There are a few markers that we can observe to tell us about the future of the video game industry. What is showcased at the industry’s biggest trade show, E3, held just a few of weeks ago, is the biggest indicator. However, just as important as what manufacturers and publishers show off are what they decide to withhold from the spectacle of the expo.
Virtual reality is bigger than ever
Virtual reality has been a growing field within the industry for the past several years, and the proliferation of VR demo stations on the show floor from the biggest publishers is highly indicative that the industry expects a big holiday season for VR.
VR hardware manufacturers, Oculus and HTC, both showcased their technology with large booths (Samsung also had a large presence with its own booth for Gear VR), and show attendees waited in line for hours to get their hands and eyes on the tech. Not only that, but both large and small video game publishers and developers featured VR tech to demonstrate their upcoming VR titles.
Playstation had large segments of its booth dedicated to demonstrating its latest developments with the Playstation VR platform, and similarly had long lines and tremendous wait times to demo.
Just earlier this year, VR head-mounted displays from Oculus, HTC, and Samsung were made available to purchase, and now supplies are starting to stabilize, keeping up with orders with little to no delays with shipments.
The proliferation of VR demos at E3 this year indicates that the industry expects strong sales for VR hardware and software this holiday season. VR headsets may very well be the big ticket gift this holiday season.
4K-ready Xbox One S has no competition
Rumors of Microsoft’s new consoles preceded the company’s press briefing, but sure enough, Xbox One S and Project Scorpio were officially announced during the livestreamed briefing.
Xbox One S, a smaller and more powerful version of the Xbox One, will be released this holiday season, with the 2TB version due in August (512GB and 1TB versions will launch later, but no launch date has been announced).
The One S improves upon the Xbox One by offering 4K video playback of movies and programming via streaming services and 4K Blu-Ray. Additionally, the One S will offer expanded color range and balanced exposure in video games with high dynamic range technology. It should be noted that the One S will not offer other improvements in video game performance, such as resolution or frame rates – that is what Project Scorpio might do.
Microsoft’s other big console announcement is codenamed, Project Scorpio. It is currently in development, and is being touted as a console capable of 4K gaming. Although there is no specific launch date, it is projected to release in 2017, presumably during the holiday season.
What was not at E3?
Activision was a mainstay at E3, taking up a sizable portion of the show floor with demo booths for Skylanders and Call of Duty. However, the company bowed out of E3 this year, presumably to divert show-related expenses into its own expo, the Call of Duty XP fan event (September 2-4, 2016).
Similarly, EA, which traditionally has occupied a mega-sized booth directly at the entrance of one of the main halls at E3, was not on the show floor. Instead, EA this year booked a large event space in LA Live, just a block away from the Convention Center. The event space housed demo stations for Battlefield 1, EA Sports titles, and Titanfall 2. What is more, EA opened its event to the public throughout E3.
Nintendo’s next console, the Nintendo NX, was once again absent from E3. Interestingly, Nintendo’s entire booth was dedicated to just one game (which won’t launch until 2017): The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A long line of attendees, waiting for the chance to play the game stretched around the perimeter of Nintendo’s large booth.
Another highly-anticipated console, Sony’s Playstation Neo, was also disappointingly absent from E3. Sony did not share any information about the console at the show, which does not yet have a release date.
Last year at E3, Microsoft Hololens made huge waves during the Xbox briefing, and was made available to demo on the show floor. It was noticeably missing in action however this year. Hololens developer kits are currently available, but no announcements have been made for a retail version of the augmented reality headset.
Microsoft’s Kinect was nowhere to be found at E3 – not even at the Xbox booth. Considering the Xbox One S will not have a Kinect port built into it (Kinect can still connect to it via a USB dongle), and no games using Kinect were featured at E3, it’s safe to believe that the motion-detection camera is all but abandoned by Microsoft.
Conclusion
This holiday season will see a big push towards VR, with a slew of new games and experiences to move the hardware. In addition, Microsoft’s timing with the 4K-capable Xbox One S, couldn’t be better, unless Sony surprises the world with a late Neo announcement. Sony will have plenty to work with however, with the launch of its own VR platform.
