A little perspective
A lot can happen in a year: births, deaths, marriages, divorces, everyone jumping on the Breaking Bad bandwagon. And while many measure a years events from January to December, gamers find it just as easy to plan their time according to the 12 month span between E3 conventions in Los Angeles. And if you look at what has happened since 2013s event, the industry has gone through a shocking number of changes.
Jack Tretton has left Sony Computer Entertainment
While Kaz Riiiidge Racer Hirai might be the man most gamers associate with Sonys E3 press conferences, Jack Tretton became a favorite in recent years. Some may recall important moments like Tretton humbly addressing the PSN outage in 2011, or his satisfied grin at announcing the PS4 would have no used game restrictions. The latter was a moment of career satisfaction that may never be topped, and you likely wont see him try to improve on it any time soon, as he left Sony on April 1 of this year.
Sony comes into E3 on top
The PS3 era must have felt like a very long generation for Sony. The company came into it on the defensive, continually having to clean up a boatload of mistakes, all while trying to catch up to Microsofts early lead in console sales. But, as in a cliched sports film, this humbled the former industry leader, and (as you saw in the previous slide) it came out swinging with the PS4. This has left Sony in a position unfamiliar to many younger gamers: first place.
Don Mattrick is gone from Microsoft
If Jack Tretton left Sony as the conquering hero (with Sony fanboys wrote epic poems in his name), then Don Mattricks Microsoft exit was far less regal. Mattrick had overseen the Xbox brand for six years, often hosting Microsofts press conference with a type of muted excitement, like when he unveiled the 360 Slim. Mattrick certainly didnt hear those cheers when presenting the Xbox One to the world, and he quickly became the face of every problem people had with the new system.
The Xbox One is a very different system
E3 2013 was a real learning experience for Microsoft. It had so much enthusiasm for the Xbox One, but a large chunk of the public wasnt into the confusing rules about online, nor the price, or the Kinect camera required to operate the console. Microsoft used much of its precious stage time to explain these plans to doubtful consumers, and it left MS open to the aforementioned Jack Tretton knockout blow. And despite all that time and energy, the Xbox One quickly transformed into a very different system post-E3.
Nintendo has some weird plans to save itself
Gamers have come a long way since the It prints money! days, as Nintendo had some tough times following E3 2013. Sure, the company wasnt in great shape going into last years event, with particularly stagnant Wii U sales, but the company had a strong holiday lineup that could potentially change the situation. Despite quality Wii U games, the console didnt come close to hitting these conservative holiday estimates, and has already been outsold worldwide by the PS4. Despite healthy 3DS sales, Nintendo is firmly in third in the current console war.
Microsoft purchased Gears of War from Epic
This time last year many were wondering what Epic Games had planned for next-gen consoles, particularly with its Microsoft-exclusive Gears of War series. How would it look on the Unreal 4 engine? Would it be a centerpiece of Microsofts presentation? Or would Sony score it as a PS4 release? Gear never showed up at E3 2013, and just as people were questioning Epics commitment to the the series, the publisher sold it to Microsoft.
Irrational Games is basically gone
Following years of anticipation for BioShock Infinite, the game shipped to acclaim and millions of copies sold. Riding this wave of success, Irrational boss Ken Levine has the potential to own E3 2014... or rather he would, if Irrational still existed. Fans are still eager to see Levines next game, but the excitement falls under the shadow of the massive downsizing of Irrational Games.
Indie games are everywhere
Indie games had made slow headway on consoles, but the last year saw them take a big leap forward thanks to the new generation of consoles. Indies are a well-established entity on PC, but the new systems open the doors to console gamers wider than ever for indies. Through either planning or happenstance, indies are a major part of the PS4 and Xbox One today, and will likely only get bigger at this years E3.
Streaming is more normal than ever
Much like indies, streaming is an area traditionally dominated by PC. However, during the last 12 months consoles have really started to catch up. During E3 last year, streaming your own PS3 or 360 games took a little technical know-how and some pricey hardware. By comparison, the PS4 and Xbox One are amazingly stream-friendly, with owners given easy access to services like Twitch and UStream.
