E3 is full of wonderful surprises each year. This year, we got new game announcements like Metro: Exodus, Monster Hunter: World, and of course, Metroid Prime 4. Another thing we’ve come to expect with E3 is really, really weird moments.
We’ve had presenters who are really awkward, game demos that don’t feel natural at all, straight up lies from developers, general screw-ups and people working behind the scenes. There were quite a few at odd moments at E3 2017 and we've put the top 5 in one place.
5. Devolver Digital’s “press conference”
You may not know about this one due to the fact they’re not a company you’d think would have a big flashy presser at E3. Well, that’s because they kind of didn’t. They pre-recorded a 15-minute parody of your typical E3 press conference and well… when I say “parody” and “typical”… it just becomes incredibly disturbing and also very hilarious. Amidst all of their game announcements, they would cut back to their “stage” and show some really intense stuff like someone’s head exploding after having copious amounts of blood pour out of their nose. It’s really best if you see it for yourself.
4. The Darwin Project announcement at Xbox’s press conference
Every once and awhile at E3, you’ll have a game that gets announced and it leaves people scratching their heads in confusion. The Darwin Project is one of those games. The Darwin Project isn’t really a weird game, but the way it was presented on Sunday evening during Xbox’s press conference was very strange.
The game was announced via a trailer that seamlessly transitioned into a very brief gameplay demo that was commentated on by a very, very loud man. We had no context as to what the objective of this game was or what we were watching. As we all tried to figure out what was going on, this man kept yelling about what was happening on the screen as if we were long-time veterans of the title and just continued to confuse us even more. It was all very, very quick too and they moved on right away so there was no time to process what just went down. Several days later, I now know the game is a Battle Royale/Hunger Games type game but that makes it even stranger considering that Xbox also revealed one of the hottest Battle Royale games on PC, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, is coming to Xbox One later this year.
3. Miyamoto wielding a giant cannon with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot
While this one is weird, it’s also really damn cool. Shigeru Miyamoto himself entered like a WWE wrestler, walking through the doors with clouds of smoke behind him, carrying a really big gun. He got on stage with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot to discuss Nintendo’s partnership with Ubisoft to develop a Mario/Rabbids crossover for Nintendo Switch. Miyamoto presented Yves with a gun similar to his and they both posed and created one of the best pictures the internet has ever seen. Truly beautiful stuff.
2. Need for Speed: Payback reveal
Over the last few years, publishers have seen how influential YouTubers and Twitch streamers can be. With that knowledge, they’ve used them to help promote their games and help host segments of some of their shows. EA attempted to do that this year and… it didn’t go super well. YouTuber Jesse Wellens from the channel Prank vs. Prank showed up at EA’s press conference to help introduce the gameplay reveal of Need for Speed: Payback. Sadly, he got a bit nervous and he forgot what he was supposed to say and began to slur his words.
It caused most of us at home to cringe a bit because we all felt bad for him and it created some awkward silence in the auditorium but, hey, it happens! Jesse ended up releasing a video detailing exactly what happened and he said he didn’t read the script the night before and then after he memorized it in rehearsals, they changed the teleprompter on him. On top of that, he has a fear of public speaking. You can view his vlog talking about the whole fiasco down below.
1. PlayStation tells us their games are coming soon but they only have a couple games coming in 2017
PlayStation’s last few E3 conferences have been killer. They revealed God of War, Spider-Man, FFVII Remake, Shenmue 3, and so much more. It was going to be hard to top it this year, so instead of announcing new games, they gave us some updates on the ones they’ve already announced. They began their press conference by having Shawn Layden say they have a line-up of games that are "coming soon" and then someone in the audience literally laughed out loud. Shawn Layden then replied to his laughter by saying “That’s the plan, right?” As you probably already know, Sony has a very long history of delaying games and showing games that will not be out for many years. It took The Last Guardian nearly 10 years to release after it debuted at E3 so we take his comment with a grain of salt.
We got new trailers for tons of games, but not many actual release dates (Sony explained why)… and most of them are coming next year. We will get a couple exclusives this year, but it’s really nothing super substantial. Knack 2 will drop in September, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy will release in August, and Grand Turismo: Sport is set to come in the fall but that could easily get delayed. There are some other games, but it’s not that stuff we’re really craving like Days Gone, God of War, or Spider-Man. Thanks for giving us hope and then taking it away from us, Shawn Layden!
Were there any moments that stuck out to you at E3 2017? Let us know in the comments below!
