More Thoughts From Me E3 2019 Special Edition: What was that Microsoft?

Microsoft hyped up an E3 2019 beyond our imagination. They promised surprises, bringing someone new, lots of games, and more. Shigeru Miyamoto was even rumored to appear at the Xbox Briefing. So how did the conference turn out? Well…lets talk about it…

What was that Microsoft?

Xbox E3 Briefing 2019 was full of games, sure, but nothing too stunning. We knew about most of the games and the ones we didn’t know about were mostly indies. Microsoft, to their credit, didn’t spend too much time hyping their sales. Instead, they focused on games. Unfortunately, they really didn’t have much…

All of the main Xbox games were things we already knew about. Most of the third party games were games like Elden Ring, Borderlands 3, and Cyberpunk.

In my opinion, the best looking games of the conference were the indie games. There were some real surprises,  like 12 Mintues, Spiritfarer, and Way to the Woods.

Also surprising was that Double Fine has joined Xbox Game Studios. A new Pyschonauts 2 trailer was shown and it looked great. I have mixed feelings about this though. I am glad that Double Fine now has a home to support them and their amazing games. That said, with them being Xbox exclusive, that means we are unlikely to see Pyschonauts 2 on the Playstation 4. sigh.

Another game that I really liked seeing was Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. I also thought that the Forza Horizon Lego expanison looked cool.

Overall though, Xbox’s conference was mostly flash and little substance . It wasn’t completely their fault though. Rumors of Shigeru Miyamoto at the conference hyped things up a bit more than was reasonable. That was a very evil rumor. I guess Keanu as the someone new.

Microsoft did, however, say (on social media) that we should check out the Nintendo Direct on Tuesday. Hmm. I wonder what will be shown there.

Despite the rumors though, the Xbox conference seemed like it wanted to be great but couldn’t pull it off. Even an appearance by Keanu Reeves couldn’t save this confernece. And the Scarlett was all noise and no console. Its not coming til Holiday 2020, so the real reveal will be next E3…

So what happened Microsoft?

Maybe this is why Sony skipped E3 this year. With a new console on its way, Sony didn’t have too much new to show. The same was true for Microsoft but they came anyway. Its too bad.

The bar has now been set very low for this E3. Will Bethesda, Square Enix, or Nintendo do better? We can hope so!

Next: I’ll be back tomorrow with my thoughts on Square Enix’s conference. I’m crossing my fingers now.

Tuesday: Nintendo! I high hopes. Please don’t let me down Nintendo.

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. Oh Xbox. Maybe next year eh?