TRENDS E3 REVIEW
4. LOTS AND LOTS OF VIOLENCE
THIS is an age-old complaint about these gaming extravaganzas. Every year heavily violent acts
are displayed on screen for the whooping masses to cheer over as if they’re watching some Gladiator fight in a coliseum. This year was no better, perhaps even worse. Some non-gaming execs that attended told us they were aghast at some of the content on show. On the Monday we went from mass dismemberment, to aggressive neck stabbing to ripping out human hearts. But at least Microsoft protected
us from the word ‘fucking’ during its Sunset Overdrive trailer. Er.
5. CO-OP SHOOTERS ARE ALL THE RAGE
I AM not sure who to blame for the sudden onset of co-operative games at this year’s E3. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
3. NO LOVE FOR THE TRADE
E3 has always been a bit of a consumer show, really. No business professional would be seen whooping at a new Halo. Yet this year felt like an even larger move away from the ‘trade show’ E3 still insists it is. It was most notable with the press
conferences. Now that they’re livestreamed over Twitch and other channels, platform holders have increasingly moved away from talking about anything that might not instantly appeal to core fans. This was most noticable during the Xbox conference, where talk of Kinect and games for families were sidelined for an endless stream of fan-pleasing products. And long gone are the days when PlayStation updated the trade about its sales figures at these events.
When you consider the millions of gamers
watching at home, it makes sense to focus on products that are likely to appeal to them. But there are also thousands sitting in the stadium, many of them retailers, and all of them wondering what else is coming to market outside of blockbuster shooters? This year at the Xbox conference the audience were nothing more than glorified billboard-wearing light-up wristbands. Surely it’s not a big ask for these companies to spend 15 minutes before the livestream officially starts to update partners on strategy, sales and broadening its userbase? Because if E3 is now entirely an event for the
gamers, then perhaps Nintendo has got it right to forgo the press conference entirely, and instead update fans via a pre-recorded online video.
Evolve. Assassin’s Creed Unity. Rainbow Six: Siege. The Hunt. Destiny. Fable Legends. The Division. Even Nintendo has an online co-op shooter in Splatoon. Online multiplayer and co-operative play are clearly popular with consumers, but the sheer quantity of these titles at E3 suggests the market will shortly be over-saturated.
www.mcvuk.com
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June 20th 2014
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