E3 2013 Discussion

[Linkachu]

E3's not long off now, so let's get some discussions going about it, eh? You can use this topic for everything and anything E3 related, may it be your predictions, discussion regarding the games you're looking forward to seeing at the expo or announcements you'd like to hear, or simply just as a place to dump E3-related information.

Conference dates/times
Microsoft - June 10th @ 9:30AM PT / 5:30PM BST
EA - June 10th @ 1PM PT / 9PM BST
Ubisoft - June 10th @ 3PM PT / 11PM BST
Sony - June 10th @ 6PM PT / 2AM BST

E3 Nintendo Direct
June 11th @ 7AM PT / 3PM BST

Closed Conferences (?)
Pokemon X & Y Conference - June 11th @ 6PM PT
Wii U Software Showcase - Morning of June 11th
Nintendo Partner Presentation - Morning of June 11th

... and more. I'm not sure if any additional, notable conferences have been announced but if there are any you'd like to see added, let me know! My fellow mod staffers are of course free to update the listings too.

Anyways, as interested as I am in the next generation consoles, there's nothing more that I can learn about them that would encourage me to buy 'em at launch. I'm very content with my decision to hold off on purchasing either of 'em until later. Instead I've got my eyes on Wii U, the console that I already own yet have done very little with. It needs some proper lovin' and I'm hopeful that Nintendo's various reveals at E3 will finally bring some to it. Fingers crossed.

I won't be able to watch Microsoft's conference live but I'll certainly make a point to tune into Sony's. Who else will be watching the live presentations?

 

[Demelza]

I'll likely watch all the big ones if I can, but I have my eye on Nintendo for the most part; both for the Pokémon XY stuff and for what they're going to announce in order to dig the Wii U out of the hole it's in. Should be a good week or so either way. ^^

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Given that Microsoft has completely turned me off on the XBox One I'm going to just ignore them. I'll keep my eyes on the PS4 and Wii U coverage to decide which one I should get first/at all. The main reason I'm watching E3 this year though is for Pokemon X&Y and for any Kingdom Hearts coverage since Square Enix has mentioned they'd have something this year.

 

[Linkachu]

Tossing this here for anyone who's interested: Big Games of E3 2013

IGN's been keeping a list of the most notable upcoming games that have either been 100% confirmed to be appearing at this year's E3 or that will most likely appear in some form. Naturally some of these games may not show up whatsoever but it's a good list regardless.

 

[Keleri]

My body is so ready for the Pokemon XY panel. I hope we find out some new stuff and it's fairly information-rich.

I'm hoping we get to see some interesting games announced, especially for the Wii U, which desperately needs a Zelda/Metroid/Smash Bros etc.

 

[Brendan Savem]

I'm hoping to see more of Pikmin at E3, and it's fairly likely too. X and Y are confirmed so I'm not too worried about them, we'll get something good no matter what. I'm also keeping my eye on some of the Mario Games, specifically Mario Kart Wii U, I played all the other Mario Kart games since Double Dash in some form, but Mario Kart DS was the last one I actually owned, so I'm hoping to grab something multiplayer friendly for the WiiU. Dragon Age 3 is promising, I already decided to grab Origins on Steam when I get a PC, and maybe Dragon Age II while I'm there, so this should complete the set. Since this series isn't being shadowed by Star Wars and Mass Effect anymore, maybe it can rise to some stunning heights. The last one I'm thinking about is Black Flag, since I haven't played an Assassins Creed since Ezio's first adventure. It's a little disappointing that they're already moving away from Connor so quickly, it's almost painfully obvious that Ubisoft wants to move away from him quickly, but that's a discussion for elsewhere. Anyway, that's my main interests in E3, hope I don't get disappointed.

 

[Linkachu]

So it begins!

If anyone has links to the live conferences, please be nice and share 'em here? kthx

 

[Teapot]

Here you go: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news ... reams.html

Microsoft themselves are streaming their conference on Xbox.com, so that's where I'll be watching.

Also, public invitation: We'll be discussing the E3 conferences live in #pokecharms when the conferences are on - feel free to click Chat at the top of the page and join us!

 

[Linkachu]

Thanks much, Petey! ^^

Likely won't be able to stop by the chat for Microsoft's conference (at least not for the first hour of it, if it goes longer than that) but will definitely do so for Sony's. ^^

As of now I'm not sure if I'll bother watching EA's or Ubisoft's (I'm usually good with just the news wrap-ups afterwards) but Ubisoft's interests me the most out of the two.

 

[Demelza]

E3 thoughts so far:

Microsoft were mostly same old same old, however they were clawing some hope back until they announced that silly price. If they hadn't already shot themselves in the foot before (a few times over), they sure have now!

I personally didn't watch Sony after realising I'd be up until 4am, and I wanted to save my energy for today and the Pokémon stuff, but reading through the news this morning it sounds like it couldn't have gone better. Some really strong titles coming to the console and it's just generally all round better than the Xbox One, even the price is a fair amount lower than the Xbox.

It really all rests on what Nintendo do now, if they announce some good stuff today then they'll be able to somewhat stand by Sony's side and lead the generation, but honestly that's a long way off yet. Let's just hope they bring good stuff today.

 

[Linkachu]

I apologize for spamming this everywhere, but this is likely my favourite thing to come out of E3 thus far:


(And Kingdom Hearts 3 being confirmed is pretty snazzy too)

 

[Doctor Oak]

General reply to the topic of the PS4 vs Xbox One:

Just to clarify…

On the Xbox One, you can give your game to a friend, with no restriction other than that they be someone on your list for more than 30 days – and not just some randomer. From what I’ve read, this doesn’t require giving them the disc – but it does prevent you from playing it again unless they trade it back to you.

On the PS4, you can give your game to a friend, with no restriction other than that it must be a disc based game, and will not be able to play that game unless they trade it back to you.

If anything, the Xbox One is less restrictive here, with the exception of who you can give the game away to. That bit’s disappointing, sure – but I don’t think anyone wouldn’t understand the point behind that. It’d be rife for exploitation and scamming otherwise.

On the Xbox One, you can take your physical copy of a game, sell it back to a physical shop, and will not be able to play it any more unless you buy it again.

On the PS4, you can take your physical copy of a game, sell it back to a physical shop, and will not be able to play it any more unless you buy it again.

The only differences there, are how the retailers handle the used sale – which MAY end up affecting the Xbox One trade-in prices and pre-owned costs (but we just don’t know yet).

Ultimately, the Xbox One system is no massive removal from what we already have. If anything, it seems to be built to be more permissive in also covering digital items to be traded (which Sony won’t be allowing). The real issue is that Microsoft cocked up the marketing of it so much that it’s already been painted in the press as being much more restrictive than it will be in reality (for the end consumer anyway), or that Sony’s approach is really all that different.

The only major issue that splits the two is the fact the Xbox One will have to call home once every day. Honestly, it’s a non-issue for me (and no doubt unlikely to cause a problem even for the majority of people whinging about it), but it’s a thorn in Microsoft’s side, that Sony rightfully took the opportunity to give a good kicking to. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if Microsoft walked back from this to a degree – at least by allowing a flag for single player, non-cloud supported, content to play without the check (which, incidentally, is all that Sony is offering with its system – they have the same dependency on the Internet for the majority of the rest of its content).

In the end, though, both consoles will end up being more equal than some apparently think. Grunt-wise, they’re similar enough that there will be near enough no difference in games between them, features wise, they both feature a lot of cloud integration and expanded social/multiplayer features – and both will begin to focus on the camera devices as developers exploit the fact that Kinect is always-there, so the ‘optional’ PS Eye may end up being less optional as time wears on. Both will require a monthly subscription to play online (which gives you free games as a bonus) and the price really isn’t that significantly different if you throw in the PS Eye to match up with Kinect.

Microsoft needs a better public image for the system they’ve put together (and a concession to the online-check-requirement, really), but it’s not significantly removed enough from the PS4 to be declared DOA yet. Once both systems are in the wild, and people realise that nothing’s really changed that much except that both play prettier and more powerful games with a handful of new social-based features, all of the vitriol and rage of the past month will be forgotten about – and _both_ systems will most likely sell very well.