Most of the hype and focus coming out of E3 2014 is surrounding the consoles. People have been raving about what they’ve seen coming for the PS4 and Xbox One, and how the next gen games are really looking the part. Nintendo fans are talking about the Wii U push, with the strong showing of first party games. Yet, there are two very important systems that people should have come away from E3 raving about, but for some reason aren’t. I’m talking, of course, about the 3DS and Vita. The two systems had incredibly strong showings at E3 2014, but neither are getting the attention they deserve.
I suppose it isn’t hard to see why the reception to news for both handhelds has been understated. While many games were at E3 for both systems, they didn’t have the same prominent placement as the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and even Wii U. Which is a shame, because there were a lot of games announced or appearing at the show. How many? Well, 3DS owners got a lucky 13, while there were over 25 Vita games on display. In fact, I can’t even come up with an accurate number of Vita games, despite having attended. It seemed like anytime I walked through the Sony booth, I’d see another indie game I didn’t notice during a prior sweep.
Which is why it saddens me that so much of the E3 2014 coverage is going into the console news. There was so much potential in this year’s lineup of handheld games. I was excited for the future when I saw what was coming. I got home, expecting to see other people talking about the titles and getting involved in worthwhile discussions, but that didn’t happen.
I would have loved to talk about the potential merit to “scandalous” titles like Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed and Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit , two games that I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the dedication to fanservice. It would have been interesting to go over the latest Persona 4 spin-offs, like Persona Q and Persona 4: Dancing All Night , and debate whether their existence is a good thing or a case of overkill. Something discussing the influx of visual novels, especially since Danganronpa 2 and XBlaze Code: Embryo were at the show. A lively Story of Seasons and Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley preview study would have been lovely.
Not to mention, E3 2014 was also a time for JRPGs to shine. The 3DS and Vita are keeping them alive. Depending on how loosely you’re willing to define them, there were JRPGs everywhere. The 3DS is getting the secretive S.T.E.A.M. , as well as Fantasy Life , Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby , Persona Q , and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate . The Vita is even one uppong that, with games like Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited , Natural Doctrine , Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 , Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment , Tales of Hearts R , and Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland . There’s such life, potential, and joy, and I can’t understand why other people aren’t celebrating it.
E3 2014 afforded the 3DS and Vita so many opportunities. I guess I’m just saddened by the fact that nobody else seems to be talking about them. Because really, there’s so much potential for both systems in 2014 and 2015. I can’t believe people weren’t celebrating the future of both handhelds after last week.