PixlBit

A boy and his frog

My earliest years in gaming was a magical time. Every new game I discovered pioneered a fresh mechanic I hadn’t seen before. I'll never forget the moment when my brother's best friend came over with his NES games to show off Blaster Master. I marveled as the story elements unfolded while melancholic music played in the attract mode. Pressing the start button then transitioned me to the opening shot of an armored vehicle speeding off while the triumphant music swelled to a crescendo as I journeyed into the unknown. Never had I witnessed anything like that at the time. While everything I just described is nothing spectacular these days, Blaster Master still has a few gameplay elements that still hold up quite nicely.

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I made a terrible mistake coming here.

Welcome to our next (an likely final) special from E3 2017! Angelo steps out of the woods and hasn't heard a speck of E3 news, so the bulk of the show is Julian filling him in on everything he's missed. Enjoy the hilarity as Angelo reacts in real time to the Xbox One X, that odd Shadow of the Colossus remake, and the announcement of not one, but two new Metroid games.

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Those sure are some pretty looking games...

There is no doubt that Microsoft has had a rough, uphill battle since they first showed the Xbox One at E3 2013. Between a misguided push towards an all-digital future and a higher launch price point than the PlayStation 4, the market penetration that MS had with the Xbox 360 seemed to vanish in just a couple short years. With Sony continuing to win with their console and so much positive feedback on the Nintendo Switch, all eyes were on Microsoft for their E3 2017 press conference. Would their widely hyped Project Scorpio hardware be enough to put them back into competition? Only history will tell, but for now, it may be a case of too little, too late.

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Also, a lot of new hardware announcements.

I think it’s safe to say that the unveiling of the Xbox One a few years ago was one of the most tone-deaf, poorly received debuts of a video game console since, well, Sony commented that people would get a second job to afford their $599 PlayStation 3 all those years ago. Since then, Microsoft has been doing everything in its power to right those wrongs and bring their console up to the user base that the PS4 currently enjoys. This E3 continues that trend and, while there were very few surprises, the Microsoft press conference put the emphasis squarely on exclusive games and community.

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