Skip to main content

Hottest Trends from E3 2009

We’ve already recapped some of our favorite titles from E3 2009, but like any good tradeshow, E3 is as much about the big picture – the future of gaming – as all the individual tidbits of candy we can’t wait to savor. After a long flight home and a weekend to let all the neon memories stew, we’ve stepped back to examine some of the bigger trends that developers have brought to the table this year. Here’s what the bleeding edge of gaming looks like this year.

Life’s a Sandbox

Non-linear gameplay isn’t just for Grand Theft Auto anymore. Technology has made building entire digital environments for players to romp around in far less daunting for developers, and many new games that formerly wouldn’t have required this level of freedom seem to be taking advantage of it. Assassin’s Creed II and Just Cause 2 both awed us with enormous (and detailed) environments that players could explore end-to-end without interruption, and others, like Scribblenauts, offer constrained environments with a nearly limitless number of objects to play with and accomplish a challenge. For gamers who want to think their own way through games, the prospects have never been brighter.

Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

The Wii is Growing Up

Wii players are finally getting a taste of blood. The family-friendly console that sprung to popularity by allowing elderly people to bowl in nursing homes and kids to race karts with Mario has finally started accruing some more mature content, including new Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Red Steel and Metroid titles, plus some new names like Sega’s conspiracy-themed The Conduit. They’re not the first of their kind by any means, but the sheer number of mature titles that debuted for the Wii this year tells us that its cartoony reputation may be fading fast.

Red Steel 2

Red Steel 2

New Hardware for Motion

Credit Nintendo Wii with the original focus on more intuitive game controllers, but this year, everyone was on board. By far the most impressive offering was Microsoft’s Project Natal prototype, which uses cameras and an infrared projector to capture accurate input from a gamer moving in front of the screen – no controller needed. Sony also showed off its own version with a demo of a super-accurate motion controller that could digitally place weapons into the hand of a player on the fly, or serve as a controller for tasks as fine as writing. Both remain prototypes for the time being, but the massive R&D dollars being poured into these types of projects clearly show what’s next for the industry.

Microsoft's Project Natal

Microsoft’s Project Natal

No More Discs

The game industry has finally discovered what pirates have known for years: It’s a lot easier to download games than go out to the store and buy them. Microsoft has always offered downloadable add-ons, content, and free demos, but it will also begin serving up entire games through a service called Games on Demand. Likewise, Sony’s new PSP Go commits even more to digital distribution because it has no disc drive to speak of, relying entirely on the PlayStation Network for new content.

Sony PSP Go

Sony PSP Go

Graphics Keep Getting Better

Call it the most obvious observation on our list – and one you have to expect every year – but we would be remiss if we didn’t point it out: Even though all three major consoles have been on the market for years now, developers continue to push their graphical potential further and further with any number of unbelievably realistic titles. On the PlayStation 3, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2 all dropped jaws, while Xbox fans couldn’t peel their eyes away from Forza Motorsport III, a game so realistic that developers literally admit they’re running out of things to simulate. Nintendo’s Wii still lags well behind its high-def, high-dollar counterparts in the graphics department, but developers have still found ways to push it further than last year with titles like Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, Silent Hill Shattered Memories and even Spyborgs.

Uncharted 2

Uncharted 2

The PC’s Not Dead Yet

The PC gaming industry may not pay for a glitzy pre-E3 press conference along with the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, but developers haven’t forgotten about the humble platform, either. We’re pretty sure the PC-exclusive Star Wars: The Old Republic demo had lightsaber-loving console gamers pining for PCs, and quite a few titles will come out across multiple platforms including PC such as The Agency, BioShock 2, Borderlands, and Left 4 Dead 2. And though we wouldn’t quite call Microsoft Surface a PC, Ruse definitely looked killer on the massive multitouch table, and we’re sure the final variant will be much more fun with a mouse and keyboard than a controller.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Sequels Live On, and On, and On

Even the most diehard Final Fantasy fans must have trouble keeping track of all the new games lately: Square Enix trotted out no less than five for E3 this year. That seems to be the continuing trend in the industry as whole, where many of the hottest games this year drew from a rich lineage, like Assassin’s Creed II, God of War III, and BioShock 2. You could chalk this up to lack of originality, but as gamers ourselves, we’re definitely guilty of buying games that promise more of what we love.

God of War III

God of War III

There’s Always Room for Little Guys

Let’s face it: E3 is a show of big-budget blockbusters developed by massive and well-known game studios like 2K and Bungie. But some of the most surprising hits from the show came from little studios. Take the aforementioned Scribblenauts, from humble 5th Cell, which allows you to usually virtually any object you can imagine to solve puzzles. Or Pluff, which uses a plush controller of an in-game character as an input, rather than a controller. We’re expecting these hot ideas to grow legs, proving that you still don’t need to hire the Beatles for promo work to sell a quality game.

Scribblenauts

Scribblenauts

Side Scrollers Never Stopped being Fun

Who would have guessed that a 2D side scroller that wouldn’t look too out of place in 1993 would be the very first announcement of Nintendo’s press conference? New Super Mario Bros., along with Majesco’s Wii remake of A Boy and His Blob, and even the graphically ramped up Shadow Complex for Xbox 360 all prove that the classic side-scrolling formula still works, even on next-gen consoles. Innovative titles like Invincible Tiger even put a new twist on it by allowing players to switch back and forth between free-roaming and side-scrolling mechanics.

A Boy and His Blob

A Boy and His Blob

Photorealism Isn’t Everything

As we already pointed out, there’s always going to be a certain class of game seeking absolute realism in gaming, and that crop of titles took yet another leap forward this year. But games also continue to venture out into new stylistic grounds. Cel shading remains a popular technique, as evidenced by titles like Fat Princess, Red Steel 2 and Borderlands, but other techniques showed up as well. The Saboteur, for instance, takes place in black-and-white environment at the start of the game, but as the main character liberates pieces of Nazi-occupied France, color begins to bleed into the world in swatches, similar to the use of red in Schindler’s List. Meanwhile, Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time strives for totally imaginative and unearthly worlds, and BioShock 2 revisits the old-timey look and feel of the original.

Fat Princess

Fat Princess

Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…
3 big things I need to see from the next PlayStation Showcase
Peter and Miles from Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

It’s that time of the year again when industry insiders are teasing that a big PlayStation Showcase will happen around June. A third-party focused State of Play happened in 2022, but now Video Games Chronicle’s Andy Robinson and Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb are both suggesting that a more first-party oriented "Showcase" could be on the way sometime during the next month, potentially during the week of May 25.
PlayStation has had a rough start to 2023, with console exclusive Forspoken garnering mixed reviews, the PlayStation VR2 impressing critics while underperforming in sales, and The Last of Us Part 1’s PC port being broken at launch. With only Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 confirmed to be on the horizon for 2023, Sony has a lot to prove during its next showcase. There are three specific things I need to see from Sony if that PlayStation Showcase does come to fruition.
Give PSVR2 purpose
The PlayStation VR2 is an impressive piece of virtual reality technology, but it lacks killer apps outside of Horizon: Call of the Mountain. New game releases for the headset have been slow since its February 2022 launch, which is likely why the $550 headset has underperformed. Sony has opted to mainly relegate PSVR2 to State of Plays or PlayStation Blog posts, but it needs to revitalize excitement for the platform by giving some of its games a spotlight in a big PlayStation Showcase.

Hopefully, there’s more on the way in terms of new AAA VR exclusives from first-party studios, as well as much-demanded ports like Half-Life: Alyx. Already announced PSVR2 games like Journey to Foundation and Synapse could also use release dates. A PlayStation Showcase is the perfect time for Sony to put out a clear road map for PSVR2’s future game library, just as the September 2021 PlayStation did for PS5. Give me a reason to strap on that headset yet again.
Flesh out the system’s 2023 exclusives lineup
PS5 needs a strong lineup for this fall as well. With the exception of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, things look pretty barren for PS5 this year after the launch of Final Fantasy XVI. Several previously announced PS5 games still lack concrete release dates and could arrive in the second half of this year. It’d be nice to get a clearer picture of Sony’s PS5 game lineup for the rest of the year; hopefully, it includes titles like Stellar Blade, the Silent Hill 2 remake, Lost Soul Aside, Death Stranding 2, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Read more
With E3 2023 gone, other gaming events need to step up
A purple E3 logo floats in the air.

Despite how inevitable the complete downfall of E3 felt over the past several years, E3 2023’s official cancellation still strings as it’s a significant loss for the game industry. For gamers, press, and developers, the show served multiple purposes that digital livestreams and scattered publisher-specific events don't currently replicate. In lieu of E3’s cancelation this year, and potentially forever, it’s time for other gaming events to step up and help push the video game industry forward.
Why we lost E3
I’m lucky enough to have the experience of attending three E3 shows across 2017, 2018, and 2019 and many publisher-run events focused on specific games or tighter game lineups. In its final years, E3 felt like the perfect middle ground to the gamer-focused PAX and industry-focused GDC, where people from all walks and sides of the video game industry could come together, see what’s coming in the future, and share their love for games.

It also felt more freeing than publisher-run events, as I discovered and experienced games of all sizes that I may not have otherwise and got to meet many people from every angle of the game industry. Apparently, the Entertainment Software Association struggled to convince enough people that this style of expo was important four years after the last physical event.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Entertainment Software Association president Stanley Pierre-Louis blamed E3 2023’s cancellation on the Covid-19 pandemic, “economic headwinds” due to the current recession that impacted marketing budgets, and the fact that “companies are starting to experiment with how to find the right balance between in-person events and digital marketing opportunities.”
The first two are understandable and have impacted a lot of physical events over the past couple of years. Still, the last reason speaks to a bit more worrying of a shift for those looking to network, get attention from the press, get a broader look at the industry’s future, or even pitch a game.
What we lose
Events are a great way for indies to get unexpected and much-needed attention from players and the press; look at the chance encounter that got one of our team’s freelancers hooked on Homeseek at PAX East. Now, indies will have to hope to gain attention at those more indie-focused events like PAX or be cherry-picked to be featured in a more prominent company’s showcasing. There’s also the networking and pitch factor to it.

Read more
E3 2023 has officially been canceled by the ESA and ReedPop
E3 logo

The Entertainment Software Association and ReedPop confirmed that E3 2023 has been canceled following a report that broke the news. E3 2023 was supposed to take place between June 13 and June 16.
Earlier today, IGN reported that two of its sources received an email from the Entertainment Software Association saying that this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo has been canceled because it "simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry." Soon after, a tweet from the official E3 account confirmed that "both the digital and physical events for E3 2023 are canceled."
https://twitter.com/E3/status/1641546610218811393
E3 was once a prominent annual video game industry trade show but has struggled to re-emerge since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. E3 did not take place in 2020 or 2022, and a digital-only attempt at the show in 2021 did not live up to expectations. The ESA was attempting to bring the show back this year with the help of PAX organizer ReedPop, and even approved press passes for the event already, but it appears the developers and publishers have lost faith in E3. Ubisoft pulled out of the show earlier this week after initially committing to be there, while Sega, Bandai Namco Entertainment, and Level Infinite confirmed they wouldn't be there in the following days.
While E3 2023 is not happening, there are going to be many other things for people to look forward to. Geoff Keighley will host a Summer Game Fest show on June 8, Microsoft is holding a Starfield direct and larger showcase on June 11, while Ubisoft will have a Ubisoft Forward Live event in Los Angeles on June 12.

Read more