E3 2021 Predictions & Wishes

Crawley wrote:

That Wild West Dynasty trailer is the worst. Here was my thought stream as I watched:

"Oh this is from Lego?"
"Oh it's some knockoff Lego set"
"Huh, you have to build it yourself"
"Wow, looks complicated to build even with three people. Who's going to spend all their time doing that."
"What's a biome?"
"Oh it's an augmented reality game!"
"Neat idea but its going to take too much time to build those sets."
"Wait it's a video game?"
"Wow those graphics look terrible."
"Wait 3D printer? What the hell is this?"
"What is going on?"
"Enough with the looping music!"
"Just show me what the game is!!!"
"Please..."
"Ok the game isn't Lego after all. It's realistic."
"The trailer is over?"
"They didn't even show what type of game this is going to be!!!"
"I need to post my thoughts to the thread"

I concur.

I dunno if these are technically part of E3, but I guess why not.

Nintendo done gone and spoiled one of Ubisoft's surprises.

Not going to say what it is in case folks don't want to be spoiled for the press conference.

Guerrilla Collective Day 2 just concluded. I think I'll spoiler-tag trailers because there's a lot they showed. A lot that I probably won't post because it's not my style, but I imagine there's plenty that folks of GWJ would dig. If Rykin doesn't post them maybe I'll come back and do it later.

Spoiler: TRAILERS

That Guerilla Collective show makes me genuinely happy about the future of games. So much good stuff.

Some more trailers that made my list but not cceserano's.

Spoiler:

...and we're probably still missing some good ones.

I might have missed Batora. I jumped in late and only got the end of Firegirl.

FYI it looks like the E3 Pre-Show is going to be streamed on their Twitch. Currently less than 30 before it starts. Not sure what to expect from the Pre-Show, admittedly. Usually this sort of thing is filled with painful cringe.

EDIT:

I was not prepared.

IMAGE(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/HandyDecentAnemoneshrimp-max-1mb.gif)

That is a good surprise.

May I offer you a game trailer in these trying times?

Part way into the Ubisoft press conference. The folks writing scripts for these conferences shouldn’t incorporate pretend ad-libs into them. It’s so obvious they are scripted and they feel so artificial and clunky. If you want ad-libs let presenters you trust go off script and joke a little.

I confess I quite liked the look of the Avatar game. It feels like it has an extremely well developed alien world. Although we have no idea, of course, what gameplay will be.

Higgledy wrote:

Part way into the Ubisoft press conference. The folks writing scripts for these conferences shouldn’t incorporate pretend ad-libs into them. It’s so obvious they are scripted and they feel so artificial and clunky. If you want ad-libs let presenters you trust go off script and joke a little.

I'm curious what you're referencing. Granted, I was watching while on Discord chat with my friend, but it didn't sound like there was much. Or do you mean the two hosts in between announcements? I never paid attention to them.

Ubisoft probably had one of their better showings in a long time. I actually kind of missed their bombastic over-the-top mini-circus of a Just Dance announcements, because those certainly injected a bit of insanity into an otherwise sterile mix. On the whole, however, I'd say Ubisoft gets how to do a digital stream better and more polished than many other companies so far.

Rainbow Six Extraction looks interesting, but I'm not sure I'm willing to drop $60 on it. Far Cry 6, on the other hand, actually continues to tempt me every time I see more of it. The problem is that it's a Far Cry game, and it's by Ubisoft, and I hate Ubisoft's approach to open-worlds. I'll have to keep an eye on reviews and impressions.

I'm... uncomfortable by the villains season pass. I'd rather Far Cry Blood Dragon 2 or something.

I've never heard of Werewolves Within and if that's Ubisoft's attempt to break into film then, uh... better luck next time?

ccesarano wrote:
Higgledy wrote:

Part way into the Ubisoft press conference. The folks writing scripts for these conferences shouldn’t incorporate pretend ad-libs into them. It’s so obvious they are scripted and they feel so artificial and clunky. If you want ad-libs let presenters you trust go off script and joke a little.

I'm curious what you're referencing. Granted, I was watching while on Discord chat with my friend, but it didn't sound like there was much. Or do you mean the two hosts in between announcements? I never paid attention to them.

It was the hosts between announcements and I don’t usually pay attention either. I think I grew sensitive to it while watching the Dying Light 2 showcase recently. They had two hosts who had many, clearly scripted, interactions where they were saying how excited they were for a particular feature in the game. It was so painfully contrived and I felt for the presenters having to do their best with such an awful script. Ubisoft’s conference wasn’t that bad but it stood out to me as a bad idea.

I always think of Far Cry: Blood Dragon as the Far Cry game for people who don’t like Far Cry games. I’m sure it’s great it’s just not grim and gritty enough for my particular dour taste. Far Cry 6 has lots of elements that appeal but I do suspect that, once your in the game and running about, it will all be horribly familiar. They have tanks though. I do like a good tank. Hopefully their games are going to start diverging now on and will begin to feel less cookie cutter.

The Devolver Showcase is the breath of fresh, entirely premium air I needed.

Higgledy wrote:

The Devolver Showcase is the breath of fresh, entirely premium air I needed.

Is anyone else around here seriously craving a chili dog, or is it just me?

"DAY ONE PATCH."

Devolver was, indeed, a delight. I think it was their best one that I've seen so far. It's still weird to see them do these videos that feel a bit too seasoned with contempt to be straight-up parody or satire, but it certainly amuses.

Speaking of, Death's Door on July 20th. Game is looking good.

I don't know if I'd enjoy playing it, but I dug the atmosphere and style of the Wizard With a Gun trailer.

Remember how Ghost of Tsushima was heavily inspired by Kurosawa flicks? Trek to Yomi cranks that influence up to ju-ichi.

Gonna see if I missed anything during Gearbox's event. I don't generally like their stuff but ya never know.

I wonder what they will say "and if you go to the marketplace, it's available now for download right now" during the presentation.

Yeah Gearbox was a limp noodle of a presentation. It felt like Randy Pitchford just wanted an excuse to harass everyone on set of the Borderlands movie without providing real info or footage. Granted, I had no clue it was being directed by Eli Roth or starring Cate flippin' Blanchett, but it made up roughly one third of the show. The only new bit of news seemed to be the expansion for Godfall which is also coming to PS4, a game I have heard nothing good about from sources I trust (and even some I don't).

From what I could gather, there was no new footage of information from Wonderlands, Homeworld 3, or that Midgard game they're publishing. It gets the question of why Gearbox bothered, and I can only imagine it was so Randy Pitchford could flex like a real LA bottom feeder.

I'm hyped for today, though. I'm really curious to see what Microsoft has up their sleeve, but most of all, I know that I am guaranteed more information on Babylon's Fall. Right now, that is the only game that could compete with my hype for Elden Ring.

I am very glad devolver sold an NFT. Is it thier plan to crash their website every year?

Does E3 feel like it is getting even more bloated or do I just have less tolerance for the videogame ads brought to you by others ads.

Part of it is the fact that it's an online streaming event this year, where you can't make money off of selling high-priced tickets for attendance. Therefore, you have to somehow make your cash through sponsorships and advertisements.

Another part of it is just how easy it is for anyone to put on a digital event versus a physical. I've pointed it several times before, but after the disaster that was Konami's 2010 conference, unable to afford a massive stage, its Japanese presenters struggling to speak a tongue not native to their own in public, and a largely disinterested crowd of press, Konami switched gears and did a digital video in 2011 with some features from Mega64, and... well, it's no surprise that in the autumn of 2011, Nintendo would follow suit with their first Nintendo Direct.

If you can afford to put on a glitzy and glamorous presentation for E3, then it's all great and hype and flashy, but if you're a smaller developer or publisher, then you run into the disaster of Konami's. As such, most smaller folks weren't really able to put anything together. But now? Anyone can put on a digital event and make it look at least somewhat professional. With gaming being so huge now, especially with indie titles, you end up having far more people trying to put their products out there during a season everyone's eyes are going to be looking for new announcements.

There's also the "reaction" and "commentary" crowd, so not only is every publication going to be streaming it, but every member of the press or every influencer is going to be crowding Twitch and YouTube with their reactions and then spilling their thoughts onto the world.

So, yes, just like everything on the Internet, it's pretty darn cluttered.

I was thinking I’d seen all that interested me for E3 but I just remembered the Battlefield gameplay reveal. I want to see it but might wait for it to be picked out in it’s own video.

Babylon’s Fall does look good. I quite like the look of Death’s Door.

I am way into this Stalker 2 trailer.

Wow, they're making a sequel to Plague Tale. That's a very pleasant surprise.

Edit: And a Slime Rancher sequel! The nice surprises keep coming.

Wasn’t sure about Atomic Heart but I’m sold.

Dyni wrote:

Wow, they're making a sequel to Plague Tale. That's a very pleasant surprise.

Stoked for another Plague Tale! The first was an underrated gem.

Whelp, they did exactly what I expected them to do: come out swinging. With Game Pass, at least. Opening with Starfield was a smart move since that's what everyone would be hoping for, but yeah, it's way far off. Nov. 11th, 2022... which kind of set the tone for the whole show. When you look at what Microsoft themselves have for 2021, it's... not a lot.

That said, there are a lot of games coming to Game Pass that I would not have tried or would have waited on, but I can now play. Or, in the case of Back 4 Blood, a game I was waiting to see what microtransaction garbage Warner Bros. Interactive might shove in, but now I don't have to care. I can just play it with friends on either PC or console.

I think it's enough to prove Game Pass is a value. I'm not sure it's gonna be enough to convince people to ditch the PlayStation in favor of an Xbox Series system.

That mini-fridge, though...

Great show by MS, wish there was a PS one to look forward to like the good old days.

Very excited by a lot of the Game Pass stuff I probably wouldn’t buy normally, particularly Flight Sim and Forza Horizon. And Like A Dragon today means I can take the disc out of the console.

Starfield is now what CP2077 was to me the last couple years but with very slightly tempered expectations.

Standout though was probably Stalker 2 (How do games look so good?) and Plague Tale Requiem. Both games I’d heard of the original before but never even looked at, and now I can go back to them while I wait for the new ones.

Square Enix might have been the most disappointed I've been in an E3 presentation in a long time.

ccesarano wrote:

Square Enix might have been the most disappointed I've been in an E3 presentation in a long time.

Yeah... it was rough. Babylon's Fall looked much worse than the trailer from last year, and learning that it's a live service game doesn't bode well.

Final Fantasy Origins was also a disappointing reveal for me. I don't expect incredible writing from these games, but every voiced line from that trailer was terrible. The combat didn't look particularly interesting either.

It looks like the PS5 demo goes up sometime today, so I'll at least give that a look.

Dyni wrote:

It looks like the PS5 demo goes up sometime today, so I'll at least give that a look.

Yeah and time limited, only good for 11 days.

Maybe if I have the hard drive space...

I didn't much care for the games shown at the Xbox show, but it was a damn good show with solid games. They're not for me, but others are going to love 'em.

Square though, uh, outside of GOTG they had nothing. Final Fantasy Origins looks they asked an edgy teenager to remake that kiddie NES Final Fantasy game. GOTG was solid though and I'm glad that unlike Avengers it's a single-player game. The constant dialogue did get on my nerves, but I imagine it won't be quite that excessive in the full game.

Well now I want this game even more.