Tag: e3 2018

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Everything Nintendo announced at E3 2018

Nintendo came out with the big guns for its pre-recorded E3 conference this morning, delivering updates on a couple veteran franchises while also bringing some new titles to its Switch console.

We didn’t get a ton of big surprises, but what Nintendo showed off was certainly exciting to a lot of fans. The bulk of the presentation was (as expected) devoted to the intimate minutiae of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, which is arriving at the end of the year and will bring the biggest cast of video game series to the game ever, with some new characters arriving alongside the entire cast of the series’ previous iterations.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Super Mario Party and Fortnite were probably the biggest highlights, but let’s take a look at everything they talked about.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

One of the crazier parts of this announcement included the fact that Nintendo has made a redesigned Gamecube controller which will be compatible with the game and will be supporting your old Gamecube controller somehow as well, presumably with a dongle.

Is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the most ambitious crossover event in history?

Available December 7, 2018

Super Mario Party

Alongside the new gameplay content, Super Mario Party is going to integrate some weird multi-Switch gameplay that will allow users to play together across multiple Switch consoles and merge their screens together.

Super Mario Party lets you connect multiple Switch consoles to expand your screen

Available October 5, 2018.

Fortnite

Fortnite arrives on the Nintendo Switch today

Available now for free download.

Other stuff

In addition to the big gun trifecta of game announcements, Nintendo also shed some light on other titles coming to the system which has realistically had a pretty tiny game library since launch.

Fire Emblem Three Houses

Coming spring 2019.

DRAGON BALL FighterZ

Coming 2019.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country

New update available September 14 for Expansion Pass members.

Other titles announced during the Nintendo Direct included Daemon X Machina, Overcooked! 2, Killer Queen Black, Hollow Knight and Octopath Traveler. In terms of the new Pokémon titles, Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!, they will be available November 16 and people will be able to buy a $99.99 combo that includes the Poké Ball Plus controller as well.

We’ll be at E3 checking out some of these new titles this week so stay tuned for more from us on the ground in Los Angeles.

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Fortnite arrives on the Nintendo Switch today

After days of press conferences teasing games arriving in some time within the next decade, here’s a refreshing bit of news. As previously rumored, wildly popular sandbox survival game Fortnite is, indeed, coming to Nintendo Switch. Not only that, it’s  available starting today as a free download from the Nintendo eShop.

Epic’s title will be available at 10AM PT today (a little under an hour from now), bringing the battle royale mode that has made it such a massive money maker on the PC, consoles and iOS, which arrived in March. An Android version of the title is also in the works for later this summer. 

The game is a perfect fit for console. Nintendo’s long time focus on all ages entertainment certainly lines up with the title, which skews younger than many of the titles on display at the show this week, along with the (perhaps litigiously so) similar Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG).

The battle royale game play means Switch players will be able to play against a gamers an the growing number of devices Fortnite is currently available for.

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Here’s what Sony announced at E3 2018

Sony wanted its E3 2018 press conference to be an event. Not the “we have 50 new titles to show you” event Microsoft just put on, so much as the get up and walk around kind. 

It was kind of like one of those trendy experiential restaurants. The portions are small and you’re still hungry after the final course, but it’s kind of fun, I guess.

The Last of Us Part II

A trailer bookended with a passionate kiss showed up some extremely refined gameplay for the post-apocalyptic survival game. It was…gory. But, then, that’s kind of what we’ve come to expect from the series, and the crowd went predictably wild with each close up hack and slash on the big screen.

Ghost of Tsushima

Another stunning — and amazing gory — one on the giant display. This samurai story is set during a Mongol invasion, featuring a whole lot of sword to torso action and got its gameplay debut at the show.

Control

Not a lot to go on here, but the trailer has a real first-person shooter crossed with Inception, which is perfectly okay with us.

Resident Evil 2

A remake for the popular zombie murdering series got what may well have been the most excited crowded reaction from the bunch. Lot of reveals here, but man was that face eating shot nice and close. It’s up for preorder today and will hit retail January of next year,

Trover Saves the Universe

From one of the co-creators of Rick and Morty, the trailer was fishing for laughs, but came up short, even in a crowd full of Playstation fans. Looks colorful, though.

Death Stranding

Norman Reedus ripping off his toenail was somehow more unsettling than all of the zombie murders of the past half-hour put together. Definitely one of the most innovative trailers we’ve seen so far — beautiful landscapes, close up child birth and hey, neat future umbrella.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Game

Due out in September, we knew this one was going to get some solid face time at the event. Sony showed off a good deal of gameplay, featuring your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man battle some familiar supervillians inside the Raft super prison.

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Here’s what Ubisoft announced at E3 2018

E3 news is officially coming fast and furious, a day ahead of the show’s official launch.

Following a fairly disappointing showing from Square Enix, Ubisoft brought out the big guns, including Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy titles and a cameo by a beaming Shigeru Miyamoto.

Here are the biggest announcement’s from today’s event.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Set in ancient Greece, the latest addition to the hugely popular title got a gorgeous new trailer, complete with Socrates — because what action-adventure title would be complete with out one of history’s great philosophers? The title is due out October 5 — refreshingly fast for a show full of “pre-alpha” demos.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

The followup to the 2003 critical darling kicked off the show with an extended trailer and a touch of gameplay. The prequel is built around open-world action Star Wars-style space adventures. Currently in pre-alpha, the game is soliciting contributions from fans through Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hitRECord startup.

Trials Rising

The BMX sequel got some high-intensity gameplay footage at today’s event. Currently available in beta, the title will arrive on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch next February.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2

Quite possibly the only game trailer with an Abraham Lincoln in the middle, the new Tom Clancy title is set in the nation’s capital following a zombie-style plague. The title will launch in March 2019.

Skull & Bones

Pirate games? This E3’s got ’em. Based on the naval battles from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the new title features large-scale tactical open-seas action.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle — Donkey Kong Adventure

Another familiar face joins the Ubisoft/Nintendo crossover. The downloadable add-on arrives June 26 for the Nintendo, with Donkey Kong in tow.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Speaking of Nintendo, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto was on-hand at the event to help introduce Fox McCloud and other Star Fox characters as exclusive add-on content for the action-adventure space title. Starlink is due out October 18.

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Square Enix didn’t show off much at its E3 2018 showcase

Well, Square Enix just wrapped up a short and uneventful E3 press conference that really seemed to phone it in. No Final Fantasy VII remake details and nothing on The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy. 

The hyped presentation did have plenty to share on a new Tomb Raider title, to which they devoted about seven minutes of their half-hour presser. They also spent a lot of time with close-ups of the tornadoes that will be blaring around in Just Cause 4, which is getting a December release date. The extreme weather looks pretty cool, actually, and, given that a lot of the Just Cause series seems to be about just finding the limits of weird stuff you can do with the game’s wonky physics, this seems like it’d be pretty clutch.

Outside of that, there was a sneak peek at a new title called The Quiet Man, which at first glance seems to be a title devoted to a deaf man punching Hispanic dudes in alleys throughout New York. Babylon’s Fall is also new. Additionally we saw the Kingdom Hearts III trailer we saw at the Microsoft event yesterday, along with a deeper look into Captain Spirit, which looks cute, but I find it difficult to get super excited about.

Other trailered games included Nier: Automata: Become As Gods, Octopath Traveler, Dragon Quest XI, Under the Moonlight, Monster Hunter World and Stormblood. 

(Skip ahead like eight minutes into the stream recording to get to the trailers.)

Gamers had lofty hopes, but they were all dashed against the stone by the presser’s end as evidenced by this quick live YouTube comments screenshot. Nobody was forcing them to host a press conference, but when you hold one, people naturally have expectations.

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Here’s what Bethesda announced at E3 2018

For the past few days, Bethesda has been dominating a few big downtown L.A. buildings with massive Fallout posters. It’s clear the company is barnstorming E3 this year, and Fallout 76 has monopolized that conversation.

But Bethesda’s got a lot more in the works, including more sequels to beloved gaming franchises and a couple of surprises. Here are the biggest titles unveiled at tonight’s E3 kickoff event. 

Fallout 76

We knew from the outset that Fallout 76 was going to be the centerpiece of Bethesda’s big show. The company’s been releasing info in dribs and drops this week, including a trailer at the Xbox event earlier today. The game, which boasts a map four times larger than Fallout 4, is an online multi-player experience. It’s due out November 14, 2018.

Doom Eternal

We still don’t know much about this sequel to the 2016 reboot. Bethesda has promised some actual gameplay come Quakefest 2018. Meantime, the company’s called it “hell on Earth,” courtesy of boasting twice as many demons as its predecessor.

Wolfenstein Youngblood

Another classic first-person shooter got some sequel love today, as well. The co-op title due out next year features a pair of twins battling Nazis in an alternate timeline version of Paris in the 80s. Makes sense. There’s also a Wolfenstein sequel arriving on the Switch next month and a VR title coming in 2019.

Skyrim: Very Special Edition

Okay, this one doesn’t count, because it’s probably not real. Some things are just too beautiful to live.

Elder Scrolls VI

This one was a teaser, at best. But at least we know it’s a thing that exists — or, rather, will exist — and isn’t that half the battle, really?

Starfield

Another teaser. The minute-long trailer didn’t actually show anything — instead it just confirmed that the company is, in fact, working on the long rumored sci-fi space title.

 

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Keegan-Michael Key plays Skyrim on an Echo, pager and fridge

For the first few moments of the Skyrim: Very Special Edition trailer, you kind of want it to be real. Hell, the game’s been ported to every of platform, and Alexa games are kind of thing now — or at least Amazon is trying to convince us of as much.

Of course, the longer Keegan-Michael Key destroys his home in the process of playing the game, it’s clear that maybe voice-based gaming isn’t the right fit for Skyrim. Ditto for pagers, Etch-a-Sketches and smart fridges. It’s clear the whole thing is just a bit of fun from Bethesda during a week in which the gaming industry take itself entirely too seriously. 

For now, we’ll just have to behold the glory of one half of Key and Peele enjoying the game in ways we’ll likely never be able to. Clearly Skyrim: Very Special Edition is far, far too beautiful for this ugly world of ours.

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Wolfenstein and Doom get sequels at E3

It’s no surprise, really, but it still managed to wow the crowd at tonight’s Bethesda press conference. Doom just got a sequel, and it looks, fittingly, extremely dark.

Doom Eternal is actual the direct sequel to the 2016 reboot of the classic first-person shooter. That title, which began life as Doom 4, was met with extremely positive reviews, so naturally, we’re back here two years later with a bigger and badder sequel.

All we’ve got is a trailer for now, featuring a nightmarish post-apocalyptic environment, which the company fittingly refers as “hell on Earth,” populated with twice as many demons as its predecessor. The company has promised some actual gameplay footage at the upcoming Quakecon 2018.

The first person nostalgia train continued as the company announced Wolfenstein Youngblood. The co-op title will arrive next year, starting the grown up twins of the series’ primary protagonist, William J. Blazkowicz, who battle Nazis in alter-reality 1980s Paris, because, of course.

Youngblood joins the already announced Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, which is arriving this month on the Switch and a VR title, Cyberpilot, which puts the player in the role of a “resistance hacker.” That one’s due out in 2019.

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Here’s what Microsoft announced at E3 2018

With 50 titles, including 15 Xbox exclusives, today’s Microsoft E3 event was wall to wall with new game trailers. As the first press conference of the big three, the company clearly wanted to put on a big (and extremely loud) show — and largely succeeded on that front. We won’t bore you by featuring all 50, but here’s the big news you missed.

Halo Infinite

Microsoft kicked the show off with a brief teaser announcing the latest entry in its much loved first-person shooter series, Halo. We don’t know much about Halo Infinite, including timing and story specifics, but Xbox head Phil Spencer promised that the title will be Master Chief’s “greatest adventure to save humanity.”

Crackdown 3 

Arguably the most eagerly awaited title of the show, Crackdown 3 got an explosive gameplay new trailer, starring a shouting Terry Crews as Commander Jaxon. The neon vehicle transforming title hits the system in February.

Forza Horizon 4

Playground Games was among the five studios Microsoft announced it had acquired during today’s big show. No surprise, Forza Horizon 4 got a whole lot of love at today’s event, as well. The company explained that, among other things, the game is getting changing seasons, as players ride cars through the UK countryside, as fake leaves began to fall from the ceiling inside the press event. The game features more than 450 cards and arrives October 2.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

The sequel to 2015’s critically acclaimed  Ori and the Blind Forest features a much larger world and new puzzles. The title will arrive as an exclusive for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Gears 5

Epic announced not one, but three Gears titles at the event. There’s the adorable Funko collaboration, Gears Pop, the strategy game Gears Tactics and, of course, Gears 5. The title good a moody trailer. We still don’t know much about the game, but many are anticipating a Fortnite-like battle royale mode for the title.

Kingdom Hearts III

Don’t have enough Frozen in your life? Good news, the latest addition to the Disney-obsessed RPG series will feature a number of characters from the musical — and will be arriving on the Xbox.

Fallout 76

One of this year’s most eagerly awaited titles, Fallout 76 is about to get a lot more love at tonight’s big Bethesda press conference. In the meantime, Microsoft offered a taste of what to expect.

Devil May Cry 5

It’s been a decade since Capcom’s hack and slash title Devil May Cry 3 hit the Xbox 360. Due out next Spring, the long awaited sequel is direted by beloved designer Hideaki Itsuno.

Jump-Force

You think the Avengers was the most ambitious crossover event in, etc., etc.? Bandai Namco’s new fighting game Jump-Force features some of the most beloved anime characters in recent decades, including Naruto and Dragonball’s Goku.

 

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Microsoft acquires a whole bunch of game studios

Microsoft kept the gaming announcements coming at its Xbox E3 press conference where it announced a series of studio acquisitions meant to bolster the original gaming content emerging from the console maker.

Xbox head Phil Spencer announced Sunday that Microsoft has acquired Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs and Compulsion Games. The four studios will add to Microsoft’s considerable heft in first-party game development, especially as the company looks to strengthen its game download subscription service Xbox Game Pass.

Playground Games, started in 2010, is the developer behind the Forza racing series and has been a long-time Xbox partner. The partnership announcement comes alongside the announcement of Forza Horizon 4, a new title in the series.

Ninja Theory has designed titles including Hellblade, Undead Labs has released the State of Decay series, and Compulsion Games is working on its new title We Happy Few which will launch this year.

The new studios will all be housed beneath the Microsoft Studios brand alongside a new venture called The Initiative led by former Crystal Dynamics head of studio Darrell Gallagher. Microsoft Studios already contains groups like Halo-maker 343 Industries and the team behind Minecraft, which Microsoft acquired in 2014 for $2.5 billion.