E3 REVIEW TRENDS
FIVE TRENDS FROM E3 2014 WE’D LIKE TO SEE THE BACK OF
By Christopher Dring
E3 2014 lacked the drama of the year before. And, let’s be honest, we expected pretty much every ‘surprise’ announcement. Yet overall it was a good show. There were well over 250 products on display, and Xbox, PlayStation and
Nintendo can all feel happy as they head home from Los Angeles. However, as usual, there were a few ‘trends’ at E3 worth moaning about. From an obsession with one genre to an excess of violence, there were a number of things about E3 that the industry should consider avoiding when the annual event rolls around next year.
1. FREE EXTRA HAT IF YOU BUY THE PS4 VERSION
THE Xbox and PlayStation press conferences were rammed with announcements, and the vast majority of these were content exclusivity deals. In Xbox’s corner, there’s Call
of Duty, The Division, Evolve and Dragon Age: Inquisition, while over at camp PlayStation we have Destiny, Batman, Far Cry, Battlefield, GTA V and so on. PlayStation and Xbox are both paying over the odds in an effort to secure exclusive beta access, or downloadable content (or
early access to goodies) for third- party games. But who is actually winning this
phony war? Both Xbox and PlayStation
told us this week that gamers like exclusive stuff. That’s true. They do. But equally they hate not getting exclusive stuff. And if the gamers are left disappointed, then surely this is one practice worth leaving behind? After all, did anyone really pick the PS4 version of Watch Dogs because of that ’60 minutes’ of extra gameplay?
2. GAMES SHOWN TOO EARLY
THESE days developers are opening their games up to consumers before they’re finished. Steam Early Access and Kickstarter are two big examples of studios getting fans involved from Day One. According to EA, this inspired the firm to show
developer diaries at E3, which gave us a peak at Mirror’s Edge, Star Wars: Battlefront, Mass Effect 4 and a Criterion game that doesn’t even have a name. I’m not opposed to teasers, but Mirror’s Edge, Star
Wars: Battlefront and Uncharted 4 were already teased last year, so you have to wonder what everyone been doing for 12 months. The new Zelda game doesn’t have a name, either.
And there are many other examples of CGI teasers of titles that have clearly just entered development. Exactly how much of what we saw was real, tangiable products?
June 20th 2014
04
www.mcvuk.com
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