Before E3 even started yesterday, we felt like we’d already been through a whole show in itself. Press conferences and livestreams from the console makers at Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo set the agenda for what we’ll see on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Switch over the next year. Smashing events from publishers like EA, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Devolver Digital highlighted countless games that were previously unknown.
Before we got really hands-on on the show floor, Ars Culture Editor Sam Machkovech and I had a quick chat about what caught our eye in these marketing-focused, hype-infused, bombastic press conferences. Watch the video above for our full thoughts, but here are some quick bullet points:
- Microsoft: Lots of variety; 4K took hands-on time to impress; a few big franchises that are oddly missing?
- Sony: Very flashy; let the games speak; plenty of AAA story-driven titles
- Nintendo: tons of fan service; Mario Odyssey looking awesome
- EA: Solid but not surprising; incremental lineup
- Ubisoft: Mario and Rabbids looks surprisingly cool; Beyond Good and Evil 2 was a long-delayed shocker
- Bethesda: They’ve created a crazy theme park; VR precipitation and demise are intriguing; Wolfenstein II seems like a worthy sequel
- Devolver Digital: The Adult Swim of E3 Press Conferences
List image by Electronic Entertainment Expo