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As the final sizzle reel played and several games whizzed by that were already whizzed by previously during the show; I sat in front of my TV in scratching my head. As the final clip played and the screen went dark I thought to myself, “What the heck just happened?”
Microsoft has done incredible work to turn the Xbox brand around in the last 18 months. Phil Spencer, Matt Booty and the other top level executives of Microsoft Game Studios have put together an impressive stable of developmental talent. Game pass is an incredible value for gamers and continues to grow and improve, now it is even expanding to PC.
The position that the Xbox One is in right now is the best place it has been all generation long. With a solid core of developmental infrastructure to create a future library of games, very consumer friendly services to give tremendous value to consumers, and just a little over a year away from being able to start a new generation with a clean slate, they came into this E3 poised for a great show.
So how did they fall so flat?
The first hour of the show was quite good. We got a little more Cyberpunk 2077 info. Outer Worlds got a new trailer and we were presented with another look at Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order which to me, looked as interesting as it ever has thanks to what they presented in their trailer.
Though the show started of great, things fell apart in the second half. One of they key issues was the messaging. The presentation of Gears of War 5 was a disaster. We got an odd, artsy trailer featuring the main protagonist Kait Diaz.
I don’t know what they were hoping to accomplish with this teaser. The audience knows very little about the story of Gears 5 and what the character of Kait is going though. This is an emotional trailer that fails to connect because we haven’t been presented very much information on the game. This is the kind of thing you show off in a TV or internet ad a few weeks before the games release to raise awareness.
Without any context the trailer just comes off as odd. I assumed we would get some kind of gameplay demo or story presentation afterwards but no, that was it. They announced that more details would come out about the game’s campaign this summer and then they transitioned to a new multiplayer mode called Escape.
Gears fans who have been waiting all year for new details on the games campaign were on the edge of their seat when all of this started. After the brief glimpse into the story last year and with only three months until this games launch it was wholly reasonable for fans to expect to get some more information or insight into the campaign. So you can imagine the gut punch of disappointment when what Microsoft delivered instead was a strange TV spot and an underwhelming look at a new multiplayer mode.
E3 is a time for main events, grand displays. It’s the big show where you deliver the juicy content fans have been clamoring for. You are playing to an audience that already wants to buy whatever you are selling. You don’t bring out the Xbox’s 2019 main course franchise game, Gears 5 and then only present people with appetizers. The game is three months away. How could Microsoft not show off some gameplay or go into any detail on the story? Baffling.
What we got last year was infinitely more interesting than anything we were presented with Saturday afternoon, that’s a shame and a badly missed opportunity. At this point, I feel like they did more damage to the public’s excitement for Gears of War 5 than they did good. From a marketing stand point, I don’t know if there is a mistake you can make more damning than that.
Another area where the messaging could have been better was Wasteland 3. Having just finished up Wasteland 2, I was really excited to see what IneXile Entertainment had in store for the sequel. I am still absolutely certain the game will be fantastic, that said, the newest trailer they showed off at E3 gives consumers who gave no idea what the game is very little information that would help them figure it out.
I get what they were going for here. Much like The Outer Worlds, Rage 2, Borderlands, and others games with a wasteland setting, they are hitting on dark humor. It’s a tried and true formula but also a little played out. Those games are also action oriented titles with benefits modern gaming’s high production visuals. Wasteland 3 is a very different game than that and instead of trying to market Wasteland as if it was from the same family of those games they needed to showcase why Wasteland is different than those games and why those same differences are Wasteland’s biggest strengths.
This is the time to explain to gamers what Wasteland 3 is about and why it’s a game worthy of their excitement. Wasteland 3 in reality is like Fallout and Divinity Original Sin melded together. This is a DEEP, expansive computer role playing game with detailed character growth, high degrees of player agency, and full cooperative play.
People not familiar with the Wasteland franchise may see this trailer and dismiss the game right away. It could come across as a cheap take on the other Wasteland themed games that were marketed similarly. I don’t know why Microsoft didn’t put together a more compelling trailer or better yet, offer up a brief gameplay demonstration. They had two hours and the spotlight almost entirely on themselves, why not take advantage of that?
The entire show Phil Spencer had the message that Xbox wanted to help people discover their new favorite games, well the Microsoft presentation on Saturday didn’t make it easy. While they had dozens upon dozens of games to show, they glanced over so many of them so fast there was very little a viewer could discern from the brief clips.
That’s my ultimate problem with this press conference. Microsoft has more to be proud of right now than probably any point before in this generation. They have made herculean efforts to bring the Xbox One back to being a game machine and there are so many games that are coming to the console and future xbox consoles because of these efforts. with all that said, we spent very little time getting intimate with any of these games.
It would be unrealistic to expect them to have several brand new AAA IP’s to show off with the studio acquisitions they made in the last year. It would be unrealistic for them blow the roof off the convention center by showcasing the Xbox Scarlet in all its glory running full versions of tomorrows games built for it from the ground up.
They didn’t need any of that anyway but you know what would have been realistic?
Microsoft proudly going into a little more detail on the projects their newly acquired studios have already been working on and are releasing soon. Why not take a closer look at Wasteland 3 and show people what a cRPG is? Why not dive into a side mission of The Outer Worlds? How about we see a match in Ninja Theory’s upcoming online game, Bleeding Edge or get a look at the story set up for Gears 5?
Most of those are not games that Microsoft has green lit and built from the ground up but they are all games made by the talented people in the studios that Microsoft now owns. Make a point to show off the diversity of game talent who are now working with the company and let your consumers feel good about the creativity you have assembled.
Even with third party titles they could have used some more deeper dives. The second half of the Microsoft E3 press conferences was filled with several announcements that were made out to be big deals like a New Elite Controller and Crossfire X coming to console.
These are fine additions. I know many gamers love their Elite controller and Crossfire X is one of the most popular games in the world due to it’s massive popularity in Asia. That said, you got to know your audience. E3 is for the hardcore video game fans. Save the big announcements and set up speeches for games your crowd is interested in.
It all strikes me as very odd because Microsoft has been on point before. Their E3 last year was great. It was a well paced show with solid content through out. After the usual and expected lulls they would sprinkle in an exciting look at a game or some kind of announcement and they ended it all with a bang.
This year, the final game shown was Halo Infinite and it was a fine showing. It gave fans a little taste of what the story was going to be about and though I think even that could have been turned up another couple of notches, it was still fine as a closer. It felt a lot weaker than it should though because so much shown before that was so underwhelming.
All in all that’s how I would have to sum up this years E3 from Microsoft, underwhelming. The tragedy of that fact is that it didn’t have to be. They had all the tools at their disposal to have had a good show yet they didn’t implement them properly.
This doesn’t change my feeling that Xbox owners will have a great 12 moths and that the next Xbox console is poised to do great things. Microsoft has still done all the ground work to position Xbox in a great place to take off and have a very successful run next generation on console and PC. Game streaming through xCloud (which they also glanced over) could prove to be a game changer as long as they do the right things to make it appealing.
Xbox and PC owners have a lot to look forward to if they want it. 34 games will launch day and date on Game Pass. As always, the third party support for Xbox is very strong. Gears of War 5 is out in a few months. With the increased power and financial support the Xbox branch was given last year they have finally formed a clear bold direction for the brand.
Xbox has a bright future in the gaming the industry, it’s just too bad they did a poor job of marketing that to consumers during their 2019 briefing.
Those are my thoughts, what about your? Feel free to share them below and let’s have a discussion.
Average Rating