Impressions of Gaming Christmas

Looking at Not E3

Pull up a chair Gen Z and hear my tales of what used to be the most exciting time of the year as a gamer - E3. E3 was a reliable week of the year when I could escape personal and world problems and bask in the reveals of the video game industry and my favorite medium. Ultimately, E3 began to decline as the world of social media and instant news rendered the required gatherings to announce new products obsolete. COVID-19 provided the final knockout blow. However, we do have a kind of E3-like atmosphere still when it comes to a week in June. The big three press events aren’t around anymore, but we still get plenty of events and showcases that reveal a ridiculous amount of games or provide updates.

One positive aspect of the new format is that smaller indie games and those created by underrepresented groups receive more attention in events like Women-led Games and Wholesome Games Direct. As for what to call this new version of what used to be E3? Well, the term I’ve settled on is Gaming Christmas, because in a lot of ways that’s exactly what E3 was. So in this article, I’m going to give my general impressions of the weekend, and I’ll have a follow-up with my top ten favorite games from the weekend.

---

Summer Games Fest

Believe it or not, I had high expectations for this event, given what happened last year. Geoff was reportedly in a bad mood throughout the weekend last year, and many attendees who had never met him before reported that they didn’t get a good vibe from him. Kinda Funny’s Snowbike Mike even said he had a weird moment where Geoff didn’t seem happy with him since he was critical of the show. It was a terrible show, right there with Nintendo E3 2003 and 2008 bad. So considering Geoff had taken the critiques to heart, I was thinking he would bust his ass and use his connections to get some heavy hitters, kinda of like he did at the 2024 Game Awards which was a great show when it came to reveals. Now, we did get a much better show, and there were a couple of cool games that caught my interest, but for the most part, it was an okay show at best, with a great ending.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Geoff is becoming increasingly polarizing. While I believe he has good intentions, I don’t think he realizes he tends to isolate himself in a bubble of corporate messaging and his parasocial relationship with industry executives and developers. The vibes of this SGF felt a little cold. Don’t get me wrong, I know the money is the number one priority in business, but this SGF event felt a bit too corporate for me. I’ve heard criticisms about Geoff’s shows having too much advertising and corporate logos everywhere, but I guess, for some weird reason, I finally noticed this year. I also don’t think it helps when Geoff comes out on stage and is introduced as “the creator of the Game Awards”, which got a laugh out of me because it screamed narcissistic. I think he needs to reconsider the format and maybe go for one and a half hours instead of two, and maybe have less of him doing the talking, leaving it up to the games.

Still, the games are the important thing, and we did get a few that I liked. There was the boxing puppet game Felt That Boxing, which I think could have some potential. Also, a side note, I will defend Geoff when it comes to the Muppets because they’re cool, and I’m okay with seeing them at every one of his events. I’m sure it’s not technically a new reveal, but I never heard of Mina the Hollower, and that game looks cool. It’s made by the same guys who made Shovel Knight, which is a game I’ve yet to play, and you can see the same art direction and ideas in this one. Stranger than Heaven is a game set in what I think is a fictional 1940s Japan, and my God, does this look good graphically. It’s from the Yakuza guys, so it’s probably going to be similar to that series, which I have yet to play as well. The Wu-Tang game has a beautiful art style, and I want to see more of that. ILL came out of nowhere to showcase a survival horror game that has a lot of potential and could be a surprise when it comes out. Last but not least, it’s what, in my opinion, was the only MEGATON announcement of the weekend, and in my opinion, helped the show’s score, which was Resident Evil: Requiem. They got us with a tease earlier in the show, only to hit us with the trailer, and I am ready to jump back into this iconic horror franchise.

Overall, this was a significantly better show than the two-hour waste of time last year, but it still didn’t knock my socks off. Geoff needs to work on the presentation and format for these shows and try to shave off some time as well. Thanks to RE9, which, like I said, I feel was the only OMG! announcement this weekend, I’m going to give this one about a B- grade. It wasn’t the most flashy when it came to reveals, but it was a lot of small stuff that added up to give me some interesting games to take a look at.

The Xbox Showcase

The Xbox Showcase has largely dominated most of the post-E3 June events, as it’s one of the last major events that E3 used to host. Nintendo technically still does the Direct they would’ve done for E3, but they tend to wait a week or two after Gaming Christmas, so I tend to see that as something else. Last year, Xbox arguably had its greatest June event in the brand’s history. It’s because of this that I came in with tempered expectations, because I didn’t see them delivering an A+ event for a second straight year. Well… I was right, we got a solid B-tier event with a lot of solid announcements and cool moments, but nothing that reached OMG / MEGATON level of hype. If it weren’t for the leaks and rumors, the ROG Xbox Ally handheld system would have been that, but once I realized what they were announcing, I knew exactly what it was. Still, without a doubt, the best format of the show and the one I never got bored watching from start to end (and we’re gonna talk about that ending soon, trust me).

The games were plenty in this one, and a whole bunch I checked off as must-plays. We have games such as High on Life 2, Super Meat Boy 3D, Beast of Reincarnation, Clockwork Revolution, Cronos: The New Dawn, Aniimo, A Fate’s End, Keeper, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and the surprise hit There Are No Ghosts at the Grand. Now, since many of these games will make my top ten favorites of the weekend article, I’ll save how I feel about these until then, but I’ll make some quick notes on a few. As I said on social media, There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is my game of the weekend and is a game that screams me. We have musical numbers, solid art direction, what appears to be a mix of action and relaxing gameplay, and a story with mystery and paranormal elements. Sign me up. Keeper is the next game from Double Fine, and we won’t have to wait, as it’s out this year! Super Meat Boy 3D looks like a good time, and since I never played the original classic, this is a way I can make up for it. Don’t judge me, but Aniimo looks fun with its art style, and I think I could share this one with my daughter. A Fate’s End seems like one of those indie games I could end up falling in love with. Last but not least, Clockwork Revolution had me the moment I saw the Pissed-Off Doll character.

Now, while I did enjoy the show and felt it was the best one of the weekend, I HATE the way they ended this. Look, I get it that Call of Duty is one of the biggest franchises on the planet, but you do not end a show with a Call of Duty game; that’s like ending one with Madden. What’s worse is that they ended it with Phil’s dramatic 'one more thing' line and then proceeded to do a fakeout, making it seem like it was a new IP with supernatural elements. The moment the Call of Duty logo showed up, my heart fell out of my chest in disappointment. As for the ROG Xbox Ally handheld. I have a lot of interest in the device, but the chances of me getting one are slim, and I see it more as an enthusiast device, rather than a Switch 2 alternative. Don’t get me wrong, though, I’ll be there for the launch coverage.

Overall, this was a safe but enjoyable show that I never got bored with. An outright and good B grade.

The Rest of the Shows

The State of Play was an okay show, but I’ve pretty much come to accept that the recent State of Plays have a lot of stuff for other people and not much for me. Some notable games from that direct included Sword of the Sea, Sea of Remnants, and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. The real winner was the reveal of IO Interactive’s 007 First Light. I saw people complaining about Bond’s young face, but I want this origin story, and I love the ‘Earn the Number’ slogan. It looks like a more action-oriented version of the Hitman games, and that’s all I need. And I trust that it’s going to be a good one.

I saw the Wholesome Games and Women-led directs for the first time, and it was a nice change of pace from the big corporate shows, as they had a cozy and relaxing feel. It also showcases one of the benefits that E3 didn’t provide, allowing smaller games and creators from underrepresented groups to showcase their work. The majority of games I saw where smaller titles that I might try out, but I did see Winter Burrow which a game I badly want to play and unfortunately still hasn’t given us a release date.

---

Final Thoughts

For the most part, this year, Gaming Christmas was quiet but solid. There were a lot of fantastic games and moments that get me hyped for the next year of gaming, but I only saw one OMG! game, and that feels a little wrong. Usually, we get a few games that I would put in that category, but this year, literally only one. But, I can’t complain because I had fun, and I always look forward to this weekend every year. A lot of good stuff was shown, and I love seeing and sharing the excitement with other gamers. Plus, we’re technically not done because we should get a Nintendo Direct before the month’s over. If I had to give a grade to the whole weekend, a solid and simple B would be a good one to go with.

---

Be Nice to All