The Biggest No Shows At E3 2016

E3 has come to a close, and it brought along a multitude of new game and hardware announcements from most of the major players.

Microsoft came out swinging with two new consoles, those being the Xbox One S and the 2017 launching Project Scorpio. Sony has its own console coming sometime that same year, codenamed Neo, but they didn’t show that off at E3. Nintendo didn’t show off their new system either, the NX, and most likely won’t till later this year or early next year.

As for games, there were plenty to choose from. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild made a strong showing, as did Horizon: Zero Dawn and South Park: The Fractured But Whole. Sony debuted their new God of War title, while Microsoft showed off ReCore and Gears of War 4. There are too many to list, but his post isn’t really about what was show at E3.

Instead, it’s about what wasn’t at the big show. Games, companies, and consoles alike, if they didn’t show up then they’re fair game, so let’s take a look at the big no-shows of E3 2016.

Kingdom Hearts 3

This was probably the biggest absentee of E3 this year.

Square Enix put the spotlight squarely on their (also) much-delayed Final Fantasy XV, but somewhere in there they managed to announce and show off their Final Fantasy XII Remaster, The Zodiac Age.

I’m excited to see how that turns out sure, but Kingdom Hearts 3 has been one of their most anticipated games for a few years now, and it was really surprising to see E3 go by without even a closed door presentation of the game. 

Aside from the news that Final Fantasy worlds won’t be used in the upcoming game (which in itself is a disappointment), sadly there just isn’t much to go on.

Beyond Good And Evil 2

Another year, another sad promise of “it’s still in development”.

Beyond Good and Evil 2 is starting to become the Duke Nukem Forever of this generation. If the original wasn’t so well done I would just about abandon all hope, but for whatever reason there is a part of me that just won’t let it go.

Michael Ancel again came out after E3 and said it was still in development and was indeed not cancelled, which only goes so far. I keep wondering how Pixar has made three Cars films and yet we still don’t have a sequel to Beyond Good and Evil.

Naughty Dog

This could be looked at as more of a well-deserved break, as the talented company just released an all out classic in Uncharted 4.

Still, I am surprised that they didn’t at least tease a new project. Whether it be the heavily rumoured Last of Us 2, a remake or sequel to Jak and Daxter, or an entirely new IP, the studio has too much of a pedigree to sit idle for long.

I imagine at E3 2017 the company won’t be as silent.

NX

Disclaimer here. Nintendo did say before E3 that they weren’t going to be talking about their new console, the mysterious NX.

That said, seriously?

They bet big on Zelda and Pokemon Sun and Moon, and while those games certainly impressed (especially Zelda), I still can’t believe they put so many eggs in one basket for the biggest show of the year.

This is where you go to show customers just why they should invest in your console and platform, and Nintendo gave everyone 1 lonely reason to buy a Wii U, without informing them of what their future options are going to be. You’re just begging players to leave for greener pastures.

Even a small tease would’ve helped.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

The second Square Enix game to make the list, and while I knew that Final Fantasy XV would take the bulk of the focus (it releases later this year), I did expect to see at least some progress footage of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Square Enix has started adopting the mini-event presentation model, as they did earlier this year when they spotlighted Final Fantasy XV, so maybe that will come later this year. 

Either way, for being such a big part of Sony’s E3 press conference last year, it was surprising to see it missing from their lineup.