How Did E3 2015 Answer Our Gaming Questions?

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E3 has yet again come and gone in a whirlwind of flashing lights, beguiling graphics and jittery demos but how did it stack up to our expectations? The list of demands from the gaming community is a perpetually growing tree that is rarely acknowledged by the corporate side of gaming. Luckily in recent years this trend is slowly changing and it seems only right to look at how E3 2015 has added or subtracted from that change.

What The Hell Is Going On With Tomb Raider?

 Tomb Raider was one of the most controversial games of last year’s E3 and had gamers asking questions like, “When will I get to play it if I don’t have an Xbox?” or “What the hell is up with that name; Rise Of The Tomb Raider?”. Many gamers were disappointed with Crystal Dynamic’s decision to agree to an exclusivity deal with the Xbox especially when the terms were not fully explained and it took the companies days to announce that the exclusivity deal would be timed.

This year, Microsoft showed of “their” new game play trailer which unveiled the release date, November 10, 2015. Now of course they aren’t going to announce the date for other platforms but that doesn’t mean we can’t make our own assumptions. Tomb Raider is such a big game, it would make sense that Microsoft could only afford a six month exclusivity deal. Put that up against that fact that, due to it’s delay, Uncharted may be released six months after Tomb Raider. So from that we can assume(or more likely, hope) that Rise Of The Tomb Raider will be released on PC and PS4 around May next year.

 Can We Please Have Some Backwards Compatibility?

This is a surprising turn of events, especially from the company that originally planned on restricting the sharing of games between friends only two years ago. Although when you here that the PS4 has currently outsold the Xbox One by 10 million units the news that Xbox One is now offering backwards compatibility may not come as such a shock.

Still it seems an interesting tactic from Microsoft one that not only will hurt future revenue in remasters and digital downloads but a tactic that hinges on mediocrity. Hear me out. Microsoft of course didn’t do this because they love their fans, they did it to boost sales but how can this boost sales once we are already well into the Xbox One’s cycle? Through nostalgic, still yet undecided fans. Fans that are disappointed with this generations offer of games and fans that are still happy with their Xbox 360. Everyone wants a new console with the possibility of shiny new games in the future but when you add the security of playing the good games they already own, it seems to be a no brainer.

Either way it’s good news for gamers, even if it means you have to do it by downloading another copy of the game and hopefully this pushes Sony to do the same.

Are We Going To See Some Old Favourites Return?

 Now it seems to be Sony’s chance to grab at the nostalgic dollar. Not only did they announce The Last Guardian on PS4 but there is a Final Fantasy 7 remake in the works. Sony has been having trouble with the spiritual successor to Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus for eight years, so much so that various sources had claimed that it had been cancelled. Fortunately it seems that Sony’s confidence has returned and in a big way. A full seven minute demo was the opener of their conference and a release window of 2016 is on the cards.

As for Final Fantasy, you can’t get much more nostalgic than the seventh instalment, often hailed as the best in the series. So you’ve got some people pretty excited when you say you’ve got a full remake in the works. No release date yet but considering the 20th anniversary(31st January, 2017) is coming up it would seem only logical to expect it around then. Not only that but Sony announced this as a timed exclusive which means that which means Xbox and PC fans will also get a chance to play the remake eventually.

When Are We Going To Get A More Diverse Range Of Heroes?

 Equality issues aside, it can get very boring playing game after game fronted by your stereotypically handsome, six foot something, physically fit, brunette white guy. It’s almost as if this player model comes stock standard with every engine out there. So when a franchise like Dishonoured(because that’s how it’s really spelt) changes it up with a new kick-arse female protagonist it can be pretty exciting. Emily Kaldwin from the original steps up as a fully playable character alongside Corvo Attano in a way that Ubisoft tried but failed with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.

It’s only a drop in the ocean but it’s still a step in the right direction and from such a big studio as Bethesda it’s hopefully a sign the tide is changing and we can look forward to a much wider range of characters in the future.

Where The Hell Are The Games Deserving Of This Generation?

Now, more than a year and a half after the release of the current generation of consoles it seems that the big corporations should be comfortable with their systems and pumping out some impressive games. Unfortunately thought, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Sure we’ve had some good games come out recently with The Witcher 3, Bloodbourne and Mortal Kombat X to name a few. Although there hasn’t really been any games that make you sit up and go, “Wow, this really is a new generation in gaming”. This E3 didn’t really provide us with anything new to scream about either.

There’s a bit of hope in the big hitters, Halo and Uncharted of course but they didn’t steal the show at this years E3. Our best hope seems to be Arkham Knight which is to be released on current gen only and come on, it’s got a fucking Batmobile!

Have any others to add to the list, or just downright disagree with me, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Article by Daniel Priman.

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