E3 has come and gone, but it hasn't left our memories... well maybe some parts. However, even the though the event has wrapped up I'm here to give my final grades on each of the companies. From their press events and how well they presented the games they showed, to the games themselves and how cool they look, and my personal thoughts & feelings on each. These are the final grades for each company and the final grade in general for E3 2017.
Grading Scale:
A (5 points)
B (4 points)
C (3 points)
D (2 points)
F (1 point)
+ (More positive elements)
- (More negative elements)
Straight Letter (Balanced Showing)
Also, click on the companies name to see my E3 thoughts videos on each one.
The 3rd Parties
EA - While not a bad show, it was a bit more on the lackluster side. While there were good moments like the showing of A Way Out, Need for Speed: Payback, and the full in-depth look at Battlefront, the showing that they had was lackluster. Not saying that what they showed was bad, all of the titles that they did show were interesting in some way. Especially because each one they revealed had a bit personality with it (ex. Battlefield 1) and I felt that they paced through the titles they showed correctly. However, they had eight titles to show at E3 and I personally only really cared about four or five titles, and most of the titles I didn't really care about were sports titles. However, I do acknowledge that while those titles don't really appeal to me, they do appeal to someone so I understand that they had to show it.
While not their best E3, it was definitely better than last year. It really shows here that they learned from last year. While I didn't care too much on, quite literally, half of the titles they showed, the other half they made pretty interesting to me. Not the greatest, but definitely not the worst.
Final Grade: (C+)
Bethesda - Its unfortunate for Bethesda because the tried to do something new, and what they did had a lot of charm and character. I loved the look and style they were trying to make with Bethesdaland @ E3 and I thought, if anything, they at least got that right. However, Nintendo-you-are-not Bethesda. In the scope of E3, there show was pretty "meh". Everything they showed was an expansion or something new for a game already released, and only two new titles were shown. Now to there credit, the stuff they showed was actually really cool. The first look of the VR versions of Fallout 4 & Doom, the first look at the Switch version of Skyrim, a new Evil Within and Wolfenstein, plus all the stuff they showed was coming out this year. My point is the stuff they showed was actually pretty good. However, the scope of the show was made so small. The live show they had was the equivalent of a Nintendo Direct, except they didn't take all of Nintendo's advice and the showing felt lacking with games. Plus, we only got a brief look at Evil Within 2 and the only really big bomb of the show was Wolfenstein 2. One thing that I know dragged the show down was the Creation Club, a way for Bethesda to make paid mods. Some people are okay with it but others aren't, so its very split fan wise. Plus, while I know that many people love Skyrim & The Elder Scrolls, they didn't really show anything new in that regard.
In the end, while the stuff they showed was decent, Bethesda didn't need a live event at E3. Maybe if they went the Nintendo route and just showed this video during E3 it would've gotten less negative reception. If this was a "Bethesda Digital Event" it would've been okay, but what they did was a live E3 Press Conference for smaller titles and it didn't work out too well.
Final Grade: (D+)
Ubisoft - Out of the 3rd party companies Ubisoft had the best showing. Even on the things that I didn't really care about too much I was invested and intrigued. They opened with one of the best Miyamoto appearances on an E3 stage, they kept up the hype with showing interesting games that we've heard of like South Park 2 & Assassin's Creed Origins and new surprises that were intriguing and fun, like Starlink & BG&E2. I enjoyed the humor and charm that came from the developers and I enjoyed seeing some of the developers seeing how people enjoyed the games they were showing off for the first time. There were some slower moments, but again, I didn't mind so much because they knew how much time they needed to focus on each game which, in my mind, was a great way to keep us invested in their conference. One thing I will say is that it was a real shame not seeing Aisha Tyler host this year, the developers hosting did fill in the void very well, but it was still noticeable. Another unfortunate thing was that the one of the big games that they showed, and you know which one I'm talking about, was heavily leaked before the show. However, Ubisoft was still able to make the game look really cool despite that.
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| One of the best highlights of E3 2017 Image from Eurogamer |
Final Grade: (A+)
The Big Three
Xbox - This year Microsoft showed off the Xbox One X, a new advanced version of Xbox One and they managed to have a really good show, but the name of the system isn't giving any bonus points. Unlike 2013 where they were showing the system off for the first time and there was a clear divide between Xbox 360 & Xbox One, this show had all Xbox One games, meaning that they drove an important message to the players saying that no one gets left out or left with bad tech because you don't have the new system. I liked that they were able to convey this message because that's something that many gamers worry about when they hear about a new console. The games that were shown this year were a bit more hit & miss, but there were way more hits, like the look at the new Metro. Again, while wasn't invested in every game, I was still intrigued by almost everything they showed. There were a bit more slow moments in this show compared to Ubisoft, mainly with Forza, the lengthy State of Decay 2 trailer, and maybe a little when they showed Anthem, those were slower moments to me, but they still had some interesting stuff within the games. I think the only other issue is that I had a bit of hard time understanding what were launch exclusives and what were just exclusives because they kept throwing that term on almost every game they showed, just a bit confusing to me.
This was a good press conference from Microsoft. Not only did they show some very interesting games, they also managed to show a new console, give a good amount of information so no one is confused and I had fun watching. There were some slower moments, but not from the usual Microsoft E3 gimmicks, say for the car on-stage, and I was a lot more interested this year. Overall, great job for them. Also, beautiful piano performance for the new Ori game.
Final Grade: (A-)
While they didn't lose E3 this is one of Sony's weaker shows. While they did have some really good looking games and they did show more of what we wanted, they didn't feel as big or as powerful as last year which made me feel like something was missing, and there was just one too many 2018 release dates in my book. Nowhere near bad, but not there strongest.
Final Grade (B-)
Nintendo - You might think that there is some bias given the name of this blog, and to be fair there might be a little, but I definitely think Nintendo earned the praise. This was one Nintendo's strongest showings at an E3 Expo so far. To start off, there Spotlight was really good, they showed titles that we wanted to know more about like Xenoblade & Mario Odyssey, of course, and they gave us some really good surprises like Rocket League, Kirby, and... some other game... Tetris, right? Obviously, I'm talking about Metroid Prime 4. While we didn't get any footage of that or the new Pokemon Switch game, just to know that Nintendo is making those and showing those games in particular really helps show that Nintendo listens to their fans and is very confident in the Switch. Lets not forget that Nintendo's Treehouse events during E3 helped show off some more of those amazing games and had some good announcements of there own like the new Metroid 3DS game and the Mario & Luigi Remake. Also, the competitions they had were really well handled, showing not only how fun games like ARMS, Splatoon, & Pokken were going to be, but helping go more in depth on them. Now its not all good news, I do think that the Spotlight ran a little short, even if they did only focus on Switch, and I thought that Nintendo could've easily made a clear separation in the spotlight, so that way they could've shown the 3DS games that were awesome and the spotlight would've held a bit more weight. Also, I think that either one more game or a simple CG trailer for Metroid Prime 4 or even just a Pokemon Switch logo would've helped the spotlight a bit more.
Nintendo did a great job this year, not only did they make me want Super Mario Odyssey even more than I already did, they showed off new games that were honest surprises to see, went in-depth on games we already knew about in fun ways, announced TWO Metroid games, and overall had an enjoyable showing at E3. While the presentation they had was a bit smaller in scope, they still managed to have one of the stronger conferences this year.
Final Grade: (A-)
Final E3 2017 Grade: (B+)
So with all of that said and done, what did you guys think of this E3? Was it good? Bad? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments and let me know how you guys felt. Thanks for tuning in and I'll catch you guys next time
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