More Thoughts From Me #269: The Return of E3

Last year there was no E3. It wasn’t a great year for games. This year so far has been better but developers are still struggling a bit. And E3 is returning. I want to talk about E3 and why gamers shouldn’t set their expectations too high.

E3 is returning this year. It will be an all virtual event though, so there will be no show floor for press, developers, and celebrities’ to attend.

Most of the big publishers will be there: Nintendo, Microsoft, Square Enix, and more. It looks like, so far, that Sony won’t be involved. Hopefully that’ll change.

The event will take place June 12-15. This is different because E3 is starting on a Saturday! Usually E3 starts on a Tuesday and goes until Thursday. Now its starting Saturday and going to Tuesday.

Microsoft would usually have their presentation on the Monday night before E3 and then Nintendo would go right before E3 begins on Tuesday!

No dates have been announced been announced for the Microsoft or Nintendo presentations. Personally I think Microsoft will go Friday night.

Nintendo will either do their presentation on Friday morning or Saturday morning. I think Saturday because usually Nintendo does the Direct and then has Treehouse Live going during E3.

Its very likely that fans will have to choose whether they want to watch Nintendo’s treehouse or the official E3 stream. Of course if Saturday is the day that Microsoft goes than I guess we could see Nintendo on a Sunday. We have seen Nintendo on Sunday before with the Wii U reveal.

And I know many of you have high hopes for this year’s E3. You want to see big games and lots of surprises. I’d love to see that too. Its been very hard year so far. It would be great to tune it out and enjoy the world of games.

But I want to express caution. Developers, especially big ones, are having a hard time right now. Most of them are still working from home. We are still in a pandemic. So its possible that more games than expected could be delayed.

We may not see Breath of the Wild 2 this year. We definitely won’t see Metroid Prime 4. And other games like the new Halo and Final Fantasy 16 may also see delays till 2022 (or beyond). These developers are doing the best they can under a bad situation…

Look. If you think there’s nothing worse than a delayed game than I envy you. You must have an easy life.

Gamers are so lucky. Most of us don’t realize it. With this pandemic, we could’ve been hit like TV and especially movies were hit. Look at all those delayed movies! Most of the 2020 lineup movies still hasn’t come out and its possible some movies could get delayed AGAIN.

So if you don’t see your favorite game at E3 or you do but it has a 2022 date, shrug it off. Enjoy what we do see at E3.

I’m not saying you can’t be disappointed at all. I know I’ll be disappointed if E3 sucks. But ultimately, we all have plenty of games we can play. Lots of games are out already. Play some game you haven’t played before or play a game you’ve played a million times.

Patience. Understanding. Fun.

We all need to stand together and cheer developers/publishers on. Most of them are trying their best. We have to be stronger and more understanding.

I do hope E3 will be good. I want it to be good. But if its not, oh well. Pick yourself up and play something else.

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. I would so love to see Breath of the Wild 2 announced for later this year.