Diary of an E3-Man 2

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The following are raw notes taken from E3 2018 Press Conferences. They are a mixture of details and opinions. The idea to post these is to show what it’s like to furiously write down notes in an effort to turn those notes into an article as well as whatever. It also portrays whatever gut feeling towards something was felt as it happened. The first section of notes are things I wrote down after the conference was over; what were the things/thoughts that stuck with me afterwards. The second section of notes cover the more play-by-play of the conference as things were happening what was being jotted down.

Microsoft - E3 2018

Things That Stood Out After the Show:

• One of the most exciting E3 showings perhaps ever?

• Still an exclusive issue in the short term

• Halo, Gears, Forza, Crackdown the only Microsoft Studios games

• Really relying on old faithfuls

• Cyber-FUCKING-punk!!!

• Really great reveal with the fake hack

• It was appropriately dumb and perfect and crazy to see from a company headed by Microsoft

• WTF was that Halo

• Extremely smart to say at the end of the show the hardware team is hard at work on the next Xbox, especially with all the recent talking of streaming

• Gears Funko is fucking stupid and will get 10 million downloads quickly

• Gears Tactics is legit a solid idea and one of the games I’m legit curious of trying out

• Are they stretching Gears too thin?

• Can’t say enough about the flow of the show - right amount of talking / showing

• The most important thing might be Microsoft opening the coffers buying studios

• For better or worse - Microsoft needed studios and just buying already established ones was the best option now

• Ninja Theory is a real good get

Re-Watch:

• Halo trailer had me curious, but only for what they were showing to open the show and honestly once Master Chief’s helmet was shown, I kind of shrugged (that probably says more about me)

• Ori is still gorgeous, maybe even more than the first

• From Software Tenchu like thing

• This game got lost a little for me by the end because it was so early and so much happened throughout the conference

• Looks a little Nioh meets Tenchu?

• Great look - different from drab Souls games with similar horror elements

• Fallout 76 is still confusing as hell

• Obviously this will be detailed later Sunday night

• Side Note: It does wonders having a giddy crowd, as much as I don’t love the idea of stacking your building with superfans, much like pro wrestling having a crowd earnestly react to cool stuff goes a long way

• Fallout 76 really seems like it could be huge or lose 70% of players quickly if it turns out to be that multiplayer thing

• Dontnod has a lot of plates spinning right now - good on them

• Utterly shocked they showed Crackdown here

• This is probably the best showing this game has had in a vacuum, but the clout of discontent and delays overpowers this game

• Terry Crews is cool as hell!

• Some strange almost Dead Rising like silliness in this game now?

• Nier: Automata is a fantastic game, hopefully this allows more people whom would normally not give it a chance to play the game

• Also, Nier is fucking crazy good!

• Metro Exodus got lost in the shuffle a little too

• Weapon customization? Looks neat

• They really could hit that middle ground with this new game of overbearing systems and chores but rad world building and action making this game a potential big hit

• As someone who really loves Kingdom Hearts 1, that was an awful trailer

• I also thought the Final Fantasy 15 demos / trailers were awful and thought that game was fantastic

• I hope all the crazy Kingdom Hearts fans are happy

• I was going to end hoping all those fans were happy, but, this trailer is so freaking weird and awkward and seems incessantly juvenile and off putting

• Sea of Thieves could have been so rad and it seems Rare knows what needs to be added, I just hope it’s not too little too late

• If they add VO like what’s in this trailer, I’m back interested

• Forza Horizon 4 dynamic seasons

• Really clever idea of having parts of the world open up as the weather changes

• But seems more of the same blueprint for these games

• This Microsoft buying studios section was truly nuts

• Can’t remember anything quite like this at an E3 conference

• New Studio too, along with acquiring ones

• Ninja Theory with a budget is crazy

• We Happy Few as a narrative Bioshock-like and getting away from the survival game is a smart decision if that’s what seemingly the plan is..?

• PUBG trailer teases new map

• Even though that game is still very popular, it just feels like that game has lost so much momentum

• Still not 1.0 on Xbox

• The opening for that Division 2 trailer was a choice you could conceivably make in 2018

• Looks like the Division, hopefully they have taken some notes from first game

• Good demo, the exact right sequence of gameplay to show

• I wish I enjoyed that first game more, the lows were so low in that game

• Kinda wish it was a completely different are - D.C. not extremely different from New York City but being in summertime was definitely the correct choice

• Gamepass section

• The faster access program is neat, seems like making strides towards whatever the new Xbox entails

• This section felt a bit stilted, but they need to discuss Gamepass and the proposition value it has

• New Tomb Raider just isn’t working for me, it really just seems like they’re making another one of those

• Lara is catching up to Nathan Drake quickly and is gonna walk into an intervention about how many bodies she is piling up

• Smart of Xbox to put Session on the show with EA passing on the Skate bait hanging over their heads

• Devil May Cry 5 on Xbox stage was a good get, helps their image with Japanese games reemerging as a threat

• That player character looks like Cody Rhodes

• Make a DMC movie starring Cody Rhodes

• Early 2019 is severely stacking up on things, also shows how limited early 2018 actually was

• Cuphead DLC is very exciting

• Tunic has a hot look

• People that make indie games like A Link to the Past I think

• Folks are gonna forget about this game during the E3 rush, but this looks amazing

• Phil Spencer is probably the best in the biz at this E3 schtick - his cadence is impeccable, he’s not robotic, and knows his shit

• Bandai Namco is making Anime fight Anime

• I don’t fucking know

• Dying Light 2 is one of the best game pitches on a stage I’ve seen

• This game needed story help and sure as hell found it!

• Chris mother f’n Avellone!

• They are really trying to up their game with the sequel

• I’m fascinated by Chris talking and what they are showing of this game, this thing could really hit

• Battletoads are stupid and great at the same time, so sure, why not

• Rico grapple hooked a tornado, I will play Just Cause 4 (even though 3 wasn't great)

• Gears 5 sounds weird as a title

• The story for Gears of War 4 seemed really cool, but they need to redefine the gameplay somehow, and I’m not sure how to do that

• The entire Cyberpunk reveal was rad, the hidden messages, the vibe

• This thing isn’t coming until like 2020 right… I mean the first one is called Cyberpunk 2020

• CD Project Red knows how to talk to their audience

• I really think this game could propel CD into the Rockstar tier of taking their time and selling a bijillion copies of that game