Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 Review

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, that time of year when all video game developers descend on the Los Angeles Convention Center for a few days to share the latest and the future of what we all know and love: video games. And this year was destined to be the biggest one yet; not only would we see a bunch of amazing titles unveiled, such as Titanfall, Destiny, and Super Smash Bros, as well as gameplay for highly anticipated games such as Batman: Arkham Origins, we were finally going to see the next generation consoles for both SONY and Microsoft. And indeed, both the XboxOne and the PS4 were finally shown off to the world.

We started off the week with the Microsoft press conference. Albeit a little lackluster, and technical issues aside, it was a pretty decent showing of the new console. There were a few things that I was disappointed to hear about the XboxOne. For example they did not bother debunking those rumors that have popped up about the XboxOne shortly after it’s unveiling last month and previous rumors before that, and the price point of $499 was a little much for me. You think they would have learned that such a price point won’t sell to a vast amount of gamers. This was made obvious when the PS3 originally launched at a $599 price point. I was hoping that Microsoft would have explained those rumors to be false, but instead they told fans if they were not satisfied with the XboxOne to stick with a Xbox 360. It was a bad move, and I hope they realize that, and come out with a new gameplan before the console comes out this November.

SONY took the stage and made good on their promise to showcase what the PS4 will be able to do. They showed a bunch of amazing games such as inFamous: Second Son, Killzone Shadow Fall, and gameplay for Destiny. They also introduced a bunch of new indie developers, and they revealed two titles from Square Enix that will surely bring in some new fans. Kingdom Hearts 3… and about time! Final Fantasy Versus XIII, becoming Final Fantasy XV.  These are two major titles that I am sure fans will be delighted to play. Ialso  found most enjoyable that they started to explain used games can be played, and you don’t have to be connected online. This lead the crowd to erupt into applause. It was amazing to say the least. SONY really took some jabs at their competition with that one. SONY really impressed me to the point that for the first time ever I picked one game company over the other which I never did before. I was very pleased with their press conference, and I look forward to the launch of the PS4 this holiday season.

Finally Nintendo. In my honest opinion, all Nintendo needed was to show just a couple new games for their systems, the Wii U and Nintendo 3Ds, and they would have been fine. Not only did they do that, they did so much more than I anticipated. They showcased some great games coming from Nintendo such as the new Mario Kart 8, finally unveiling new details on Pokemon X & Y, and Super Mario 3D World, which all look amazing! They also showed a lot of third party support for the Wii U with a lot of games I am actually looking forward to, such as Batman: Arkham Origins, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. And it did not end there! We finally got to see Bayonetta 2, and so far I am overly excited for that game. The gameplay looks better than ever, and so does Bayonetta.

Also Monolith soft “X” which I instantly fell in love with, just because it is being made by the team that made Xenoblade, and the mech suits that are seen in the trailer. And finally they finally showed Super Smash Bros! I was so happy to see this game after such anticipation. The fighting, the art style of both versions, some of the characters shown, and a new character The Villager from Animal Crossing. Not to mention, after I thought the trailer was over, they showed one more new character – the blue bomber himself, Megaman! He is finally in a Smash Bros game! He made a huge impression on me, and I know who I will be using in that game. Nintendo made quite the impression on me as well, and I was most impressed with the support that Nintendo has received for their new console. Nintendo’s future is looking bright, and I think I have to get a Wii U as soon as possible now.

E3 2013 was pretty good. Overall I was very pleased with the Expo. Ubisoft and EA are truly great game companies that will be releasing some great games this year. I am really looking forward to Watch_Dogs, and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. A lot of new games were announced, we got to see new gameplay of a lot of games including the highly anticipated Destiny, Assasin’s Creed 4, and Batman: Arkham Origins. And some triple A blockbusters were announced such as Titanfall which I think was game of the show at E3 this year. This holiday season is shaping up to be awesome, so many great games, and two new consoles coming out. I hope everyone is ready for the rest of the year, because it is gonna be a great season for gamers.

Article Images by Milk Tea Photography