STACK July 2016 Issue 141

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broadside that
barely let the
assembled and
global audience
pause for
breath.
No hardware
announcements were
made during the briefing, and with
little emphasis on VR outside of a
price point, a release date, and the
fact it will feature 50 games at launch, it was
all about games, games and more games.
The introduction of Hideo Kojima on stage,
along with his new project, Death Stranding,
practically brought the house down.
A revamped God of War, trading Greek
mythology for Norse lore, was a talking
point, but it didn’t lessen the ecstatic crowd
response when Kratos stepped out of the
shadows in the trailer. The news that three
Crash Bandicoot titles are being remastered in
a single mash-up, and that Insomniac are busy
making a Spider-Man game, was the icing on
the cake.
In the ten years of attending E3, we
would be hard pressed to remember a more
passionate, or indeed louder, response to a
Sony press briefing. The company, still riding
high on the phenomenal success of the PS4,
put everything into a slick presentation of its
software, and it paid dividends.
EA chose to leave the embrace of E3 back
in January, instead holding its own event, EA
Play, next door at the Nokia Theatre, bringing
its games directly to the fans. This was our first
port of call on the day E3 began. Organised
with military precision and free of bustling
crowds, the event was a highlight, with all of
the games playable for both press and the
community. The three must-see titles on our
list were Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, and STACK
office favourite FIFA – and it couldn’t have been
easier.
The Battlefield 1 demo, probably our
visit
52 JULY 2016
GAMES
led the way for the engaging week ahead.
Most of the media briefings commenced with
a message of condolence to the families of
the victims in the Orlando nightclub shooting
in Florida, an awkward paradox given some of
the content themes on show for the preceding
duration of the press conferences.
Focus, as expected, was placed on the
format holders, with Microsoft taking the floor
at the Galen Center on Monday morning.
Here, a quality line-up of gaming titles were
presented, including more on the anticipated
Gears of War 4, to satiate Xbox One owners.
But it was the unexpected news of not one,
but two new consoles that jolted even the
most somnolent of jetlagged international
travellers awake.
Rumours surrounding the introduction of
new hardware for both the platform holders
leading up to E3 were rife, but no one expected
two from Microsoft; speculation in Los
Angeles surrounding the company’s strategy
was in hot debate. The attractive Xbox One S,
finished in Stormtrooper white, is heading to
stores this August and comes with an internal
power supply (praise be!) and 2TB of storage.
Alongside a tweaked controller (still not as
sublime as the Elite), the Xbox One S will
feature 4K and HDR support. This makes it a
good option for consumers looking to buy a
cost-effective Ultra HD player.
And then there was Project Scorpio.
Breaking with the traditional 10-year console
cycle, and just three years after releasing the
Xbox One, Microsoft lifted the covers on its
next console. Due to arrive in 2017, Scorpio will
be packed with six teraflops of power and will
feature true 4K gaming. Details surrounding
the console are scant, but presenting two
new hardware additions at one
E3 was unprecedented. Cross-
play, the gaming integration
across Xbox One, PC and
presumably Project Scorpio, continues to be an
important focus for the company.
A live orchestra provided a spectacular
introduction and continued to accompany the
duration of Sony’s one hour and 20 minute
press conference. The format holder,
utilising a stunning augmented stage
design, fired an unremitting software
Presenting two
hardware additions
at one E3 was
unprecedented
Death Stranding
That's an E3 fact...
From the 70,000
attendees, 50,300
were video game
developers, analysts
and journalists.
That's an E3 fact...
A staggering audience
of 42 million watched
E3 content on Twitch.