By the time you read this I’ll be honking and cursing my way through LA traffic as I try to reach the Hollywood Palladium for Electronic Arts (SW: Battlefront, Madden, FIFA) EA PLAY event. A first-hand look at new Star Wars games, sports ball titles I’ll pretend to be good at, maybe a free Coke Zero; who knows what exactly awaits or if it’ll even be worth getting up at 7am for? Thanks to the magic of Internets, you don’t have to lose sleep or even be in California to enjoy any of the E3 happenings, here’s where you can watch most of the announcements from the comfort of your house, as they happen. You can bookmark this page, for your convenience we’ve embedded all the Twitch streams for each of the conferences.
SATURDAY JUNE 10
12:00PM-1:30PM PST
EA PLAY
EA starts with a press event where the publisher will show off first footage of Star Wars Battlefront II, FIFA 18, NEED FOR SPEED, along with dropping a few other surprises. We’d love to see Amy Henning and Visceral show off the first real footage of that studio’s single person Star Wars game, but with the push being given to Battlefront II that’s not likely to happen. Here’s hoping.
Watch live video from EA on www.twitch.tv
SUNDAY JUNE 11
2:00PM-3:00PM PST
Microsoft Xbox E3 Briefing
Microsoft move from their usual Monday morning to Sunday afternoon. This is the year we find out just what Hank Scorpio has designed for Xbox’s new hardware. What will it cost? Who exactly will it be marketed to? How many times will Xbox President Phil Spencer change shirts? We’ll find out Sunday, but we’re predicting Xbox will have a big Marvel announcement of their own from the recent announced partnership between Marvel and Square Enix.
Watch live video from Xbox on www.twitch.tv
9:00PM-10:00PM PST
Bethesda E3 Showcase
The developer behind Fallout and Skyrim have had some huge pre E3 showings the past two years. What we’re likely to get from “Bethesdaland” is anyone’s guess but judging by creative director Todd Howard’s excitement over Xbox’s new hardware they could show something technologically advanced and not to be in our hands for years to come. As titles go, it’s not quite time to show Doom 2 or the new Fallout. Though there’s no law saying you can’t get a cheap pop just by showing a logo.
Watch live video from Bethesda on www.twitch.tv
MONDAY JUNE 12
1:00PM PST
Ubisoft E3
Probably the most out of touch of all the pre E3 events is Ubisoft. Previous years have been marred by out of place celebrity appearances and general awkwardness. Host, Aisha Tyler has done the best she can with some very shitty lemons but Ubisoft’s desperate cry for attention focusing away from in-game transactions and unnecessary online connectivity has been sad, to say the least. Will this be the year they finally stop acting like the teen bringing alcohol to the party in a desperate attempt to be seen as cool? Who knows? We just know there will be more Assassin’s Creed and a Farcry where you have the option to play as a female protagonist, so that’s at least a baby step in the right direction.
Watch live video from Ubisoft on www.twitch.tv
6:00PM-7:00PM PST
Sony PlayStation Live From E3
The reigning and defending champions of E3 are once again this lineup’s press conference headliner. Sony seem to be on a bulldozer roll since they first began talking about the PlayStation 4. Last year’s jaw-dropping showcase left the crowd with hoarse voices from cheering for game-after-game as each announcement seemed to only get bigger and bigger. What will PlayStation have up its sleeve this year? Definitely more Spider-Man including the name and release date of the exclusive Spidey game, but if Sony wants to leave LA with the title belt then it has to show off something we haven’t even heard of. There’s only one name in the PlayStation lineup of first party studios that can give the crowd that moment, Sucker Punch (Infamous). The developer behind one of the best PlayStation series of all time has been silent since the PS4’s Infamous: Second Son. It’s time to reveal the studio’s brand new IP.
Watch live video from PlayStation on www.twitch.tv
TUESDAY JUNE 13
9:00AM PST
NINTENDO SPOTLIGHT E3 2017
While Nintendo will not be having a big fancy press conference, one of the most household name’s in video games will have plenty to talk about Tuesday morning right before the show opens. With the new Nintendo Switch having a successful launch, it’s time for the company to talk about the roadmap of support it needs to layout in order keep early adopters and developers from abandoning it like the Wii U. Mario Odessey being the big focus, it still leaves room to reassure the audience Pokemon and Metroid have not been forgotten for Switch. Buttress that with a solid lineup of new 3rd party games that won’t be left out in the cold from EA, Ubisoft, Capcom, and WB. We already know LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 will be on Switch but it needs more.
Watch live video from Nintendo on www.twitch.tv
We’ll be at most of these conferences and the show floor next week to check out Joe Mad’s Battle Chasers: Night War, a game from Rebellion based on 2000 A.D, LEGO, and whomever else is bribing us with the promise of free Sprite. Follow @comicsbeat on Instagram to see what we’ll be up to.
