E3 2017 is a year away, but this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo gave the video game community ample trailers and teasers and hands-on time to tide most people over, at least until Gamescom.
While this year's E3 was plagued by about as many leaks as last year's conference, there were still plenty of surprises. The theme this year might have been redemption.
After millions of gamers lined up to dislike Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare's reveal trailer in May, Activision dropped the hype and swagger to leave the E3 trailer speak for itself. Undoubtedly, a lot of gamers rethought their stance on Infinite Warfare after only realizing it was a CoD game a minute or so into the trailer.
Meanwhile, Watch Dog 2, shown off before E3, got its message out to several YouTubers who have been spreading the message that the actual gameplay looks as good as the trailer. The original Watch Dog is now infamous for having its graphics tuned down from the E3 version of the game and even making special game assets for wowing gamers during that presentation.
Titanfall 2 is ready to tell a story, which drove up its stock among those who longed for a campaign in the original game. While Bethesda is late to the hero-shooter party, the studio announced that it would redeem itself with the launch of Quake Champions.
As an underdog in this console generation, Microsoft was also out to redeem itself. It announced the slimmer Xbox One S, which is 40 percent more compact than the original, confirmed Project Scorpio, a console that will easily beat the PlayStation Neo unless Sony adds something to what's already on the drawing board.
Along with redemption, there was also humility and sensitivity. Microsoft, at one time boasting of cloud-calculated destruction physics, had to announce that Crackdown 3 was being pushed way back. Sony and Hello Games kept quiet about No Man's Sky, which was pushed back just before its planned June 2016 release date.
Here's a roundup of the platforms and release dates for the best of what E3 2016 showed us, a collection of blank slates and second chances:
Watch Dogs 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Nov. 15
Steep (PC, PS4, Xbox One) December 2016
South Park: The Fractured But Whole (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Dec. 6
Dishonored 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Nov. 11, 2016
Pokemon Sun and Moon (3DS) Nov. 18
ReCore (Xbox One, Windows 10) September 2016
Days Gone (PS4), no release date
Titanfall 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Oct. 28
Abzu (PC, PS4) Aug. 2
Cuphead (Xbox One, PC) 2016
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Nov. 4
Battlefield 1 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Oct. 21
Detroit: Become Human (PS4) 2017
Resident Evil 7 (PSVR, PS4, PC, Xbox One) Jan. 24, 2017
The Last Guardian (PS4) Oct. 25
Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) Feb. 28, 2017
God of War (PS4) no date
Prey (PC, PS4, Xbox One) 2017
Mass Effect Andromeda (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Q1 2017
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (NX, Wii U) 2017
Giant Cop (Vive, Rift) 2016
Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox One, Windows 10) Sept. 27
Scalebound (Xbox One, Windows 10) delayed, 2017
Vampyr (PC, PS4, Xbox One) 2017
Mirage Arcane Warfare (PC) 2016
Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One, Windows 10) Feb. 21, 2017
Inside (Xbox One, PC) June 2016; July 7
Sea of Thieves (Xbox One, Windows 10) 2017
Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U) Oct. 7
Mafia 3 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Oct. 7
For Honor (PC, PS4, Xbox One) Feb. 14, 2017
Dawn of War 3 (PC) no date
LawBreakers (PC) Summer 2016
Dual Universe (PC) no date
#E3 #DualUniverse #Teaser. 1st #PreAlpha Footage! NoCGI, everything you see is in-game! #Gamedev https://t.co/25b1FHt9Rk
— Dual Universe (@dualuniverse) June 13, 2016
