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E3 2016: the latest news from the biggest gaming event of the year

It's a very, very, very, very busy week for gaming. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and all the big publishers will take the first half of the week announcing their latest and greatest, and then the second half we'll be playing everything. Here are the highlights from E3 2016.

  • Chris Plante

    Jun 13, 2016

    Chris Plante

    Microsoft at E3 2016: the 7 biggest announcements

    Who would have expected, three years ago, that the biggest news from Microsoft’s 2016 E3 event would be not just a new console, but two new consoles. The Xbox One S and Project Scorpio were the standouts of an E3 event that underscored Microsoft’s new direction — a purposeful shift from the focus on entertainment and media to video games. Microsoft is treating the Xbox brand like Amazon’s Kindle ecosystem, envisioning a future in which Xbox games can be played on a console, a computer, a mobile device, or whatever else comes next.

    Microsoft’s vision for the future of games is so big, that it’s almost easy to overlook the actual games being produced in the present. The company provided closer looks at a number of announced titles — Recore, Halo Wars 2, and Gears of War 4 — and officially announcing a slate of sequels — State of Decay 2 and Forza Horizon 3.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    An exclusive look inside Microsoft’s plan to turn your Xbox into a PC

    It was a rare sunny day in Seattle and Phil Spencer seemed very pleased. Sitting across from me in a meeting room at Microsoft’s sprawling Redmond campus, the head of Xbox smiled as he talked, mixing serious discussion about the future of his business with jokes about how his employees dress. (He’s not a fan of cargo shorts in the office.)

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    Project Scorpio is a 4K-capable, VR-ready Xbox One launching next fall

    The next major addition to the Xbox family is coming next year. Today at E3 in Los Angeles Microsoft officially revealed the long-rumored Project Scorpio, an enhanced version of the Xbox One that's capable of running 4K-native games, and which will also support virtual reality experiences and feature a hefty six teraflops of power. According to Xbox chief Phil Spencer, Microsoft views the new device as much more than a simple refresh.

    "The important thing for Scorpio is that it's a dramatic step up for us in terms of hardware capability," he told The Verge in an interview last week. "Because as we saw 4K gaming and really high-end VR taking off in the PC space, we wanted to be able to bring that to console. Project Scorpio is actually an Xbox One that can natively run games in 4K and is built with the hardware capabilities to support the high-end VR that you see happening in the PC space today... when it ships it will be the most powerful console ever built."

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  • Chris Plante

    Jun 13, 2016

    Chris Plante

    Watch the trailer for State of Decay 2, a bigger, flashier, multiplayer sequel

    State of Decay, the little zombie game that could, is getting a sequel. State of Decay 2 will be available for Xbox One and Windows 10, and will once again be developed by Undead Labs.

    The original game began as a modest but ambitious downloadable title for Xbox 360 in 2013. Critics and fans praised its stark, open-world and the opportunity to play as many survivors — all of whom could die, permanently. In years that followed, the game received a number of updates, supplemental content, and ports for Xbox One and Windows 10.

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  • Chris Plante

    Jun 13, 2016

    Chris Plante

    Tekken 7 is coming in early 2017, features Street Fighter's Akuma

    In 2010, two Tekken and Street Fighter mash-ups were announced. Street Fighter x Tekken shipped two years later, but Tekken X Street Fighter never materialized. Over the years that followed, crossover of the two huge fighting franchise slowed until today. To promote the release of Tekken 7, developer Bandai Namco streamed a trailer featuring Street Fighter villain, Akuma.

    Tekken 7 is scheduled for an early 2017 release on consoles.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    The Witcher 3’s Gwent card game is getting a standalone release

    One of the best parts of the massive open-world RPG The Witcher 3 was Gwent, a card game you could play against other characters in the game. Now developer CD Projekt Red is turning Gwent into its own standalone release. The new game will feature the same basic gameplay, but with redesigned cards, a competitive multiplayer mode, and a full-blown single-player campaign. No word yet on when the game will be launching, but a closed beta will be available in September. It'll be available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    Inside, the twisted follow-up to Limbo, launches June 29th

    At first glance Inside doesn't look all that different from Limbo, the previous release from Danish studio Playdead. Both are side-scrolling platform games with dark, muted color palettes and more than a few creepy moments. But the more you play Inside — which hits the Xbox One later this month — the more the differences make themselves clear. It may have taken more than five years to develop, but Playdead's latest is proving to be worth the wait.

    Inside once again puts you in the role of a young, unnamed boy, and from the very outset you're on the run. There are patrolling guards and hounds after you, and it feels like any wrong step can lead to your capture (and death). You don't know why you're running or from whom, and as the game progresses things don't necessarily get any clearer. Your escape eventually leads you to a disturbing building full of strange experiments, and perhaps the most impressive aspect is that the story is told without any words at all, either spoken or written. Without spoiling too much, I'll just say that over the five or so hours Inside lasts, it throws a handful of major twists at you, each of which will completely change the way you see the game. It gets increasingly disturbing the more you play.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    Xbox Design Lab lets you build your own colorful Xbox One controller

    You can finally design the rainbow-colored Xbox controller of your dreams.

    Microsoft is launching a new program called the Xbox Design Lab, which lets users visit a website to design their own controller by customizing the color of just about every part, from the front and back panels to the shoulder triggers and D-pad. According to Microsoft, there are around eight million possible color combinations. And in addition to picking colors, you can also laser engrave some text on the front, just so everyone knows your Gamertag.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    Xbox Live’s new ‘clubs’ feature gives you a persistent place to hang with friends

    Later this year Xbox Live is getting a huge new update that will make it a lot more social. The update will introduce a new feature called "clubs," which lets users create pre-defined groups that exist outside of games, and include tools like persistent chat so that friends can hang out even when they're finished a round of Halo. "Clubs is sort of our version of guilds and clans in MMOs," says Mike Ybarra, director of program management at Xbox.

    The idea is that the owner of a group can create specific parameters — you might want a group only for highly-skilled Destiny players, or one for people who love to build cities in Minecraft — and then you can manage who joins the group. You can assign moderators, kick out troublesome players, or invite friends, and include filters for things like age or whether or not you want to allow swearing. "There's a lot of flexibility," says Ybarra.

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  • Ross Miller

    Jun 13, 2016

    Ross Miller

    Forza Horizon 3 is coming this September with off-road driving across colorful Australia

    Forza Motorsport's oddball, open-world cousin has returned. As expected, Microsoft has announced Forza Horizon 3, from perennial Horizon developer Playground Games. Whereas past titles centered around street racing events in Colorado and France / Italy, respectively, Horizon 3 takes place in Australia. More importantly, there are off-road vehicles you can drive. With the Motorstorm series seemingly on indefinite hold, this may be the new go-to colorful arcade racer.

    Forza Horizon 3 is due out September 27th — yes, this year — for both Xbox One and Windows 10, making it the first full Forza title for PC (the free-to-play Forza 6 spinoff Apex launched in open beta last month).

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    Gears of War 4 is getting a ridiculously awesome Xbox Elite controller

    Gears of War is back, and the best way to celebrate is with an incredibly ornate custom controller. To celebrate the impending launch of Gears of War 4, Microsoft is releasing a special edition of the Xbox Elite Controller, one that’s absolutely packed with details for fans of the series. In addition to the gritty color scheme — which includes the new Gears logo on the back and what appears to be a splash of blood on the front — there are some great little touches. My personal favorite is the d-pad cover. In the game you use the d-pad to select your weapon, and the plate now has tiny pictures of Gears weaponry so that you never forget its purpose. The controller also comes with a carrying case complete with a chainsaw assault rifle on the front.

    The Gears of War 4 Elite controller is available to pre-order now.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    Xbox Play Anywhere lets you play select games across Xbox One and Windows 10

    A new initiative from Microsoft is bringing the Xbox One and Windows 10 a lot closer together. It's called "Xbox Play Anywhere," and it lets you buy participating cross-platform games once, and own them on both platforms. If you buy a game on Xbox One it will simply appear in your Windows 10 library, and vice versa, and your saved games, achievements, and other information will carry over between the two versions.

    Currently the service is mainly focused on Microsoft's first-party releases, but the company expects that to expand to more third-party-developed games in the future. The complete list of Xbox Play Anywhere games includes the following titles:

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 13, 2016

    Andrew Webster

    Microsoft announces the Xbox One S, its smallest Xbox yet

    The Xbox One just got a lot smaller. Announced today at E3 in Los Angeles (and leaked a day earlier), the new Xbox One S takes the original Xbox One, shrinks it down, and gives it a fresh coat of white paint (Microsoft calls it “robot white”). The result is a striking new design that stands in stark contrast to Microsoft’s previous consoles. The device is 40 percent smaller than the original Xbox One, according to the company, and also does away with the frustratingly bulky power supply that the Xbox line is known for. And unlike the original Xbox One, the new console also gives you some choice on how to display it, thanks to an optional vertical stand.

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  • Ross Miller

    Jun 13, 2016

    Ross Miller

    E3 2016’s unexpected trend: video game preorder masks

    High-profile games and sequels tend to launch with both standard editions (just the game) and premium-special-ultra-limited-legendary editions (the game plus a number of hardware and software trinkets that will be lost in a desk drawer or garage). Those trinkets can be posters, special jewel cases, figurines, and — what seems to be exceptionally popular today — headgear. Helmets and masks that can be adorned to a human head and worn in public places (at least theoretically) or hung on wall (preferably).

    Today we have two helmets you can look forward to in the near future: a Titanfall 2 helmet (above) and now a Dishonored 2 face mask from Bethesda.

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  • Jun 13, 2016

    Alex Brokaw and Ross Miller

    Microsoft’s big Xbox event at E3 2016: what to expect and how to watch

    While a handful of people watch Apple lay out its developer roadmap, about 380 miles south of that, Microsoft is holding its annual E3 keynote on the future of Xbox.

    It's looking to be an exceptionally crazy year. We expect Microsoft to make an announcement about Halo Wars 2 and Dead Rising 4, the latter of which leaked over the weekend. Gears of War 4, which is supposed to be coming out in October, should get an update. We're also expecting an update to the Forza series, which should be Forza Horizons 3 this year. Other games Microsoft that could get a mention: Crackdown 3, ReCore, Ion, Ashen, Below, and Rare's Sea of Thieves, among other prospective titles.

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  • Jun 13, 2016

    Alex Brokaw

    Sony’s E3 2016 press conference: time, live stream, and schedule

    Sony has clarified, in advance of E3, that its updated, more powerful PlayStation 4 won't be making an appearance this week, So what will Sony show at tonight’s press conference? Games, of course!

    Sony has a number of games to follow-up on from last E3: The Last Guardian, Detroit: Become Human, and Horizon Zero Dawn, to name a few. And then there’s the rumor of a God of War announcement, and something special for PSVR. Sony has been keen on flashy software reveals since the PlayStation 4 reveal, and we expect no different at E3 2016.

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  • Chris Plante

    Jun 13, 2016

    Chris Plante

    New Fallout Pip-Boy replica is a $350 ‘smartwatch' for phone calls and text messages

    Remember last E3, how Bethesda announced a real-life Pip-Boy? And remember how it was essentially a crummy smartphone shell? Well, this E3 Bethesda has revealed a new Pip-Boy and this one looks maybe — just maybe — like it’s the Pip-Boy Fallout fans wanted all along.

    Unlike the old version, the Pip-Boy Deluxe Bluetooth Edition has "an integrated screen and its own on-board software and hardware." The gadget pairs to a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, and allows wearers to take calls, view contacts, read messages, and display various Fallout related screens.

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  • Chris Plante

    Jun 13, 2016

    Chris Plante

    The 5 best game trailers from Bethesda’s E3 2016 press event

    Bethesda has become one of the most important players at the annual E3 video game conference, despite only having hosted a major press event for two years. Last year, the company aired trailers for Doom, Dishonored 2, and Fallout 4. This year, Bethesda sought to outdo itself, revealing first trailers for Prey and Quake Champions, along with footage from upcoming Fallout 4 DLC and a remastered Skyrim.

    Here are some of our favorite trailers from Bethesda's E3 2016 press conference. Check out our E3 hub for all of this week's news.

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  • Ross Miller

    Jun 13, 2016

    Ross Miller

    Fallout Shelter quests are coming in July along with a PC version

    Last year, Bethesda surprised everyone at E3 by both announcing and then immediately releasing Fallout Shelter, its first mobile game. And it was a huge hit, with more than 50 million players as well as its own upcoming pseudo-adaptation for Fallout 4.

    Tonight, Bethesda announced update 1.6 for Fallout Shelter, which will include Quests (with a capital 'Q') with new characters, enemies, and locations.

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  • Adi Robertson

    Jun 13, 2016

    Adi Robertson

    Virtual reality Fallout 4 is coming to HTC Vive in 2017

    Bethesda Softworks is releasing last year's Fallout 4 for the HTC Vive virtual reality headset in 2017. The company made the surprise announcement at its E3 keynote, and we know almost nothing besides that — but for lots of people, that's probably enough. This will make Fallout 4 the first big open-world game to get an official, studio-released virtual reality mode.

    This is going to take some adaptation. Things like Fallout 4's conversation interface — which is just text overlaid on the screen in the current game — will probably need to be tweaked for VR, and we're not sure how (or whether) the Vive's motion controllers will be used. We're also not sure how Bethesda will deal with the motion sickness that can happen when you're moving long distances very quickly. But Fallout already has a diegetic interface in the Pip-Boy, which could easily be tacked onto one of the player's Vive controllers.

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  • Chris Plante

    Jun 13, 2016

    Chris Plante

    Fallout 4 will get Nuka World, Contraptions, and Vaultec Workshops DLC this summer

    "Contraptions Workshop" and "Vaultec Workshop" will be the next pieces of downloadable content for Fallout 4. Footage of the DLC was shown at Bethesda’s E3 2016 press event. The former will arrive next week, while the latter hits in July. Those seemingly smaller downloadable updates will lead to "Nuka World" in August, which looks to be more akin to last month's Far Harbor DLC.

    These will be the fourth, fifth, and sixth pieces of DLC, following up "Automatron," "Wasteland Workshop," and "Far Harbor," the latter of which received a glowing review last month from our own Andrew Webster. DLC details are expanded upon in the video above.

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  • Ross Miller

    Jun 13, 2016

    Ross Miller

    Skyrim remastered is launching in October for Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4

    Nearly five years after it first came out, Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim continues to have a very impressive fan base that keeps the game pretty through HD mods. Now it's Bethesda's turn: tonight at its E3 press conference, the company has announced a remastered version of Skyrim coming to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

    Judging from the footage just released — jump to 3:18 if you want to skip all the new Fallout Skyrim Special Edition has been improved dramatically for the new generation (all relevant technical details are mentioned in the video above, including VOLUMETRIC GOD RAYS). The console versions will also now support PC mods. The remastered game is launching October 28th.

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  • Chris Plante

    Jun 12, 2016

    Chris Plante

    Titanfall 2’s grappling hook fixes my biggest problem with the original

    I have no shame telling you that I was never great at Titanfall, the 2014 competitive multiplayer shooter in which humans and colossal machines scrimmaged on the same battlefield. Following a brief demo of Titanfall 2, I’m more optimistic about my odds — and the odds of folks like me — in the sequel. I credit the grappling hook.

    In the original, newcomers to the genre could succeed easily as one of the titular titans, robotic craft the size of a deli, loaded with enough missiles to dispatch a rival battalion in seconds. But most of a multiplayer match was spent as a "pilot," fleet-footed soldiers that fought at ground-level — when they weren’t leaping into the air, running on walls, and climbing Titans like Major Kong riding the atomic bomb.

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  • Ross Miller

    Jun 12, 2016

    Ross Miller

    The 6 best game trailers from EA’s E3 2016 press event

    After years of holding its press event on Mondays between Sony and Microsoft, Electronic Arts decided to kick off E3 by holding the first event of the week. So what did we get? Among others, EA released new footage and details for Titanfall 2, Battlefield 1, and Mass Effect: Andromeda, while additionally offering some vague promises for a lot of Star Wars games at some point in the future.

    Here are some of our favorite trailers from EA's E3 2016 press conference. Check out our E3 hub for all of this week's news.

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  • Jun 12, 2016

    Chris Plante and T.C. Sottek

    How do you sell violent games after a tragedy? Pretend like it didn't happen

    Mere hours after the worst shooting in the history of the United States, video game publisher Electronic Arts hosted a press conference in downtown Los Angeles. For the leadership taking the stage, it may have been any other day.

    EA CEO Andrew Wilson performed a generic monologue about the growing number of gamers across the world, before introducing a series of developers, presenting their wares.

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