Five things we learned on first day of E3
LOS ANGELES — By the time the doors opened here Tuesday, the Electronic Entertainment Expo had provided plenty of information about the state of the video games business.
Now that Monday's media day is behind us, let's take a look at what we've learned so far:
1. Women are playing a bigger role — on and off screen. It appears developers are taking steps to place more women in the spotlight, whether on stage or as the stars of high-profile games. Characters including Lara Croft (Rise of The Tomb Raider), Faith (Mirror's Edge) and Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn) carry their own titles as strong female leads, while other games including Fallout 4 and Mass Effect Andromeda offer the option to play as a female. More women also appeared front and center in press events, from 343 Industries boss Bonnie Ross, who leads development of Halo 5: Guardians to Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir, game producer on arguably one of the hottest games at the show, Star Wars Battlefront.
2. Games are getting larger and larger. Titles like Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, both boasting massive worlds, are just the beginning. Fallout 4 is promising an expansive universe set in Boston, while the ambitious No Man's Sky claims players can explore an endless selection of galaxies and planets. Scale is a word used often at this year's E3. Good luck finding all the free time to finish these games.
3. Virtual reality is the new hot commodity. It seems everyone wants a piece of virtual reality. On top of a controller deal with Oculus, Microsoft is working with Valve Software on its own VR technology. Then there's HoloLens, highlighted by an incredible demo of Minecraft that truly seems to bring the game to life. Sony shared fresh experiences for Project Morpheus, and there's Oculus, of course.
4. Everything old is new again. Backwards compatibility is now a real thing on the Xbox One, with a collection of more than 100 Xbox 360 made playable on the device by holiday. Then there are the myriad of reboots and collections like Rare Replay, which packages classic titles including Battletoads, Banjo Kazooie and Perfect Dark. But the highlight by far is Square Enix's reveal of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
5. Motion gaming is pretty much dead. Remember Kinect? What about PlayStation Move? Outside of a vocal command used during a demo of the original Mass Effect on Xbox One, players didn't hear a thing about motion gaming or either of these devices.
Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.