Everything We Saw at E3 2016

E3 is finally over, and there’s a lot to talk about. Okay, so it’s technically been over since Thursday evening, but we’ve finally had a chance to catch our breath and are ready to get back to our regular programming!

This might have been our second year attending the trade show, but we’re still learning about the whole process. So if you’ve noticed that we’ve been posting a bit less than usual, sorry about that! Two years in and we’re still nailing down the process for getting everything published from the event.

Still, we’ve got a lot of stuff coming for you, both on the website and on YouTube. We’ve actually been hard at working posting videos from EA Play this year, so if you’d like to see that content before it hits the website, I’d recommend heading over to our YouTube channel and subscribing.

That said, we’ve still got a lot coming, so expect to see more content from E3 on the website within the next week. For now, we’d like to break it down and talk about some of the things we saw at the convention center this year, as well as some of what we saw at EA Play!

EA’s press conference

Unfortunately, we sat this press conference out like everyone at home, but there were a surprising number of details revealed for Madden 17 and FIFA 17. For Madden, we got a new trailer, as well as details on EA’s plans to bring Madden eSports to a new level with $1 million in prizes.

FIFA 17 got much the same treatment, with the introduction of a story mode and an accompanying trailer showcasing Alex Hunter as the game’s protagonist.

Speaking of Madden eSports, EA also took the time to introduce the 8 players that would be competing for the title of Madden 16 Champion during EA Play.

Microsoft’s press conference

We did a few posts about what Microsoft revealed during their press conference, but there’s a lot that just didn’t make the cut. If there’s one thing to say about E3 as someone who just attended for their first year, it’s that it’s incredibly busy. There isn’t always time for everything.

Microsoft opened up their press conference by announcing that a new, sleeker version of the Xbox One would be available for purchase during this holiday season. As you’ve probably already heard, this information had already leaked prior to the press conference, but it still ended up being one of the biggest pieces of news.

Interestingly, Microsoft also announced their plans for a new piece of hardware called Project Scorpio. You’ve probably heard plenty about that as well, since it was also leaked well before the press conference. That will debut in time for the holiday season next year in 2017.

Meanwhile, on the games front, Microsoft unveiled Forza Horizon 3 with a beautiful new trailer. Further in the sports department, they revealed a new eSports platform, Arena on Xbox Live, which will feature EA and their FIFA franchise as a partner in addition to other games like Smite.

Sony’s press conference

There’s a reason why you didn’t see much news from us on the Sony front, they just didn’t have enough sports coverage. Sure, they had Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare — a game which we mentioned in our article talking about what core games we’d be excited to see this year — but ultimately, sports was pretty scarce at the Sony conference.

With that said, they did a hell of a job in the core games department, and we were all equally excited with what they showed. It’s clear, however, that they’re more focused on the core gaming crowd and not the sports one. As long as they do it well, that’s okay in my book. It’s not like we won’t see FIFA 17 make an appearance on the system.

One thing that I did find odd was the omission of Gran Turismo Sport, a longstanding franchise that has often served to demonstrate the technology of PlayStation systems. Does that mean they’re abandoning Gran Turismo as one of their flagship franchises? Probably not.

Perhaps one of the most impressive things was PlayStation VR. Sony isn’t playing around when it comes to virtual reality, they’re fully backing this new medium, and they had plenty to show for it this year.

EA Play

Something new to E3 this year was the addition of EA Play, which EA held in the neighboring LA Live at The Novo. It was interesting to see a publisher open up their doors to the public outside of E3, and after walking around the venue and seeing some of the lines, I imagine it paid off for EA and we’ll be seeing it again next year.

EA Play held an interesting mix of core games and sports games, but it seemed that EA Sports ultimately had a stronger presence. Madden, FIFA, and NHL all made an appearance, in addition to Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2. I didn’t get a chance to play Battlefield 1, but I did check out Titanfall 2 and NHL 17.

They performed about as you’d expect. The builds they had on display were pretty damn smooth, and from the games that I played, didn’t seem to have too many technical hiccups. It’s entirely possible that’s because EA Play is more forward facing, with the goal of attracting their fans, but either way, it was nice to check out the games.

You can check out our videos from the event on YouTube, including an interview with Madden 17 Creative Director Rex Dickson.

PES 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qgFj4roRRY

We had a chance to check out PES 2017 as well, so you can expect to see an article on that coming soon. The game itself is looking beautiful, but you can find out more about how it plays when we release our article next week.

Moto Racer 4

We scheduled a meeting with Microids, the developers behind the latest iteration of the Moto Racer franchise, and they gave us the rundown on what to expect with the game. Unfortunately we didn’t get hands-on with the game yet, but we got to take a look at how the game will look on the PS4 with virtual reality support.

We’ve got a full article on that coming soon, so you can expect to hear more next week.

Infinite Air

Mark McMorris has partnered with HB Studios to become the namesake of their new snowboarding title, Infinite Air, and I think it will make a lot of snowboarding fans happy. There are a lot of interesting things going on with this game, including a large emphasis on creativity and sandbox gameplay.

You can expect a full article on the game coming soon, including an interview with Mark McMorris and the producer of the game, Andrew Nguyen.

F1 2016

I had the chance to check out F1 2016 during E3, and there’s a lot to look forward to with the latest installment in Codemasters’ F1 franchise. Career mode will be getting a huge improvement, along with some additions to actually make practice worthwhile.

Crowds

E3 might be off limits to the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t packed. Every year the trade show seems to grow, and this year was no exception. This year’s show hit a record number of just over 70,000, according to the ESA. Interestingly, they’re also counting 20,000 who only made it to E3 Live, but since that’s an ESA sanctioned event, I guess it makes sense.

To give you an idea as to how packed it was at E3 2016, the wait to play Final Fantasy XV was 2-3 hours. Yeah, that’s a long time. It’s worth noting that not all lines were that long, however. Square Enix had one of the biggest lines outside of Nintendo and Sony from what I saw. The difference? The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Sony’s VR demos required people to jump through hoops in order to play. Square Enix let everyone line up.

Is there anything that you’re excited about from E3 that wasn’t on this list? Let us know in the comments or on social media, and be sure to stay tuned for more content from E3 2016!

Everything We Saw at E3 2016

Forza Horizon 3 Coming September 27

We’ve known for a while that Microsoft was planning on announcing a new Forza. It was announced earlier this year that the Lamborghini Centenario would be the cover car, but aside from some massive leaks, details for the game were scarce until Microsoft’s official announcement during their E3 conference this year.

Now the game has a name, and a release date. As it turns out, the game is actually Forza Horizon 3, and it will be available for Xbox One and PC starting on September 27. Yes, it will be supporting Microsoft’s new Play Anywhere initiative, and it will also sport some multiplayer co-op.

Now we’ve got details on different versions of Forza Horizon 3 you can pre-order, ranging from $59.99 to $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition. Pre-ordering the standard version of the game will net you 2 car packs for the game, the Forza Horizon 2 Rockstar Car Pack, and the Forza Motorsports 6 Meguiar’s Car Pack.

The other versions of the game will of course give you access to more DLC, which includes a few car packs depending on which version of the game you decide to pick up.

Microsoft also revealed a trailer for the game, which you can check out up top.

Forza Horizon 3 Coming September 27

Microsoft Confirms New Xbox One Hardware, Xbox One S and Project Scorpio On the Way

Microsoft has been dealing with a lot of leaks leading up to E3, but as it turns out, the two biggest seem to have become a reality. Microsoft will be releasing a sleeker version of the Xbox One, called the Xbox One S.

The Xbox One S is pretty much what you’d expect; it’s smaller, lighter, and it comes with a few minor improvements. It’s a smaller, (arguably) cheaper version of current Xbox One consoles. The version of Xbox One S that was shown off at the beginning of Microsoft’s conference will retail for $299 with a release date of August, and, apparently, not include a controller. That kind of defeats the purpose of picking up the new and better version of an existing console, no?

That wasn’t the only new piece of hardware that Microsoft announced, though. As rumored, they were in fact working on an upgrade that would allow for better compatibility with virtual reality and 4K. Even the name Project Scorpio stuck, which is odd given manufacturer’s tendencies to develop consoles under code names.

Likewise, the specifications for Scorpio matched what earlier reports had revealed. During the press conference Microsoft referred to it as “the most powerful console ever”.  It will run at 6 teraflops, and feature a new GPU with increased power and speed.

A number of developers appeared in a clip beforehand talking about Project Scorpio, including Todd Howard, who teased virtual reality support for the console.

While Xbox One S will be available in August, Project Scorpio is shooting for a Holiday 2017 release. Microsoft promises all consoles will be able to run games on equal footing, but only time will tell whether or not they’ll hold to that.

Are you thinking about picking up one of the new Xbox One consoles? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to stay tuned to SGO for more news from E3 2016.

Microsoft Confirms New Xbox One Hardware, Xbox One S and Project Scorpio On the Way

Microsoft Announces Arena on Xbox Live With EA Backing

During Microsoft’s press conference this morning, they announced a new initiative to bring competitive gaming to a whole new level for Xbox One. That initiative is a platform called Arena on Xbox One, and it’s designed to enable players to find video game tournaments. Through the platform, you’ll be able to register and spectate, and compete.

Smite and World of Tanks were both name dropped as games that will be supported through the platform, but perhaps the most important inclusion is a partnership with EA that bring their titles to the platform.

Currently, only FIFA is confirmed to support the platform, but it’s likely that other EA franchises will follow. Madden has quickly risen to become one of the flagship eSports titles for EA Sports, so it seems likely to follow at some point, perhaps if Arena on Xbox Live is deemed to be successful.

With the rapid growth in popularity that eSports has been showing lately, particularly for sports games like NBA 2K16 which recently wrapped up a major tournament in the form of Road to the Finals.

Madden is also no stranger to tournaments, with the Madden 16 Championship currently in progress here in Los Angeles during EA Play, and will wrap up tomorrow. As for when and if we’ll see it hit Arena on Xbox Live? Who knows.

What games would you like to see make it to Arena on Xbox One? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to stay tuned to SGO for more E3 news.

Microsoft Announces Arena on Xbox Live With EA Backing

Forza Motorsport 6 Gets Hot Wheels Pack

Turn 10 Studios released the Hot Wheels car pack today for Forza Motorsport 6. The latest DLC for Forza costs $6.99 and features seven new Hot Wheels specialty cars.

The Hot Wheels logo is also being added to the livery editor. The individual cars can be purchase ala carte.

Here’s the list of cars:

• 2011 Hot Wheels Bone Shaker


• 2005 Ford Hot Wheels Mustang


• 2017 Ford Focus RS


• 2015 McLaren P1 GTR


• 1990 Ferrari #1 Scuderia Ferrari 641


• 2016 Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport


• 2015 BMW X6M

A couple of them are pretty goofy but they all seem like they’d be fun to see on the track.

Forza Motorsport 6 Gets Hot Wheels Pack

Xbox 2016 First Quarter Earnings Report Released Today

Today, Microsoft reported the earnings for the quarter that just ended on March 31.

So, how did the Xbox division do?

Xbox One and 360 sales fell by 26 percent during the quarter. Microsoft attributed the downturn to fewer 360s sold and lower prices on the Xbox One. This past March dropped $50 off the price of the Xbox One. However, that price only lasts through April 30.

On the flipside, Xbox Live revenue went up by 22 percent. The growth was attributed to more Live subscribers and a rise in money spent per transaction and more digital purchases overall.

Microsoft also reported that overall gaming revenue had risen by $64 million, a 4 percent rise over the same period last year.

Xbox 2016 First Quarter Earnings Report Released Today

108 Million Current Gen Consoles To Be Sold By 2019 - Report

A presentation by World of Tanks developer Wargaming’s creative director and executive producer TJ Wagner was recently made public.

There a number of interesting tidbits in the presentation, click above for the whole thing, but one point that stands out is Wagner’s assertion of the number of current gen consoles that will be in consumers’ hands by 2019.

Based on numbers from Superdata, IDG Consulting, and IHS, Wagner says that there will be nearly 108 million combined PlayStation 4 and Xbox One systems in the market. Sony will have the lions share of the market with 69 million sold. Microsoft is well-behind Sony at 39 million.

Another slide in the presentation claims that there about 36 million PS4s currently in the market. Xbox One is estimated to have sold about 19 million.

These numbers aren’t official, but they appear to be close. Sony reported in January that nearly 36 million consoles had been sold worldwide. Microsoft doesn’t share Xbox One numbers, but it was reported last year that there were 18 million active Xbox Ones in the market.

Last year, Xbox head, Phil Spencer, said that Sony’s lead was so large that he didn’t think the Xbox One could ever fill the gap. Spencer did go on to say, “We’re not motivated by beating Sony, we’re motivated by gaining as many customers as we can.”

108 Million Current Gen Consoles To Be Sold By 2019 - Report

Rocket League to Get Cross-Network Play

Microsoft announced this week that Xbox One and certain Windows 10 games would be getting cross-network play this coming spring.

The company didn’t name any specific games, but we now know that Rocket League will be one of the first games to support cross-network play on the Xbox One and PC.

In a blog post, Psyonix spokesman Jeremy Dunham stated that cross-network play has been the number one most requested feature by the Rocket League community.

Dunham even hinted that cross-network might be possible on PS4 down the line.

Unfortunately, a hard date hasn’t been set by either Microsoft or Psyonix. For now, we know that the feature will be available at some point this spring.

Rocket League to Get Cross-Network Play

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex Free For Windows 10 Users

This spring Turn 10 Studios will be releasing Forza Motorsport 6: Apex for PC users. Players who have Windows 10 are eligible to get the slimmed down version of Forza Motorsports 6 for free.

There’s no official date for release though, just the vague “this spring”.

Apex is designed for gamers that are new to the Forza franchise, and delivers a “curated experience.”

The career mode will be anchored by a new 12-event “Showcase Tour” that introduces players to various cars and automative matchups. Showcase Tour will include vidoes narrated by James May and Richard Hammond.

Another new mode is the new “Spotlight Series, which features Showcase-style events that are supposed to be updated on a regular basis.

Despite being a toned down version, Apex will feature the Drivatar and 63 Forzavista-enabled cars.

The full roster isn’t available yet, but we do know that Apex will have cars like the 2017 Ford GT, 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM SD-455, and the 2014 Audi #2 Audi Team Joest R18 e-tron quattro.

There will be 20 track configurations across six locations; Brands Hatch, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Rio de Janeiro, Sebring International Raceway, Top Gear, and Yas Marina. The tracks will have night and wet-weather variants.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex Free For Windows 10 Users