E3 2017 is in full swing and the press conferences are coming in hot and fast! EA kicked things off and now it’s Microsoft’s turn to show off their goods.

Things started off with the unveiling of the brand new XBOX ONE X formerly known as PROJECT SCORPIO. Personally, I would have stuck with SCORPIO as to not confuse buyers this holiday season. Think about it, there’s XBOX ONE, XBOX ONE S, and now XBOX ONE X! The X is the smallest one yet, but wouldn’t it make sense if the “S” was the smallest? And the differences between the 3 may be big on the inside, but the outside looks pretty much the same across the board. And they all play the same games for the most part using the same accessories. While us gamer nerds get it, the general public may have a tough time here. Just saying.

The XBOX ONE X, touted as “the most powerful console ever made” hits shelves this holiday season on November 7th worldwide with true 4k resolution, 4k UHD Blu-ray playback, and something to do with a teraflop. The cherry on top? It’s backwards compatible with all previous XBOX ONE games and accessories. Cool.

The rest of the presentation can only be described as an assault on the senses as Microsoft blasted short ass clip after short ass clip for 40+ games. I could barely keep up! Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the heavy focus on the games, but holy shit pile it was a lot to keep up with!

You can watch the entire presentation above to get a glimpse at all the games, but if you don’t have time for that, here are some of my personal highlights:

-The new METRO: EXODUS looks atmospheric and fun. We saw tons of cool gameplay bits. It releases sometime in 2018.

–ASSASSIN’S CREED: ORIGINS set in Egypt looks so fun! This franchise heading to Egypt is a match made in heaven. This will finally get me back into this franchise after a few years of skipping installments. Lands 10/27/17.

–DEEP ROCK GALACTIC looks like a cool little indie gem. A cool retro co-op game that I will definitely keeping my eyes on.

–STATE OF DECAY 2 looks promising, but there is a lot of competition in the “zombie” genre these days.

–THE LAST NIGHT took me off guard! Looks stunningly beautiful. It’s like BLADE RUNNER and MINECRAFT had a baby! Looks super cool, stylized, and fun!

-The show stealer here was definitely and extended look at Rare’s SEA OF THIEVES! The game was announced last year, and it looks like Rare has come a long way. This open world, pirate-themed action adventure game looks so wonderful. I’ll definitely be buying this day one and am excited to embark on this adventure in early 2018.

-We finally got a release date for TACOMA, the spiritual successor to GONE HOME, on 8/7/17 and the hand animated side-scroller CUPHEAD on 9/29/17. Just take my money.

-We then got a good look at CRACKDOWN 3, but the open world genre had matured so much over the years since CRACKDOWN and CRACKDOWN 2 that I fear this won’t offer anything new or all that exciting. We’ve been there and done that. Is anyone excited for this?

-After proving that indie games are still very much valued via a montage video, we get introduced to a sequel to ORI AND THE BLIND called ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WHISPS. Looks just as imaginative and stunning as the original.

-Backwards compatibility for original X-BOX games? Ok, cool. Microsoft teased CRIMSON SKIES and promised more news soon. I’m down.

And last, but definitely not least was a decent look at Bioware’s new IP ANTHEM releasing in 2018. It’s a gorgeous open-work action adventure game where playing with friends is front and center. The comparisons to DESTINY are hard to avoid, but this looks like a much more polished version of that game. I was very impressed. But since I’m already sold on DESTINY, ANTHEM is going to have to really shine to get me to buy both. As of now, I’m interested in learning more.

Overall, I was a little unimpressed compared to last year. My excitement for SCORPIO, now XBOX ONE X, has wained considerably especially since I don’t currently have a 4K setup. The games look great, but each one only had the spotlight for a short time robbing me of any solid opinion about anything I saw. One thing is for sure, there will be no shortage of quality games on whatever XBOX you have in 2017 and 2018.

E3 2017: EA Conference Review and Impressions