Shack Chat: What was your favorite E3 2019 moment?

Shack Chat is back once again, our weekly feature each Friday where we’ll ask the Shacknews staff to give their opinion on a particular topic, then open the floor to our dedicated Chatty community to provide a diverse mixture of thoughts on the subject. It’s a great way for us to get to know one another better while inspiring healthy debates with all of you passionate gamers out there. 

Question: What was your favorite E3 2019 moment?

Justin Roiland stopping by our Shacknews live stream - Asif Khan, Hey, Don’t Kill Yourself!

Justin Roiland stopped by the Shacknews booth for one of the craziest interview segments that I have ever been a part of at E3. If you missed the stream, check out the video. Justin mentioned how much he loves his two dogs who are featured in Trover Saves the Universe, saying, “my dogs are going to be in every game, and then they’re going to die, and then I’m going to kill myself.” This might have derailed any other live stream, but we went on to have a great discussion about why people shouldn’t take their own lives and Justin even came up with a catchy, “Hey, don’t kill yourself” jingle. Justin and Eric were kind enough to stay on for our E3 Awards and Finale which featured a special guest appearance by Left Shark.                                                                              

Playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake - Brittany Vincent, Senior Editor

I wish I had gotten to play more, but this was more than I had expected. I couldn’t actually believe there was a playable demo, let alone a release date. I cried my mascara off and made myself look like a raccoon.

Elden Ring - Josh Hawkins, Some guy

There’s something to be said about bringing two story-telling giants like Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin together that is just absolutely enticing. Not much is known about the upcoming new adventure by FromSoftware, but the trailer that the studio showed off during E3 was more than enough to pique my curiosity.

You can check out the trailer yourself, but basically it’s sounding like some kind of fantastical story that builds off some of the great gameplay and mechanics we’ve seen in the Dark Souls series that have come before it. While I was definitely excited to hear more about CyberPunk 2077, and of course absolutely ecstatic about the Breath of the Wild 2 development news, a new dark fantasy game is exactly what I could get lost in for hours.

Doom Eternal - Kevin S. Tucker, Rulebreaker

Nothing at E3 2019 got me anywhere near as pumped up as Doom Eternal. In this instance, I’m inclined to let the new gameplay footage speak for itself. Take my money, id Software.

The entire Devolver Digital presentation - Chris Jarrard, Has sausage fingers

The Devolver Digital E3 2019 Press Conference was a lot of fun this year, offering continuity from the story shown in last year’s presentation, actual comedy that cleverly pokes fun at E3 and the industry at large, and solid acting from all the cast members involved. Even without the new gameplay reveals and footage, the presentation was very entertaining..

The entire show was very tight twenty-minute affair that accomplished what it set out to do without wasting anyone’s time. Unlike the elaborate stage shows of bigger publishers, the Devolver show put a spotlight on the games without cringe-inducing filler between trailers. The company understands its place in the market and did not waste resources trying to be everything to everyone. I will be looking forward to next year’s Devolver show.

Halo Infinite - Sam Chandler, Take Me Back to Halo

It’s enough to bring a tear to my eye, seeing the Master Chief once more in all his glory, floating above a destroyed Halo. The Halo Infinite trailer had it all. The iconic Halo theme of the Gregorian monks and then the classic swelling battle music.

I absolutely loved the true, heart-felt excitement by the Pelican pilot upon seeing the Chief boot back up. It perfectly mirrored my own excitement of seeing the Chief again. Then, as the light filled the cockpit and the Chief stood at the rear and ready to fight, a rising thrill filled my heart that I know will not be sated until I get my hands on Halo Infinite next year.

It’s going to be a long wait. I just hope that 343i can make this as good as an experience offered in the original trilogy. Good thing there are a few pretty decent games to tide me over until, presumably, November 2020.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2- David L. Craddock, Longreads Editor

Nintendo pulled a Steve Jobs and added One More Thing to the end of its E3 Direct. It was, as you probably know by now, a teaser that confirmed a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is in development.

That’s the key takeaway. Anyone could have guessed Nintendo was working on another Zelda game. But the Big N rarely develops direct sequels to Zelda titles. Majora’s Mask, The Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and Zelda II (obviously) are the only examples that come to mind. Will the next game be called Breath of the Wild II? Or will it take a page from Majora’s Mask’s playbook and recycle settings, characters, and items to present a new adventure? Whatever they end up calling it, that trailer gave me goosebumps. Still does, in fact.

20 min of FFVII Remake Gameplay - Greg Burke, Lives in the mines

My favorite moment at E3 2019 had to be the awesome gameplay we got to see of Final Fantasy VII remake. I had honestly completely forgot about that game since Square had been pretty much lips sealed at every major gaming convention. Then out of nowhere! BAM! Over 20 minutes of gameplay footage featuring characters, Combat, environments and enemies! I was glued to the screen. Square won E3.

Microsoft Flight Simulator - Bill Lavoy - Didn’t Choose Cyberpunk 2077

The easy answer is the release date for Cyberpunk 2077, but I’m going a bit off the beaten path on this one and choosing the reveal of Microsoft Flight Simulator. I’ve never played one before, but now that I have a high-end gaming PC and I’m inching closer to 40, this looks like the sort of relaxing experience that is right in my wheelhouse. I’m looking forward to it so much that I’m very likely going to purchase a flight stick, as I think controller or mouse and keyboard is falling short of the full flight simulator experience.

Nintendo’s Direct - Donovan Erskine, Intern

Nintendo won E3 for me. Their stream was packed with the best surprises, and the most exciting moments. Seeing The Hero from Dragon Quest joining the cast of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was super exciting. Especially since I’m currently playing through DQXI for the first time.

Besides, that announcement drop for a Breath of The Wild sequel at the end is impossible to top. Even with little to know story info or a release window, knowing that a sequel to BOTW is on the way gives me pure joy.

The New Arcade1up Cabs - Blake Morse, Nostalgic AF

Eagle-eyed readers will most likely have noticed that I cover a lot of retro games and products and it’s mostly because I’m super duper into classic consoles and the heyday of loud arcades full of bloopity bleeping machines. I’ve also mentioned my childhood dream of owning an arcade one day myself, so you could only imagine what kind of feels the announcement of affordable ⅓ scale functioning versions of the TMNT and Atari arcade cabs gave me. The fact that they also dropped a Marvel cab with the very rare X-Men: Children of the Atom brawler on it is enough to have me contemplating getting rid of my bed so I have enough space for all these bad boys. Here’s to hoping I can convince the future Mrs. Morse that sleeping on a pile of clothing in a room full of toys is both attractive and romantic.

Bowser Meets Bowser - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Editor

There was a lot of fun and plenty of laughs to be had at E3. There were even some great games. But before the actual show began, I needed some levity to help start the show off on a high note. Nintendo of America's Doug Bowser did that when he met his Mushroom Kingdom counterpart, the other Bowser, face-to-face. It does lead me to wonder exactly what Bowser was going to segue to before he got interrupted. Was he operating on the same format sheet or was he going to show off some sort of Super Bowser Party game or something? The world will never know.

I also got a kick out of this essentially being a joke solely for the American audience. In Japan, Mario's nemesis is "Koopa," so the reference and the wordplay was largely lost on them. Still, at least we got a good laugh.

Disagree with our picks? Think we're a bunch of clowns? Let us know in the Chatty below.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.