What follows are my personal thoughts on Microsoft at E3 2014. I welcome all thoughts and criticism regarding this year’s expo!

If I can say one thing about the Electronic Entertainment Expo, it’s that the opening conferences are usually lacking. My expectations have always been high since I began watching a few years ago. However, my expectations haven’t been met as I’ve had to sit through high-budget, pre-rendered trailers, game footage that isn’t really being played during the conference, and sports. SPORTS (We need some GUNS to balance out the sports – Editor)! Increasingly, I catch myself rolling my eyes and saying ‘does anyone really care about this’?

However, I would still love to go someday. As much of a hypocrite as that makes me sound, I can acknowledge that, as well as the fact that I’m a gamer with high expectations. At E3 2014, we got to see just how much or how little the big guns brought to the table in terms of what to show the press and fans at their individual conferences. I view E3 as a show or a spectacle. Whether or not these gaming companies agree with me is irrelevant because that’s exactly what it is. In my opinion, it’s about showing what each company has to offer since this is the premier gaming and tech show that I get to watch all year. I’ll go through the individual press conferences and give my opinions on each, as well as my opinions on E3 2014 as a whole.

Before E3 2013, Microsoft held a conference in which they revealed their all-in-one entertainment unit, the Xbox One. They focused mainly on the television and streaming abilities of the machine without focusing at all on the components that make me want to buy gaming consoles… the GAMES. Then, Microsoft attempted to throw a bunch of games at the fans and hoped it would be enough. It wasn’t.

In fact, the games weren’t even that spectacular and they also spent a decent amount of time on the Kinect peripheral. To be honest, I like the concept of the Kinect, but I take issue with the way Microsoft tries to shove it down my throat at every turn. Last year was no exception. Naturally, I was wondering if the same would happen at E3 2014, but I was delightfully surprised.

At E3 2014, Microsoft focused solely on the reason that I buy gaming consoles… the GAMES. Actually, it wasn’t until the end of the conference that my friends pointed out that there was no mention of television capabilities OR Kinect. Even with games like Fable Legends and Dance Central Spotlight, the name was never uttered. My friends found it’s verboten status odd, but I found it quite refreshing. I was never completely sold on the Kinect as a worthwhile peripheral and I’d like to think that it could sell on its own if it was any good.

Instead, Microsoft had to constantly hit me over the head with it to make it relevant. With no Kinect and no television, the Xbox One needs games to show what it can do. It needs those games to survive or there will be no reason for me to purchase it. To make this go a bit quicker, I’ll get into the games I really have something to say about:

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Gameplay)

Stick’em up!

Now that Kevin Spacey is in this game, it’s worthwhile, right? Wrong. It doesn’t matter what actor you get to star in your game, if it isn’t fun or engaging, it’s nothing but pixels in a box to me. I stopped playing this franchise after Modern Warfare 3. It clearly peaked with Modern Warfare 2, but I wanted to end this particular story. However, the franchise kept going, and I watched as it joined its brethren in the Annual Release Pantheon. Advanced Warfare seems to be interesting enough to catch my attention. The footage shows a battle in a city where men, mechs and drones go at each other. I enjoy futuristic settings and tech that does cool stuff. This Call of Duty is triggering my ‘buy-it’ reflexes, or it’s at least interesting enough to borrow it from a friend.

Perhaps Activision will evolve beyond the need to add new entries to this franchise. Maybe E3 2014 will be the turning point where they will realize that gamers don’t want a Call of Duty game every year. I’ve been wrong before, though.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity (Gameplay)

You killed my father… prepare to die…

Like Call of Duty, this franchise has taken its place at the Annual Release Pantheon. I stopped playing this franchise when I completed AC: Brotherhood, but I always had hope that this series would get back on track and conclude so Ubisoft can get back to being creative. The ONLY thing new about this Assassin’s Creed instalment so far is that there is four-player co-op and it’s placement inside the French Revolution. I’ll believe it when I see it, but if that element is in the campaign, as well as multiplayer, it will be a good addition, indeed. However, I’m still quite done with Assassin’s Creed.

Dragon Age: Inquisition (Trailer)

Oh crap… an actual dragon!

Aside from an October 7^th release date, I didn’t see anything new with this presentation. Bioware and EA are looking to win fans back after Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3, and it seems like they are really trying this time. We’ll see what comes of it, but it looks like it is hearkening back to the original Dragon Age in terms of gameplay and the general RPG feel. Perhaps they’ve learned their lesson: trying to make something more accessible to all players by cutting gameplay elements doesn’t make your game better.

Sunset Overdrive (Trailer)

This is NOT where I parked the car…

“Cover mechanics, right?” This game looked like fun with the announcement trailer last year, but it looks like even more fun now. First, the trailer entertained me with its over-the-top, ‘don’t give a crap’ feel. It gains extra points for taking a shot at conventional shooters. Then, the gameplay looked like a lot of fun, and something I’d be invested in for a while. They introduced 8-player co-op into the mix and announced the October 28^th release date. If this game is as fun as it comes off as, I may be getting an Xbox One sooner than I planned.

And this is where I have to go off-topic. Games aren’t about gamescore, trailers, or the kill-to-death ratio. If you show me gameplay, and it looks fun, I’m in. I believe that a lot of gamers feel that same way, and that’s a big part of what I expect from these conferences. Sure, I’m happy that the trailers look like high-budget, summer blockbuster movies, but if the gameplay doesn’t excite me, you’ve wasted money on that trailer for nothing. I think it’s time for developers to figure out what gamers really want. I buy consoles to play games, not to watch television. And I buy games to play those games, not to play a terrible version that ultimately makes me long for the game that was advertised in your CGI trailer.

I’ll get off my soapbox now.

Dead Rising 3 (DLC trailer)

*sigh* … just … *sigh*

I haven’t played any game in this franchise and I have no desire to start after this announcement. Basically, it allows players to choose from one of four Dead Rising characters and dress them up as your favourite Capcom character. I don’t know what it seemed like to you, but this seems like a giant middle finger to me. Aside from killing zombies with a chainsaw attached to a lamppost while dressed as Ryu, there is nothing here that is appealing. I think that it’s sad that folks will buy this no matter what. The funny thing is that if Capcom spent as much time making good games as opposed to ripping off their customers with DLC, they could actually have a better reputation.

The Master Chief Collection (Trailer)

Bet you can’t stick it!

With Halo 5: Guardians being released next year and folks pining for Halo 2: Anniversary, they’re basically killing two birds with one stone. Releasing on November 7^th, this collection will include Halo: Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 4, and access to the Halo 5 multiplayer beta. How’s that for fan service? As a Halo fan, I’ve been wondering how long they’d drag the story out. I understand that it’s a big universe with alternate avenues to explore, but I’m looking forward to the end. Ultimately, this makes me even more excited to own an Xbox One because I’ve been waiting for Halo 2: Anniversary along with news about Halo 5.

Alternately, they showed a redone Halo 2 trailer with a voice-over from Keith David as the Arbiter. He’s talking about Master Chief as the Spartan launches himself with a Covenant bomb out an airlock toward a cruiser. I loved that part in Halo 2, and to see that the whole thing is being redone is something that I’ve been waiting for. I’m still probably going to wait until Halo 5 comes out to buy an Xbox One, though! As an aside, why did they feel the need to mention that this collection would come with 4000 gamerscore? Have we reached such a low point in gaming where gamerscore is a selling point? I’ll probably write something about how insane that is, but for now… yes. We have reached that low point.

Rise of the Tomb Raider (Trailer)

She’s doing pretty well considering she was impaled…

Lara (Laura to those who want her to have an actual name) Croft is back! Apparently, she’s dealing with post-traumatic stress from her ordeals in the first game, but the name is confusing as heck. Wasn’t the first game in this reboot supposed to be the rise of Lara Croft as the Tomb Raider we know? I won’t gripe on the title too much because I’m genuinely excited for this sequel. I loved the first game as a reboot and I’ve said before that I’m looking forward to a sequel. Hopefully, it’ll focus on her dealing with PTS as she faces new challenges on her adventure.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Gameplay)

To the markets! YA!

As you follow the blood trail of a wounded griffon, you’re led into a pack of wild men. After cutting them down, you get back on the trail of the majestic animal, you fight it for a bit…. and the scene cuts to you bringing its head back to town with no payoff. That’s exactly how that sequence was shown! Is that all that E3 2014 has to offer in terms of the Witcher?

Even as disappointing as it was to not be shown a griffon beheading, I enjoyed the gameplay and the visuals. It really is a beautiful game, and I’m hoping that it provides me with hours of boob-play… erm… gameplay.

The Division (Gameplay)

Yippe Kay Yay M- oh, wait…

It’s in a disease-ridden New York during Christmas. Resident Evil meets Die Hard, anyone (That sounds awesome – Editor)? All joking aside, I enjoyed what was shown this year on top of what was shown last year. It sure looks like a generic, third-person shooter, but it can’t be hyped any more than Watch Dogs, right?

Scale Bound (Trailer)

Did he just wink at the dragon, then put headphones on?

I immediately love anything with dragons. Obviously, I had a bias for this game. However, after watching this trailer, I had two thoughts.

1)      Is this Devil May Cry meets Monster Hunter?

2)      Remember Overstrike?

I bring up Overstrike because I fell in love with that trailer for so many reasons, but the game was awful. I feel now about Scale Bound what I felt about the Overstrike trailer. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Overstrike was later renamed Fuse in an attempt to make it sound cooler and cut out syllables because why not? Could Scale Bound turn out be disappointing like Overstrike/Fuse? I won’t know until I see some gameplay, but I’m cautiously stoked!

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In conclusion, the Microsoft Press Conference was much improved from last year with a few exceptions. The focus was solely on the video games and I cannot express how happy that makes me. Although Enthusiacs covers more than just gaming, I’m happy that gaming has taken more of a front seat… at least in Microsoft’s eyes. Stay tuned for my thoughts on the other press conferences!