Nothing brings back memories of childhood more than a good old-fashioned video game. And this year’s E3 Electronics Expo delivered heaping layers of button-mashing nostalgia, with classic characters like Zelda, R2D2 and Spider-Man swinging back onto consoles. It also gave salivating gamers a glimpse into the future, with previews of virtual reality tech and Microsoft’s mysterious “Project Scorpio.”
Here’s a list of the most excitable E3 moments we picked up on throughout the past week.
Playstation VR
Right now, the two buzziest letters in the gaming world are undoubtedly V.R. Virtual reality is taking the industry by storm and at E3, Sony proved to be at the forefront. Unveiling some amazing new Playstation VR tech, the gaming giants previewed virtual worlds within the Star Wars and Final Fantasy universes. Best of all, they gave gamers a tangible deadline. If all goes according to plan, their PS 4 VR add-ons (and gaming titles) will be available by October 13.
Everything EA
There’s a reason that Electronics Arts is one of the industry’s most dominant gaming publishers. From their sports titles, to their massive multiplayer shoot-em-ups, this company has been on fire for years. And this year’s E3 showing DID NOT disappoint. Not only did we get treated to state-of-the-art Madden, Titanfall and Mass Effect sequels, we got a taste of some brand new concepts. One appears to be a yet-unnamed Star Wars X-Wing battler and the other, known only as Fe, felt like an open-world animated indie movie. Definitely keep these guys on your video game Google Alerts.
Superhero Hype
With flicks like Captain America: Civil War dominating the box office, is it any surprise to see Marvel and DC heavily invading the video game space? Our last big E3 takeaway was just how prominent comic book heroes seemed to be on the console platforms. Insomniac’s three-minute Spider-Man teaser quickly went viral, taking the famed web-slinger into a fully interactive world. Batman fans got a nice payoff too, with a story-driven adventure from Telltale Games (who brought us the amazing Walking Dead RPG). And if you want the whole sh-bang, keep an eye out for Injustice 2, which features Mortal Kombat-esque DC fighters like Superman, Aquaman and The Flash.
Microsoft’s Project Scorpio
What’s a gamer convention without a little mystery? Microsoft was the king of the tease this year, with a glimpse of its eagerly awaited Project Scorpio console. As Xbox head Phil Spencer explained,
“Scorpio is more powerful than the original Xbox One, by four and a half times. And its six teraflops will impact the games and how they play.”
For those unfamiliar, six teraflops equates to a massive amount of gaming power; improving speed, depth, graphic cards and CPU architectures. Prepare to have your mind blown by this one in late 2017.
Nintendo’s New Zelda Adventure
Let’s be honest, Zelda is the grandfather of modern role-playing-games. First released in 1986, it has spawned more than 18 sequels and traveled across five generations of Nintendo systems. This week its Breath of the Wild chapter debuted to an enormous amount of online buzz. Fans were teased with stunning free-range visuals, highlighting hero Link as he explores the forests of Hyrule and (as in typical Nintendo fashion) seeks out a lost princess. This Wii-U title is a definite must for old and new school fans.
