2015's E3 saw Microsoft make damn sure they regained some positive footing with gamers, essentially going in all franchises blazing to ensure positive press when it was all said and done. "Take that Sony and your PlayStation Now service, we've got free backwards compatibility. Take that Steam, we're doing early access games now too, but we're going to mandate what's worth promoting, and take that original Xbox One - we're going to roll out a new dashboard in November for all those who still have trouble finding their way around." That tenacity is something that transferred across to Gamescom, the more openly public version of E3, and one that in years' past used to just be an excuse for punters to get their hands on what was previously announced - but here Microsoft saw an opening to further capitalise on the momentum built in June. It wasn't just them either; every major publisher brought their finest offerings to showcase what they've been working on, and that means tons of gameplay footage, all solely meant to show off the best of what you'll be playing in the next few months.
17. Halo 5: Guardians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsHvaDt7Sa8 Somehow Microsoft thought it would be 'cool' to demo Halo 5 at their conference alongside a couple of live-action commentators ("Grenade goes in the cave, HE'S GOT THE KILL!"), but let's say that approach didn't go over too well with those watching at home, so thankfully it's mostly been removed from the final trailer. At this point you'd be forgiven for thinking the fifth main instalment in the canon would be playing it safe, but 343 Industries are taking quite a lot of cues from their contemporaries, 'borrowing' the air-to-ground slam from Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's mid-flight directional boost - there's even an increased focus on aiming down the sites to score headshots. It's a strange tact to focus so much on an eSports-style presentation when the world was ostensibly watching - especially considering Halo is still one of the most bankable franchises out there - but when 343 are STILL trying to get the Master Chief Collection working as advertised and need a home run with old-school fans of the franchise, it'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. Oh, and if you want to check out the commentators losing their minds over pre-rendered footage, it's below - but buckle up, it's about to get seriously cringeworthy up in here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTjWNLiSGuY
