Game developers and publishers announced the next big titles coming out in 2016-2017 making this year’s E3 the busiest yet. In it effort to separate itself from industry and make itself more accessible to fans, EA hosted its convenient and offsite 3-day event EA Play at Club Nokia. Despite its best intentions, the two story area could not handle the thousands who were interested in playing Titanfall 2 and other EA products. EA’s front booth and center booth were replaced by Hangar 13’s Mafia 3, which hosted live New Orleans inspired jazz music.The show floor in the West and South Hall at the LA Convention Center followed the trend of less freebies and live music performances. Unlike the previous year, the show floor was emptier and more spacious, making it easier to form lines. What helped make everything more organized was that Playstation utilized Guidebook, an app that keeps track of E3 appointments and to claim a spot at getting a sneak preview of their upcoming games.
Playstation
Most companies have thrown their weight onto VR headsets but the one game that demonstrated a solid fan-following is the new Final Fantasy title. After Square Enix dropped the announcement that FFXV would include VR capabilities, fans named the RPG one of the best games to come. Many of the titles announced at the Playstation Press Conference had a VR mode, similar to how the 3DS has a 3D mode. The future of VR is unsteady as the hefty price of Playstation’s VR system costs $399, which is just as expensive as the PS4 console itself, making it a hard buy for many consumers.
Nintendo
Probably the most popular, coveted booth this year was Nintendo’s newest game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. For those who could bear the nearly two and a half hour wait, or even the 45 minute wait just to see the inside space were the lucky few to receive a free shirt, coin and unlimited play of the game before its release. Inside had a bow-drawn life-size Link against a machine opponent. Surprisingly, there was a complete lack of playable Pokemon games or any games besides Zelda. As Nintendo prepares for its massive number of releases later this year, was it a smart move to place all of its eggs in the Zelda basket?
CD PROJEKT RED
Despite its small footprint at the show, CD Projeckt Red gave their players free Polish beer and a swag bag while they play their newest game: Gwent, a collectible trading card game spin-off from the popular Witcher series. The game is simple to understand: players are given a set amount of cards at the beginning and the player who wins two out of three rounds is the winner.
ATLUS
Considering Persona 5’s delayed release date from late 2016 to Valentine’s Day in 2017, fans seemed less than satisfied with the new promotional video. Even the deadpan CGI mascot Morgana couldn’t get the small crowd cheering. However, an open panel discussion with character designer Shigenori Soejima drew in a sizeable amount of people. He answered pre-selected questions about his character designs and what influences him as an artist. ATLUS has other titles slated for release later this year such as Yakuza 0 and the new Shin Megami Tensei 3DS game, but unfortunately due to the booth’s promotional event, non-Persona titles were impossible to play due to the cramped space.
Kalai Chik 
