With Nintendo's E3 press conference now done and dusted, all three platform holders have shown their hands, and it looks like there's a pretty exciting year ahead. From 4K remakes of classics to long-awaited sequels and intriguing new IPs, New Atlas rounds up the best looking trailers and news from the likes of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.
Microsoft
Right off the bat, Microsoft put together the last few pieces of the puzzle on Project Scorpio, its super-charged new Xbox console. We already knew the specs, but the company took the opportunity to reveal the machine's official title – the Xbox One X – and its release date of November 7. Then, it was onto the important stuff: the games.
Forza Motorsport 7 brought the 4K eye candy, and it'll likely be the first port of call for those looking to show off a new 4KTV/Xbox One X combo.
Metro Exodus was a nice surprise. The third game in the Russian post-apocalyptic survival series looks absolutely gorgeous, and this time around the journey apparently spans an entire continent.
State of Decay 2 looks like more of the same, just bigger and prettier. But considering how good the first game's open-ended take on zombie slaughter and base-building was, we're totally fine with that.
Crackdown 3's latest trailer has a ton of Terry Crews doing what Terry Crews does best: screaming and laughing. We can't think of a better drill sergeant to psyche us up before bouts of blowing up entire city blocks.
After announcing it at E3 2015, Rare has shown off an extended gameplay trailer for Sea of Thieves. It's a pirate-themed MMO, with plenty of treasure hunting, musket battles and ship-to-ship cannon combat.
The ever-updated Minecraft is getting… well, some new updates. Kind of counter-intuitively, the blocky sandbox will soon receive 4K support on Xbox One, and in a wise move for its continued longevity, Minecraft is becoming cross-platform. That means players can jump in together regardless of whether they're playing on Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows 10, iOS or Android (including Gear VR) – but unfortunately, Sony hasn't brought the PS4 to the party.
Sony
With no new hardware to push, Sony's E3 showing was wall-to-wall games. Unfortunately, the insanely-anticipated Last of Us Part II was nowhere to be seen, but there was plenty more to make up for it.
The presser opened with a story trailer for the Uncharted spinoff, The Lost Legacy. Chloe's been promoted to protagonist, and has to team up with Nadine Ross from Uncharted 4 to hunt down the Tusk of Ganesha.
The Last of Us Part II may have been absent, but a new IP, Days Gone, has some very similar vibes. According to the gameplay trailer, we'll be sneaking around raiders, setting traps and luring zombie hordes to do our dirty work.
This year's Call of Duty instalment takes us back to the well-trodden setting of World War II, so there'll be no real surprises to this one. Still, Activision took a moment to show off some multiplayer gameplay.
A trailer for the fourth God of War showed a heady mix of story and gameplay, introducing some of the Norse monsters and bosses Kratos will be tearing apart, interspersed with some character-building scenes between him and his son. It looks like some sections will be playable as Kratos Jr.
A longer look at David Cage's next project, Detroit: Become Human, shows a future where androids, essentially slaves, begin revolting against their human overlords. Like Cage's previous games, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls, Detroit has a branching narrative that allows players to follow violent or pacifist paths.
Sony wrapped up the show with a lengthy look at the upcoming Spider-Man game. Swinging Spidey around looks like pure joy, and there are plenty of powers at his disposal to keep combat slinging along at a steady pace.
In other news, one of the best games from the PS2 era, Shadow of the Colossus, is getting the PS4 remake treatment, and Sony unveiled a sizzle reel of new reasons to possibly invest in PSVR.
Nintendo
The Big N's presentation may have been short, but boy was it sweet. We didn't expect much in the way of new announcements, but we've never been happier to be wrong. With no less than four surprise reveals, it looks like the Switch will be off to a fantastic first two years.
Nintendo strangely jumped the gun with an eight-minute Pokémon-themed presentation last Friday, where it dropped the news that the arcade fighter Pokkén Tournament was coming to the Switch as a "Deluxe" package, a la Mario Kart 8.
But that wasn't the Pokémon announcement fans were clamoring for: rumors were swirling beforehand about a classic Pokémon RPG for the Switch, so the lack of confirmation was disappointing. Perhaps to quell a potential riot, Nintendo slipped a casual mention into its E3 show that the studio Game Freak is currently working on exactly that, but it won't be ready for another year, at least.
On the topic of long-awaited announcements, the unthinkable has happened: Metroid Prime 4 has been confirmed. It's been 10 years since the last (good) Metroid game, and although we're probably looking at a late 2018 release at best, it's nice to finally let ourselves get excited about it.
In nearer-term news, the Switch's fast-growing library will include both Kirby and Yoshi platformers in 2018. They both look pretty by-the-numbers, but as far as bolstering the console's offerings, they're pretty safe franchises to wheel out.
And finally, we were treated to a heaping helping of Super Mario Odyssey, the Switch's holiday tentpole this year. In the jazziest of trailers, Mario's hat takes center stage as he swings it like a weapon, jumps on it for a boost, or throws it to possesses enemies – be they Koopas, Goombas, Bullet Bills, frogs, taxis and even a T-Rex.