The Ocelot Oxford and Newbury 121 July 2016 edition | Page 18

Gaming

The Ocelot E3
roundup

Game On!
A gaming column by Mike Barham
So it’s the time of year that gamers look forward to most.
E3 has come round again, with all of the usual rumours,
draw dropping trailers and technological advancements. Or
has it? We decided to give you a quick, bitesize rundown of
the world’s biggest gaming expo and let you know what to
look forward to in the gaming world.
Firstly, the consoles. Xbox went first and confirmed the
pre-E3 rumours regarding their elusively named Project
Scorpio (not the guy from the Simpsons) which will set the
benchmark for processing power on the 4K consoles if
the figures are to be believed. Also announced was the
Xbox One Slim with more power, 2TB hard drive and some
sexier controller hand grips. The Xbox conference also
included the usual array of exclusive titles such as Gears
of War 4 and Halo Wars 2 but in terms of stand out,
never heard of before announcements, nothing to report.
PlayStation acted all cagey with their competitor; the
VR focused PS4 Neo, but gave an impressive, footage
filled presentation with a live orchestra accompanying
their line-up of exclusive titles. But again, nothing brand
new or shocking was revealed, leaving some gamers
disappointed. However, God Of War returns with a new
bearded look, Norse mythological backdrop and a son,
and Crash Bandicoot was revealed as a pleasant surprise
remaster for PS4.
Nintendo had previously confirmed in April that they
are working on the NX, their next console, but spent most
of E3 focusing on the new Legend of Zelda title, or as
the gaming media has been calling it: ‘Zelder Scrolls’.
Frankly, The Ocelot was simply surprised to see the usually
ever-green clad Link only dressed in swim shorts on what
appears to be a sunbed.
As for the developers themselves, Bethesda and EA had
particularly notable updates with the former unveiling a
new steampunk adventure with Dishonoured 2, Fallout 4’s
VR plans and Quake Champions, whilst EA revealed more
about the highly anticipated Battlefield 1, more details
on Mass Effect: Andromeda, a Star Wars Battlefront VR

dogfighting mission and, most controversially, a story mode
for FIFA 17.
Other highlights included a Ubisoft presentation hosted
yet again by Aisha Tyler (also known as Lana Kane from
cartoon series Archer) featuring news on a South Park
follow up, Watch Dogs making a return this time in San
Francisco, Ghost Recon Wildlands looking frankly epic but
a distinct lack of any Assassins Creed or other Tom Clancy
titles. It seems Ubisoft have a lot of properties moving into
the film world with Michael Fassbender slaying Templars
soon on the big screen and news that Sony are bankrolling
a Watch Dogs adaptation, so their big hitters were
essentially nullified by movie magic.
For the PC gamers, Dawn of War 3 is shaping up to be
a standout title already, with the Warhammer 40k fans
screaming in delight at the very pretty trailer offered up
to them. The news that PC users on Windows 10 will now
also be able to share the virtual space with upcoming
Xbox One titles such as Gears of War 4 and Forza
Horizon 3 was also received with enthusiasm.
Ultimately though, this year’s E3 has focused on the
marvels of VR technology and what it will bring to the
gaming community. The consoles are gearing towards it,
the games supporting VR are stacking up and it all looks
very promising. Even our editor is considering putting up
the £349 reported for the PlayStation VR headset.
Still, I can’t help but feel the shine has been taken off
E3 2016 by the lack of any real news. Everything at the
show was either ‘leaked’ beforehand (which is another
way of saying released under the guise of misinformation
by the PR team to test the waters) or continuations of
popular series.
No Red Dead Redemption 2 (granted, a sequel, but
would have been a shock nonetheless), no dramatic
announcement that the next Nintendo console will be out
in a month and be three times more powerful than any
current console, nothing of real significance.
It’s a shame, but still we have the virtual reality world to
look forward to courtesy of some updated hardware a