Today was a good day to be gamer and if you happen to have a brand loyalty to Nintendo or Sony, then you had a really good day. It’s not often that we get two showcases from two competing brands on the same day when it’s not E3, Gamescom or a conference of some sort but with the holiday season nearing, both companies wanted to keep their repsective fanbases abreast of what they can expect in the coming months and in some cases a year or two.
NINTENDO DIRECT
First up was Nintendo and with a Nintendo showcase you can always expect to see something with Mario or maybe even Square Enix and while that did happen it wasn’t what stole the show. Aside from the usual suspects being shown today the one game that everybody has been talking about for years finally got some air time but it goes deeper than that. We got a name and release date. You know what game I’m talking about and if you don’t, you’re out of the loop and you need to find your way back.
It’s the Legend of Zelda and we finally got a release date and name for the Breath of the Wild sequel and it’s Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Nintendo showed off a teaser trailer and it doesn’t give you much but what it does give you is the relief that we’ll finally be able to play this game next year in May.
Nintendo announced a slew of other games but NO game they showed was as hyped and as impressive as Tears of the Kingdom. We won’t discuss them all here because you’ll be reading forever but If you need you know what else Nintendo showed off at their direct show you can watch the show in its entirety just above. It was a great showing and overall I gave the show a GRADE A. Nintendo rocked it. It’s worth a watch.
SONY STATE OF PLAY
Sony also had a showcase that kind of came out of nowhere but for so many it was impressive. Sony has been very consistent in announcing State of Play showcases and it always draws mixed emotions because Sony makes games that are of such quality that it somehow always disappoints and given their recent bad press they could use a jolt.
While I wasn’t personally blown away by what I saw, the consensus is that Sony had a great showing especially for those who love the smaller AA games and Japanese games. Well, Sony knocked that out of the park with some seriously good game but of course, there’s no game that Sony has coming right now more anticipated than God of War: Ragnarok and although we’ve seen that game and gameplay, the trailer that was shown off yesterday was nothing short of an incredible event. It was the type of trailer that makes you wonder if Elden Ring will really be the GOTY despite it’s unprecented success. Don’t believe me? If you haven’t seen the trailer, it’s above. It’s crazy.
Just like wit Nintendo’s showing I won’t list every game that they showed off but you can watch the Showcase itself and enjoy the many surprises and make your own assessment. Whichever console or ecosystem you’re a part of doesn’t matter. Great games are great games and Nintendo and Sony both delivered. XBOX should have some surprises coming at the TGS (Tokyo Game Show) as well. It’s the holiday season and the best time to be a gamer.
