E3 2013 - The Rest

Wow, didn’t know studying for a test was so time consuming! Well, back to E3.

So EA had a pretty interesting show. They had that awkward moment at the Microsoft conference where their game didn’t seem to be working, but to be fair, it turned out they were not the only one with troubles. The new Plant’s Vs. Zombies looks interesting, and I have never thought it possible to turn that franchise into a shooter, but it could be great. Battlefield looked amazing, and the Battlefront teaser was that tasty tease I desperately wanted from Sony with Uncharted. EA’s sports franchise were questionable at best. Sure it looked interesting, and I love me some FIFA, but I won’t believe it can look that good, and play accurately until I get it in my hands. So EA was fun, but nothing groundbreaking, so I’ll have to give them a C, a passing grade.

Last E3, Ubisoft stole the show with Watch_Dogs, and they almost did it again this year. The first great thing they did was rehire host Aisha Tyler, who if you listen to podcasts like ‘The Indoor Kids’, you know that she’s a hardcore gamer. Then they showed off some Watch_Dogs and Assassin’s, but left the meat and potatoes for Sony’s presser. Their racing game The Crew, which if it lives up to the promises, could be amazing, but only time will tell. Finally they finished strong with Tom Clancy’s The Division, which looked like a post-apocalyptic version of Watch_Dogs, and it was so damn pretty. Grade wise, Ubi earned a solid B.

The Division in all its next gen glory.

Finally we come to Nintendo, who chose to bow out of E3 in the traditional sense, and chose to just do their Nintendo Direct. There they showed off Mario, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, the Wind Waker remake, and Smash. That’s great, but most of it was for 2014, so why should I care right now? This E3 was just another case of Nintendo being Nintendo; announcing games we already expected or knew about, with no solid specific on the long term future of their franchises while creating something new. Frankly, it rang hollow, and I once again found myself caring little about the big N. They barely managed a C-.