Can you believe it—we’re mere days from the biggest and most electric video gaming spectacle of the entire year: the E3 Expo! The anticipation for E3 has been building for months, and now it’s time to truly get excited. What can you expect from the show? How about jaw-dropping new game announcements, thrilling updates on your most anticipated upcoming games, celebrity appearances (we all know it’s going to happen!), and all the glitz, glamour, and gaming awesomeness you can handle. Get set, it’s time for E3!
Join us at E3 on social media
I’m ecstatic to announce this year I’ll be giving you an inside look at E3 straight from the show floor! Follow me on Twitter @NextGenPlayer, as well as @BestBuyCanada and BBYC_GamersClub for regular updates all week long. We want this experience to be interactive, so send your tweets to my Twitter handle letting me know what you want to see from the show floor, or leave a message right here in the comments section below.
Perhaps there’s a specific game you want me to report on, or you might want me to swing by your favourite game company’s booth and share some photos. We’ll be listening all week long to your comments and questions, so keep them coming!
It all begins with the Nintendo World Championships
My E3 2015 experience kicks off this Sunday, June 14, with a visit to the Nintendo World Championships! It’s been 25 years since Nintendo hosted their last championships, so the revival of this historical event is sure to bring back a flood of nostalgia. The competition will feature 16 of the best Nintendo players in the world all vying for the highest score in classic games like The Legend of Zelda, as well as other unannounced modern Nintendo games. In addition to my coverage on the Plug-In blog and social media, you can check out the live stream of the Nintendo World Championships on Nintendo’s E3 homepage―it’s going to be a blast!
Press Conferences Galore
From there, my E3 journey is taking me to a slew of press conferences from many of the world’s largest gaming publishers. At these press conferences, we’ve come to expect new game reveals, updates on anticipated upcoming games, new hardware/peripheral announcements, and general updates from the companies on their recent successes and future outlook. It’s going to be super exciting to be there live, and I’ll be reporting on the announcements here on the Plug-In blog as they come. Here’s the list of shows I’ll be at:
Bethesda – June 14 – 7pm PT / 10pm ET- Microsoft – June 15 – 9:30am PT/12:30pm ET
- EA – June 15 – 1pm PT / 4pm ET
- Ubisoft – June 15 – 3pm PT / 6pm ET
- Sony – June 15 – 6pm PT / 9pm ET
- Nintendo (Online event) – June 16 – 9am PT/ 12pm ET
- Square Enix – June 16 – 10am PT/ 1pm ET
- PC Gaming Show – June 16 – 5pm PT/8pm ET
As you can see, I’m going to be busy. But hey, it wouldn’t be E3 without a jam-packed schedule!
Booth Tours
One of my favourite aspects of E3 is visiting the large, extravagant booths that all the game vendors set-up for the 3-day expo inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. There is almost certainly going to be life-size models/props (like that Halo Warthog you see me leaning against in the photo), cosplay characters wandering about, game art decorating the walls, playable game stations peppered about―all coalescing into an unbelievable display of sights and sounds. I’ll be snapping tons of photos to share here on the blog, as well as on Twitter, and you might even see a few Vine videos giving you a glimpse of the action!
Games, Games, Games
Of course, the most important reason to be at E3 is for the games! There are already dozens of hot upcoming games confirmed for the show (and more will be announced!), so here’s a look at some I am definitely going to check out:
Halo 5 Guardians – I’m a huge fan of the Halo series so this was an easy one to add to my list. I’m really excited for this game since it’s the first the series built from the ground up for Xbox One (the superb Master Chief Collection contained remasters/ports of past Halo games), and after playing the Halo 5 Multiplayer Beta this past winter, I’m really digging the new Spartan abilities like ground pound, clamber, slide, thruster pack, and smart scope. Add in great two-sided story twist where have to questions who’s in the right, and who’s wrong (Spartan Locke and Master Chief), and my anticipation is even higher.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III – In late April we got our first look at Black Ops 3, and it looks amazing. I’m really into co-operative style multiplayer, so I can’t wait to play the four-player, online campaign. I also really love Zombie mode, so it’s exciting to hear that Black Ops III will include a full-game experience out of the box. For online multiplayer, there’s a new momentum-based chained-movement system that will enable you to fluidly traverse maps while maintaining full control of your gun. Can’t wait to see how it works at E3!
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – We got a sample of what a next-generation Metal Gear Solid game could be when Konami release Ground Zeroes last year, and the results were awesome. The graphics in Ground Zeroes were incredibly realistic, and the open-world environment meant you could approach situations in numerous ways. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will kick it up a notch with a full campaign, and environments that are 200x the size of Ground Zeroes, wow!
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – From the moment I read Jon’s post on Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, I knew it would be high on my E3 list. I like the 19th century London setting, as the Industrial Revolution is one of history’s most interesting periods. Being able to play as two different assassins (twins Jacob and Evie Frye) as you build your gang to take down the Templars just sounds cool. Plus, the new rope launcher and modes of transportation (like hijack a horse-drawn carriage) look to only add to the fun.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – Now this one I’m excited for. Uncharted is Sony’s most cinematic franchise (basically a playable Indiana Jones!) and this will be the thrilling conclusion to Nathan Drake’s story arc. In the game Nathan’s thought to be deceased brother Sam suddenly re-emerges and asks for his help on a new adventure. Here is last year’s E3 trailer for Uncharted 4―simply stunning!
Fallout 4 – I love the Fallout series premise. After nuclear war turns America into a wasteland, humans lock themselves up in livable Vaults to avoid the outside dangers, like massive radiation and deadly mutated creatures. Bethesda just released the first trailer of Fallout 4, and again the franchise continues with it’s 1950’s retro-futuristic theme in a post-apocalyptic American setting (this time Boston!) I’m also really excited to see that you’ll have a dog companion, my favourite feature by far in Fallout 3.
That’s really just the tip of the iceberg though! Some other games I plan on checking out include:
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Mario Maker
- Guitar Hero Live
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- NHL 16
- Need for Speed
- Final Fantasy 15
..and more!
See you at the Show!
E3 is going to be a blast, and I can’t wait to share every moment with you. Be sure to hit me up on Twitter (@NextGenPlayer) or leave a comment below letting me know what you want to see at the show. I’ll do my best to make sure everything is covered!
Visit Best Buy’s E3 page for all of the news and announcements from this year’s show.
