Zombies aren’t the only enemy in footage from Sony’s ‘Days Gone’

Why it matters to you

Sony may have an undead hit on its hands with ‘Days Gone.’

During Sony’s press conference at E3 2017, we received a nice meaty chunk of zombie-infested gamplay from Days Gone. It’s an upcoming open-world action/adventure game from Bend Studio for the PlayStation 4 set in a post-apocalyptic world where man fights to survive against not only an infestation of zombies, but fellow humans as well. The story focuses on protagonist Deacon St. John played by actor Samuel Witwer (Being Human, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed).

Two years after the “devastating global pandemic,” we see Deacon sitting on his motorcycle at the gate of a local settlement. A group of injured are dragged inside, and Deacon learns that they were on a supply run but attacked by a group of squatters just off the highway. He was going to brush the incident off and let someone else deal with the problem, but he discovered that his friend Manny was kidnapped in the ambush.

The gameplay began with the audience hopping on a camera parked behind Deacon as he raced off on his motorcycle to hunt down his friend. After driving for some time, the player eventually came across a pack of wolves gnawing on a dead body. He determined it wasn’t Manny, and then continued down the road. However, one of the wolves raced after Deacon, and as he whipped out a shotgun to deal with the animal, time slowed and an R1 indicator appeared, informing the player to shoot.

But then a rope draped across the road stopped Deacon by the throat and he tumbled to the ground, gasping for air. Two lurking squatters emerged from the sides, and more controller button designations appeared on the screen as the player fought to dodge blows and retaliate.

Later in the footage, he hid in a bush Horizon Zero Dawn-style and popped out to perform stealthy killing move when Some thugs came into range.

The gameplay footage concluded with Deacon reaching a camp by moving through a barrier made of wooden planks and sheets. He pulled a sticky bomb out of his pocket, placed it on the barrier, ran off, and watched the hordes of zombie wash into the camp when the barrier came down in an explosive heap.

Unfortunately, we still don’t know when Days Gone will hit the PlayStation 4, but based on the footage shown at E3 2017, it’s going to be another massive zombified exclusive for Sony. For more E3 2017 coverage, head here.

Canvas replaces over-the-phone job interviews with texting

Why it matters to you

The next time you interview for a job, it could be via text message.

We’ve all been there: You send your spruced-up resume and references to a job recruiter, get a friendly acceptance email from said recruiter, and set up a phone interview. That’s where things get tricky — once you’ve spent days or weeks nailing down a time that fits both of your calendars, you’re stuck with logistical challenges like dodgy cell reception, background noise, and awkward questions that sound much better in an email than over the phone. That’s why Canvas, a new startup, is tackling things from a different angle: Text messaging.

Canvas, the brainchild of Aman Brar, Kelly Lavin, and Jared Adams, takes a “messaging-first” approach to job interviews. Instead of scheduling a phone call with a recruiter, prospective employees text them via a smartphone, PC, or tablet, as if they’re exchanging messages with a friend. Brar compared it to online dating.

“In today’s society, we’re willing to screen a potential spouse with a swipe on an app, but we’re still screening job candidates over the phone,” Brar told Digital Trends. “When you find a match, you don’t call and ask awkward questions about how long they dated their last partner. If texting is a good enough way to find your life partner, it’s more than adequate for recruiting talent.”

A lot goes on behind the scenes. Recruiters contact job applicants through the Canvas dashboard, a PC-optimized web client or a mobile app for iOS and Android. It looks like Slack or Facebook Messenger — recruiters see a list of candidates they’re actively chatting with on the left-hand side, the body of the ongoing conversation in the center, and the candidate’s name, city of origin, phone number, and social media profiles on the right-hand side.

But Canvas is a lot more specialized. Recruiters can “like” and “dislike” responses from candidates, and insert notes during the course of the interview (these are hidden from the candidates). They can embed media, too, like culture videos, job descriptions, applications, and benefits packages, and rate applicant responses on a five-star scale.

Perhaps what’s most impressive about Canvas, though, is its artificial intelligence features, which tap IBM Watson to serve up questions, links, and documents relevant to the top of conversation. If a candidate asks about a company’s pay scale and 401k, for example, Canvas might helpfully pull up a draft contract and a list of benefits, and even show buttons that sends the documents in a single click.

When an interview wraps up, Canvas stores the contents for posterity, and generates a one-sheet summary consisting of the candidate’s name, qualitative score (out of five stars), basic profile information, and a two-column outline of “positive” comments and “negative” comments. A built-in sharing function generates an email link to the page, and in the coming weeks will let recruiters mask candidates’ names to protect their privacy.

The real benefit of Canvas, Brar said, is the flexibility it affords. He points out that when it comes to business communication, a vast majority of the 50 million millennials that’ll be hired between now and 2025 — roughly 88 percent — prefer texting to phone calls.

“With Canvas, there’s no need to schedule a phone interview — prospective employees can text questions and responses at the times most convenient to them,” Brar said, “and media embeds save them the trouble of having to dig through websites and company directories to find resources.”

But Brar thinks it’s a boon for enterprise, too. “Most recruiters can only fit four or five phone calls in a day,” he said. “With Canvas, they can interview 40 or 50.”

It’s already gaining traction in the corporate world. Canvas, which launched with $1.7 million in seed funding, has early adopters that span from startups to Fortune 500, companies located in Silicon Valley, and even the Midwest. It counts Scott Day, senior vice president of people and culture for OpenTable and former head of talent strategy for Airbnb, as well as Jeff Perkins, founder of Huntbridge and former vice president of human resources at SpaceX, among the members of its leadership advisory board.

The team’s future plans include a smartphone and web app for candidates, and “richer” experiences for both recruiters and prospective employees — including AI-powered features.

“We think we can do more there — especially with natural language processing,” Brar said, referring to the field in computer science concerned with AI’s ability to interpret words and phrases. “We have ideas for much richer experiences down the line.”

Xbox teams up with the PC to score a much-needed win over PlayStation at E3 2017

Finally, after several years of struggle, Microsoft has unquestionably earned a much-needed win.

The company came to E3 2017 prepared. Everyone knew that it would announce a new console, codenamed Scorpio, which we now know as the Xbox One X. New hardware always gives an advantage to whoever has it, and Sony, having recently released PlayStation 4 Pro, had nothing to bring.

Yet it wasn’t just the hardware that gave Microsoft its victory. The Xbox team outmaneuvered its rival at almost every turn. When Sony’s show ended, and the lights turned on, a shockingly disappointed crowd shuffled away.

It’s about game…but what kind of games

That’s not to say Sony had nothing to show. It brought numerous major exclusives including God of War, Days Gone, and Detroit: Becoming Human, and Spider-Man. These are heavy-hitters that offer either serious pedigree or a hugely popular franchise.

Just one problem. Most of them don’t look very good.

Spider-Man looks set to be the dud of the show. Though gorgeous, the game’s lengthy trailer focused on scripted events and canned fights. It even showed several dreaded quick-time events, where Spidey’s success or failure boiled down to hit X when it appeared on-screen. It felt like a remastered game from 2011, not an all-new title. Days Gone and Detroit: Becoming Human did not look so dire, but they did look generic, with both failing to show the possibility their concepts promise.

Then there’s God of War. Which looked superb. Sony might’ve had better luck if its conference was nothing but that trailer looped for an hour.

Microsoft, by contrast, brought heavy-hitters like Forza Motorsport 7, Metro Exodus, Sea of Thieves, and Crackdown 3, all of which looked solid. But it’s not the headliners that gave Microsoft the edge. That honor instead goes to its extensive list of PC ports and second-tier exclusives. Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, The Last Night, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, State of Decay 2, and The Artful Escape offered not just exciting trailers, but a breath of experience.

Xbox is fudging the numbers a bit by counting titles that are exclusive to both PC and Xbox. And that’s the point. Microsoft seems to have found a new, successful exclusive strategy. It puts less risk on developers leaving the door to the PC’s massive audience open, but still ensures gamers craving to play these titles must do it on a Microsoft platform.

Microsoft’s lack of VR suddenly looks like a strength

There was one thing notably lacking from Microsoft’s press conference. Virtual reality. Its absence looked like major weakness, as it not only meant Xbox had nothing to show in VR, but also removed a potential selling point of the Xbox One X.

Then, Sony showed its VR games.  The roster included Starchild, Moss, Skyrim VR, Monsters of the Deep (a fishing game in the Final Fantasy universe – seriously!), and Bravo Team. All of them drew, at best, tepid response, and for good reason. Aside from the wonderfully ludicrous Monsters of the Deep, all the titles looked like something we’d seen before. Many, like Starchild and Moss, didn’t even take advantage of virtual reality. Both appear to be platformers. That can work in VR, but it’s certainly not the most ambitious use of the technology.

Some might think the mere existence of VR titles an advantage, but imagine if the time and effort devoted to those titles had been put elsewhere. Instead of a roster of underwhelming VR games, Sony might’ve shown innovative and beautiful indie titles.

You know. Like the games we saw at Xbox.

Have the tables turned?

So, does this mean it’s time to abandon PlayStation and jump into Xbox’s loving arms?

Well…that depends on how deeply you’re entrenched. Switching teams isn’t free, and at $500, the new Xbox One X console does nothing to reduce the cost of entry. You could buy the more affordable Xbox One S, but you’re not going to want to if you already own a PlayStation 4.

Still, unless you’ve bought a PlayStation 4 Pro, an upgrade is in your future — and will probably come sooner than you realize. UHD televisions are dropping in price rapidly, and once you buy one, you’re going to want to purchase a 4K console to go with it. That gives Microsoft the opening it needs to woo gamers back to their side, and its defeat of Sony at E3 2017 comes at just the right time.

Xiaomi’s phones, LED lights, and accessories are heavily discounted right now

Dozens of Xiaomi products are on sale right now.

Chinese retailer GearBest is running its mid-year sale, offering lucrative discounts on a variety of Xiaomi products, including phones, tablets, smart home accessories, audio products, and much more. With most of Xiaomi’s offerings limited to China, it isn’t always easy to get a hold of its products outside the country, making this sale that much more enticing.

Here’s a look at what’s on offer right now:

• Xiaomi Yeelight RGB LED bulb – $16 – 25% off
• Xiaomi Yeelight LED bulb (White) – $11 – 25% off
• Xiaomi Yeelight LED lightstrip – $29 – 32% off
• Xiaomi Mi Band 2 – $22 – 21% off
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (3GB RAM/32GB storage) – $153 – 23% off
• Xiaomi Redmi 4A (2GB RAM/32GB storage) – $99 – 26% off
• Xiaomi Mi 6 (6GB RAM/64GB storage) – $429 – 28% off
• Xiaomi Mi Mix (6GB RAM/256GB storage) – $665 – 11% off
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 (4GB RAM/64GB storage) – $223 – 27% off
• Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum – $319 – 27% off
• Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 13 (Core i5-6200U/8GB RAM/256GB SSD) – $659 – 33% off
• Xiaomi 360-degree camera – $254 – 28% off
• Xiaomi in-car dashcam – $51 – 47% off
• Xiaomi Headphones – $99 – 12% off
• Xiaomi Mi IV dual-driver earbuds – $19 – 25% off
• Xiaomi In-ear Hybrid Earphones Pro – $22 – 36% off
• Xiaomi Bluetooth 4.0 speaker – $34 – 22% off
• Xiaomi Mi Play 2 VR headset – $20 – 30% off
• Xiaomi Mi WiFi Router 3 – $29 – 21% off
• Xiaomi 5-in-1 smart home automation kit – $56 – 22% off

To see all the Xiaomi products currently on sale, hit up the link below.

See at GearBest

Your favorite Insta celebs aren’t following FTC ad guidelines

In April, the FTC reminded a bunch of celebrities, brands and influencers about how to properly post sponsored content on social media. But a study done by the marketing firm Mediakix found that 93 percent of ads posted by top celebrities don’t follow the rules.

Posting shady advertisements has gotten celebrities into trouble lately. First came the FTC warnings, then came the egregious promotions of the disastrous Fyre Festival where celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid advertised the event without making it clear that they were doing so. And now we have numbers on just how often celebs pull this kind of stuff.

The firm looked at the top 50 celebrities on Instagram — people like Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé — and looked at every ad they posted over four weeks, which came out to 152 Instagram posts. To be within FTC guidelines, the ad must contain “#ad” or “#sponsored.” Using the abbreviated “#sp” isn’t allowed. The hashtag must also be early in the post and not at the end of a long caption or among dozens of other hashtags. And just tagging the sponsor is a no go.

Obsessed with @SugarBearHair for over a year! This is more than just an #Ad because I truly love these delicious, soft, chewy vitamins. I’ve loved keeping my natural hair short because of the fun versatility it gives me, so I take SugarBear vitamins for stronger healthier hair. These vitamins are amazing! #sugarbearhair #ad

A post shared by Khloé (@khloekardashian) on Jun 12, 2017 at 1:16pm PDT

With those simple rules at play, Mediakix found that only 7 percent of ads were posted the right way. Buzzfeed later looked at the data and broke down each ad into different categories. Long-term sponsorships led the pack, accounting for around half of all advertisements. And all but one of those ads broke FTC regulations. Twelve percent of sponsored content was of the pay to post type — things like diet teas and vitamins — and of the ads that followed the guidelines, nearly every single one was a pay to post advertisement.

The rest of the posts were made up of other types of sponsored content, like promoting free things that the celebrity received. And all of this suggests that celebrities are just really confused as to what counts as an ad, only sticking to the rules when it’s something they’re explicitly paid to post. But with top celebrities averaging 58 sponsored posts per year, they should really get it together.

Source: Mediakix, Buzzfeed

PlayStation E3 2017 press conference: Watch it again and find out what was launched

E3 2017 is here! The videogames show officially opening its doors on starting on Tuesday 13 June, but the press conferences have already started.

Microsoft unveiled its Xbox One X 4K powerhouse of a console at its event, and then it was down to Sony to show its hand.

It did so on Monday afternoon to evening, LA time, and the underlying message that it was all about the games rather than the hardware – much to the delight of PlayStation fans.

So here’s how to catch up with the PlayStation E3 Media Showcase if you missed it first time around.

• E3 2017: Rumours and what to expect from the world’s biggest games show

You can catch up with the PlayStation media briefing below.

It also available on the official PlayStation Twitch channel and YouTube.

There’s an official PlayStation site for the Media Showcase too.

Sony PlayStation E3 2017 Media Showcase highlights

As Sony concentrated solely on games, for PS4, PS4 Pro and PSVR, we barely got a sniff of any of the top dogs at the company.

In fact, it seemed like a constant stream of spectacular trailer after spectacular trailer.

You can see most of them here: Best PS4 games to look forward to in 2017 & 2018.

The event started with an extended trailer for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and ended with an amazing look at Insomniac’s Spider-Man game, which is coming in “early 2018”.

However, It was the new God of War footage that perhaps floated our boat most. Every time we see more of Kratos and his son embroiled in Norse mythology it looks better.

Days Gone also look great – like an Uncharted with zombies. Lots and lots of zombies.

Speaking of which, it was weird not to see or hear a peep about The Last of Us 2, but we did get new content on Detroit: Being Human, Call of Duty; WW2, Destiny 2 and Shadow of the Colossus.

PSVR also had its own small section and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim VR holds considerable promise.

We’ll be goings hands-on or exploring more of these titles during E3 2017. Join us throughout to keep track.

‘Monster Hunter: World’ is the series’ first worldwide unified release

The Monster Hunter series is bigger in Japan than many of the foes you’ll face in the game with its most recent release, Monster Hunter X, selling 3.2 million copies in roughly its first month. The series has not been nearly as popular here in the States, however that could change early next year when Monster Hunter: World drops worldwide, all at the same time.

The franchise has long focused on single-player questing, though there was the option to play along with up to three other hunters in order to take down larger prey. And, according to Capcom, that co-op system is getting even better with a redesigned drop-in multiplayer system that will “cross-region cooperative play between Japan and the west” thereby dramatically expanding the pool of potential playing partners.

It’s also the first title in the series to launch within the same release window worldwide when it goes on sale for the PS4 and XBox One in early 2018. The PS4 version will also reportedly receive some exclusive content. Sorry PC gamers, you’ll still have to wait a bit as that platform won’t see the game until “a later date”.

Egypt bans dozens of independent news websites

Egypt didn’t retire its ban hammer the moment it blocked 21 independent news websites back in May. According to Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, an Egyptian government watchdog, the country’s government has blocked access to a total of 62 websites as of June 12th. Most of them are private news companies and media platforms that Egyptian authorities claim have expressed support for terrorism or are associated with Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood. As Reuters says, though, the ban also affects outlets like Mada Masr, a publication with no Islamist ties, and financial newspaper Al-Borsa.

Apparently, the recent spate of bans took journalists by surprise despite Egypt’s penchant for censorship. Some of the journalists whose websites were blocked believe the government is cracking down on news websites to silence the oppositions’ voices since it’s widely believed that current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is running for a second term in 2018. Adel Sabry, the editor-in-chief of Masr al-Arabia that was blocked in May, says: “There are people getting ready to nominate themselves for the presidency and they have to make their voices heard or else they won’t be competitive.”

Take for instance, Al Bedaiiah, a publication that was blocked without warning on June 11th. Owner Khaled al-Balshi said seven if its most popular articles the time it was banned talked about a controversial accord that transfers two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s tightest ally and most important benefactor. Al-Bedaiah provided a platform for critics who argued that the accord should be cancelled.

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression says some blocked websites were able to bypass the ban by using alternative URLs, while others are still accessible if you use HTTPS instead of HTTP. Unfortunately, Egyptians might have a hard time accessing everything else, since the government has also started blocking VPN services, and there’s also no indication that the administration has plans to lift the ban anytime soon.

Source: Reuters, Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression

‘Destiny 2’ release dates confirmed for PC and consoles

Tonight during Sony’s E3 2017 press conference we got a good look at the new trailer for Destiny 2, and now Bungie has revealed when the game will launch. Officially, the sequel will be released on PS4 and Xbox One September 6th, ahead of its PC debut October 24th, but that’s not all. Pre-order betas start even earlier on consoles, on July 18th/19th for the PS4/Xbox One, respectively, before an open beta period starting July 21st on both systems, with everything ending July 23rd. PC gamers will get to test out an early version of the game at some point in “late August.” Also, if PS4 is your platform of choice, there will again be timed exclusive content (until fall 2018, at least), including a multiplayer map, co-op strike, armor sets and one sniper rifle.

Save the dates for the Destiny 2 BETA starting July 18th. pic.twitter.com/il0R4GdDGc

— Bungie (@Bungie) June 13, 2017

Source: Bungie

E3 2017: All the games, rumours and what to expect from the world’s biggest games show

E3 2017 is upon us.

Microsoft announced its new 4K super console, the Xbox One X (originally codenamed Project Scorpio), during its press conference ahead of the giant videogames show. And Sony will no doubt fill its Media Showcase with some stunning game debuts and maybe one or two surprises. We’ll also get play time with Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch for the first time.

So here’s what we know about E3 2017 so far, including up-to-date announcements from the pre-show press conferences as they happen. We’ll be adding confirmations, rumours, some of our own thoughts and the games we’d like to see at the show – so come back often for all the updates.

When and where is E3 2017?

E3 once again takes place in Los Angeles, at the LA Convention Center in downtown. It opens its doors at midday on Tuesday 13 June, running each day until 5pm on Thursday 15 June.

As is traditional, however, press conferences and media briefings take place across the weekend and Monday before the show itself. Xbox, Sony, Ubisoft and Bethesda host major press events, while just like last year, Electronic Arts hosted an off-site showcase event, but even earlier – on the Saturday.

EA at E3 2017

Major games

• Anthem
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2
• A Way Out
• FIFA 18 (including The Journey: Hunter Returns story mode)
• FIFA for Switch
• Madden NFL 18 (including Long Shot story mode)
• NBA Live 18
• Need for Speed Payback

Electronic Arts was the first to kick off the pre-E3 announcements, with its pre-show at the Hollywood Palladium – an event which runs from Saturday 10 June through Monday 12 June.

Biggest among all its announcements was a teaser of BioWare’s newest game: Anthem. Details were thin on the ground at this conference, but there was much more detail and gameplay footage displayed at Xbox’s conference on Sunday 11 June (see further below).

EA Sports has a strong series of sports games franchises, with FIFA, Madden NFL and NBA each getting their 2018 updates. Madden features Long Shot, its story mode, while FIFA 18 will continue player Alex Hunter’s story in The Journey: Hunter Returns. We’ve got a full feature detailing the game, link below.

• FIFA 18: Release date, what’s new and everything you need to know

The game to arguably steal the showcase, however, was A Way Out. This EA Originals title, by Swedish studio Hazelight, is a split-screen two player co-op game – and that’s the only way it can be played.

Whether online or with a friend in the same room, the split screen dynamic is always in play – with player one on the left, player two on the right, adding a dynamism of the two points of view. It looks like a really clever take on multiplayer.

Xbox at E3 2017

Major games

• Forza Motorsport 7
• Minecraft in 4K
• Crackdown 3
• Sea of Thieves
• State of Decay 2

Microsoft arguably stole press conference day at E3 2016, with the announcement of the Xbox One S and, more surprisingly, its next games console, codenamed Project Scorpio. Its 2017 conference on Sunday 11 June, finally showed more of the console, now named the Xbox One X. It is due for worldwide release on 7 November for £449 in the UK, $499 in the States.

• Xbox One X: Release date, price, specs and everything you need to know

Xbox One fans were also presented with a healthy line-up of games, many exclusives, and, of course, many optimised for true 4K playback at 60fps thanks to Xbox One X.

Top among its titles was the unveiling of Forza Motorsport 7, which will be released October 3 2017 – more than a month ahead of the new console. Crackdown 3, however, will arrive on 7 November, in tandem with Xbox One X.

Deep Silver’s Metro Exodus, the latest in the post-apocalyptic open-world shooter series, was shown off too. It will be released in 2018.

Minecraft is also coming in full 4K thanks to Xbox One X.

Bethesda at E3 2017

Major games

• Wolfenstein 2
• The Evil Within 2
• Skyrim for Nintendo Switch
• Doom VR
• Fallout 4 VR
• Quake Champions

Like Microsoft, Bethesda’s conference happened on the Sunday before the show. It was set off-site in a theme-park style “Bethesdaland”, before a standing only presentation.

We weren’t expecting heaps of announcements from Bethesda this year, which rang true: Doom VR (well, VFR, if you can work out the nod to BFG there), Fallout 4 VR, DLC content for Dishonored, a community mods system for Fallout 4 and Skyrim on consoles, the beta announcement of Quake Champions, and Skyrim unveiled for Nintendo Switch.

It was the final two announcements that got the crowd worked up all the more: The Evil Within 2 and Wolfenstein 2 The New Colossus head up the company’s sequels march.

Best of all, everything announced by Bethesda will be released within 2017.

Ubisoft at E3 2017

Major games

• Beyond Good And Evil 2
• Assassin’s Creed: Origins
• Far Cry 5
• Skull & Bones
• The Crew 2
• Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
• South Park: The Fractured But Whole
• South Park: Phone Destroyer (mobile app game)
• Starlink: Battle For Atlas
• Rayman Legends Definitive Edition for Switch
• Steep for Switch

Ubisoft always hosts its press conference on the Monday prior to the show doors opening and that’s no different this year.

Its press conference kicked off by rolling out Mario creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, to confirm that Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle isn’t just a rumour game, but a reality. Described as “unlike any Mario game ever made before”, this exploration meets turn-based battle game, which is exclusive for Nintendo Switch and released on August 29, certainly looks like a unique take.

Next up is Assassin’s Creed: Origins, which is set in ancient Egypt for this latest release. It’s a game that’s garnered a lot of attention ahead of E3 2017, plus will be optimised for the highest 4K graphical fidelity on Xbox One X. Unlike previous Assassin’s Creed titles, Origins ditches the mini map and towers approach, instead opting for an eagle to scout and tag enemies.

Online racer The Crew also has a sequel incoming: The Crew 2. It takes racing up a notch, with street racing, boats, planes, off-road and more. This looks like Ubi’s take on Forza and Need For Speed.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole finally gets a release date, too, after being delayed from last year. The turn-based RPG will be available October 17. Not content with just one game, there will also be a mobile app game, South Park: Phone Destroyer, released this year.

Fancy playing “the ultimate pirate experience”? Skull & Bones shows that Ubisoft isn’t finished with pirates after Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, with this all new online player-vs-player game.

Starlink: Battle For Atlas is a space exploration game for PS4, Xbox One and Switch, all of which feature physical starships that connect to the controllers and provide interaction.

We knew that Far Cry 5 would be shown off in more detail, with some in-game action finally revealed. Set in fictional Hope County, Montana, Far Cry’s fifth outing is set in the modern day, where a fanatical cult has overrun the area – leaving it up to you to raise hell with your guns for hire to put things right.

• Far Cry 5: Release date, trailer, screens and everything you need to know

Last up is Beyond Good And Evil 2 – a sequel that’s almost 15 years in the making – a game which is set in another galaxy, where multiple species interact in a quirky, explosive way. We’ll say little more, just watch the trailer below. BGE2 looks rather special.

PlayStation at E3 2017

Major games

• Days Gone
• Death Stranding
• Detroit: Become Human
• God of War
• Gran Turismo Sport
• Spider-Man
• The Last of Us 2
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

With PlayStation’s own 4K console released at the end of 2016, Sony isn’t expected to unveil any new hardware. Instead, the company kicked off its press conference at the Shrine Auditorium with a focus on games: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy; The Frozen Wilds, the DLC for Horizon: Zero Dawn; and gameplay of Days Gone.

• The best PS4 games to look forward to in 2017 and 2018

With little talk on stage, Sony continued its press conference with vigour: Monster Hunter World from Capcom, Shadow of the Colossus from Japan Studio, Marvel vs Capcom, and Call of Duty: WW2 from Activision.

The came a slew of virtual reality titles: Skyrim VR from Bethesda; Star Child; The Inpatient; Monster of the Deep, which is a Final Fantasy fishing game… yes, really; Bravo Team, a new first person shooter; and Moss, in which you play a mouse knight.

God of War was then given centre stage, showing off its mix of combat and heart-felt storytelling. It looks as though Santa Monica Studio has struck a really interesting balance between Kratos and his son – both of which you will command as player in their journey. It’ll be out early 2018, too.

Next up was Detroit: Become Human – Quantic Dream’s latest movie-like piece of storytelling, in which Android police live among us in society. Can they be trusted? Whose side is who on? If you love choice-based adventures then this ought to be right up your street.

Following a quick flash of Destiny 2, the event was closed out with a PS4 exclusive: Spider-Man. Perhaps an unexpected closing title – no Red Dead 2, no Last of Us 2 – it’s a title Sony is keen to show-off, given its exclusive status. It looks similar to Arkham City in some respects, except played out very much in daylight, with added web-slinging thrown in for good measure.

Nintendo at E3 2017

Major games

• Super Mario Odyssey
• Splatoon 2
• ARMS

Nintendo’s E3 will mostly be about Switch and the company has revealed that Super Mario Odyssey will be playable on the show floor for the very first time.

It doesn’t hold a press conference during E3 anymore – those days are long gone – but it will host a Nintendo Spotlight: E3 2017 video presentation, to be streamed live online from 11am PDT, 5pm BST on Tuesday 13 June.

It will also bring back its Nintendo Treehouse: Live at E3 2017 livestreamed showcase, to be available to watch from the Tuesday through to Thursday 15 June. 3DS games will be talked about as well as all the latest and forthcoming Switch titles. This will include tournaments for Switch games ARMS and Splatoon 2.

Beyond Nintendo’s own announcements, it’s great to see other developers getting on board too: from Skyrim to FIFA 18 and beyond, the Switch is a console that’s getting a stronger foothold than its Wii U predecessor.

Activision at E3 2017

Major games

• Call of Duty: WW2
• Destiny 2
• Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy

Activision opted for a low-key E3 in 2016, with its only presence at the show being behind closed doors.

There will be a bigger showing this year though, with Destiny 2 and a return to the second World War for Call of Duty: WW2 at the very least. The remastered Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy will also be at the show surely, considering it comes out later in June.

• Destiny 2: Release date, screens, formats and everything you need to know

What other games companies will be at E3 2017?

Hundreds of publishers and developers show their wares at E3 each year, either on the show floor or behind closed doors (BCD) in private rooms. This year’s event will be no different. As well as the companies above, there will be plenty of other games publishers and hardware manufacturers, including:

• Bandai Namco
• Capcom
• CD Projekt Red
• Deep Silver
• Focus Home Interactive
• Konami
• Logitech
• Oculus
• Nvidia
• Razer
• Rebellion
• Sega
• Square Enix
• Take-Two
• Warner Bros

E3 2017 games

Alongside the games from the major publishers, these are the games rumoured to be shown, even playable, at E3 2017. There are likely to be plenty more as the show goes on.

• Agents of Mayhem (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Borderlands 3 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Formula One 2017 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Metal Gear Survive (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Micro Machines World Series (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Middle-Earth, Shadow of War (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• NBA 2K18 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
• PES 2018 (PS4, Xbox One)
• Project Cars 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Project Sonic (PS4, Switch, PC)
• Rogue Trooper Redux (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Sonic Forces (PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch)
• Strange Brigade (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• WWE 2K18 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Vampyr (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

There will also be plenty of virtual reality games for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

What we’d like to see at E3 2017

While we always learn about certain games ahead of E3, there are several we hope for even though the chances are slim. The same applies to hardware. Here then is what we are hoping for at E3 2017.

Half-Life 3

We say it every year and every year we are disappointed. Maybe this year though? No? No, probably not…

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar had already confirmed Red Dead Redemption 2 for a Q4 release in 2017, but that looks like being 2018 now. The developer rarely attends E3 so we doubt there’ll be a major insight this year. But here’s hoping.

Oculus Rift 2

With Oculus Touch now in everybody’s hands – literally – the next phase for the company could be an all-new version of the headset. Maybe we’ll even see something announced during E3.

More SteamVR headsets

HTC might also soon announce a HTC Vive 2 device, but considering Valve’s exclusive may be running out soon, we might be about to see other manufacturers jump on board. Asus, for example, has recently revealed that it is to invest heavily in VR this year.

We’ll add more to our wishlist as they occur to us. If there are games or hardware you would like to see announced or shown at E3 this year, let us know in the comments below.