Here we are Odyssey world. First off I’m super stoked to bring a new perspective onto the Odyssey and get to work with some awesome content creators from our very own University of California San Diego. My own especial area I’m trying to carve out is an online platform for film, video games and digital media in the modern age. And what better subject matter to pick for my very own piece then this past week’s E3 convention. E3 for the video game world is what the Comic Con is to superhero fans. It’s a time when the very best of the business is celebrated and announcements are made within a rapidly changing industry. Video gaming in particular is unique in this aspect since the technology is swiftly shifting every minute. The art pushes the tech to be able to handle the ideas the artist has for a game and vice versa. No where is this point further illustrated then at E3. For the past 5 years I’ve streamed my favorite companies’ showcases but this was the first year I was not able to. Traveling across the Western United States with spotty Wi-Fi, I have been often pulling a full out Simba from The Lion King, phone outstretched, arms reaching to sky just grasping for a few bars to hear just a minute from any of the life changing game reveals. Upon reaching a IHOP with decent reception I powered through the news and have drawn together my person top 4 games to watch from E3 2016.

5. Spiderman for PlayStation 4 (Insomniac Games & Marvel)

Release Date: TBA

My question for my fellow superhero fans is, where has our Triple AAA console Marvel game building off the last 5 years of their up spike been? Searching for the equivalent of caliber found in such DC titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum, leaves the gamer feeling empty. Spiderman looks like a change to the often lackluster titles in the past. Besides the fact that my favorite Superhero game is another Spiderman title, that one being the PlayStation 2 one from 2004 based upon the Tobey Maguire movies. Any fan of Peter Parker fondly remembers this addition that had an awe-inspiring sandbox quality of the time, giving the player the opportunity to web-sling around New York City with unprecedented freedom and joy. This new creation based off of the trailer at least, looks like a move in the right direction and I can’t wait to parkour as Peter Parker.

4. Pokémon Sun & Moon for the 3DS (Nintendo)

Release Date: November 18th, 2016

Although previously known before E3 started the gameplay showed at Nintendo’s Treehouse got me all the more stoked again. When the trailer dropped three weeks ago it was hard not to walk around the UC San Diego campus without over-hearing the talk of the new fire type starter Pokémon, a Litten. Upon my personal love the series Pokémon myself despite backlash from even my family (Mom: Why do the children with the huge eyes on the TV keep screaming at each other?) and previous installments of the series going all the way back to the original on the Gameboy its no surprise that the beloved series is yet again creating excitement for all ages. Additions like Mega Evolutions (Introduced in Pokémon X/Y) open the door for even more creativity in which the series can further go and Pokémon Sun & Moon looks to do the same.

2. Final Fantasy XV on PlayStation (Square Enix)

Release Date: September 30, 2016

Cue Sirius Black a la Harry Potter: Prisoner of Aszaban, “I did my waiting! Twelve years of it!” concerning the next Final Fantasy installment. The video gaming world was blessed with a teaser play through of sorts “Episode Duscae” in 2015 which did nothing to quench fans' thirst. Those highs of joy and frustrations will clearly come to fruition when it drops. Every time an another story trailer is dangled in front of us on YouTube more questions arise as to the plot and characters. The hero of Noctis seems a dynamic lead protagonist but only time will tell as to whether or not this title can bring back the series to such glory days of Final Fantasies VI, VII & VIII and fictional individuals like Cloud Strife, Celes Chere, Sephiroth or Squall Leonhart. I’m looking forward to taking a break from Fall quarter and playing this title for weeks on end.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Company: Nintendo

Console: Wii U or NX

Release Date: 2017

Since the original trailer from 2013 The Legend of Zelda community has anxiously wait for any tiny bit of news we are able to scrap by. E3 2016 was basically Christmas, Easter and one’s birthday for a huge Zelda fanatic like myself. Blessed from creators we were given a full trailer, 2 side trailers about Gameplay (Uses Wolf Link amiibo and a new Breath of Wild amiibo Link) and not 1 but 4 VIDEOS of live Gameplay giving examples of plot and gameplay. This installment NEEDS to be game-changing. I personally adored Skyward Sword (2011), the most recent console Zelda title if one counts actually NEW games, but the rest of the gaming community didn’t. Breath of the Wild looks to change that with heaps of new gameplay elements like clothing customization, food collecting and preparing, interactions with the living environment of this ruined Hyrule, and much much more. But most importantly for any hardcore Zelda purist: voiceover.The circumstance that it even HAD voiceover. Zelda games are notorious for the lack of voice acting (English or Japanese) which stood out among almost all over Triple AAA titles that do. Changes like this in the series seem as an action from Nintendo that they are wiling to change the principles of their games, even their much beloved Zelda series. Even though the player character of Link shall remain silent (Get it? He LINKs the player to the Character) the gaming community won’t know the consequences of this design choice till we play the game. Some plot classics haven’t changed seen from the Gameplay where we hear of a evil called Calamity Ganon, no connection to arch-nemeisis Ganon/Ganondorf who’ve appeared in most every Zelda title right? Or perhaps the very Princess Zelda-ey female voice which wakes Link up from Slumber at the beginning of the game…. If you know me at all you know I can’t wait till 2017 when this title duel releases and I won’t leave my house for at least 3 weeks to fully explore this new imagined world of Hyrule.

Happy Future Gaming.