The show is over and so the PixlBit staff discusses the games that gave them the most thrills this year.

Mike’s Picks

Game of Show - Watch Dogs

Why is Watch Dogs my winner for E3? Simple, the concept is amazing.

Set in a dystopia where automated computer systems control everything and the select elite control the computers. It’s an interesting world where your every action transmits data that is then collected and stored through an aggregation system. Your purchases, viewing habits, and recreational actives are all used to compile information that can be used against you. Lucky as a hacker you’re able to override the system, gaining to anything and everything under the systems control, including valuable information.

At an E3 where Xbox Smart Glass, Cross Platform Play, and Gaming Tablets where all introduced, this interconnected world suddenly doesn’t seem so foreign.

As someone who’s spent an entire year of his life muddling through textbooks researching internet privacy law, I can tell you that it’s a great concept for a game. Relevant, grandiose, and a little foreboding the world in which Watch Dogs is set is not that far from the one we know. Through avenues like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, people relinquish a great deal of information every day without realizing it. Watch Dogs is a believable version of George Orwell’s “1984,” personifying the very real dangers of our ‘information overload’ society.

Runner-up - Beyond: Two Souls

If you’ve read my preview for Beyond: Two Souls, then you probably already know that I’m in love with this title, or at least with what I’ve seen so far. I’m a strong believer that games are an interactive medium that hold the potential to evoke our strongest emotions and challenge our most steadfast ideals. It is ambitious projects like Beyond: Two Souls that allow me to continue holding on to that belief.

The cinematic trailer for this title simply blew me away. The acting lead by Ellen Page was fantastic, the narrative seems deep and thought provoking, but most importantly Quantic Dream’s new sophisticated capture software adds a whole new human element to gaming. The depth and realism in which Quantic’s software provides is outstanding, but what really makes this advancement special is what Beyond: Two Souls looks to do with it. For me the best part of the trailer wasn’t the explosions, it wasn’t when we got to see Jodie’s powers. No, what truly blew me away was when Jodie sat there silently; she never spoke, but her face said more than any words ever could. I’ve never been able to empathize with a video game character on that level before and I can’t wait to do it again.

David Cage Creative Director/Founder of Quantic Dream said he’s never seen anything like Ellen Page’s performance as Jodie Holmes in a video game. I have to say, I’m inclined to believe him.