For years now, Microsoft and PlayStation have been at it, exchanging blows to prove their superiority. While this console war created a rift between two communities who seem to be “too passionate” (See, I’m trying to be nice!), some others -like me- are enjoying this rivalry because it drives the industry forward. A healthy rivalry between publishers/developers/1st parties is a good thing because it pushes them to innovate, to invest in talent and technology and the biggest winner of this is… the gamer/fan.

 

The most awaited reveal of this conference was, of course, the Xbox Scorpio, or shall I say the XBox One X, and as expected, the show started with it. While we heard the word “True 4K” “True UHD” at least 163 times in the first 4 mins, I have to admit… the console looks super sleek and from what we saw; its performance is insane. I’m sold on it and will pre-order it as soon as possible.

We’ve already seen some fans arguing about which console manufacturer is the master of the universe while forgetting some important facts:

Release date: November 7, 2017

Before going into details, I wanted to point out a cool thing Microsoft did: they gave a platform/stage to several indie games and this is a solid move. PR or not, that’s absolutely classy from them to be this inclusive.

 

Now let’s go directly to my favorite moment of the conference, and most likely of E3 (even as a massive Nintendo fan):

When I heard the first piano notes from Gareth Coker, my heart started pounding super fast, and I started to smile. I knew the game was going to be announced, but still… Seeing it made me so happy. Very looking forward to it. (Ok, let’s stop here, I’m fanboying pretty hard right now)

Release Date: TBA

 

The second announcement that had a major impact on me was Assassins’ Creed: Origins gameplay. We all know the problems that Assassins’ Creed went through as a game series… But I stand by my point: Syndicate was a good game! Following the massive criticism, Ubisoft decided to not keep up with the annual releases of Assassins’ Creed in order to make it great again. And oh boy… What we have seen is tremendously good. The game has that Witcher-esque flair to it, and we can only love it.

Release Date: October 27, 2017

 

Shadow of Mordor was one of my favorite games of 2014 and I was eagerly waiting for its sequel. Shadow of War was announced some months ago (well, leaked by Target…) and my expectations went up, very quickly. Since its reveal, the game has already been delayed once; some people say that it’s on purpose to support the Xbox One X, some say that Monolith needs more time to polish the game… I say: gives us your best guys! During the Xbox Briefing, Shadow of War has shown a very cool side of the Nemesis feature. I have to admit: I laughed a decent amount of time at this. People seem to truly like it.

The nemesis mode was interesting in the first game, but lacked a bit of depth. With this new approach/development, I’m sure we are going to have a blast.

 

And to make things better, Shadow of War Twitter account was fully embracing Bruz the Chopper’s personality after the briefing:

Release Date: October 10, 2017

 

As someone who worked for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment during years, I was aware of Dragon Ball FighterZ announcement, but I didn’t expect it to be at Microsoft conference. Fans wanted a new 2D DBZ for years… BNE and ArcSystem Works are most definitely going to overdeliver with this game! The trailer and gameplay shown are super encouraging. And well, both companies have massive experience in this genre.

Release Date: Early 2018

 

For its 3rd E3 (yes, you read that right), Cuphead is finally going to be released! The 30s Cartoon inspired game is still looking sharp as ever and will surely please fans across the world. I’m excited about it. The game art and music are absolutely stunning, plus, the game seems to be rather hard; it will be a proper challenge.

Release Date: September 29, 2017

 

Forza Motorsport 7 was also announced, and it looks like the Turn10 Studios guys have outdone themselves again. I mean, look at this beauty.  The game also revealed the Porsche 911 GR2 RS 2018; which was a pretty cool move from Microsoft to hit the nail in the coffin while yelling “If you are sports cars buff, come to us, we got your back“. With Project CARS 2, Gran Turismo Sport and Forza 7: what a time to be a racing fan.

Release Date: October 3, 2017

 

A new game will be added to the Metro saga, Metro Exodus; an FPS/Survival in a post-apocalyptic world. The game looks beautiful and seems to be set in the same universe as previous ones, and keeps same mechanics. But again, we will have to wait and see more of it.

Release Date: 2018

 

Crackdown 3 official E3 2017 trailer is pretty good. Not that I like this genre specifically, but… it features TERRY CREWS! He seems to be a genuinely funny and good guy, plus he is really into gaming, and for a good reason – gotta love it. (Side note: if you didn’t watch “Everybody Hates Chris”, take a look at it, it’s a cool TV show with him)

Release Date: November 7, 2017

 

To conclude this article: The Last Night. I’ll be honest, the game looks cool, but that’s not the reason why I wanted to talk about it. The Creative Director seems to have close ties to the GamerGate movement. He did some pretty terrible comments about women in gaming and whatnot some months/years ago and this has resurfaced. Instead of speaking about the game, most people were commenting on this exact topic. Which leads me to say again:

• be clean about your act
• be open minded
• PR can’t fix stupid
• And also… When you apologize, do it properly, or just don’t’ (no, seriously.)

I am not going to link to any of those tweets, as they can be found easily – but they aren’t of the best taste if you ask me.

 

Data courtesy of Thomas Bideaux:

Full conference available here:

 

Next write up will be Ubisoft. Spoilers: my favorite conference!