E3 is sort of a tradition in gaming, seen as the granddaddy of the big gaming expos, which have branched out into what feels like one per month now. Back before there were a million PAX shows and Gamescoms there was E3 and it was a time when all of the firepower of the gaming world was concentrated on one huge event, with new games, new ideas and technologies being on full display every year. When E3 was coming around, everyone knew that it was time to get excited because there was nothing else that could compare to it. Now we have publishers, developers and hardware manufacturers splintering which events get big reveals or just put on big events of their own, foregoing the big E3 reveal where some felt like their reveals were getting overshadowed by the competition.
While there were times where some games and systems would get swept aside for some of the bigger, more exciting news, it was part of what made E3 feel like such a big, special event; there was just so much going on. Over the past few years it has begun to feel a bit more cumbersome, with the big reveals being few and far between and E3 struggling with its identity in a world of other gaming events happening regularly.
All of this might change, though, as Microsoft has revealed its intentions of using E3 as one of the springboards for their upcoming Xbox 720/Durango console. May 21st may serve as the official unveiling of the new Xbox by Microsoft, but according to reports, E3 is going to serve as their place to show off the software and all of the new games that they plan on launching for the Xbox 720, making their new Xbox one of the few huge focal points at E3.
I can’t remember the last big reveal that we saw at an E3 event that felt like a big deal and Microsoft might erase all of that from memory and make a few big unveilings in just two weeks time now. If the competition in Sony and Nintendo don’t want to be shown up, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to cook up something special for this year’s E3 as well to combat what would be a Microsoft-centric newscycle at E3, especially after what will be a few weeks of talk about the new Microsoft Xbox console.
Even if Sony and Nintendo don’t step up to the plate (note: Nintendo has no plans to even make much of a show of it), knowing that something actually big is being planned for E3 only helps to add to the mystique and the aura that the gaming show giant has lost over the past few years. We know that Microsoft has big plans for E3 and that is a whole lot more than we’ve seen for E3 in quite a while now. While from a perspective of a writer, knowing that E3 is coming and that there is going to be a lot of work to do is a bit daunting, but knowing that once again there is going to be a bunch of cool, big announcements does wash away some of that dread quite a bit, knowing that some of the “magic” might return to E3 this year.
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