Some E3 press conferences are inevitably destined to be better than others. In this blog post, i’ve decided to rank all the major E3 2018 press conferences. Factors that i’ve considered include things like how entertaining the conference was, the level of hype I felt while watching it, the quality of the games that were presented, and how significant the conference was to my life.
Lots of E3 2018 Press Conferences
To maintain a level playing field I will only be judging what happened within the confines of the actual time frame of the press conferences. So, nothing from Nintendo Treehouse etc. This is also from the perspective of someone who wasn’t actually there and had to rely on live-streamed videos. It goes without saying that this is purely my own opinion and it might not match up exactly with yours! Now that i’ve said that, let’s begin!
10. PC Gaming Show
I’m not a massive PC gamer as I don’t have the best computer and in any case, I have a Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and i’m soon to get a PlayStation 4 so I can play the bigger games on a console anyway. One great thing that came out of this was a new trailer for Ooblets, a game that i’ve been following for a very long time. It looks so adorable and I can’t wait to play it!
9. Square Enix
Even though Square Enix announced some fantastic games during this press conference, there was no flair to how they presented them to us. There was a tiny introduction, to begin with, but then it was basically just several videos pushed together. It might as well have just been a string of announcements on a random day rather than a much coveted E3 press conference slot. Also, where the hell was the Final Fantasy 7 remake and The Avengers game?
8. Sony
Sony is at the very top of their game at the moment. They’ve had a string of very successful game releases in the last few years, and their PlayStation sales went through the roof a long while ago. That doesn’t give them the excuse to be lazy with their press conferences though. Granted, expectations were definitely lowered a long time ago, with the announcement that they would only be concentrating on four games. They were definitely aiming for quality over quantity and it was a very intimate event, but when you are streaming to a few million people at home, it’s a little unfair to just concentrate on the people who were actually there. While the attendees were led through various locales decked out to look like the video game counterparts the viewers were left to watch intermissions. Not great.
7. EA
As i’m not a big sports fan a lot of EA games just pass me by. There were two games that really did capture my attention though. Sea Of Solitude and Anthem. Sea of Solitude looks so damn gorgeous. The concept looks very original and Cornelia Geppert gave such an emotional delivery that it pulled at my heart stings. Absolutely one that i’m looking forward to! Anthem just looks like all kinds of fun. Shooting through the sky like Iron Man and gunning down really big monsters? Count me in.
6. Devolver Digital
If you can say one thing about Mahria Zook it’s that she is a very expressive actress. Her stint as Nina Struthers is once again a sight to behold. With witty commentary that takes down the gaming industry and enough raw energy to light a small town, this was one of the most entertaining conferences of the entire bunch. I wasn’t too interested in their games but I guess i’m not their target market. One of the oddest E3 2018 press conferences this year.
5. Nintendo
From what i’ve seen on Twitter, some people are very happy that Smash Bros Ultimate has been announced. Other people are furious that things like Pikmin 4, Metroid 4 and Animal Crossing weren’t featured. Personally, I would rather have a bigger variety of games shown than an extended look at a single game but I was happy with what we got. Although a few more wouldn’t have hurt, Nintendo. Throw us fans a bone, yeah?
4. Limited Run
I put this conference so high up on the list because at the very core of what a good conference should be is exactly what Limited Run managed to deliver with their tongue-in-cheek low-budget conference. The chance for a fantastic array of games to be available to the world. Limited Run do a great job of delivering limited runs of great niche games to the public.
3. Microsoft
Microsoft have really outdone themselves with the amount of games that they brought to E3 this year. It’s no secret that Microsoft have been struggling with the amount of exclusive games they have been bringing out, so this has been a very positive turn for them. Sadly, the only game i’m looking forward to is the aforementioned Ooblets. While I appreciate the innovations that they are bringing to games like Forza Horizon 4 i’m just not interested in the franchises that they own. Having said that though, I do think that Microsoft really pushed the boat out with impressive stage design and a very motivating speech from Phil Spencer.
2. Ubisoft
This conference made me very happy. It started with such an explosion of colour and joy with Just Dance 2019. There was drama with The Division 2 presentation. Miyamoto received a present. Live music. So very wholesome. Although I couldn’t help be slightly disturbed by Yves Guillemot.
1. Bethesda
Despite my scepticism of the concept of Fallout 76, this conference really helped to alleviate some of my stress. At the very worst, it’s going to be an interesting experience and at the very best it’s going to be the most amazing-est Fallout ever. That’s enough for me. Overall, Bethesda really knocked it out of the park for me. Free games coming to the Switch, confirmation of some kick-ass games in the future and a very entertaining performance from Andrew WK. Plus, Todd Howard called us all degenerates. He knows us so well!
And that my list for the E3 2018 press conferences. Looking forward to the ones in the future!
