"Yes, I worry. All I can do at this moment really is pray."
Fumito Ueda has been working on The Last Guardian for almost 10 years, and in just four months time, it will be released on PlayStation 4. At E3 2016, Ueda showed me the fruits of his labor and shared his fears about the reaction to its eventual release on October 25th.
I nearly tossed my cookies in the middle of Sony's media lounge at E3, while hosting a Facebook Live stream and playing Resident Evil 7: Biohazard on PlayStation VR. This wasn't a case of Nerd Flu or a bout of food poisoning -- I finally experienced the notorious curse known as VR sickness. For years I've been drifting from headset to headset without a care in the world, content in the knowledge that I didn't get nauseated while playing games in virtual reality. I'd read about people feeling queasy after playing Elite: Dangerous or Project Cars, but I never fully understood why it was such a big deal. Couldn't these people just chug some Pepto Bismol and get on with their immersive gaming experiences? Where did all these weak-stomached crybabies come from anyway?
Crybabies, consider this my formal apology, courtesy of PS VR and Resident Evil 7.
Nintendo wasn't lying, or even exaggerating. There really has never been a Legend of Zelda game quite like Breath of the Wind, and the series should be all the better for it. I've extensively played (if not quite finished) every major Zelda game, but that familiarity with the series rarely came in handy throughout the 45-minute demo I played at E3 today. I was confused and disoriented, not quite familiar with how I should be interacting with my surroundings -- much like Link himself after being awakened in a shrine with no clear direction on where to go.
The mini-game mayhem of Mario Party can be a lot of fun, but the franchise has always suffered from its board game origins: when it's not your turn, there's nothing to do but wait. With Mario Party: Star Rush, that changes -- Nintendo's next entry in the series does away with individual player turns in favor of a more hectic group "scramble" turn. In other words, Mario Party is getting a fast-paced upgrade, and that's a good thing.
Okay, Nintendo may have said it was only bringing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokémon Sun and Moon to E3, but we all knew something else would show up during the show. Well, here it is -- Ever Oasis, a brand-new action RPG for the Nintendo 3DS.
Next month, Nintendo is going to fulfil the childhood dreams of thousands of people who grew up in the 1990s: it's releasing Pokémon Go, an app that lets you catch pocket monsters in the real world using your smartphone. That alone is pretty exciting for fans, but if you've been following the game you also know that the app is getting a companion wearable that lets you play it without looking at your phone. Today at E3, Nintendo gave us a price for the wearable: $34.99.
Sony didn't show a new, more powerful PlayStation because it didn't really have to. But it still had the best show at E3. PlayStation repeated its strategy from last year by focusing on the games. The event was filled with exciting trailers, relaunched classics, release dates for highly anticipated titles, and a better look at what's going to come to its VR headset that arrives in mere months. (And refreshingly short on the small talk.) Sony played a smarter game than Microsoft.
Peppy, colored customizable Xbox One controllers are coming. Well, in September. That said, you can still design and order the controller of your multi-colored dreams right now, online at the Xbox Design Lab. Until then, here's some design suggestions -- direct from Xbox's booth at E3 2016. With the choice of colors on the face and shoulder buttons, joysticks, the controller's faceplate and more, there's apparently eight million color combinations out there, so some guidance on your $80 custom 'pad may be appreciated. Blue thumbsticks sound like a good start.
When the original Titanfall launched exclusively on the Xbox One, Windows and Xbox 360 in 2014, it took advantage of Microsoft's Azure cloud system, which allowed developers at Respawn to add AI teammates and enemies in a low-lag gaming environment. It also meant that some regions, such as South Africa, never saw the game because Microsoft's dedicated servers simply didn't exist in the country. This all changes with Titanfall 2.