rendered backgrounds and build full-fledged 3D environments, but to design two radically different modes around that. One would keep the fixed camera, auto-aim, riddles, sparse ammo and enemy placements of the original. And the other would use a behind-the-shoulder camera, precision laser aiming, higher ammo and enemy count and more dynamic encounter design like in RE4. A simple perspective switch command wouldn't suffice, you'd have to design two different campaigns around the same characters, cutscenes and environments. But if they're willing to put in the resources, it might very well be the best of both worlds...

[Stanshall]

Was last year the big one...? FF7 remake and Shenmue 3? I don't see e3 getting better (in terms of impact) than that this year, sadly.

Unless they decide to announce half life 3

That was two years ago believe it or not! Last year was a bit average from memory. I can't remember much besides that horde zombie thing because they showroom it twice. Oh, yeah, it was all PSVR and new XBox console announcements, wasn't it? I actually forgot I'd owned PSVR for about three days.

I think this one could be absolutely massive, personally. All the major players are in an unusual position, strategically, and I think they all need to have a big one.

Microsoft have one foot in the grave, in my opinion. For all the BC stuff, very few people are buying a console for that. I think the Scorpio is a massive gamble in the current climate. I'm saying nothing new but I don't see it appealing to a mass audience because of the price, nor to spec fiends because a PC is a much better investment. If it turns out that CoD and FIFA play and run and look much much better than on PS4, then maybe they'll get that crowd back but if you don't also own a 4K telly...who's spending fifteen hundred quid to play FIFA?

I also think that Sony are in a precarious position, despite being massively on top. PSVR seems strangely dead considering they're so pleased with the hardware sales. They've barely announced anything for it since last E3. I expect VR development is especially time-consuming but I feel like it's now or never to announce a bunch of games on the level of RE7. Other than that, PS4 Pro is a weird half-step, a great option for a new buyer, or a decent upgrade for someone who invests in a 4K TV, but if the rumoured PS5 does make an appearance at E3, or even before next year's event, I would be pissed off if I'd recently bought a Pro, less than a year after its release. And as I said above, if Microsoft do tempt back the mainstream with better performance on the massive third party stuff, then Sony might feel the pinch.

Nintendo, well, it's obvious. I think they're arguably in a better position than Microsoft given the early Switch sales but they're going to need to go hard with the games. Get them all out. Metroid, Smash, Pokemon, Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem, Phoenix Wright, Kirby, Layton, Mario Maker. Crank out the VC. If they can somehow get some suitable third party stuff, like Persona 5, which would be so much better on a portable, and keep up this run of quality indie titles, I think the Switch will erupt. I keep forgetting that not only have we got new Xenoblade Chronicles this year, we've got the first genuinely new full-fat Super Mario game since Galaxy.

Err, hot takes, as they say...

[Jobobonobo]

A Playstation 5 is rumoured? Ugh, honestly, I hope that is not true. I really think this generation has definitely got a couple more years left in it. I honestly would be happy with consoles having 10+ years runs myself but that is just me. Better for developers to master and wring all they can out of the current generation than to hop onto the next shiny thing so quickly.

Also yes, Nintendo needs to be all about the games this E3. First year of new console, give undecided customers reason to own one!

[KSubzero1000]

Yeah, I'm with Jobobonobo on this one. Software before hardware, please.

[Alex79]

Yeah I'd be a bit disappointed if we saw talk of the PS5 just yet.

[dezm0nd]

Strong rumours abound for Metroid at E3 this year... but then there always is.

Still, it'd be nice.

[KSubzero1000]

It'd be more than nice if it was either a proper 2D game or a Prime sequel. It would be a lot less than nice if it was just another fuckery like Other M or Federation Force. Let's try and keep in mind that Nintendo hasn't exactly been on a roll when it comes to Metroid recently. Corruption, arguably the last good game in the series, is already a decade old, believe it or not.

[dezm0nd]

All the major times have been added now. Not including the PC Gamer show because it's been terrible the last two attempts.

[Beck]

I expect this year to be a good one. I fully expect Microsoft to be going for it and because of that I predict Sony will be bringing their A game as well. However, It's Nintendo that I am most interested in, I'm getting a switch at the tail end of the year and I'm very excited for it. I'd love to see the Wii U version of Smash being ported to the switch and the prospect of a new metroid game has my interest.