E3: Everybody entertained effectively

Another E3 is in the books, and at the risk of sounding like a cheerleader for this industry, everyone can head home with their heads held high. Not everything was great (E3 Live was apparently pretty dead), but the hits outweighed the misses all the way around, and the show made a good case for its continued relevance.

Microsoft made a splash with two new hardware announcements, and took the first steps toward pushing the console business "beyond generations." Whether the company redefines the console business model in the process or falls flat on its face, when we look back on E3 2016 years from now, it will almost certainly be the most significant industry event from this week.

That's not to belittle the possible impact of Sony's PlayStation VR as a way to bring virtual reality to the mass market, but the way people think about the headset hasn't changed much from last week to this one. It wasn't even a huge focus of Sony's E3 media briefing, which at least one especially insightful industry watcher hailed as "an exceptionally tight, exceptionally swift hour and 20 minutes that reminded me why I ever got excited about the E3 hype parade in the first place."

Even Nintendo had reason to puff out its chest. With the Wii U a lame duck system, the NX too early to reveal, and the 3DS losing steam as every major franchise has already made its token appearance on the handheld, Nintendo skipped not just a press briefing but even the pre-recorded Nintendo Direct-style event of recent years. Instead, Nintendo built its entire show around a new Legend of Zelda game that was already announced two years ago. (If you want to nitpick, there were technically other Nintendo games at E3 as well.) But the company managed expectations ahead of time, so when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild impressed mightily and drew some of the longest lines E3 has ever seen, it couldn't help but feel like a stronger-than-expected showing for Nintendo.

As for the third-parties, EA's E3 briefing didn't have much in the way of surprises (and no booth at the show itself), but it's well positioned with a lineup of Star Wars games for years to come. The one-two punch of Battlefiled 1 and Titanfall 2 could also give Activision's reigning shooter king Call of Duty a stiff challenge this year. Bethesda couldn't hope to match the highs of its spectacularly strong show last year, but Quake Champions and Prey could do for their franchises what this year's Doom did for Doom. Meanwhile, Ubisoft answered the question of what will fill the gap created by the Assassin's Creed sojourn this year, with Watch Dogs 2, Steep, and South Park: The Fractured But Whole appearing to be a more than serviceable platoon effort.

Yes, it's concerning that a number of big names decided against their usual E3 booths this year. Yes, the Entertainment Software Association needs to change the show's format in order to keep up with the shifting industry landscape (a Gamescom-like split between industry days and an open-to-the-public weekend seems the obvious solution). Yes, E3 is less relevant to the games industry now than it's ever been. But that's only because the industry is so much bigger, because it extends so much further than the dedicated console gaming market. That doesn't make it irrelevant by any stretch. And as anyone who followed the news in the last week could tell you, E3 2016 was still the focus of this corner of the industry for a full week in June, just the same as any other year. Good show, everyone.

Other news in brief:

Hachette UK today announced that it has acquired mobile developer Neon Play. The studio will continue to be run as a stand-alone business.

Apple honored an assortment of well-designed apps at its Worldwide Developers Conference this week. Among the games honored were Lara Croft Go, pinball-meets-painting game Inks, endless runner Chameleon Run, puzzle game Linum, and an endless, um, baller called Dividr.

In case you weren't convinced Overwatch is a hit, the game passed the 10 million player mark this week.

Nintendo has confirmed it will talk about the NX before the end of the year. Which is kind of a given, considering the thing is supposed to launch by March.

Microsoft has said keyboard and mouse support for Xbox One will arrive in a matter of months, making Windows 10 and Xbox One that much closer together and ushering us one step closer to the Microsoft platform Singularity.

The Entertainment Software Association has said that E3 drew more than 70,000 attendees, which would put it on par with the event's largest shows ever. There's a significant asterisk on that number though, as the ESA is including 20,000 attendees from the disappointing open-to-the-public E3 Live show.