Although there are some issues the video game industry still faces such as the ever-rising cost of AAA development or the instability of jobs, E3 2015 made us forget about all the negativity and focus on the fundamentals of this art form: fun, imagination and community. All the silly Muppet skits, excessive gum flapping and surreal moments of celebrity interjection cannot compare to the excitement of the Nintendo World Championships, the tears brought on from the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue III reveals, and the blood-pumping gameplay trailers for highly anticipated titles like Star Wars Battlefront, Kingdom Hearts III and The Last Guardian.
E3 2015 was a show that will reverberate throughout the annals of video game history. To wrap-up this great event, Silver Bit presents a special E3 2015 edition of Bit by Bit.
Winner of E3 2015
With all the stiff competition, I thought it would be a hard decision to pick the winner of E3 2015. Nintendo blew things out of the park with their World Championships and constant Treehouse Live coverage only to falter in the most important area: the Digital Event. Microsoft came out swinging with the announcement of Xbox One backwards compatibility and showing live demos for their biggest titles, but seemed to undermine their momentum by announcing a good number of their Xbox One "exclusives" for PC as well. Both Bethesda and Ubisoft took a step back to let the games do the talking for them yet did little in terms of delivering truly shocking surprises. At the end of the day, all these great performances could not stand up to the unstoppable force that is Sony.
Sony may not have delivered much in terms of bolstering their lineup for 2015, but they did make us forget about it with all the bombshells they dropped. For a solid hour-and-a-half, Sony delivered a steady stream of the most exciting and enticing gameplay trailers and demos at the show. Out of all the great games shown off at Sony's presser, there were three that took it from great to legendary: The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue III. Sony literally made dreams come true by showing them off that fateful Monday night. They also serviced both the old and the new by announcing three of the most wanted games in the past decade and showing off brand new IPs like Horizon: Zero Dawn, No Man's Sky and Dreams.
For the third year in a row, Sony showed that the PS4 is THE system to own this generation. Even though Sony's lineup for 2015 is rather sparse, the incredible wave of good will coming off of their performance at E3 2015 along with some smart partnerships with Activision, EA and Warner Bros. might be enough to solidify the PS4s huge lead on the competition.
Sony may not have delivered much in terms of bolstering their lineup for 2015, but they did make us forget about it with all the bombshells they dropped. For a solid hour-and-a-half, Sony delivered a steady stream of the most exciting and enticing gameplay trailers and demos at the show. Out of all the great games shown off at Sony's presser, there were three that took it from great to legendary: The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue III. Sony literally made dreams come true by showing them off that fateful Monday night. They also serviced both the old and the new by announcing three of the most wanted games in the past decade and showing off brand new IPs like Horizon: Zero Dawn, No Man's Sky and Dreams.
For the third year in a row, Sony showed that the PS4 is THE system to own this generation. Even though Sony's lineup for 2015 is rather sparse, the incredible wave of good will coming off of their performance at E3 2015 along with some smart partnerships with Activision, EA and Warner Bros. might be enough to solidify the PS4s huge lead on the competition.
Surprise of E3 2015
There isn't much else to say about my pick for the Surprise of E3 2015. In fact, arguments can be made for any of the big three surprises from the Sony press conference. Personally, my pick is Shenmue III because it came out of nowhere. With how much Sega has been suffering in recent years, never in my wildest dreams did I expect Shenmue III to get the funding needed for development. To see Shenmue III caught me off-guard, which left me stunned and a little choked up. The last surprise to affect me that much was the Kid Icarus: Uprising reveal back in 2010.
Trailer of E3 2015
Funny enough, this year's E3 wrap-up has turned into the Sony show. In all honesty, there was great stuff from everybody at the show and I would love to highlight it all, but this wrap-up isn't the place for that. I'm here to highlight the best from E3 2015 and the truth is Sony had the best stuff this year.
Out of everything Sony showed at E3, one title blew me away. That game was Horizon: Zero Dawn. Horizon is Guerrilla Games' brand new property that switches out the first-person shooting of Killzone for a third-person adventure game set in a pre-historic/post-apocalyptic mishmash. Hearing the premise is compelling in of itself, but watching the game in motion is breathtaking. Seeing the female lead move between stalking mechanical dinosaurs and hiding in bushes along with the fluid fight with the robot T-Rex gives the impression that there are many ways to tackle enemies. Watching the trailer over again, Horizon looks like a next generation version of Monster Hunter with fluid combat and mechanical monsters to slay, which has me even more intrigued.
If it was playable on the show floor, Horizon would easily nab the number one spot on my Top Games of E3 2015 list. Unfortunately, all Sony brought to E3 was this awe-inspiring trailer that has me craving for more.
Out of everything Sony showed at E3, one title blew me away. That game was Horizon: Zero Dawn. Horizon is Guerrilla Games' brand new property that switches out the first-person shooting of Killzone for a third-person adventure game set in a pre-historic/post-apocalyptic mishmash. Hearing the premise is compelling in of itself, but watching the game in motion is breathtaking. Seeing the female lead move between stalking mechanical dinosaurs and hiding in bushes along with the fluid fight with the robot T-Rex gives the impression that there are many ways to tackle enemies. Watching the trailer over again, Horizon looks like a next generation version of Monster Hunter with fluid combat and mechanical monsters to slay, which has me even more intrigued.
If it was playable on the show floor, Horizon would easily nab the number one spot on my Top Games of E3 2015 list. Unfortunately, all Sony brought to E3 was this awe-inspiring trailer that has me craving for more.
