In recent years, E3 has succeeded in blowing away the cobwebs of my jaded cynicism, but this year there's a real sense of ennui. We're at the arse-end of the current generation, and all the major games industry players seems to be holding their breath.
There have been big game announcements, but you've had to cherry-pick them from amid the detritus of DLC, mission packs, remakes, and spin-offs. It feels like we're treading water.
"Cloud gaming" is being whispered as being the next big thing, but there's such resistance to it among traditional audiences that everyone appears genuinely fearful of what might come next.
Gaming, it seems, is having its own Trump/Brexit moment; the future has suddenly become very unpredictable.
Here are some more of the biggest stories to come out from E3 so far.
There have been big game announcements, but you've had to cherry-pick them from amid the detritus of DLC, mission packs, remakes, and spin-offs. It feels like we're treading water.
"Cloud gaming" is being whispered as being the next big thing, but there's such resistance to it among traditional audiences that everyone appears genuinely fearful of what might come next.
Gaming, it seems, is having its own Trump/Brexit moment; the future has suddenly become very unpredictable.
Here are some more of the biggest stories to come out from E3 so far.
SQUARE ENIX: AVENGERS
Marvel's Avengers - to give the game its full, official, infringement-avoiding, title - looks to be a jarring experience, albeit one, in the wake of Endgame and Infinity War, that's a literal license to print money.
Though clearly influenced by the movies, it isn't a spin-off of the movies. Like the recent Spider-Man game, its set in its own version off the Marvel Universe, and as such the characters' faces won't look like Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson et al.
In fact, the don't sound like them either, and between their faces and voices - even with top-tier video game vocal talent like Nolan North on board - it gives the characters a generic feel, heightening the uncanny valley effect.
Even the end of the trailer had a reveal of the logo which was crying out for that iconic Avengers theme, but was instead accompanied by some limp, placeholder, music, of the sort you'd download from a royalty-free stock audio site.
By all accounts, Avengers will mostly be set five years after a terrible disaster (sound familiar?), which has devastated San Francisco, and killed one of their own. You'll be able to play single-player as your favourite Avenger, or team up with friends.
Providing you don't mind playing as an Iron Man wearing a neck brace, and a Captain America who appears to be trapped in some sort of mechanical respirator.
Again, as was the norm for E3 this year, the trailer failed to show any actual gameplay. Have these people learned nothing?!
Though clearly influenced by the movies, it isn't a spin-off of the movies. Like the recent Spider-Man game, its set in its own version off the Marvel Universe, and as such the characters' faces won't look like Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson et al.
In fact, the don't sound like them either, and between their faces and voices - even with top-tier video game vocal talent like Nolan North on board - it gives the characters a generic feel, heightening the uncanny valley effect.
Even the end of the trailer had a reveal of the logo which was crying out for that iconic Avengers theme, but was instead accompanied by some limp, placeholder, music, of the sort you'd download from a royalty-free stock audio site.
By all accounts, Avengers will mostly be set five years after a terrible disaster (sound familiar?), which has devastated San Francisco, and killed one of their own. You'll be able to play single-player as your favourite Avenger, or team up with friends.
Providing you don't mind playing as an Iron Man wearing a neck brace, and a Captain America who appears to be trapped in some sort of mechanical respirator.
Again, as was the norm for E3 this year, the trailer failed to show any actual gameplay. Have these people learned nothing?!
SQUARE ENIX: OUTRIDERS
The other big reveal for Square Enix at E3 was Outriders, a new sci-fi shooter from the team behind the underrated Bulletstorm. That's literally the extent of the information available, because - yet again - no actual gameplay was revealed.
I just sighed so hard my urethra prolapsed!
Also on Square Enix's slate: the Final Fantasy VII remake, Final Fantasy VIII remastered, and some other stuff that wasn't sufficiently interesting to discuss. I mean, I could discuss it, but it would bore me, and neither of us want that to happen.
"Do you have a Square Enix?"
"No, it's just the way I'm standing."
I just sighed so hard my urethra prolapsed!
Also on Square Enix's slate: the Final Fantasy VII remake, Final Fantasy VIII remastered, and some other stuff that wasn't sufficiently interesting to discuss. I mean, I could discuss it, but it would bore me, and neither of us want that to happen.
"Do you have a Square Enix?"
"No, it's just the way I'm standing."
EA: STAR WARS JEDI - FALLEN ORDER
Most of EA's offerings at this year's E3 focused on DLC, but they did have a few new games to talk about - inevitably, one of those was a new FIFA - but the main focus was on Fallen Order.
Bucking the trend, EA was happy to show off a lot of gameplay - releasing a full 15 minutes worth of it. Certainly, it seems to deliver the single-player, story-led, experience we've all been clamouring for since the company so spectacularly ballsed-up Battlefront 2.
However, even with a vocal performance from Forest Whittaker, reprising his role as Saw Gerrera from Rogue One - "What sort of Happy Meal do you want, Bor Gullet?" - and talk of the gameplay being influenced by Metroid Prime, Dark Souls and Bloodborne, there was a strong whiff of Force Unleashed about it.
Set after Return of the Jedi, but before The Force Awakens, it tells the canonical story of former Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis, as he joins the embryonic Rebellion against the Empire. Lightsaber-wielding, Force powers, a droid sidekick, and - most likely - no loot crates, should make plenty of people happy.
But... at this stage, I can't help but feel there's something a bit generic action game-y about the whole thing.
What's Cal short for? He's got little legs!!!!!!!!!!!
Bucking the trend, EA was happy to show off a lot of gameplay - releasing a full 15 minutes worth of it. Certainly, it seems to deliver the single-player, story-led, experience we've all been clamouring for since the company so spectacularly ballsed-up Battlefront 2.
However, even with a vocal performance from Forest Whittaker, reprising his role as Saw Gerrera from Rogue One - "What sort of Happy Meal do you want, Bor Gullet?" - and talk of the gameplay being influenced by Metroid Prime, Dark Souls and Bloodborne, there was a strong whiff of Force Unleashed about it.
Set after Return of the Jedi, but before The Force Awakens, it tells the canonical story of former Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis, as he joins the embryonic Rebellion against the Empire. Lightsaber-wielding, Force powers, a droid sidekick, and - most likely - no loot crates, should make plenty of people happy.
But... at this stage, I can't help but feel there's something a bit generic action game-y about the whole thing.
What's Cal short for? He's got little legs!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOGLE STADIA
Ohhhhhhh... Ohhhhhhhhhh nooooo... nooooo! Oh nooooooooo! Everyone hates Google Stadia.
The backlash is in full effect - among the hardcore anyway - with a widespread belief that internet speeds just aren't fast enough to make Google's cloud-gaming dream practical. Yet.
Or, indeed, ever will be, according to some people who presumable think that the world as it is today has always been this way, and that steam engines were a fairy tale made up by dirty liars.
Despite a strong launch line-up - including games from all the major players, and several exclusives - the £8.99 monthly subscription cost (though it's free for those who don't mind a restricted service which caps the resolution and frame rate), plus the £199 outlay for the Founder's Edition, which includes a limited edition controller (which costs £59 on its own, but you can also use an Xbox controller), a Chromecast Ultra (so you can play on the telly), and a three-month subscription to Stadia Pro, has caused widespread rolling of the eyes.
Without the subscription, you'll be able to purchase games as you see fit, but critics point out that you can only keep them for as long as Stadia exists. Fair enough, but some of us were happy the day we no longer needed to buy DVDs, even if it meant we no longer owned a physical copy of something, which we could put on a shelf, just for the sake of further cluttering up our homes.
I mean, seriously... how many times are you realistically going to watch Big Trouble In Little China, or Time Cop?
I remain stubbornly, cautiously, optimistic. The idea of cloud gaming is incredibly appealing to me; I'm not interested in keeping my games forever, I don't care about modding... Really, it's the PC owners who seem to be flailing their arms around over this, but I think it needs to be seen more an alternative to console gaming than a replacement for PCs.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Google's infrastructure is going to work as well as they're claiming - most gaming chair "experts" are already insisting it's impossible - but I struggle to believe that Google wouldn't enter into something this high-profile and game-changing if they didn't think they could make it work long-term.
That said, there's already a narrative of failure building around Stadia, and when that happens - remember the Xbox One launch? - it's often hard to reclaim the PR advantage.
We'll know whether they've achieved that when Stadia Pro launches in November (the free Base option will arrive next year).
The backlash is in full effect - among the hardcore anyway - with a widespread belief that internet speeds just aren't fast enough to make Google's cloud-gaming dream practical. Yet.
Or, indeed, ever will be, according to some people who presumable think that the world as it is today has always been this way, and that steam engines were a fairy tale made up by dirty liars.
Despite a strong launch line-up - including games from all the major players, and several exclusives - the £8.99 monthly subscription cost (though it's free for those who don't mind a restricted service which caps the resolution and frame rate), plus the £199 outlay for the Founder's Edition, which includes a limited edition controller (which costs £59 on its own, but you can also use an Xbox controller), a Chromecast Ultra (so you can play on the telly), and a three-month subscription to Stadia Pro, has caused widespread rolling of the eyes.
Without the subscription, you'll be able to purchase games as you see fit, but critics point out that you can only keep them for as long as Stadia exists. Fair enough, but some of us were happy the day we no longer needed to buy DVDs, even if it meant we no longer owned a physical copy of something, which we could put on a shelf, just for the sake of further cluttering up our homes.
I mean, seriously... how many times are you realistically going to watch Big Trouble In Little China, or Time Cop?
I remain stubbornly, cautiously, optimistic. The idea of cloud gaming is incredibly appealing to me; I'm not interested in keeping my games forever, I don't care about modding... Really, it's the PC owners who seem to be flailing their arms around over this, but I think it needs to be seen more an alternative to console gaming than a replacement for PCs.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Google's infrastructure is going to work as well as they're claiming - most gaming chair "experts" are already insisting it's impossible - but I struggle to believe that Google wouldn't enter into something this high-profile and game-changing if they didn't think they could make it work long-term.
That said, there's already a narrative of failure building around Stadia, and when that happens - remember the Xbox One launch? - it's often hard to reclaim the PR advantage.
We'll know whether they've achieved that when Stadia Pro launches in November (the free Base option will arrive next year).
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