E3

Anyone following E3 this year? 

I have watched most of the Sony conference since 2015.  Eager to see what the PSVR will get as far as games. 

I wish I was looking forward to Bethesda on Sunday.  Morrowind was my favorite game of its generation.  But Fallout 4 was too far from an RPG for me to have much hope.

It used to be that improved graphics were a good enough improvement between console generations, but that really started to change for me with the Sega Dreamcast.  Online play became a thing for me with that console.  Moving onto the original Xbox, I found having a hard drive added a lot to my gaming (Plenty of space for game saves and some DLC?  I can listen to my own music while playing?). 

With the Xbox 360, it was an improved 'more of the same' until they added motion controls with the Kinect.  The Kinect was good as a supplemental way to play certain types of games -and it was something new. 

I jumped back to Sony and the PS4 for the current generation of consoles (after owning an original Playstation back in the day).  I was able to catch up on several Sony IPs I had never played.  The No Man's Sky release was the kind of game I had waited a long time to play.  Being able to travel from solar system to solar system and landing on planets and moons to explore has given me hundreds of hours of gaming goodness. 

The new part of this console generation came with the Playstation Virtual Reality headset.  I keep telling people that you have to experience VR for yourself, I can't just describe it to you.  It is immersive gaming that is simply amazing when it works well.  Playing Wipeout Omega Collection in VR has probably ruined normal racing games for me.  To feel like you are actually sitting in the cockpit and flying around the track actually makes racing a bit easier. 

VR can also give you a new way to play older games.  I played Morrowind back on the Xbox, but never got into the newer games.  You can now play Skyrim in VR though, and that even seems to have drawn in players that have played through Skyrim numerous times before. 

There are rumors of a VR version of Alien: Isolation, which would be awesome.  I'd like to see a Bioshock VR too. 

As for my wildest dream games announced at this E3?  Number one would be an NFL licensed 2K Sports football game (or even just a generic football game with lots of editing features).  Number two would be a VR version of No Man's Sky (which probably needs to wait until the PS5 console generation to have enough CPU power to run the game smoothly in VR). 

Before E3 2015 I would have had Shenmue III on my wish list.  That is actually in development now, so gaming dreams can come true. 

Well, I now have Skyrim on Alexa.  I am very much happier with Bethesda than I expected.
I have a PS3, but love modding so have primarily been a PC gamer. 

I always preferred the simplicity of consoles over PC gaming.  The lines have really blurred since the Xbox 360/PS3 generation of consoles though.  Plenty of games get released and are patched early and often. 

I still need to relax on my couch, in front of our 4K TV, with a game controller in my hand though (except when VR gaming, then I stand or sit closer in a chair). 

On the Bethesda front, I was amused, befuddled, then amused and impressed to see that Skyrim "Very Special Edition" was an actual piece of software and not just something concieved of for a comedy skit. It's amazing to see how modern tech can still harken back to what is otherwise older "text-based adventure" gameplay. The Elder Scrolls VI teaser may have been nothing more than just a single, sweeping camera view of a region, but it is assuring to see they are working on the next mainline game in the series, and aren't just sitting on their laurels with Skyrim.

The rest of the third-party developers did not rouse my interest too much, Square Enix has some mildly interesting stuff on the horizon, and I think I might go for Octopath Traveler, but not much else for me to sink my teeth into. I can certainly say I appreciate the hype Kingdom Hearts III has coming from its fans after more than a decade of spin-offs precluding a complete trilogy. Ubisoft's Starlink has my interest, though I'm wary of dipping my toe into another "Toys To Life" game.

I'll admit, most of my attention was on Nintendo. While I was disapointed to not see any information on Metroid Prime 4, I was glad to see the announcments that were. The opening tease with Daemon X Machina caught my eye, but then I'm a sucker for giant robots. Seeing the trailer for the new Xenoblade 2 DLC has me in anticipation of the story and gameplay expansions. Super Mario Party was a pleasant surprise. Super Smash Bros Ultimate was of course the star of the show. It was fantastic to see how they are bringing back every single fighter in the series, as well as having the big announcment of course of bringing in Ridley. The Pokemon Let's Go had already been announced, but it was reassuring to see their gameplay delved into some more. Releasing the Splatoon 2 expansion also made the time great... even if I havn't sat to it yet.

Overall it wasn't the biggest bombshell of an E3, some surprises were spoiled by leaks, but I'm left feeling confident there will be some compelling games in the year ahead.

No big surprises really.  Ghost of Tsushima looks pretty good, and while I've never really played any of the Metal Gear Solid games, Death Stranding looks sci-fi enough for my tastes.  I find it hard to believe that the Dreams game for PS4 will do all that they are claiming, but if it meets 50% of the hype, it will be really neat. 

I expect to see the PS5 announced at E3 next year for a 2020 launch, with maybe some technical details on the hardware.