When I was a wee(er) lad, I can recall E3 being a time of amazement.  Most years were giant reveals, amazing gameplay, and neat ideas.  I’d buy gaming magazines and surf what was the dredges of internet 1.0.  It was like entering a candy store of new things.

As time has worn on, E3 has lost it luster.  The breaking point for me was the XBONE / PS4 presentations.  One was of head scratching boneheaded moves, followed by another that was just continual *mic drop* moments.  Maybe I was just naive but until that time I truly thought E3 was about the gaming culture and way forward.

Now, not so much.  E3 is full of bullshots.  Not exactly new to the world, but in today’s market of “good looking games” it’s annoying to see something gorgeous at E3 and then comes out looking like a potato.  Or to see gameplay mechanics that in no way resemble the actual game.  Or to announce a game, then never release it.

That’s not even talking about the tone-deaf presentations.  The FIFA presentation is a good example, where you could download a demo of the game right now! and that fell to complete silence.  Or the headshaking in the crowd on the EA presentations.  Not that every game has to have people yelling at the top of their lungs, but it really seems like there’s a growing disconnect between the companies and the gamers supporting them.

The days of new ideas and IP are long gone.  Most of E3 is sequels or bandwagon hoping.  The sense of wonder and amazement is just drained when you’re seeing Gears5, SSB:U, or Battlefield5.  Some of the mechanics may be tweaked, but I know what to expect otherwise.

Side note – hats off to Microsoft for realizing that games sell consoles, and focusing on cross-play.  They have a heck of a hill to climb, and some of the stuff there looked interesting.

I think as I get older, the less I care about what happens in a year from now in the gaming world.  I have much less time to game, so it’s not like I am at a loss of quality games to play today.  Not to mention the fact that I’ve played all these games before.  I’m not disappointing, or even looking forward to it.  Just apathy really.

Until the game gets closer to actual release, and people I trust (odd term for the internet) have sunk their teeth, I choose to dwell on other items.  And given today’s gaming mantra of “day 1 patch to fix everything”, in most cases I’m better off waiting a few weeks after release to actually play it.