Once again, the amazing, little chunk of water and rock that we inhabit has nearly reached the halfway point in its unlikely, yet miraculous orbit around the equally unlikely, yet miraculous ball of fire that hangs in space. This fantastical marker illustrating our current place in time can only mean one thing: E3 season is here!

If you’re reading this, then the chances are pretty high that you don’t need any long-winded introductory article describing our excitement for E3 2018; however, the mere existence of these words decrying the need to write such long-winded, perfunctory introduction sections has already defeated the intentions of skipping said perfunctory introductory section – so here we are.

There is never any shortage of hype going into an E3, and this year is no exception; however, E3 2018 is different.

Change is in the air.

Just as we have finished settling in to the rhythm of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases, rumors have started to circulate about the next wave of consoles.

Sources have confirmed to NerdBacon that PlayStation 5 development kits are now in the hands of a number of developers, and that work has already begun on the future of electronic entertainment.

A year after introducing the Xbox One X to the market, Microsoft is already recruiting eager young craftsmen (and women) to construct their vision of the next generation.

And Nintendo, always the non-conformist in the group, is filing patents for a mysterious new piece of technology.

So suddenly the focus of E3 2018 has shifted somewhat away from the anticipation of incredible new software, to the rapidly approaching generational shift, and how each of the companies will position themselves for the next generation of gaming.

This makes E3 2018 the last year of the status-quo – not just the status-quo of this generation of consoles, but the status-quo of how we go about the business of actually playing games.

Streaming technology has advanced exponentially in the past few years, creating a world that is becoming increasingly service-based. The idea of requiring a player to purchase a specific box on which to play the games of a specific company will one day soon, become extinct.

The final console generation is coming. The question is: will gamers be ready?

Beyond these gale-force winds of change, an entire hurricane of change threatens the gaming landscape. A storm which keeps the occupants of the loftiest ivory towers at Nintendo, Sega, and Sony awake at night: the titans.

Just as Microsoft’s entry into the gaming landscape in 2001 quickly forced Sega to exit the hardware business, the threat of a titanic company such as Apple or Amazon entering the gaming landscape looms large.

How long could the big 3 last should one of these titans decide to enter the home console business?

A shift to a more service-based gaming eco-system that doesn’t necessarily require NASA certified graphics cards, but relies on seamless delivery from a cloud-based infrastructure, makes the arrival of one of these behemoths a very real possibility.

So as we prepare ourselves for the arrival of E3 2018, take time to look around, smell the digital roses, and appreciate everything wonderful that is gaming. This is going to be an incredibly exciting year with a number of titles that will be announced which will certainly melt down a plethora of gaming forums across the internet.

Appreciate everything you’ve come to know and love about gaming for the past 35 years.

This will be the last E3 before everything changes.

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Every year, NerdBacon examines the three major console manufacturers and takes a look back at the key decisions made on their journey to E3. Recently, we began our series with Microsoft, and what lies ahead as they enter E3 2018. We then took a look at Nintendo and examined their meteoric resurgence with the Nintendo Switch, as well as the immediate threats that could stymie their full potential.

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The Road to E3 2018

In the spectrum of electronic entertainment, there is perhaps no better definition of the term perfection than Sony’s 2017.

Gravity Rush 2, Persona 5, Nioh, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nier: Automata – these were just a few of the games that came out exclusively within the for the PlayStation 4 within the first half of the year. Each one of these games is impressive enough to have anchored the holiday lineup during past generations, so it’s still unbelievable that we saw so much quality in such a short time span.

This remarkable assembly of triple A titles was no accident – it was the culmination of an entire generation spent erasing the haughty missteps that had caused it to stumble so mightily in the previous generation. Sony learned from their initial mistakes with the PlayStation 3 and paid their penance by carefully cultivating relationships with developers, publishers, and gamers.

Microsoft may have been able to proclaim ownership of the world’s most powerful gaming console with the Xbox One X; however, all the games that people actually wanted to play were on the PlayStation 4.

Consumers have rewarded Sony with a 2 to 1 sales advantage of the PlayStation 4 over rival Microsoft’s Xbox One. Sales of Sony’s premium unit, the PlayStation 4 Pro are strong, and even the PlayStation VR is doing quite well for being part of a dying fad.

In short, 2017 was the perfect culmination of a nearly flawless generation for Sony.

Now that we are marching into E3 2018, things continue to look remarkably rosy. God of War launched in April to overwhelming critical acclaim, Spiderman, a title that looks to redefine the superhero genre will release later this year, and additional games like The Last of Us: Part II, Dreams, Ghosts of Tsushima, and Death Stranding are among the numerous titles that make Sony’s position as the king of the gaming hill seem unshakable.

Sony’s strength at this point almost hearkens back to that of Nintendo’s at the height of the NES days. Sure, there are more places and more viable options for developers to go should they not want to do business with Sony; however, avoiding the PlayStation ecosystem is still a risky gamble.

Sony has simply made all the right moves this generation and the PlayStation 4 is closing in on the 100 million units sold mark, placing it in the upper echelon of console success stories throughout the industry’s history.

However, E3 2018 marks a transition period. PlayStation 5 is not quite on the horizon, but it isn’t too far beyond it, and no console manufacturer has ever maintained their position as market leader from one generation to the next. There’s also the resurgence of the sleeping giant, Nintendo, who have captured imaginations with their portable hybrid, the Nintendo Switch. While the Switch is in no danger of toppling Sony’s dominance at this time, the Switch is still expanding at an extraordinary rate – faster in its first year in Japan than the PlayStation 4 was. In fact, most industry pundits agree that the Switch will outsell the Xbox One‘s life time sales (remember, the machine released in 2013) by the end of this year.

As if a reinvigorated Nintendo juggernaut wasn’t enough to contend with, there’s the prospect of the entire industry shifting.

The age of streaming is coming, and with it, the possibilities of the arrival of forces even more gargantuan than Nintendo: Apple, Google or Amazon.

Any one of these corporate gods could invade the living room with an affordable set-top box that provides streaming triple-A content from a variety of service providers.

And who will those service providers be?

It will be competitors like Microsoft, who have been quietly making moves to transform their entire Xbox brand into a service through Games Pass, which will soon incorporate the entirety of Xbox Live, as well as streaming functionality, and will begin the revolution by letting subscribers stream content to their PC’s as well as Xbox’s.

There’s also third parties like EA, who recently purchased the streaming technology of Gamefly. This was a huge move on their part which

will be examined very closely in the coming years because it allows EA to build their own content delivery program that’s separate from Sony, Microsoft, etc. Once their service is up and running, nothing would stop EA from offering streaming games to PC, or an Apple or Google device, should either company arrive on the scene.

Sony has attempted their own streaming service through PlayStation Now, which allowed users the ability to stream a robust library of PlayStation 3 titles for a monthly fee in lieu of providing proper physical backwards compatibility. While the concept was quite forward-thinking at the time, the technology behind PlayStation Now did not produce a very good experience, with many players reporting bad lag and stuttering of the stream.

Should the market shift towards streaming more rapidly than expected, Sony would find itself in the unexpected position of being the most vulnerable of the three major manufacturers, as Microsoft has been preparing and paving the way for this eventuality, and Nintendo and their mixture of a younger/nostalgic fan base create a bit of an insulation from this oncoming pole shift.

It’s this dichotomy of simultaneous strength and weakness that will make Sony’s next few years absolutely fascinating. If they can figure out how to defend themselves from Apple, etc, then there may not be anything that will ever topple Sony’s reign at the top of the gaming mountain.

As we ride into E3 2018, this will be the last chance for Sony to enjoy their position as the king of the hill.

Because starting next year a storm is coming – and when it’s all over, they may just look down and see that their hill has been washed away.

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Predictions

Sony has already told us that the main items on their E3 2018 agenda will be “deep dives” into four huge titles:

Death Stranding

The Last of Us: Part II

Ghosts of Tsushima

Spiderman

We’ll finally get to see gameplay of Death Stranding, along with a release window of 2019. People will still be completely confused as to what’s going on in the game, which will be marvelous.

We will also see a late 2019 release window for The Last of Us: Part II, as that is intended to act as the swan song for the PlayStation 4, much in the same way as the original was for the PlayStation 3. We will also see that game eventually serve as a generational bridge and appear on both PS4 and the PS5 when it releases.

Ghosts of Tsushima will get a Spring 2019 release window.

We’ll also get a release date for Kingdom Hearts III, which will be this year and a release window for episode one of Final Fantasy VII: Remake – but you know all this stuff already.

Let’s go nuts here and get a bold prediction!

For all the awesome games that they released in 2017, Sony’s big press events were a little lackluster.

This year, they’re going to want to get back some of the shock and awe that was on display at E3 2015 and 2016.

That’s why I think they are going to dig deep and bring back the beloved S.O.C.O.M. U.S. Navy Seals!

Think about it – not only would that whip the Sony faithful into a new level of hype, but that would also fill the void that Sony has for a Game as Service title that could carry on to the next generation.

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Those are my thoughts on Sony’s road to E3 2018. Now it’s time for your thoughts!

Let us know what you want to see out of Sony at E3 2018, and don’t forget to tune in to NerdBacon for complete coverage of all the major press events and stories at twitch.tv/nerdbacon!

You can find our complete stream schedule here!