I remember my senior year of high school. It was May, which meant everyone was pretty checked out, as our high school careers were essentially over. It also meant that my friends and I were talking about E3. Microsoft was set to debut the Xbox 360. What would Sony and Nintendo bring to the table in response? It turns out that Nintendo brought a lot, highlighted by a realistic looking Legend of Zelda that broke the internet.
The beauty of the surprise announcement was the fact that nobody saw it coming. Flash-forward to last year when Respawn Entertainment was finally ready to unveil their long-awaited project during Microsoft’s E3 press conference. It’s just too bad that an accidental Game Informer leak spoiled the surprise.
It’s 2014; leaks happen all the time. All of the recent developments concerning the Xbox One were predicted by an internet leak. Many “insiders” have tried to gain attention via reported announcements and presentation schedules. While 99.9% of what we see is going to be fake, there are still things we know exist despite a lack of official confirmation.
While it’s nice to learn about all of this super-secret information, the fun and buzz of E3 bombshells has all but dissipated along with it. The excitement my friends and I shared back in 2005 has been replaced with “oh hey, I remember seeing a story about that a few months ago.” When dealing with an industry that’s based around enthusiasm, I can’t helped but be disappointed.
Sure, there’s still going to be surprises: nobody saw a new Halo coming last year or a new Uncharted during the PS4 launch event. Even then, though, the surprises deal with franchises that made Microsoft and Sony a lot of money; it’s a smart business decision to continue them. Compare that to, say, the announcement of a new IP (remember the hype train for The Last of Us?) and it pales in comparison.
Publishers have begun their teasing, albeit in a different manner of ways. Ubisoft has flat out confirmed the existence of a new entry in both the Assassin’s Creed and FarCry franchises while EA is saying “hey, you’re getting new games at E3 this year!” It’s safe to say that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will also bring some big surprises as well. In the case of the later, though, I feel like we may already know most of them, helping to drain some of the excitement that will occur in a few weeks. I’d be surprised if some information doesn’t come out from other companies at well. After all, it’s 2014 and leaks happen all the time.
My curious mind is pleased by that fact. My desire to be excited and hyped, however, isn’t.
