The DeanBeat: My straight-shooting impressions from another E3

The Electronic Entertainment Expo video game trade show is in its 20th year, and I’ve only missed a couple of the shows. During the past week, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my annual close-up snapshot of the game industry. After walking approximately 20,000 steps a day for four days, these are the impressions that I’m leaving Los Angeles with. For some companies, these observations will be bitter medicine. Some may jump with joy. But I hope there are lessons for everybody here.

My first impression is that the best game of the show was Evolve, the 4-versus-1 co-op game that pits a team of human hunters against a single creature, which another player controls. The game from developer Turtle Rock Studios and publisher Take Two Interactive’s 2K Games label had long lines, even though it was announced a while ago. Everyone I talked to about it liked it. My only disappointment here is that I saw this game weeks ago, so it didn’t come as a surprise at E3.