Opinion – Inside E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017

E3 rolls around once a year to give the public a preview of the gaming industry’s hopes and plans for the future. It also serves as a look into these companies’ subconscious. Let’s see what they revealed this year.

EA: A Planned Apology

EA had a padded out conference that lasted awhile and mostly looked at their super franchises; FIFA, NBA, and Madden. Madden looks like it’s getting a story mode this year, which might rank in the all-time list of unnecessary additions.

The most time was spent on the previewing of Star Wars Battlefront II, and apologizing for the previous entry. EA’s first entry in the franchise was deemed light by fans, feeling more like half a game or a beta version. John Boyega of the Star Wars movie franchise, and a fan of the game series from before EA landed the rights, even tweeted a polite complaint which got enough likes comments and retweets for EA to put it right in their apology video. Battlefront II is now billed as having a story mode, free dlc, more maps and playable characters. Boyega himself revealed that his character Finn will have a playable version. A perfect apology, in an industry that does not like to apologize.

It’s very neat, as a conference presentation should be. But I have to wonder about exactly how arranged this whole thing was. Star Wars is about the most bankable franchise there is, and its Battlefront series was beloved by fans and had the benefit of a long draught in entries before EA got the rights. So the first game in a long time was going to get sales, even if it was light in content. And it did get sales, around 12 million before 2015 ended. And the sequel will likely sell as well if not better. So, thanks to their perfect apology, EA will effectively have made two huge selling games while only doing the work of one and a half.

How nice, and predictable, for them.

Microsoft: A Professional Games Conference

Microsoft is an oddity among those who hold conferences at E3, because to the company’s bottom line video games aren’t essential. And yet, aside from trying to sell a Porsche (?!?), they kept a tight focus on games that will be released as well as their upgraded X Box One, the X Box One X.

The X Box One series has a brief history of getting shown up at E3. When originally announced as a digital focused console, fans rejected it hard enough for them to change to a more traditional disc based system. This stutter was all Sony needed to push their PS4 ahead of X Box One in production anticipation and eventually sales. Now Microsoft is playing catch up, a hard game to play when current consoles have been so homogenized. There really isn’t a big difference between the PS4 and the X Box One, not in specs, or functions, or game libraries. I don’t think the X Box One X will be their difference maker. It’s specs and power won’t mean much to hardcore gamers who can get greater results out of their gaming computers, while the casual audience might look at its higher price and identical game library without enticement.

Although Microsoft did create a difference this conference in expanding the X Box One’s backwards compatibility, something neither the PS4 nor the Switch possess. I don’t see that as a game changer either, but it is pressure to the competitors and it does add value to a console as well a reward (or perhaps not punish) people who stick with the brand.

Although I have to say X Box One X is another terrible name. It looks like they’re sending hugs and kisses!

Ubisoft: Fuck!

Sorry to be crass, but they really said the word “fuck” a lot in this conference. The first, and least noticeable, instance was during a dialogue segment from the upcoming South Park game. The next came when the director of Far Cry 5 described the people in the games besieged small town as being “really fucking scared”. He immediately followed up with “I had to say it.” I think this might’ve been a political statement, but I got that impression solely from the “I had to say it.”

The real deluge of profanity came at the end, when Ubisoft revealed the new trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2, where “fuck” gets sprayed again and again during a city wrecking chase scene. This trailer had more cursing in it than the entire original game, which came out fourteen years ago. The original actually ended on a cliffhanger yet Beyond Good and Evil 2 will be a prequel. So Ubisoft likely got a few more fucks right then, from all those diehard fans.

Every word is about context, and the context I got from Ubisoft was a nervous, sophomoric plea to be taken seriously. The trailer at the end pushed it over the edge and most of the distance before the edge, but if it had been contained to that trailer then it would be contained to the game. The fact that “fuck” kept creeping into the conference made the whole thing look unrehearsed. Not the first time I’ve thought that about the Ubisoft conference.

Sony: Comfortable in First Place (of gaming)

Sony is another interesting company to look at, especially at E3. They have their fingers in a lot of pies, with the Playstation brand probably being their strongest. However, their weak movie division shadowed much of their conference like a ghost.

The good portion of the game trailers shown were cinematic, focusing on the story and graphics while ignoring gameplay. This was most evident in the Marvel vs Capcom Infinite trailer which showed zero gameplay. Instead viewers watched a bland mockup of an Avengers movie trailer, weighed down by boring dialogue and ugly character models. On a personal note, being a faded fan of the Marvel vs Capcom series this gave me some perverse pleasure to see this title get ignored while the newly revealed Dragon Ball Fighter Z got lots of social media buzz for its fast gameplay and crisp 2.5D art.

Sony ended with a long look at the upcoming Spider-Man game, which is exclusive to PS4. They made a point to call the character exclusive to them, reminding the audience of their recent tepid movie franchise that was rebooted with Marvel’s cooperation.

Sony had a strong showing with no big surprises or risks. And because of the PS4’s place at the top of the sales charts, that’s all they needed to do.

Nintendo: Switch Already!

Nintendo’s once again forgoed a stage conference, instead broadcasting a premade Direct video. The video was all about their new Switch console and lasted only twenty minutes. It was much shorter than their competitors’ , which coming last was something I appreciated.

The real tell of their Switch devotion didn’t come from what they showed or announce, but what they held off. Not in the Direct but later shown from the E3 floor were several new 3DS games, including a ground up remake of the second Metroid game. Metroid fans had been disgruntled recently over the lack of new installments in the franchise, which celebrated it’d 30^th anniversary last year. The Direct had a teaser image for a Switch Metroid title, Metroid Prime 4, but it was just the title reveal. If they had showed both games, I think the fan reaction would have been more explosive. The 3DS has a much bigger install base than the Switch, so those the games left out could very easily sell more than the ones shown. But the 3DS cuts into the Switch’s portability gimmick, so they were left out. Nintendo easily claims the title of most focused presentation.

E3 Overall: Sequel Demand

E3 is about the big reactions. That’s why, aside from Nintendo, everyone presents from a big stage in front of a big audience regardless of how good they are at public speaking. They want roar of approval from the crowd when the title is revealed or a familiar character steps onto the screen. A problem arises; people don’t react that way to the new. When a video game fan sees a new game, they’ll typically hush up and pay attention to see what kind of game it is. So initially, if the game that will become the next big thing is shown, its reaction would be dwarfed by a Halo 6.

That’s life. The well-known brand has to be taken down and replaced by the little guy. But at E3, which is said to be about the future of games, the past and its already cemented branding are always going to have the brighter spotlight. The gaming industry has boomed into a giant and when giant industries have big conferences, they think about more than the simple promotion of individual products. There’s giant crisscrossing branding experiments flying all over. That’s why it’s fun, and maybe even important, to take a look at what’s being said between the lines.