The E3 2021 Awards Winners Are In, But Nintendo Lost Out

So Halo was the most anticipated Xbox game, but Forza was the most anticipated game overall?

Weird.

I guess MS paid more than Ninty

I agree with this. I think Nintendo did well but I was more hyped from Microsoft's conference. Nintendo's conference targeted core Nintendo fans really well but Microsoft's seemed more wide-ranging to me. Made me want an Xbox for the first time

This seems just like a highlight reel ...

Eh, I still think Nintendo won, but I don't really blame them. Starfield looked cool and Forza Horizon 5 looks like an evolution for racing games.

Cool... to be fair, this E3 as a whole wasn't that great so... eh.

I agree with FH5 to be fair……..

However, I didn’t think ANY presentation was particularly good this year, and that includes Nintendo.

Sorry.

"Best presentation" isn't hard when Nintendo and Microsoft were the only ones worth mentioning (and maybe Devolver). And how tf is Forza the most anticipated when Halo is also listed as the most anticipated for Xbox?

I know it's already been said, but it has to be repeated: The most anticipated game of the whole event wasn't even the most anticipated game of its own press conference. That right there tells you all you need to know about these absurd, so-called, awards.

Nintendo actually stole the show lol

the paid media wins again if they can't suck Sony's ass then Microsoft will do. Real video game fans know Nintendo won. Microsoft had a C+ show and Nintendo was a solid A. this is why no one listens to these losers any way.

Ultimately the real 'winner' of E3 is the company whos fans walked away the happiest, you can claim its yourself as much as you like and have big sites reassure you of that but ultimately it doesnt matter unless its actually true. For what its worth i have seen a ton more happy Nintedo fans these last few days than i have Xbox regardless of what select media partners have to say.

Metriod 5 stole the whole show alone lol

Microsoft had the best show by a good margin in my opinion.

Metroid was a winner from Nintendo but not a lot else for me unfortunately. Nice to see BotW2 of course, but it was just a tease.

@chardir They clearly didn't pay enough if they didn't even get Halo Infinite to be the most anticipated overall.

For real though, I wish people would stop with this "paid off" bs.

My most anticipated games = smaller indie games from Wholesome Indie Direct.
So many cute, kiddie and colorful games for kids with genre like Pokemon Snap, Story of Seasons, Animal Crossing, etc.
Don't even care with AAA Western games.

I'm pretty sure these results are a cause of Game Pass. The concept of "For the price of Metroid Dread and BotW 2, with Game Pass you can get most of the games in the Xbox Showcase, a huge batch of existing games and many others that are yet to be announced for the same price."

For me the Nintendo Direct was a lot better than the Xbox Showcase.

Advance Wars wins everything, period.

Metroid 5 and Breath of the Wild 2 say otherwise.

Call me a fanboy all you like, but this E3 was abysmal to day the least and Nintendo came in with the goods.

All those Game Pass goodies were great, but the (what seems like) annual installment of Forza Horizon, a Halo game that's bee through dev hell and Psychonauts 2 (as much as I am looking forward to it) weren't enough. 2022, 2022, 2022, DLC, shooter, blah blu blah..... And that was from all companies, not just MS. I like Xbox, and my Series S will be well serviced, but.....

E3 was pants. Nintendo's presentation gave me what I wanted at least - games I'm not waiting years for.

Everyone with some taste will highly anticipate Metroid and Elden Ring, which both have release dates in the near future. And both are not mentioned in this list, this says a lot about this commitee.

Microsoft without a doubt had the better showcase out of everyone at E3 this year and Forza looked absolutely stunning.

Metroid Dread is my personal “Game of the Show”, but the BotW sequel is understandably more popular. I think Nintendo could of out done MS had they shown off Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4 and at least one more big shock title like Mario Kart 9, F-Zero or what ever the Mario team is working on, maybe the rumoured DK game?

But other than Microsoft and Nintendo, the rest of E3 this year was pretty bad.

Lies!!! Nothing but Lies!!! I watched everything and Xbox won most apocalyptic dystopian shooters. Period. Nothing more. Nintendo GOT METROID FOR CRYINC OUT LOUD. It's rigged I tell ya.

HAHAHAHAHhaha forza? I’ve never heard a single person irl mention forza in my life. Does Microsoft have partial ownership of e3 or something? That aside, MS presentation was pretty good if you prefer graphics over gameplay mostly. Halo will probably be good, but so many other games(like starfield), just seem like checks that can’t be cashed.

Nintendo saved e3 from obscurity, as always

At least Microsoft showed off a lot of Forza Horizon 5 gameplay, and while I'm not really into the series, the gameplay looked quite good.

Pretty sure Cyberpunk 2077 won the Most Anticipated Award back in E3 2019 due to it's hype CGI trailer and Keanu Reeves - we all saw how well that turned out 😂.

@xxx128 switch pro was never on the table to begin with

Keep your Forza and Halo, and gimme Slime Rancher 2!

It's almost like different people and media outlets have different preferences...

This whole debate about who won E3 has been and always will be a load of ****. Like who honestly cares who "won", I mean if I owned only an Xbox, of course Microsoft are going to win for me as I have no interest in Nintendo or visa versa. Such a pointless debate created all to generate more clicks.

"Gamers" think that AAA games are the only games worth anticipating. Don't blame them for their ***** taste.

The same boring car and gun games you've been playing since 2006 now with reflections in the puddles! 😴😴😴 At least Ninty brought back some long dormant franchises and took some risks this time. Like Metroid, Wario and Advance Wars.

I don't even know what Forza is. Either I'm getting old or kids today just have terrible taste in games.

I bet people just downvoted Nintendo's presentation because they wanted their precious Switch pro that was never coming in the first place.

Most anticipated game was Forza Horizon 5? Different strokes for different folks I suppose cause that one isn't even on my radar.

@TheAwesomeBowser
Why exactly would you say it was an evolution of driving games?

If I am honest I thought it looked slow and had the usual next gen disparity between the environment and the character/car.

In terms of what presentation is best, sure Microsoft's overall was a better show but it wasn't catered to my tastes, so I actually enjoyed Nintendo's more because they had games I actually wanted to play. I am just not into the Microsoft ecosystem anymore, and other than Psychonauts 2 there wasn't anything I really care about.

People are mad that the Switch Pro wasn't announced.

For those dismissing Forza Horizon I highly suggest you try playing them. I don’t play racing games (except Mario Kart) but the Forza Horizon series is the exception. They are incredible free-roam experiences. A lot of fun and great gameplay. Not just going in circles around a track.

Xbox definitely was the best but Nintendo of course was 2nd. I was satisfied with Xbox; Nintendo I thought was missing… something. Maybe a WW/TP pack or something.

It’s people’s opinion- so meh. I would’ve voted Nintendo but that’s because it’s my preference. In the case of something as subjective as this I am indifferent with reviewers final consensus.

This year's E3 was pretty bad, even considering the vyrus. The only two new announcements that interested me from Nintendo were Cruis'n and Metroid, and I might be interested in Fatal Frame. We already knew about Zelda 2022 and Monster Hunter Stories II, so they don't count.

Was the one for xbox to try win.

It felt a bit lackluster for me, but that might be because I wanted Nintendo to just show a ton of stuff they weren't. I'll still get hyped for the next Direct with unrealistic expectations

You get zero points for ports or recycled content. Zelda 2 coming 2022. Metroid 5 looks pretty good but does it blow you away for a 2D game ?
In what way did Nintendo take anything to the next level?
I don’t own the new Xbox but I will in the future.
And if Nintendo would show a title screen for a new Fzero, some here would say game of show.

@Slowdive Haaaaaaard disagree.
Completely packed? If you're not a JRPG fan, I think there was literally 1 game that wasn't a remake, and that was a 2D Metroid - not even 3D!

After a string of disappointing E3's, this was probably the worst of them

@Warbeard Erm, BOTW 2 and Wario Ware Get It Together aren't remakes!

Forza Horizon is a big deal. FH4 had 12 million 'sales' before the Steam version launched. As much as Metroid is a big deal to hardcore fans, no Metroid title has ever reached 3 million in sales, and it's been 20 years since a game in the series reached 2 million sales. Not to mention the Forza Horizon series is rated higher on Metacritic than every Metroid game since Prime 2. So yeah, it's not surprising more people are anticipating FH5 compared to Metroid Dread. Once again people making themselves look stupid by saying the only way this is possible is MS paying people off.

@Peach64 So the awards are just about sales figures? Very lame if so.

@Clyde_Radcliffe It's not a best game award, it's more anticipated. So yeah, sales figures play a part in how anticipated a game is. I also mentioned review scores. Forza Horizon games are always 90+ rating on Metacritic. They are popular and always deliver a great game, so makes sense they would be highly anticipated, but people here are acting like it's a joke?

@Slowdive I made this account to tell you specifically that I've watched every E3 in history and this was one of the most underwhelming ones of all time. Nintendo is sitting on a pile of games it won't release due to the switches success, meaning the past two years where we had no games is going to continue this year, probably until it's 2022 successor. No disrespect if you enjoyed it, but the concensus is clear. Can't really blame Nintendo given their sales, but they could have given us something. Mario Kart 9, Bayonetta 3, Mario 3D game, Arms 2... hell, even new Splatoon 3 footage would have faired better

I'm not much for the whole "winning E3" thing, but Nintendo did "win" it.

The Direct had the biggest amount of high quality big name reveals/titles and none of them had hidden (so far) caveats that destroyed the hype.

Forza Horizon for example doesn't feature ray-tracing while playing (only in garage mode) and only runs in 30 fps on the highest settings which really killed it for fans.

Halo had a similar problem, no ray-tracing which again really killed the mood on it. I don't care about ray-tracing, but Xbox and Microsoft fans REALLY do.

And well, that was it. There was nothing else to compete with Nintendo's onslaught of titles other than Forza Horizon and Halo: Infinite.

I might have forgotten a title or two here and there, but it just goes to show they weren't memorable enough. I always watch all the presentations and look equally forward to them all, so yeah. Contrary to popular belief, we're not all Nintendo-exclusive people on a Nintendo fansite.

Though if I had to name an actual winner, not a platform or any of the participating companies, but a winner, that just so happened to release around E3... It was Insomniac Games with Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Now THAT knocked it out of the park.

Every Nintendo announcement except BOTW2 is a wait on review for me. I’m too sick of this low-effort Nintendo cash grab right now. Every company who isn’t working towards altering their value proposition in response to Game Pass is doing it wrong.

The fact that it was "select media partners" who voted says everything. These awards mean as much as any award in the industry: nothing.

@Peach64 I imagine it's because a lot of people were bored when they decided to make like 10 minutes of the stream dedicated to it considering it was pretty well paced up until then. Felt like they just overstayed their welcome.

@Peach64
It’s not a $60 Wii sports port so why get excited ?

I’m guessing the Venn diagram between people screaming about Forza Horizon being “just another driving game” and those that get upset at Nintendo being “for kids” would give a pretty wide crossover.

Sigh. Just because a game isn’t for you it doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. You can choose what you play. What do other’s tastes matter?

@chardir They did. Giving out games for basically free on Gamepass was the bribe.

The gorgeous visuals of Forza Horizon 5 is great and all, but what makes it more exciting than both Halo Infinite and Breath of the Wild 2? I'm beginning to question the voters at this point, because they seem to be suckered into hardware rather than the actual games themselves.

I think the idea of Bethesda is better than the reality. I have a feeling that ES 6 and Starfield(? Or whatever) may be more Fallout 76 than Skyrim.
Not really basing this on much but I’m not too much of a Todd Howard fan.

@Archius9 I’m sure some games won’t turn out well. But there will be more classic games to come from them.

@Reallywow555 Mate, what? No games? Are you blind?

Mario Golf: Super Rush 25th of June
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny: 29th of June
Monster Hunter Stories 2: 9th of July
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD(Remake): 16th of July
Cris Tales: 20th of July
NEO: The World Ends With You: 27th of July (EDIT - thanks to the person reminding me)
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: 27th of July
No More Heroes 3: 27th of August
WarioWare: Get it Together: 10th of September
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot: 24th of September
Metroid 5 Dread: 8th of October
Mario Party Superstars: 29th of October
Shin Megami Tensei V: 12th of November
Pokémon BD & SP: 19th of November
Advance Wars 1+2: 3rd of December

EDIT: Don't forget Danganronpa collection (or Danganronpa Decadence as it was named, I think?) either - amazing games.

Fatal Frame port: Later this year (so not new for about ~13.5m people, but new for the rest of us, which makes up more then 3 times that amount of people).

There's a huge stack of big games for the second half of 2021. Sure they aren't all Nintendo games, but there is certainly enough to pick from!

If none of it is up your alley, well, that's a you problem. I didn't bother listing everything, just what I could remember.

@commentlife A lot of companies simply can't afford to offer what Gamepass is offering. At least not day 1 releases going to a subscription service. MS is burning through mountains of cash right now doing that. Smaller companies don't have nearly infinite coffers to fund a ten year long loss leader strategy with.

Nobody ‘won’ as apart from the odd surprise in general it was poor and personally as someone who was around during the true golden age of gaming I genuinely think there’s never been a less exciting time to be a gamer.

I own a xbox, switch and pc, so I really hoped Nintendo would do something good, but if you actually watched nintendos presentation and think it was good, you are delusional

For me, Nintendo's Direct was mostly meh with a few interesting items - BoTW2, Advance Wars, Metroid, SMT5. However all except BoTW2 are "maybe", given that Advance Wars' art style is weird, not sure if Metroid is worth the $60 price point, and SMT5 - well, need to check the reviews. Everything else seemed like they just picked things off of other presentations (Guardians of the Galaxy, Mario and Rabbids, Skyward Sword). On the other hand, I did find Forza to be interesting, although I don't own an Xbox.

@GameCollector84 I agree! I’m not saying everyone needs to do Game Pass, I’m saying everyone needs to offer some sort of response to it. Sony needed to announce major PS Now changes, Nintendo needed to seriously bolster their NSO offerings. SOMETHING. Because business as usual isn’t going to cut it IMHO.

Both Nintendo and MS had weak E3 presentations.

A new Forza game comes out every year, so that's nothing to get excited over. Halo Infinite is just a free to play GaaS title designed to milk you with microtransactions. Average consumer spend on Halo Infinite will be far and above the normal $60 + $30 DLC pack that traditional games have. Just like League of Legends it will be "free", but oh so expensive.

As for Nintendo, they are really having a weak year in terms of 1st and 2nd party output. Advance Wars, and Pokemon remakes look like mobile games. I'll stick to my DS and GBA carts, thank you very much. Mario Golf looks great, but is very much a "wait on reviews" sort of game. That potentially leaves Metroid Dread as the only exciting Nintendo release for the rest of 2021.

Most of the things nintendo showed, i already expected. Eventho i truly love that stream, wel done!

So congrats to MS for the win.
Eventho i liked Nintendo's direct more.

@commentlife Exactly! Once retail and digital sales for a game have slowed to a crawl it should be thrown onto PS Now, or Nintendo Online. People that want to play a game within the first year or two will obviously buy it. Upfront sales + eventually going to a subscription service is a win-win for gamers and developers. Putting all your games onto a subscription service day 1, on the other hand just costs too much money for anybody that is not one of the tech giants.

@Blizzia I want at least 6 of those games which I think makes it a pretty epic E3 (7 if you include Dangan rompa collection )

Monster Hunter Stories 2: 9th of July
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD(Remake): 16th of July
Metroid 5 Dread: 8th of October
Shin Megami Tensei V: 12th of November
Pokémon BD & SP: 19th of November
Advance Wars 1+2: 3rd of December

Add the Danganrompa collection to that also, I think this is one of Nintendo's best ever line ups for a holiday season. It has action games Metroidvanias, RPGS, Strategy Games and Digital Novels.

Some of these games are deep cuts as well such as advanced wars and Metroid Dread which Nintendo fans have be clambering for almost 16 years!

I think this was my favorite Nintendo Direct ever

Microsoft had the best presentation in my opinion. Nintendo had a lot of really cool games, but the presentation itself was kind of anti climactic. Even the Metroid 5 reveal left me cold at first, but now that I have watched the trailer a few times I'm hyped.

As for the best game, both presentations had a lot of good stuff, but nothing stood out, except for Metroid and Zelda. As the Zelda trailer was pretty short and we still don't have a concrete release date, I'd go with Metroid 5.

@San_D The SMT series has consistently gotten great reviews for 20 years now. SMTV is a must have title!

Razers presentation was Ultra good.

@tanaka2687 jep, same here. Microsoft’s showcase was overall a better showcase.

Also, Forza 5 is a technology showcase. No game in Nintendo’s direct can say the same thing.

@locky-mavo Microsoft has some nice looking games, but like nothing they showed looks interesting.

Microsoft seems to neuter all the developers they purchase. Even Obsidian is just gonna release another Outer Worlds title and Inxile will also put out an FPS RPG.

I've never been one to agree with these sorts of awards, and it doesn't look like I'm starting now.

@Noconfidenceman Can't believe I forgot Danganronpa collection - I literally spent half an hour jumping around in excitement for it... xD I'll add it!

And yeah, I thought it was pretty good too - not too much that interested me, but I'm very much looking forward to games like NMH3, Advance Wars 1+2, Danganronpa collection and SMTV!

I didn't watch Microsoft's as I don't own or plan to own an Xbox, but the consensus from impartial sites (ie not platform-focused like this one) is that Microsoft and Nintendo are the only ones who made E3 worthwhile this year. I own a ps4 and hope to get a ps5 for the announced exclusives, but Sony's stance on E3 looks like them reverting back to the snobbery from the mid-2000s which hurt them when they launched the PS3.

One of Nintendo's worst E3 that I remember. Metroid Dread was the highlight and Mario+Rabbids looks great although I am not a huge fan of the first game but I admit it's a fine game if you like the genre (I don't).

meaningless list right there. E3 overall was awful and the Nintendo Direct was good, not outstanding or mind blowing with any surprise reveals.

Overall some games to be excited for but E3 was not a spectacular showcase like I expected this year.

@Blizzia I've played the first one on the Vita put didn't get into 2 I'm looking forward to jumping back into that game. I think these kinds of games are perfect on handheld

I thought stories 2 would be more popular than Ace attorney, guess I was wrong

@Kirin Maybe the sequel nature puts people off, the name for Great Ace Attorney is more generic and doesn't hint that its part of a wider series, or maybe its to do with its massive DS sales

Forza 5.... really? I'm a huge xbox fan and I thought the xbox show was bland and boring. Halo infinite was nice to see but we knew it was coming, not any big exciting reveals. Like say a new perfect dark or banjo threeie. Or even a new IP or an obscure xbox franchise coming back like say PGR or Blinx or Fusion frenzy or Brute Force etc.

If there were going to be "winners" it was kind of a coin flip between Microsoft and Nintendo. It doesn't feel like much of a grand return for E3, even if I don't have a platform, there tends to feel like there's more buzz for big titles. Microsoft seems to have more stuff with mainstream appeal, while Nintendo focused on more niche games.

Trying to pick a winner is kind of pointless on its own, but this year was meh for most big companies participating. I'm a Nintendo guy, but I'm usually left a bit jealous by gems on other platforms, and this year, I mainly just feel that way for Halo, specifically the multiplayer which looks fun. Never checked out Forza, but racing games have never been my thing, so I can't hold anything against that.

Felt Nintendo had the better show, but the again don't agree with the majority of the winners of these awards. Only feel like 3 of the winners make any sense

Not really awards if only based on most anticipated

@Slowdive I dunno, for me there was just one genuine pleasant surprise, which was Metroid Dread.
I am not caring for BotW or the other Zelda adjacent IPs. I wished that Mario Party Allstarts would have been a DLC to Super Mario Party instead.

The lack of F-Zero with each direct will always sting...

What a joke. Not only giving awards to trailers, but even then these picks are pretty bad. No Elden Ring!? No Metroid!? No Stalker 2!? Can’t take it seriously.

What did Norton Gaming get? 😅

@JuiceMan_V I've been watching E3 long enough and I'm excited about Maiden of Black Water but it's multiplatform. And what do you know, that's your opinion and I have mine, correct?

How can halo win Microsofts anticipated then lose to forza for most anticipated?

Also this E3 has been the worse I've ever seen and even Microsofts was average at best and nintendos was just about on par with it whilst the others were absolutely dreadful.

I think it's time for E3 to pack it in and say goodbye for good

For me the number one was Elden ring

Well atleast we know what the rumoured new Microsoft acquisition is....... E3

Nintendo could have set Sony and Microsoft to the cleaners had they had the games that would have excited people. There was not a single surprise in the whole direct. I am sure that there are others that they are keeping tight lips over to release at a later date (closer to Xmas).

For those who thinks the Direct that was 90%+ focus on date reveals, reconfirms of games and confirms that some E3 reveals will be coming to Nintendo Switch as well is good then I have a stupid question for it. After all games that are revealed do you even want new games in future? Because now feels that you just no more want new games, and you want just play all existing games and only those games that was revealed so far with no more games at future.
Serious I was ready to have quite some screaming like usually with Nintendo Directs, but I had constant "huh" and 4 smiles where 4th smile should been scream for sure, but I couldn't feel screaming at that point after so many "huh".

The award was for best PRESENTATION, not the best content, so in that sense I think this result is fair.
As far as the content of the presentations go, I think Nintendo hands down won E3, but the way in which it was presented was kind of mediocre... no different from a normal direct really... lacked the 'skits' they've done in past E3 presentations, and they focused on information rather than hyping up viewers.

@JuiceMan_V Thankfully, a moderator edited your last comment after it was reported.

@JuiceMan_V Reported again.

Xbox & Bethesda presented like 20 great AA and AAA games. Nintendo also had some footage of a sequel of a current gen game BOTW, a 2D Metroid and some ports (Advance Wars was nice). Oh and SMT. Xbox had more variety

It's interesting. Now, Nintendo will be 'laughing all the way to the bank', as the saying goes. They will undoubtedly be the big winners, with their software and hardware sales continuing to dominate, regardless of what fanboys from any walk of life want to cry about.

But watching reactions to Nintendo rolling in live on social medias and the aftermath/conversations, these results do NOT reflect the commentary I saw from a variety of outlets and influencers alike. More 'awards' that really mean absolutely nothing and impact exactly nothing.

In spite of major franchises being ignored completely, a lack of AC:NH info and huge fan 'wants' not being addressed, unlike any of the other events, my face slightly hurt from the smiling I did during Nintendo's. There was a joy, lightness and delight in their presentation, along with some genuine surprises, fan service and solid upcoming releases.

With the XBOX/Bethesda presentation, there was some wow factor in the graphics department and a couple of promising games, but it mostly felt samey and like standard industry output. I mean, cool stuff but... no heart. It was all chest bumps and high fives, deep cinematic swooshes, risers and bass drops.

Nintendo was smiles, stupid grins and 'holy crap' moments... especially for Nintendo fans, fans of certain Nintendo IPs and of quirky, fun games. And they still managed some 'plosions, cinematic moments and adventure.

I'll take stupid grins and ridiculous, sometimes silly fun over fist bumps and explosions every day of the week.

@Bearzilla823 Wow. You must have had some insider info then, because I saw some unannounced and surprising stuff. Nintendo did hand them their... assets... in all of the ways that matter.

My personal (only own a switch) most anticipated games were:
Metroid
Botw 2
Mario + Rabbids

@DragonEleven
Hmmm... Best presentation as in how the content was presented? I would agree that Microsoft edged out Nintendo. As I said in another post the Nintendo directs have lost their magic/production values.

I felt the lead-in intro to Metroid 5 was weak. They should have just showed the trailer and let the game speak for itself instead of saying, " here is Metroid, take a look".

@ryu_san

Yup! That's always case, but in terms of what I've been hearing and seeing over social media, Nintendo was a winner with MS being in a close second.

Can't believe we're in a timeline where the rumored Metroid Dread was real!

@AvianBlue, they wanted to make sure the announcement would not get overshadowed by the fact that there was no Metroid Prime 4, or worse, people thinking it's Metroid Prime 4.

Never thought I'd say this sentence: I cannot wait to have Dread in my life!!

Yep, I’d agree with most of that. I’m not an Xbox guy, but, for me at least, Microsoft had the best E3 presentation. By quite a margin, too.

@tanaka2687 it was mostly generic 1st person shooters. Besides, with Xbox having gone 3rd party there's no reason to pick it up, just wait for the free smart tv app, or use your phone/PC/tablet, or buy a cheap X1 if you absolutely have to. Nobody with any intelligence whose been paying attention for the last few years has bought a Series X|S.

Nintendo has the best E3. Everything up to that point minis a few things here and there (Mario + Rabbids, Guardians, Elden Ring) was generic, typical, and boring. Was there anything more offensive than Redfall? Can we make a good vampire game and not force fortnite ***** into it?

@checkr911

Can't be too harsh on MS.

Their show was actually paced well and they showed alot of games in MS' future.

Granted, it was a bunch of CGI and FPS games, but it shows that they're trying to win people over.

Now, in terms of just pure hype of lineup? Nintendo won hands down.

Who cares about these awards I am the winner I have a Nintendo Switch and I will have a lot of great games in a few months just need to keep playing to clear my backlog.

I found Nintendo's show to be pretty disappointing. It's not even close to being one of their best E3's, let alone general Directs. It really needed a major AAA 1st party reveal. As things stand, Mario Party Superstars and Advance Wars Reboot are Nintendo's big holiday games.. They are priced the same as AAA games though, so there's that I suppose.

How do you know this award is *****? Wel...

SQUARE ENIX: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

E3’s way of taking a swipe at Sony who shunned the show…

No matter how much you guys cry, nintendo will not surpass AAA sony and xbox games.

Get over it.

@tntswitchfan68 disagree. xbox had one of the best shows. Nintendo and Xbox both did amazing this year imo.

I think personally Nintendo won as I like The switch more than xbox but if I liked xbox more, I would likely prefer that one.

So many games on the horizon: perfect dark, fable, Psychonauts 2, starfield, halo infinite, fh5, and so many more!

I thought the entire event was straight out of the trash bin!

I was excited to see Advance Wars make a return....until I saw it was just another overpriced remake. I may still be suckered in because I love those games and my sons never played them, but when the only game I'm kind of excited about is just another remake, that tells you about the rest of the presentation. I knew it was going to suck as soon as it opened with a Smash Character from a series that really doesn't have a presence on a Nintendo system. Breath of the Wild 2 will by great, but we already knew about this and it's probably a year and half away! As soon as it said 2022, I was like, "we'll see you two Novembers from now!". I really wanted something new, unannounced, and coming this fall. Nintendo didn't deliver unless you count Wario Ware. I liked the one on the Wii U, but not enough that I'm losing my mind to get my hands on it. In fact, at full price, I may skip on it!

My only hope is that the Pro is real and a better presentation with a few games were kept in their back pocket for the next "direct". Maybe the next Kart! Just to add some excitement around the Pro.

On a side note, I kind of want a Xbox now; so I guess they're the winners in my eyes.

@Clyde_Radcliffe But we knew BotW2 is coming, and the very short trailer and no real release date was a bit disappointing
@Slowdive agreed!

@Slowdive I don't even know how the awards were decided, or where the voting was. If it was voting via the E3 app, who even got the app? I didn't want another free personal-info-stalking-selling app.

If I also had an xbox, I would have voted for Forza Horizon 5, which had 8 min of gameplay footage for a mostly-know game format, which is awesome<3. There's not a lot of mystery there. While BOTW2 was cyptic & brief; we don't know the plot, or what the new weapons & their mechanics are. On top of that, two years ago, the 2019 BOTW2 trailer was cryptic. I'm excited for it, but I'm a little fatigued with Nintendo's secrecy.

How is this even decided?
Xbox's was great but most of the stuff shown was pre-rendered cut-scenes.
Nintendo showed a great range of new 1st party games.
I might be a little under a rock here but these "winners" are strange to me.

Meh it was a rigged award show anyways and show that all critics care about are the money and not the games. Anyways I got the games I wanted so I don't care about who won what. All I had to say is this year's digital E3 was 50% Nintendo, 30% Microsoft while the rest were just filler garbage.

We can all complain that a weird rigged awards show where there were only a handful of standout titles to begin with and two different games from one platform won the most anticipated on that platform/overall.....but we can all agree on one thing:

FINALLY AN AWARDS SHOW WHERE TLOU2 AND ANIMAL CROSSING DIDN'T WIN EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!

Enough conspiracies for a QAnon msg board.

I respectfully disagree. Nintendo's Direct wowed me, and I was absolutely thrilled for Metroid and Advance Wars fans.

I'll just have to take their word for it I guess. In my opinion Nintendo won it easily with Metroid 5, 2 Zeldas, Wario Ware, Shin Megami Tensai v, Super Monkey Ball, Advance Wars, Mario Party, and Mario Golf. Maybe those other guys had good shows, but Nintendo has all the games I need, so I never really had any reason to watch the other press conferences.

@dimi "Xbox & Bethesda presented like 20 great AA and AAA games. Nintendo also had some footage of a sequel of a current gen game BOTW, a 2D Metroid and some ports (Advance Wars was nice). Oh and SMT. Xbox had more variety"

The issue for me with every Xbox show ever and why I can't get excited about them boils down to a few issues.

All of their games are on PC and aren't Xbox exclusive which means I will never have any reason to buy one of their consoles. It's like showing off Battlefield 2042 (which amusingly they did) and trying to get everyone fired up because it'll be on Xbox, but I don't need an Xbox to play it. It's like Nintendo hyping up their Cloud Version Guardians of the Galaxy. Why would I buy it there when it'll be better on PC or PS5? Same with literally 100% of Xbox games. Doesn't mean the company is bad. It's good for the consumer to get to choose their platform, but I won't care about an Xbox system then.

Many of the games they showed were either third party multiplatform titles or have been announced long ago and don't get me excited then for a tiny additional update (for the record, I didn't much care about the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer either because it wasn't really news, except to say it's not coming this year).

The sort of big Xbox games are just not ones I generally care much about in the first place, either. More shooters, more racing games, etc. The only ones they listed as exclusive are Halo Infinite, Redfall, Starfield and STALKER 2. I didn't like Skyrim, so if Starfield is that in space, I'm not excited. I do like sci-fi, but not enough is known to see if the game will be any good and it's 1.5 years off. It's a maybe. Redfall could be fun, maybe, but similar to Starfield, we don't really know anything because they didn't show anything. STALKER was a trash game with stolen assets so I'm not pumped for any sequel. And I've never liked Halo. As for Forza, I've always hated realistic racing games and it also looks really samey, which is how I'd describe virtually all of Microsoft's shows in general. And even if one or two of these games turn into a must play, which none of them seemed to be so far.. I can just get it on PC when the time comes.

Meanwhile, even if Nintendo didn't blow my mind, they announced 3-4 games that are exclusive to their system and are a must buy for me. Then add that to a list of updates to existing titles.. there are maybe 6+ Nintendo exclusives coming through 2022 that I'm definitely going to buy.

I was underwhelmed across the board, outside a couple new Bethesda IPs, both of which are far off, sequels and remakes across the board. How Forza can excite anyone at this point is beyond me.

@tanaka2687 Same for me. I want a series x now. Lots of good stuff on the way for it. Elden Ring and Halo especially

@Slowdive I still think nintendo won, I mean hell we didn't even get gameplay for the halo campaign, wile nintendo over here showing of A whole ass sequel into the metroid series, DBZ on the switch, F*** Tekken in smash! and! and a new wario game, seems clear to me that nintendo had some actual content, unlike a endless stream of games I don't care about (Oh but slime ranchers two) NGL Xbox was good, but I just don't see it as good as nintendo's.

@BlueOcean Damn what type of stuff was he saying, well its great to see the mods take action!

@ryancraddock Mushihimesama -cave shmup shadow drop was nice ,Advance Wars was cool , and monkey ball is always fun i think Nintendo won E3 2021

Purely going by what I'll actually buy, it's Breath of the Wild 2 vs Plague Tale Requiem, Outer Worlds 2, Forza Horizon 5 and maybe Starfield and Stalker 2.

It felt like Nintendo was holding back.

Maybe I have different tastes from everyone else, but Metroid Dread was the only game Nintendo showed off that got me hyped.

Advance Wars was pretty cool, and its nice to see it remade and Zelda news is always welcome.

But I don't care about Wario Ware or Mario Party, especially a rehash of N64 era minigames.

Where's a new Donkey Kong? Kid Icarus? Kirby?

If this lineup is what is needed to win a show, then how low is the bar?

We got nothing new for the Switch online even though it would be a simple matter to add GBA, Game Boy, or GBC games.

My point is, if these games interest you, then I hope you enjoy them.

For me personally, the only game that I'm hype for that they showed off is Metroid Dread and for me personally, this show really did nothing.

Meh, Microsoft is overrated. Their games have no soul or creativity, they just chase trends and make the most generic concepts possible for the most popular genres. Generic multiplayer FPS game. Generic car sim racing game. Generic high fantasy open world ARPG. Not surprised that the critics like Microsoft, but they get more praise than they deserve. Nintendo really should be the winner here.

@Slowdive You actually believed that? Xbox had 30 games, a lot of original ones, huge Gamepass content updates, some completely new, unheard of games.

Nintendo revealed another smash character, footage of games we already knew existed, an HD remake and one big surprise with the new Metroid game.
It wasnt packed with great games at all. It was stuff we already knew about about from 2.

@Bolt_Strike So you didnt watch it then. Because thats not what the Microsoft reveal was.

Blows my damn mind that anyone thinks Nintendo had a good E3. It was ok, wasnt the worst, but it was super super boring. I have PS5/XSX/Switch, i usually sway to my PS5 more but was super excited for Nintendo. Xbox had it, lots of different types of games and loads of gamepass content. Nintendo didnt reveal anything that was surprising other than Metroid.

@Slowdive Its more than people are going heavy saying it was the best Nintendo e3 ever when really it was just ok.
Dont get me wrong BotW2 looks amazing, the new Metroid 2d game was unexpected. But beyond that, more surprises would have been nice.

Yeah, I don't know about that. Of everything that's been announced this E3, I kind of doubt that the most anticipated is Forza.

Well it's obvious why it's not Nintendo's year.

I think any anticipation for BotW 2 fizzled out long ago.

"Zelda botW 2 is not ready yet but we are working hard on it and hope to get it to you in 2022, here we have a clip to show you. And in the mean time here is a Zelda we remade earlier, out in July."

@earthinheritor Nah, that's accurate. Starfield, Halo Infinite, Forza Horizons 5, all generic games meant to cash in on trends instead of offer creative experience. Worse yet, they didn't even show actual gameplay, they showed CGI cutscenes. I guess you could say Psychonauts 2 isn't, but that's a multiplat that I can just get on Playstation.

Pretty weak e3 personally. Hardly anything hype worthy for me. New Pokemon snap blows alll of it out of the water and it wasn't even part of e3.

I strongly disagree with their conclusions. But this IS a nintendo site, so most opinions here will be biased for them anyway. I would've given the most anticipated title to Metroid Dread honestly. 1 it's coming out this year. 2 it's an entirely new 2d Metroid, something which hasn't happened in 19 years. 3 It finishes what the other games started, which is really impressive after so long. And 4 that trailer was very hype, I don't see how you couldn't be wanting to play it after that!

@Bolt_Strike So you picked 3 games from their biggest franchises and ignored everything else and all the gamepass content?
They showed gameplay for Forza 5, plenty of it. Last i checked Nintendo showed nothing original.
Metroid (Sequel), Shin Megami Tensai (Sequel), Mario Party (sequel), Breath of the wild 2 (Sequel), Advanced wars (Remaster), Mario War (Sequel), Fatal Frame (Remaster). I dont see any originals, no new IPs nothing.

@Bolt_Strike As for creativity, Nintendo didnt show that either. Mario Party is mostly just all the classic games with some twists. Everything else was just a small mechanic added. Lets not forget that Nintendo charge full price for remakes with no price reduction and rare sales. But Microsoft announced a massive amount of games coming to Gamepass for no additional cost. Thats a hugeee deal.

The reveals for obscure-but-wanted games like Advance Wars were nice, but honestly not very exciting. Nintendo is still lacking a big AAA game for this year - the game everyone has been waiting for, BOTW 2, essentially got delayed, but no one seems to have noticed.

@earthinheritor I didn't say it had to be a new IP, but the concept behind the game had to be original. Microsoft announced new IPs, yes, but those IPs again don't do anything original, they're just Xbox takes on the same kinds of games you could get elsewhere. Their sequels aren't original either, it's basically the same mechanics with different levels and slightly more horsepower that doesn't even make it noticeably better. Nintendo does that too sometimes admittedly (see: NSMB), but in general they have a better track record of adding and improving actual gameplay mechanics. Some of the better Switch games showcase this pretty well (Mario Odyssey vs. older 3D Marios, BotW vs. older 3D Zeldas, Mario Kart 8 vs. older Mario Kart games), and they were a bit weaker this year in particular but still better than Microsoft, with Metroid having the first original Metroid game in 19 years and adding a ton of new mechanics to it (such as having to run/hide from the E.M.M.I. robots, improving the aiming and counter moves so you can use them while running, sliding, the Phantom Cloak, the Spider Magnet), BotW2 greatly expanding on BotW (adding sky segments, floating islands, a cybernetic arm thing that seems to use magic abilities, that weird water drop ability that lets you phase through the ground), and Warioware expanding on its Microgames by allowing you to play as the actual characters and giving them unique abilites and playstyles. Microsoft on the other hand is basically another Forza Racing game like the dozen or so before it, another Halo game like the dozen or so before it, IPs that are generic dudebro games with grimdark shooting/medieval fantasy/space sci-fi trends, meanwhile what is the actual gameplay doing to set it apart from the hundreds of other HD AAA games in the last 15 years? There's no sense that they actually want to create unique and fun experiences, they just want to push generic schlock that's graphically impressive but little else. It's like AAA shovelware, if that even makes sense.

As for Gamepass, it's quantity over quality and there's nothing on offer that I can't get from Nintendo or Sony, plus you have to repeatedly pay a subscription fee instead of just buying what you want and owning it forever. I could get much better value just buying the games I want on Switch/Playstation while also getting much better exclusive IPs from them like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Splatoon, Knack, and Gravity Rush.

If not considering COViD then of course E3 was underwhelming but I think Microsoft and Nintendo's stuff was decent although not much of it appeals to me personally.

@EpicFusion47 I just wanted more footage. I am glad Microsoft did show a lot, but I wanted more than CGI trailers.

@Iggy-Koopa That's a joke lol Metroid 5 is a glorified 2DS game for 60 bucks

Ori makes Metroid look like a joke and is 1/2 the cost

@Bolt_Strike Bruh Nintendo has been milking and rehashing the same tired franchises for 30 years...seriously 60 bucks for a Skyward Sword remaster + Amiibo?

Metroid Dread looks like a 2DS game and Nintendo wants 60 bucks for it....Ori makes Metroid look like a joke and is 1/2 the price

Nintendo games have no soul or creativity and Nintendo is a terrible company that makes terrible products. Greed and low effort, charge for online with no voice chat and have the audacity to sell you an amiibo to unlock fast travel for a $60 Wii port...an absolute JOKE of a company

@checkr911

"Nobody with any intelligence whose been paying attention for the last few years has bought a Series X|S."

No one with intelligence is going to spend $60 for a port of a Wii Zelda game that was disliked + pay for an Amiibo to unlock fast travel

No one with intelligence is going to pay for an online service that doesn't even have voice chat

No one with intelligence is going to spend $60 on a glorified Metroid 3DS game when games like Hollow Knight and Ori make it look like an absolute joke and are 1/2 the price

The Nintendo Direct was certainly objectively one of their better Directs. From everything I watched of E3, it certainly was the best conference by a long shot, but I didn't watch the Microsoft stream. I never have, as I've never had a Microsoft console. So I can't really speak on the quality of their conference.

I don't hate racing games, but I doubt I'll ever fully understand their appeal.

@Blizzia Forgot one...
NEO The World Ends With You July 27th

@Anti-Matter I absolutely agree with you. Wholesome Direct has been my main go-to for the games I can look forward to next year and beyond. As I don't own a PS5, Wholesome games have filled the cabin Sony used to fill on my E3 hype train.

@The_Pixel_King I'm on the same boat. Microsoft had game after game after game after game, tons of them coming to GamePass. I was blown away by all the great games I'll never be able to play.

@kpenders @checkr911 These are extremely hyperbolic and ad hominem comments, that don't contribute to the discussion.

People can have different opinions than you - and that's ok.

There are games that don't appeal to me. There are games that are poor value - to me. But neither my opinions - nor yours - are objective facts, and despite what other have said, it is not appropriate to insult swaths of people who see value where you don't.

I was keen on both MS and Nintendo's shows. I have a Switch and a Series X w/ GamePass. Clearly I have a different perspective than you, and if you want to have a conversation around each show's/game's merit happy to do so, but not if the starting point is that I have no intelligence because my opinion is different than yours.

"Overall most anticipated: Forza.."
Are you high? There was 30 youtube videos for every Forza video talking about "Super Nintendo Switch" or "Switch Pro". I'm not exaggerating saying there was 2-5 new videos in my feed covering that topic every single day.

Don't get me wrong, I do agree that Xbox won E3 with the amount of content. Especially if you have Gamepass.
Nintendo had very little 'new' reveals and they absolutely dropped the ball on Zelda's and Donkey Kongs anniversary.

But hey, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Wario Ware and Advance Wars was enough to make me happy.
Do I think that applies to the majority? Hell no!

To be honest, Microsoft's was quite good though I enjoyed both Nintendo's and Microsoft's equally. More games I will for sure buy from the Nintendo presentation though.

Meh... like last year, totally pointless.

@VrginX d'oh! Thanks for the reminder! Not sure how I could forget that one either, I'm playing it day 1 after all.

@commentlife I think that the problem with your statement is that business as usual actually DOES cut it - and the reason why is that only Xbox offers GamePass.

If Nintendo or Sony had stepped up and done that, it would've been a totally different story. But Xbox has no real draw to it, no crazy pull. There's no real reason to own an Xbox most of the time.

And this basically lets the two other giants continue onwards on the road without batting an eye at Microsoft.

Nintendo and Sony have both always had incredibly strong exclusives, and continue to do so to this day, and it lets them ignore a lot of stuff that they "should" be doing, because people don't care enough to make a statement if it means losing out on those exclusives.

@Slowdive It's totally subjective. For me, there's literally nothing that got me excited from Nintendo's E3, except for the Cave bullet hell shmups. The rest is just Nintendo copy/pasting their ideas onto new color pallets. They really gotta shake things up!

@kpenders Ori was so powerful, I couldn't muster the heart to play it. I felt so bad with the opening of the story I refunded my steam purchase! I'm sure it's a great game, but that was my experience with it! I agree with you, though. That Metroid trailer looked extremely shaky. I don't think Nintendo knows what to do with their franchises, anymore, honestly. I think they know it, too. Zelda is easy for them to milk because almost everyone just buys it without analyzing what they are doing. But Metroid they know they can't do that, so they release a game every few years instead. And it's a shame, because you are totally right that other games have pushed the "metroid" formula forward!

@Kirbyboy92 "Who cares what “selected media partners” think?

You don't care what gaming journalists have to say about video games?

As the quote goes: "Without critics there would only be advertisers"

@kpenders Not for Metroid fans. You're all fanboy talk and no trousers, son.

@Ogbert and maybe if we ask nicely, we can get a dual collection on the switch and MAYBE a physical version too?

All awards show suck as they are about pandering and about who as the best.

In my opinion E3 was wrong. The best event was the PC gaming Show. So many wow moments there. It was the best PC Gaming show event in over a decade.

@Bizaster @Chlocean @earthinheritor @The_Pixel_King @Bizaster

Did any of you actually watch the PC gaming show.
Sure between the announcements (49 of them) was cringe but the announcements themselves - something for everyone there. So many wow moments.

@the8thark Honestly didnt know there was a PC one. I will gladly watch it. I was just comparing consoles though and PC is kind of a different beast.

@Iggy-Koopa Metroid is my second favorite Nintendo series after Fire Emblem and before Xenoblade, I've beaten the entire Prime Trilogy and Prime is one of my five favorite games of all time, I still have my Samus Returns 3DS from 2017

Dread shouldn't be 60 bucks, I'm still gonna buy it beceause I know Nintendo never drops the price so I have no choice but after seeing games like Ori for 1/2 the price its a blatant rip off plus the Amiibos

@Entrr_username Maybe they removed Forza Horizon 5 from the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase list to avoid repeating, or when talking about a more Xbox-focused audience, Halo has more audience, but overall Forza hits a larger audience.

@Kirbyboy92 How do you know that "Marvel's Avengers", "Cyberpunk 2084" (on PS4 and XOne at least) and "Balan Wonderworld" are bad?

Gaming journalists. They're the canaries in the coalmine that report back with the first sniff at the product.

@kpenders Why shouldn't Dread be $60? Surely, at this point anyway, that's quite a subjective way to think about it? It's only just been revealed, literally fresh 'out of the box', and that was an earlier build of the game. You can't say it's not worth the money just as much as I can't say it is, but Metroid fans are excited. I'm excited. If we're willing to pay $60/£50 for a game we want, then leave us be.

@Bizaster
Fair enough. I'm just saying only those who watched every event can have a more informed opinion on what the best event was.

It's cool to have a favourite event. But You need knowledge of every event to properly rank them all.

@Kirbyboy92 There are a couple dozen Switch games released every week. Do you look up gameplay for all two dozen Switch games every week?

No. You get buzz from reviews from game journalists and just check out the well regarded ones, like everyone else.

This year E3 may be underwhelming, but this could cheer us up(Warning this is just a joke and every company has at least tried for this E3, so please don't be offended by this): Crapcom, Nintendon't, Badni Namco, Ubihard, and Mircohard.

@Kirbyboy92 "Final Fantasy XIII came out and it received glowing reviews"

Isn't that the Final Fantasy where the gaming journalists gave it the worst MetaCritic score of the whole series? Oh yes, yes it is.

@Lyricana fair enough. But not everyone got a brand new gaming pc. Some of these games are very demanding. So Xbox+gamepass is a VFM combo. Also i feel like Microsoft is putting more effort to get deals for new exclusive games (we haven't seen that from Nintendo since Dragon Quest IX, Monster hunter series and Resident Evil 4)

Saying that i'm still waiting for a chance to buy PS5 (mainly cause of Final Fantasy VII, Persona and exclusive games). Cant say i'm hyped for any of the new Switch exclusives

@dimi My significant other has a PS5 and I was thinking I was going to get one, but I might not bother. I can always use it if there's something I want to play (like Ratchet and Clank), but otherwise I'm fine with my PS4, I think.

Microsoft is definitely working hard to make deals and bring stuff to consumers that they want and Gamepass has inarguably huge value if you buy even a few games a year normally. Though I don't think I'd go as far as saying Nintendo hasn't tried hard to get exclusives. They've secured a shockingly high number of third party and indie exclusives, particularly considering the hardware's shortcomings. And a ton of 6-12 month timed exclusives or "releases first" deals, which is infinitely more than they managed in the Wii U era.

I like a lot enough games on Sony's platform to own a PlayStation, but I never really get the impression they're willing to do too much for the consumer, but that's why I have a Switch and a gaming PC too, so I can just play whatever seems good and not worry about the limitations of a specific platform holder. Though I definitely know that's not viable for everyone and in some cases, the affordability of something like an Xbox Series S and Gamepass is the difference between partaking in modern gaming or being unable to almost entirely.

@Kirbyboy92 "the MetaCritic score is at 83% and many reviews scored it very highly at the time."

And many more scored it "pretty good", hence the franchise-low score of "83". 194 PS3 games received a higher score than Final Fantasy XIII.

The "83" on MetaCritic is from contemporaneous PS3 reviews. Shortly after release, the game's director and producer tried to explain away and dismiss the low review scores from game journalists at the time by saying that reviewers didn't understand the game because they had a Western mindset.

@Kirbyboy92 Here are some other Final Fantasy IGN scores:
VII: 9.5
VIII: 9
IX: 9.2
X: 9.5
XI: 8.8
XII: 9.5
XIII: 8.9

IGN rated XIII the second-worst Final Fantasy game up until that point, and only the 2nd to receive less than a "9".

It's like pointing to an "8.9" for a Mario game and saying it's a good score. Not for a Mario game.