The Calm Before the Storm - The Week Before E3 2016

Oh boy, I love this time of year! Every June ESA throws the biggest press conference in gaming (among other things), also known as E3. The Electronic Entertainment Expo takes place in Los Angeles this year and is already looking really promising. I decided I'm going to try my best to cover this event right here on the LAN Mob Blog! I'll be posting about every major conference starting with EA's conference at 4pm on Sunday June 12th right after they happen. I'll also do my very best to absorb as much information as possible from developers that don't get the honor of having their own major conference. Unfortunately, due to the size of E3, I think a lot of people miss some of the gems hidden on the showcase floor. Some of my favorite games of all time had E3 debuts but didn't get a lot of recognition for that. Obviously, every major gaming website will also be doing their best to keep you informed (IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku etc etc) but to see what effect all these releases and previews have on your local LAN Center check back here all next week!

Just like every year, there are already an incredible amount of E3 leaks and rumors. Just this morning Injustice 2 has officially been let out of the bag, possibly due to leaks. Ed Boon has been hinting at this by changing his Twitter picture to a roman numeral 2, in the same font as the original Injustice. LAN Mob's regular Snapop23  has suggested Ed Boon's mysterious random tweet of "Sub-Zero and Raiden." is a cryptic hint that these MK regulars will be playable in Injustice 2, similar to Scorpion in the original title. Obviously we will have to wait and see but that sounds about right to me. I really fell in love with the original Injustice so obviously I was ecstatic to see the trailer for Injustice 2! Hopefully there is even more information to come. Check out the trailer below!

Another HUGE rumor circulating the internet about E3 2016 is that Bethesda will be announcing a Skyrim Remaster. I don't know exactly where the rumor started, and at this point no amount of internet digging will answer that question, but reportedly there was a link from a German "inside source" to a picture of a completely remastered view of Riverwoods from Skyrim. After seeing what Bethesda can do with current gen in Fallout 4, I'm sure I'm not alone in saying a Skyrim Remaster is absolutely fine by me. Bethesda's press conference will go live at 10:00pm Sunday June 12th, and we'll just have to find out then!

I could talk about E3 rumors all day, but as far as confirmed E3 content goes, it looks like there will absolutely be a new Watch_Dogs title. Due to leaks, early Twitch ads and an early IGN article, Watch_Dogs 2 has basically been announced in full. Ubisoft's original title of Watch_Dogs has a ton of history with the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and I definitely hope Watch_Dogs 2 fairs well. It already has a trailer too! Check it out below! Another confirmed title is Dead Rising 4. This one is of absolutely no surprise to me, as Microsoft has been promising some sort of exclusives for E3 2016, and I didn't really expect many IPs. Capcom isn't saying anything (which I respect a lot!) and we'll have to wait until they show up on stage. There's also a lot of talk about Capcom showcasing a Resident Evil 7, but we'll see! I hope for a new Dragon's Dogma!

Monday June 13th at 11am, Monday June 13th at 9pm and Tuesday June 14th at Noon will be the Xbox, Sony and Nintendo conferences, in that order. Obviously, the main question on everyone's mind is "Will there be new hardware!?" and I'm here to tell you with the utmost confidence....I have no idea. We will have to wait and see. However, rumors of the "NX" and the "PS4K" and the mysterious "Scorpio" have been swimming around news feeds for a while now, so I kind of suspect something hardware related.

 As far as personal opinions/predictions go, I suspect to see SOMETHING substantial from Microsoft. They almost don't have a choice. There isn't even a console war anymore, Microsoft is blatantly losing. I know they have things up their sleeves, they just need to show people something. I also suspect either this E3 to showcase some really cool VR stuff, but I don't expect any huge developer titles until next year, as the technology is so new. However I believe VR will be taking a bigger and bigger place in E3 every year from here on out. Personal wishes of mine is to see a new Crash Bandicoot. There's a lot of reason why I don't believe this is too far fetched to believe in, such as Uncharted 4's easter egg, Andrew House saying "I definitely wouldn't close the door yet" in regards to our orange friend, and the insane Twitter movement #BringCrashBack. I'd also really like to see anything at all regarding Kingdom Hearts 3. It's hard to stay hyped for a game for years on end without being shown too much. I'd love to see Ninja Theory have some sort of presence at E3 with their new title "Hellblade". Ninja Theory is a developer that I've followed from Day 1, and I love almost everything they have a hand in, so "Hellblade" is high on my list.

There's a ton of content coming in the next 3 days, between announcements, trailers and interviews, I'm personally using Polygon's beautiful Stream Schedule to develop some sort of plan for the storm. We'll be posting a lot during E3, and viewing various streams right here in the shop, so keep checking back or stop in! I hope everyone gets to see a little bit of something they've been wanting to.