Pre-E3: PlayStation and Xbox

Last blog was spent hyper-ventilating over how much I love E3. And it had Nintendo stuff. This time… Xbox and PlayStation predictions, and a little bit of why this E3 might not be that exciting.

I own a PS4 but not an Xbox which you should know in case you think I’m coming across as biased. You’d be right. I love my PS4 and would take their list of exclusives over Microsofts any day. I’ll be watching the Xbox conference with intrigue but I won’t care a jot about the new Forza reveal or if there’s surprise announcements relating to Halo or Gears. If you’re in to those then hey I’ll be happy for you, but surely there’s some fatigue? Microsoft seem reluctant to diversify and the recent cancellation of Scalebound only adds to that. 

Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3 are the exceptions and admittedly two games that I do like the look of. I’m expecting big gameplay presentations of those and release dates. They’re a good start at breaking up the monotony of the big three Xbox franchises. But they also need more! More new ip and more risks. The problem is that it’s hard to see were its going to come from. We know what studios they have and they’ve all either had games recently released or their next games already been announced. Rare have hinted at having something else in the works and if its Banjo-Kazooie related I will look on in envy. Outside of that how are they going to surprise us? Third party deals? Limited time exclusives aren’t going to convince anyone and they won’t change the perception of a limited portfolio. 

Of course we’re also getting new hardware with the Xbox One Scorpio or whatever they end up calling it. I talked about the game’s first because really that’s all I care about. I’ve no interest just yet in 4K or talking about enhanced pixels etc No intention of buying a Pro or this just so some games look a bit prettier. I’ll be swayed by exclusives alone and so far the only Xbox games I’d like to play are Rare Replay and Ori. They surely have to come out this Sunday and make big game reveals, otherwise only the minority are ditching their current console. 

PlayStation then… As much as I love them and despite last year’s conference being probably my favourite ever, I have low expectations. The reason is purely that I don’t see many surprises coming. A lot has been announced already and there’s a large list of games that are bound to get time at the show. Last year’s reveals of Spider-Man, God of War and Days Gone haven’t been seen since and I’m expecting big trailers and release windows for all three. Dreams, Detroit, Gran Turismo Sport and Knack 2 are games I’m predicting will all be released between September and February so they’re due space. Even if Sony do spring some surprises my first thought will be “when the hell is it coming out?” Their schedule is packed already.

The marketing deals Sony have are my biggest mood dampener. Destiny 2, Call of Duty and Star Wars Battlefront are massive titles for them that will outsell everything I’ll be buying but I couldn’t care less. The inevitable trailers for those will give me time for tweeting. Crash Bandicoot will likely get one last trailer before its June 30^th release but I’ve already got it pre-ordered so that’ll be more boredom. After they’ve shown all that then how much time will they have left? 

There will be some surprises of course but it’s hard to think of what exciting tricks they could have up their sleeve. The next title from Sucker Punch feels like a safe bet and people are begging for Devil May Cry 5. I’m mostly just looking forward to more Spider-Man footage and keeping my hype levels reasonable. 

Of course I had similar thoughts last year and then came a beauty of a show. The announcements for Crash, Resi 7, Death Stranding and that Spider-Man trailer were all entertaining. Maybe next Tuesday morning I’ll be trying to word my glee after a great show and a plethora of Haribo. If not then I’ll just go back to playing the stack of games I’ve already got. Days off will be gaming filled and fun either way.