E3 2017 is well under way. So far, Microsoft confirmed the impending launch of the Xbox One X, its 4K gaming console, EA demoed the latest game from BioWare, the studio behind the Mass Effect series, and Sony has revealed its virtual reality games.
We'll be updating this page with all the latest E3 2017 news as it happens.
Latest E3 2017 news
With all the E3 2017 press conferences complete, we're now busy trying some of the games from the show. First up is Assassin's Creed Origins:
Read our Assassin's Creed Origins hands on for more
Next up, we sat down with Forza Motorsport 7 creative director Dan Greenawalt, who told us about how working on the game on Xbox One X helped them optimise the game for less powerful PCs:
Read more about How the Xbox One X helped Forza 7 shine on older consoles
We also tried Bloodstained, a Metroidvania game from the series producer behind the Castlevaniaseries. The game raised $5.5 million on Kickstarter and looks impressive, though we did have one small concern:
Read more about Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Nintendo confirmed it's working on a full Pokemon game for Switch and that Metroid Prime 4 is in development, but didn't show any footage from either game. Instead it focused on games coming in 2017, albeit a limited number, and teased the Metroid game with a short video clip.
It also revealed more about the two upcoming Zelda DLC packs: The Master Trials and The Champions Ballad. The former will feature new items, challenges and a master mode; little is known about the latter, other than it's an additional story line for the game.
We now know Super Mario Odyssey will be released on October 27, 2017, but the short 30-minute presentation will do little to cool fears the Nintendo Switch lacks support from third-party developers and publishers.
Other new Nintendo games revealed included Yoshi for Nintendo Switch and Kirby, both platformers. Kirby appears to focus on co-op play with up to four players, while Yoshi introduces a mechanic where levels have two sides which can be flipped at will.
Read our Nintendo E3 2017 press conference report for more
Microsoft confirmed the launch of the Xbox One X, the 4K console formerly known as Project Scorpio. It will be released worldwide on November 7. The new console will sell for $499 in the US and £449 in the UK.
Microsoft promised 22 new exclusive games through 2017 and 2018, including Forza Motorsport 7. Metro Exodus and Anthem, two of the more impressive games unveiled at the event, aren't Xbox exclusives, though Microsoft is counting on the Xbox One X being the best console to play those games on.
It also announced plans to introduce backwards compatibility for original Xbox games, adding to the support for selected Xbox 360 games announced last year.
Overall, reaction to Microsoft's showing has been mixed. The Xbox One X hardware is undeniably impressive. Not only is it the most powerful games console ever made, it's also the smallest Xbox ever. As a piece of hardware engineering, it's great.
But Microsoft's lack of system-selling exclusives remains troubling. The best games of the night were multi-platform titles and other highlights, like PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, are ports of already popular PC games.
Read our Microsoft E3 2017 conference report for more
Sony has reportedly sold around one million PlayStation VR headsets since it launched the device and it is pursuing the medium with software too. At 2017's E3 the firm revealed a number of new PlayStation games and PS VR offerings that will be released in the coming year. Although there were no hardware announcements, there's plenty to keep Sony fans excited about.
Perhaps the biggest surprise announcement was the inclusion of Marvel's Spider-Man. The game, which will be launched on PS4 in 2018, was shown off with a nine minute gameplay trailer. In the footage, Spider-Man can be seen chasing a helicopter, running along building windows, and tackling enemies with his webbing.
Sony also showed off a new look at Call of Duty: World War II Multiplayer, announced it is remaking Shadow Of The Colossus for PS4 and bringing Monster Hunter to the console too. For the PSVR Skyrim was announced alongside a version of of Final Fantasy XV and a thriller called The Inpatient.
Read our Sony E3 2017 conference report for more
Best E3 2017 trailers and games
We'll keep updating this list with all the most interesting games and trailers from E3 2017. Here are the highlights so far:
Far Cry moves to America for its latest instalment. Set in the fictional Hope County, Montana, you have to deal a local cult causing havoc in the local community.
This trailer for the Zelda DLC packs shows some of the new features of the first release, The Master Trials, and a short tease for the story expansion The Champions Ballad.
A new series from Ubisoft, Skull and Bones is a naval combat game inspired by similar segments from Assassin's Creed Black Flag. It will be playable solo, in co-op or in what promises to be massive online multiplayer battles. Rather like Rare's Sea of Thieves, while might be feeling a little usurped at this stage, the game is set in a shared world with other players.
The return of a much-loved cult classic, Beyond Good and Evil 2 acts as a prequel to the original. Developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, the game will see you rise from "lowly space pirate to legendary captain at the help of massive star-faring vessels."
Ubisoft and Nintendo have collaborated on this Nintendo Switch exclusive, a lighthearted take on the turn-based team combat genre. It can be played solo or in co-op and is due for release on August 29.
It’s coming to Nintendo Switch and now Skyrim has been confirmed for PlayStation VR. Skyrim: Elder Scrolls V VR will launch this November and with no word of exclusivity it will likely appear on other VR platforms too. The trailer for the VR iteration provides few surprises – epic battles, beautiful landscapes and an array of weapons and powers – and it remains to be seen how the controls will work. There’s also no word on whether this will be a full version of Skyrim or a trimmed-down VR game.
From the developer of cutesy VR platform Lucky’s Tale, Star Child is set in a far darker alien world of giant robots and dimly-lit corridors. Unfortunately the trailer reveals nothing of how the game plays other than suggesting it will be a platformer. Details on how VR will be used are also non-existent.
Another virtual reality shooter to add the the mix, Bravo Team comes from Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games. The trailer shows it’ll be a first-person shooter, with Sony confirming it will make use of the PS VR Aim controller. It’s being developed exclusively for PlayStation VR. The game, set in a “fictional modern day Eastern European city” drops the player into an escort mission that goes wrong. A president is assassinated, a country is on the verge of collapse. There’s also two-payer co-op.
This one’s not a shooter. It’s a top-down adventure game starring a mouse. Puzzles and exploration are the dish of the day. There’s a sprinkling of sword-based combat, but for the most part its a puzzle and exploration romp. Again, little detail was given on how the game will make use of VR.
A psychological horror developed by Supermassive Games, The Inpatient dumps you in Blackwood Sanatorium. You’ve been diagnosed with amnesia and have to explore your virtual world to find out why you’re there. Things will, somewhat inevitably, go horribly wrong along the way. The game is a prequel to Until Dawn, set 60 years previously.
Created by Insomniac games, Spider-Man, for PS4, will be released in 2018 and the gameplay demo from E3 shows the superhero taking down Wilson Fisk's henchmen while on top of a tower-block.
Santa Monica Studios' new God of War offering sees Kratos, living as a man outside the shadow of the gods, adapt to unfamiliar lands and get a second chance at being a father. "Together with his son Atreus, the pair will venture into the brutal Norse wilds and fight to fulfil a deeply personal quest," the studio says.
The latest installment of the Microsoft exclusive racing series will launch on November 7, the same day as the Xbox One X. It will run at 4K 60fps and in HDR.
An open-world shooter set in a post-apocalyptic Russia, Metro Exodus is one of the most promising games announced at E3 2017 so far. It's coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC in 2018.
Any new game from BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, is bound to grab attention. Anthem appears to be a mixture of Destiny, Titanfall and traditional BioWare action-RPG rolled into one. This extended gameplay reveal gives us a good idea of what the game is like:
A timed exclusive for Xbox One, The Last Night looks like an intriguing mix of Blade Runner-style visuals and pixel art:
"The Last Night lets you explore a two-dimensional cyberpunk open world, built with four unique districts each with distinct architecture, cultures and industries. Experience action and infiltration gameplay in the great tradition of cinematic platformers and travel between districts using taxis, ferries, or monorail while trying to keep a low profile and remain undetected."
An Xbox One exclusive, Rare's shared world pirate adventure game defies easy explanation, which makes it worth looking out for. There's no release date as yet, though a community alpha test is promised this year.
This follow-up to award-winning platformer Ori and the Blind Forest is another Xbox One exclusive.
The Artful Escape is "an action, adventure, exploration, narrative driven, musical-laser-light-battle kind of game" about "famous folk singers, lingering shadows, space Gods, hallucinogens, individuality, reptile shops, and wild imaginations". It's a timed Xbox One exclusive.
This is the next game from the creators of the lauded Gone Home. In Tacoma you "uncover the mysteries held by Lunar Transfer Station Tacoma and its crew, living at the edge of humanity's reach."
Exclusive to Xbox One, Cuphead is a run-and-gun action game inspired by 1930s cartoons, which sounds pretty damn cool to us.
A new three-part prequel to the critically acclaimed Life is Strange, the first part is due on August 31.
The latest Star Wars game introduces a new single-player campaign featuring iconic battles from the Star Wars universe. It's coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC on November 17, 2017.
One of the most intriguing games of E3 2017, A Way Out is a two-player co-op game played entirely in split-screen either online or in local co-op.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
