E3 2014
This year's E3 has been all about the games. As Mashable spent the first day covering the slew off press conferences, it was easy to see software was this conference's focus.
We've rounded up a few highlights from each of the four press conferences, so if you're just catching up you can see it all here.
Microsoft: All Games, No Hardware
Microsoft pulled out the big guns, literally, for its E3 press conference. The company started its game-centric, 90-minute presentation with an extended gameplay demo of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, giving gamers a long look at how the annual military franchise will run on Xbox One.
This lead off the first half of the presentation, which focused on titles we already had seen that are being released this year. We got more information on Forza Horizon 2, as well as trailers for third-party titles Evolve, EA’s Dragon Age: Origins, and Ubisoft’s The Division.
One of the biggest pieces of news from the press conference was a new Tomb Raider game, called Rise of the Tomb Raider. This is the second game of the rebooted, darker franchise thatcame out in 2013. The new game is slated for 2015.
Probably the most anticipated announcement, and worst-kept secret of E3, was Halo: Master Chief Collection, which combines the four numbered Halo games, along with the upcoming movie directed by Ridley Scott, all in one package for Xbox One. That wasn’t all the Halo news, as the first trailer for Halo 5: Guardians was also shown, with hints of a new character in pursuit of Master Chief.
One of the biggest things to note from the Microsoft press conference was the absence of any discussion of hardware. There were no new updates, and certainly nothing about the Kinect. That accessory had originally been billed as an integral part of the next-generation console, and now has been removed from the lower-priced bundles of the console. Despite bringing Harmonix, a company that has recently specialized in motion-controlled games, up on stage, there was no word on the device’s future.
Electronic Arts: From Casual to Core
Electronic Arts' hour-long press conference split its focus between titles out this year, and things that are barely a glimmer in their developers’ eyes.
The biggest news was that shooter Battlefield Hardline would be available as a closed beta starting on Monday. The game pits police and criminals in modern combat in up to 32-person battles. The beta will be available on PC and PlayStation 4.
EA also spent time talking about the newest Sims game: Sims 4. The company promises these Sims will be smarter, more emotional characters who can have more fun, engaging interactions with each other. The game also boasts a more robust character creator and home building tools.The Sims 4 will be out Sept. 2, 2014.
Mirror's Edge fans were finally treated to new footage for the stylish free-running game, which is coming out sometime in 2015. Also in the far future: DICE’s brand new take on the mega-popularStar Wars: Battlefront franchise, which EA said it will have more details on next year.
Ubisoft Scares Us Just a Little
Ubisoft’s E3 press conference, hosted by comedian Aisha Tyler, used cinematic finesse to show off many new games, including a big surprise.
While we had been teased about Far Cry 4 in an earnings call, there was very little information about the open-world shooter. Now we get a glimpse of the game’s villain, Pagan, Min, who looked pretty nasty in the game’s first four minutes.
The big reveal of the press conference was Rainbow Six: Siege, a title fans had been hoping to see since the last Rainbow Six game six years ago. The violent teaser showed a group of four SWAT-type soldiers helicoptering in to a house to stop a hostage situation. The game is due out next year.
On the lighter side of things, Ubisoft revealed Just Dance Now, which takes the popular dancing franchise far beyond onsets. Just Dance Now allows players to use any smartphone as the controller and connect to a PC, tablet or Smart TV to play. A group of smartphone-welding dancers demonstrated the game on stage to Lady Gaga’s “Applause”.
Sony delivers a hardware and software crush
Sony showed off an array of games from the whimsical to the dark and twisted at its late evening press conference, the last of the first day of E3. The company also spent time highlighted new hardware, and improvements to its PlayStation platform.
Some of Sony's biggest announcements were games exclusive to the PlayStation 4. They included the light-hearted LittleBigPlanet 3, a next-generation update to the popular platformer that adds new characters to the LBP world. The games are made by Media Molecule, a Sony studio known for creative, unique titles.
Sony's Naughty Dog also revealed footage from its newest Uncharted, the fourth and possibly last in the series Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. We also saw footage from the next-gen port of 2013 Game of the Year The Last of Us, out for PS4 on July 29.
An impressive indie game making its console debut on PS4 was No Man's Sky, an open space-exploration game where every character is given their own procedurally generated, unique planet. It made its debut at the Spike VGX last year with a creative trailer, and fans were excited to see more of Hello Games unique indie title.
Sony also spent a good chunk of time talking about hardware and software updates. PlayStation Now, its streaming service that gives players access to previous-generation games, will come to open beta on July 31 for PS4 owners, and will soon come to the Vita handheld. It also displayed the PlayStation TV, previously announced for only a Japanese release, but would come out later this year for the rest of the world. The set-top box would retail for $99, and can stream PlayStation Now titles as well as games from the Vita and Sony's entertainment services.
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