Nintendo

This year, Nintendo stated from the beginning that it would not be announcing many new games due to its focus on the NX console, and this year might have been the best year to do so, as both Microsoft and Sony have done the same, with a greater focus on announcements than on anything material.

The conference started out with a play through of the highly anticipated Pokemon: Sun and Moon. However, the main focus of the conference for Nintendo was the release of the new Legend of Zelda game called “Breath of the Wild”, which is the first time a Zelda game will feature an open world and also voice acting, and with so much time to spare, viewers were treated to an in-depth look at the game on live stream.

Attendees visit the Nintendo exhibit at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Nintendo’s other releases include a new Paper Mario, a new Dragon Quest game for the 3DS, the first look at "Monster Hunter: Generations" and, finally, a new Mario Party game. The pattern to notice here is that most of the games listed above are for the 3DS, except for Zelda, which was the only showing of a Wii U game at this year’s conference. This is probably to save most of the console releases for next year along with the release of the Nintendo NX, a new console being developed by the company set to be released in March 2017.

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Sony

This year, Sony seemed to have retained its title of champion of E3. The focus of this year’s conference for Sony was showcasing its new PlayStation VR, which thejakartapost.com got the chance to try out during the trip to Japan. The conference featured an addition to the Batman Arkham series, which is like a mix of L.A. Noire and Batman with a touch of VR.

Visitors play FarPoint for PlayStation VR, a space adventure set on a hostile alien world, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Another piece of VR excitement was the Demo of Resident Evil 7, which is the first time that Sony is changing its formula for that game since its 4th version. Another Spider Man game was also announced that is currently being developed by insomniac games, along with a new God of War and a Last of Us-esque Zombie shooter called Days Gone.

However, the biggest part of Sony’s conference presentation was probably when Hideo Kojima, creator and director of the Metal Gear series, stepped on stage and announced his new game called Death Stranding, which will feature a cryptic trailer with naked Norman Reedus.

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Microsoft

Microsoft also put up a fight during this year's E3 by revealing its new consoles, Xbox One S and Project Scorpio. Although not much is known about Project Scorpio other than that it will run at 6 teraflops of graphics power, the Xbox One S will feature a 4K native resolution and will release in August with a price tag of US$300.

With the new consoles also came the return of old Microsoft games, which include Gears of War 4, Dead Rising 4, Forza Horizons 3 and the much anticipated return of Tekken after 7 years.

Members of the media attend a briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on Monday, June 13, 2016. Microsoft unveiled a new, slimmer version of the video game console coming later this year and a more powerful one that's due in 2017. Xbox One is shrinking in size and growing in power. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Other game developers

The first developer to talk about in my opinion is Ubisoft. The company showed a huge chunk of the new Watch Dogs game at the conference, along with its new third-person brawler For Honor, which was announced last year, a new snowboarding game called Steep and last, but definitely not least, a sequel to the critically acclaimed South Park: Stick of Truth. The excitement does not stop there, as Ubisoft also announced a new VR experience called Star Trek: Bridge Crew, which allows Oculus users to play in a co-op Star Trek: Bridge Crew and act out the perfect nerd role-playing fantasy.

The next big developer at this year’s E3 was EA, which announced that Star Wars: Battlefront 2 would be released next year. It also announced that the Star Wars title under development at Visceral Games will be coming in 2018 featuring an all original story. Respawn Entertainment is also currently working on a new third-person Star Wars game, but unfortunately no further details were forthcoming. We also know that Criterion Games is working on a VR Star Wars game, but other than a small shot of yourself in a cockpit, there were no further details.

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Along with Star Wars, EA also showed footage for its new first-person shooter Battlefield 1, which will be set in World War I. Footage for the new Titanfall 2 and Mass Effect: Andromeda was also shown, while much of EA’s conference showing was devoted to FIFA 2017, which includes a single-player campaign for the first time.

The biggest news from Bethesda Softworks is the company’s foray into the competitive E-sports arena with the release of Quake Champions, which promises to bring back the fast-paced 120fps gameplay that we know and love. Although we all hoped for a new Elder Scrolls game, EA instead gave us a remastered version of Skyrim, which doesn’t seem that exciting. Bethesda also announced new downloadable content and features for Fallout 4, including the ability to build your own shelter.

 

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Kenneth is a 17-year-old high school student who loves comic books, Dota 2, movies, political science and history. He is currently living in Jakarta and working toward his IB diploma. You can reach him at @kenneth2098 on Twitter.

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