As we continue our four-day look back on the biggest headlines of 2013, we move forward to the lead up to E3 2013, which was loaded with crazy announcements and plenty of social media drama.
Please join us as we dive into four hot stories that made the wait for E3 all the more difficult.
1. Metal Gear Solid V Announced, Merges Ground Zeroes And The Phantom Pain
At GDC, Hideo Kojima finally put to rest all of the speculation and rumors with the reveal that The Phantom Pain was in fact the fifth proper entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and Ground Zeroes would serve as the introductory prologue to the game proper. While gamers had supposed as much based on the clues hidden within 2012's VGA teaser trailer, it was nice to finally get some confirmation.
Kojima also took the time to show off the new engine that would be powering the game. With the ability to scale across multiple console generations and produce nearly photorealistic visuals, the FOX engine made quite the impression.
Following Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, many wondered what might happen to the company's game development branch, LucasArts. After all, the studio was working on an exciting new next-gen Bounty Hunter game titled Star Wars 1313 that wowed gamers the year prior. Sadly, Disney decided to shut down the studio, bringing its long legacy that began in the '80s to an end.
While the company had failed to release anything of particular note in recent years, LucasArts was the same studio that put the genre adventure on the map with classics like the Monkey Island games, Day of the Tentacle, and Sam & Max. In many ways, the closure of LucasArts marked the end of an era.
3. Microsoft Creative Director On Always-On Xbox 720: "Deal With It"
I'm sure no one doubted that this little headline would make the list, as former Microsoft creative director Adam Orth took Twitter by storm with a collection of controversial posts just before the Xbox One reveal. At the time, many gamers were afraid the next Xbox would require a constant internet connection and Orth only further fanned those flames by dismissing gamers' legitimate concerns. In just a handful of tweets he managed to stir up a whole lot of controversy and piss off those who don't have access to high-speed internet.
There's no doubt that this only made matters worse for Microsoft going into its reveal of Xbox One. Speaking of which…
4. Microsoft Reveals New Console, Dubbed Xbox One
The grand debut of Microsoft's new console did not go at all like the company had hoped. Instead of taking Sony's approach and focusing on games, the Big M decided to spend a lot of time on television features, a new and improved Kinect, and sports. Of course there were some game debuts as well, with the likes of Forza Motorsport 5 and Call of Duty: Ghosts making an appearance, but there simply wasn't enough to keep gamers from feeling like they were getting the shaft. Also, everyone was puzzled by the name Xbox One. Seriously, what genius came up with that piece of branding?
What then followed was a PR nightmare as Microsoft execs tried to address the media's questions about always-online requirements and the rumored blocking of used games. The company was clearly not prepared to handle this query onslaught, and what resulted was a horrific mess of mixed messaging and contradictory responses. Not a great coming out party by any stretch of the imagination.
