back to article Waiting gamer slams no-show show: E3 – was that it?

Bloodborne, No Man's Sky, Evolve, Rainbox Six: Siege, D4, Alien: Isolation, Sunset Overdrive, Witcher 3 and Inside. Call me a hipster, but this short list is made up of the scant few games that I was genuinely excited from this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gamerfest better known as E3. Youtube Video My …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Flawless101

    Thank god

    you mentioned the amazing change Watch Dogs went through from E3 to release, it looks like ass compared to what was originally shown and that's what E3 mostly is to me these days, a bunch of Bullshots to get me hyped at least in years past you knew what you were getting, I don't remember Quake going through a dramatic change to make it look like shit from what was shown in years past.

    I'm trying hard not to get excited about Doom after that super cool Cyber Demon reveal.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: Thank god

      it looks like ass

      Better eat some crow, then.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Thank god

      Games today have been taken over by corporations. Used to be you could kick out a game after a month of coding. Today it is years with hundred million dollar budgets. Corps bring good things like deep pockets, but come with the bad like lack of imagination and endless committees.

      If a corp says "We want you to tell us your ideas." It is because they have none themselves.

      If a corp says "We're continuing to develop this phenomenal game franchise." It means we want to suck more money out of our customers.

      I owned a computer gaming company for nine years. Seven people putting out high quality games, winning multiple awards, and having a blast doing so. Our annual marketing budget was 35,000 at the time. Then Sony came along with the PS with a two million pound global ad campaign. MS followed soon after. Crappy games, but they under-cut us and two years later poof. We closed our doors.

      Wal-Mart isn't the only corp that puts smaller companies out of business. And as long as people keep buying their dreck, nothing will change.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        'as long as people keep buying their dreck, nothing will change'

        Upvoted. Wish people would say why they down a post like yours.... At least tell us why you're in love with soulless mega-studios / console makers Senor Downvoter?

  2. Roger B

    First year launch blues

    It's the same every time a console is released, the first year or so is always a bit sparse or filled with cross generation games, jumping in on the new consoles in the first year is always a risk, if my Xbox 360 back log was not so big, I might of picked up something this Christmas, Sunset Overdrive, Ryse, Dead Rising and the Halo collection, plus the free Games with Gold (that future Xbox One owners can grab now from Xbox.com as long as they have Gold) would of been enough, but I have decided to wait, especially as one of my backlog games is Skyrim.

    Good to see Hello Games recovered from the flooded offices and have managed to get the game ready, by the time I get my new console it should be out for the Xbox anyways. I think the only new approach to shooters seemed to be Sunset Overdrive and Splatoon on the Wii U which looks a lot of fun and both these titles have lost the grey brown graphics, which is a relief.

    1. Joerg

      NOT TRUE AT ALL! Re: First year launch blues

      That is not true at all!

      When the Playstation3 was released there were exclusive titles, pretty good ones in a few months and absolutely original ones. Not converted PS2 games.

      The XBox360 had plenty of original titles too.

      These fake next-gen consoles Playstation4 and XBoxOne are just a scam and a fraud. The hardware is obsolete and software houses don't want to risk any money so they won't even try doing anything new working hard on such crap hardware.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

        Re: NOT TRUE AT ALL! First year launch blues

        When the Playstation3 was released there were exclusive titles, pretty good ones in a few month

        I can't remember that. Everyone had to get used to the Cell chip.

        1. h3

          Re: NOT TRUE AT ALL! First year launch blues

          Nobody ever got used to the Cell chip or used it properly the whole time.

          The problem is the hardware in these new consoles is so cheap and nasty.

          If it isn't 60fps and ideally 1080p it is not worth playing.

  3. SnowCrash

    Mostly Harmless

    Shame you didn't check out Elite: Dangerous. I know it's only on a current generation PC and requires more than two button presses but it might actually be out this year and I would imagine there are more than a few people here that played the previous incarnations....

    1. Joerg

      Re: Mostly Harmless

      Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen are both frauds. Too bad people nowadays are so dumb to waste money paying for beta testing, early access... with some paying even hundreds dollars for that.

      1. Storage_Person

        Re: Mostly Harmless

        Yes it's insane that people spend their own money on the things they want to see succeed.

      2. fandom

        Re: Mostly Harmless

        Amazingly it took Joerg 7 minutes to jump in to call Dangerous a fraud, he is getting slow.

        He will have to make up for it by posting the same thing a few more times in the thread.

      3. BlinkenLights

        Re: Mostly Harmless

        Well I paid for the Elite: Dangerous premier beta. I have played the game and I have enjoyed it immensely even though it's still a work in progress. Money well spent.

        Please ignore the Joerg-bot.

      4. NumptyScrub
        Trollface

        Re: Mostly Harmless

        quote: "Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen are both frauds. Too bad people nowadays are so dumb to waste money paying for beta testing, early access... with some paying even hundreds dollars for that."

        If they are both frauds, then you can easily take them to court for fraud and win by getting them arrested and locked up for breaking the law. I can confirm that the UK has fairly standard fraud laws, and that Frontier Developments (the guys doing Elite: Dangerous) are based wholly in the UK and thus would definitely be liable under UK legislation.

        I look forward to seeing the news reports of David Braben serving time, after Joerg brought his fraudulent activity to light to the UK authorities and he was subsequently tried and found guilty in a court of law. I can even give you the contact details if you don't know who in the UK to contact to report them to :)

      5. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

        Re: Mostly Harmless

        Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen are both frauds

        ED appears to be quite far along in its development, and is available now to play as an 'alpha', if you really want to pay for the privilege of doing Braben's testing for him. Compared to SC, which has sucked up many times more money, been in the offing for a couple of years longer, and now only got to one buggy 'pre-alpha', it is clear which one will be the successful game. Rumours abound that SC's netcode is unworkable, and the project has been beset by repeated delays, whereas ED appears to be ahead of schedule.

        Other crowdfunded games in this genre to look out for include Limit Theory (developed by one guy, but appears to be coming along very nicely), and Planets3.

        Personally, I will be buying ED when it is released, steering well clear of SC, at least until well after it is released, snapping up Limit Theory the moment I can, and got in in time to back Planets3 (for a reasonable £20 including alpha, beta, and release versions when they arrive).

        1. Pete Spicer

          Re: Mostly Harmless

          Then of course we have Godus. Kickstarter, Early Access... months and months behind schedule and each release makes it worse not better.

    2. Splodger

      Re: Mostly Harmless

      Elite:Dangerous has currently just entered Beta, is shaping up to be fairly awesome, and will be released commercially before the end of this year.

      An entire scientifically accurate galaxy simulated and explorable? Fly to any dot in the sky you like? Terrific flight models and in-depth gameplay? Grown-up conflicting power-blocs, and some hostile aliens 'perhaps' waiting for humanity out in the inky blackness? Anti-griefer mechanisms baked in?

      Yes please.

      The first expansion after release will provide seamless planetary landings on scientifically accurate as possible environments plus wildlife, oceans, etc and will be at least as impressive as the initial release.

      Oh, and it's widely been reported as the best Oculus Rift experience.

      Can't believe Mike Plant didn't check it out.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sounds like game meltdown due to advanced tiredness is coming on.

    More looking down gun barrels, imaginary (the most grating kind) or otherwise? Can we have something fresh?

    I can't look forward to anything. Still playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Journey actually. Incidentally, both not from Big Name outfits.

    On the other hand, "CENTRAL BANKER II: Global Meltdown" with advanced economic A-Life and emergent gameplay ... now that would be rad.

    1. Paul Westerman
      Coat

      I feel obliged to say

      "get out of here Stalker!"

  5. SnowCrash

    @Joerg

    Can't really comment about Star Citizen but thank you for putting me back on the straight and narrow. Feel ridiculous that I've spent money on it now I can see the obvious realities. Maybe I should stick to an on-rails shooter from EA/UBISOFT etc.

  6. PastyFace

    Action Quake 2

    Happy happy memories...

    1. Peter G Green

      Re: Action Quake 2

      Oh yes, many an hour was spent on AQ2. Tokyo (small map), action city, Jungle2 etc :-) /me wipes his teary eyes :-)

    2. Fibbles

      Re: Action Quake 2

      AQ2 was good but AHL was better. Less strafe jumping and more tense gun fights.

      It says a lot about the current state of multiplayer FPS games that I'm still choosing to play AHL instead. Now that I think about it I've been shooting at the same people for nigh on 15 years...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    E3

    E3 is the equivalent of the oscars, a giant circle jerk.

    But it's the only show in town, really need a Cannes of gaming. Where games are voted for by actual critics as opposed to industry insiders.

    1. Gordon 10

      Re: E3

      thats a little unfair to the Oscars - i think you meant the Brit awards.

    2. NumptyScrub

      Re: E3

      quote: "But it's the only show in town, really need a Cannes of gaming. Where games are voted for by actual critics as opposed to industry insiders."

      The issue there is finding one whilst simultaneously ousting the other. I don't think any current "gaming review" publication (paper or digital) gives less than 50% (5/10 or whatever) for even the most turgid, bug ridden tripe to be vomited forth from the bowels of AAA publishers. As such, I'd want to find some properly critical* critics first, then worry about setting up an independent review show later.

      *as in someone whose review ratings actually fit the Bell curve, with the mean and mode score at 50%, as opposed to skewed off somewhere near 85% or more

  8. Lamont Cranston
    WTF?

    Now that we all have large, HD TVs,

    and the consoles can now push out hi-res images, why isn't split-screen multiplayer The Next Big Thing?

    4-player Goldeneye was great, and that was blocky, fuzzy visuals, on a none-to-big CRT. Mario Kart Wii is great in multiplayer (and the visuals are downright unpleasant on an HD-ready TV). Compromise the casual-gamer, family-friendly image, and Nintendo could have a nice USP over Sony/Microsoft.

    1. sabroni Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Compromise the casual-gamer, family-friendly image

      That would effectively mean stopping being Nintendo. I really don't thing that's going to happen, and I certainly hope it doesn't. I want an alternative to Sony/Microsoft, not more of the same. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of games on the boy's PS3, but there's no substitute for Nintendo when you just want something to put a big stupid grin on your face.

    2. Jim84

      Re: Now that we all have large, HD TVs,

      I totally agree with Mr Plant that 4 player co-op with randoms from online sounds pretty horrid.

      But I remember the days where you could link two Xboxes and play Halo on two separate TVs. The downside was that someone had to lug the console and all its cables and controllers around to their mates house.

      But... this sort of thing should be easier now that everyone has mutliple LCD tvs in their houses.

      I think this could actually wind up being a good use for PS TV if Sony can get Playstation Now working lag free (a big if). You could lug the bedroom TV into the living room (not too hard if it is a thin light LED backlit model) and use PS TV with Playstation now as the second console.

  9. StampedChipmunk

    All the Next gen games are ... average IMO

    Is it just me or are the current glut of games more about tech projects than, you know, games?

    I have recently bought Wolfenstein: The New Order and Watch Dogs. Guess which one plays better? Wolfenstein. Guess which one has more innovation? Wolfenstein. Guess which one (seriously now) is the more grown up? Wolfenstein.

    Watch Dogs is GTA V with half the ambition, 100th of the cast list, poor visuals, some seriously dodgy car physics and one new innovation that, admittedly, is incorporated everywhere and well. Wolfenstein is an FPS blaster with carefully integrated stealth and cover play to the core game mechanic of ferocious blasting, it has a better script, is actually extremely grown up for a game that mechanised Nazi dogs in it (especially in the way it handles sex), better voice acting, better use of (excellent) music and much better location and character design/animation.

    Wolfenstein takes an aging genre, one that has been abused over the past few years, and shakes it up a bit, polishes the core mechanics, seamlessly adds a handful of new features, shamelessly bringing back the great bits we all loved from the past, and applies a decent, well produced story with a distinct production design. On the surface it's a retro-blastathon, but it's much more than that.

    Watch Dogs takes a single interesting mechanic, and reduces it to a single button press, then throws it into an open world sandbox where most of the stuff you can do, you don't want to. Who thought it was a good idea to put "Augmented Reality Games" into a video game which, by its very nature isn't real? Why would I want to play poker in a video game where I can nick money from any character on the street with a button press and an ATM. Why is my character such a noble person when I've just made him happily gun down a few hundred pedestrians on a ferry?

    So why is Watch Dogs the poster child for the next gen? Because it's an impressive technical achivement to get all of these different systems to work together effectively and well.

    But Wolfenstein is the better game.

  10. Someonehasusedthathandle

    Shocking

    The only one of the big press conferences that genuinely impressed was Microsofts.

    Every title they wheeled out was then played, okay so the division was a rather camp recording of someone playing but they were all gameplay footage and not just the usual "shiny" trailers.

    Ubisoft take note. When the company earlier shows off your games better and before you, then you need to work harder.

    Oh and as a person with a small group of friends who love a good co-op we rejoice at being noticed outside of Saint Row 3/4!

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    On-line Multiplayer Frustrations

    If you cannot find an open server with what appear to be 11yr old boys competing with their own team as well as the "enemy", then read on...

    There are numerous groups whose focus is in enjoying games the way they were intended to be played: many look like "Clans" but most are actually communities. Searches using names like Teamgamers, Teamgames, Old Farts, Tactical Gamer, Too Old and others/variations, will lead you in the right direction. Some are desperately organised, some very relaxed, some focus on one game, other have huge rosters and loads of games. All tend to attract mature adults who want to enjoy limited gaming time.

    I've been involved with three of the above, and others, and currently help run a UK community who focus on STEAM games (first example above). We have a very, very low tolerance level for muppetry, and a loyal bunch of middle aged gamers (inc ladies and mature minded younger players) scattered across 5 countries. Many now IRL friends.

    But pub servers? You'll want to take a group of "friends" in there as well - probably why the trend for 4-player co-op is so enduring: 2/3 friends is simple. OTOH we like to fill a 24 slot server... and overflow to another.

    [TGUK] Myth

    AC because obvious.

    1. Paul Shirley

      Re: On-line Multiplayer Frustrations

      After finding a server full of adults with a zero tolerance policy to idiots, I spent 2+ years playing Wolf ET every day against the same 20(ish) people. There really is something magical about online play with the right people.

      It's just really hard finding the 'right people' and why all the social crap is actually useful on gaming platforms, more so than random matchmaking can ever be. Very easy to assume none of it's interesting if you've never found the right clan (or informal version) to actually fire up the magic though.

      And yes, going pub with an organised bunch of team players is fun. Not so much fun for the cannon-fodder but they only have themselves to blame ;)

  12. Oh Homer
    Childcatcher

    Garbage

    Just like today's films, TV, music and everything else in the Content® manufacturing industry, video games are utter garbage - all hype and technical wizardry, but with no real substance or entertainment value.

  13. Captain Scarlet
    Mushroom

    Grim Fandango

    Screw console gimme now for PC!!

    It better be a remake much like the The Secret of Monkey Island as I think that remake captured the game in all its glory and took me wayback but with nicer graphics (Or classic graphics if you hit the hotkey).

  14. Spotfist
    Mushroom

    Sad Times

    First off a big thanks to Mike for the article, pretty much just summed up my own disappointment with this years E3, to be honest I am disappointed every year but with the PS4 and Xbone even more so this year! Seriously did Sony and Microsoft accidental surprise themselves with the console releases?

    What REALLY annoys me though is that according to Sony and Microsoft we are supposed to be witnessing the dawn of a new type of gaming, blah, blah, blah, yet consoles still don't do MMO's, no copies of what's popular on the PC and no Fekking port of Starcraft 2?!?!?!?!

    The popular argument being that "consoles don't do X" where "X" is a game that isn't an online FPS? Seriously how hard would it be to make a copy of Dayz for the consoles, or get an MMO going? I find it so frustrating that I can get a better selection of games on my phone than I can for the PS4, and I only have a Nokia 3310 with Snake2!

    1. system11

      Re: Sad Times

      You've missed a few points.

      Consoles have had (and have) MMOs, they may not be the same ones popular on PCs. Why? Some don't translate well in control terms, but more importantly a majority of console gamers don't give a shit about PC games. World of Warcraft is a prime example, it looks and feels like a game aimed at the PC gaming crowd, because it was.

      On the flipside look at something console owners do identify with, something which appeals and something which has been brilliantly translated to console - Final Fantasy XIV. Seriously the interface is a work of art, want to use a controller on a PC, or a keyboard/mouse on the PS4, or some combination? Go right ahead - it all works. You need to put that effort in and have an attractive product or there's no point releasing MMOs on the console, so most aren't. Square are even making noises at Microsoft about wanting to get XIV on the Xbox One, if they'd allow cross platform play like the PS4 does.

      E3 was exactly what I expected. The one thing I wanted was some news of No Mans Sky and I got exactly that. Seeing the new Rainbow Six footage was the only other nice surprise.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
        Holmes

        Re: Sad Times

        but more importantly a majority of console gamers don't give a shit about PC games

        "It's not about gaming. It's about wanking over the fact that I have Xclusive Console!"

        "Show them online, grasshopper!"

  15. Sinical

    I'm going to cut GrandTheftScriptKiddee733T some slack, I'm enjoying it far more than I expected. Yes if you search for "derivative" on Wiki it now redirects to Watch Dog's page, but there's a lot unchallenging fun and breathtaking changes of pace (of the worst king - having to be stealthy, slow and methodical to causing enough explosions to make Michael Bay blush and back again in the blink of an eye) which make it a giggle. And anyway it's initial outing didn't lie half as much as Dead Island's. If all adverts told the truth we wouldn't need marketing people, and what kind of world would that be? Who said Utopia? As anyone who works in marketing will tell you, you don't need to think about it, marketing makes the world better. Now look at the shiney shiney. You want it, don't you.

  16. Gene Cash Silver badge
    FAIL

    If it's multiplayer, I don't want it

    I don't like people and I sure as hell don't want to spend my game entertainment time associating with them. I especially hate it when I have to be part of some sort of team and the other players' lack of skill and planning ability means I lose too.

    Muting the mike only gets you so far.

    1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: If it's multiplayer, I don't want it

      That's my feeling too. Clearly many people enjoy MMOs, and that's fine - different folks like different things. (Many of the people who post in response to these gaming articles apparently are still unaware of that.) But I agree with Cracked.com's David Wong: while I enjoy playing a game with someone sitting in the same room, I have no desire whatsoever to play with or against someone elsewhere.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Engine used to make 'No Man's Sky'...

    Anyone have the inside scoop?

  18. Madeye
    Meh

    Total Immersion

    "What to make of Sony’s Morpheus and the Oculus Rift – VR headsets that, let’s face it, probably won’t make it into most gamers’ lounges. Certainly not in the near future, at any rate."

    Having played a reasonable chunk of Half Life 2 on an Oculus, I'd say the above statement is short sighted. You are getting total immersion for a small fraction of the price of a large TV. When asked to guess the price after a demo, people generally go with £800-£1500. On finding it out it's significantly less, most walk away with that wistful look. I think these are going to sell and sell.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like