Each year, the Electronic Software Association (ESA) hosts the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), an exhibition for some of the hottest games and gaming gadgets in the industry.

The event has long been considered one of the biggest in the gaming world, with attendees flocking in to various convention centres in Los Angeles to catch a glimpse of the future of gaming and what they can expect to play in the coming year. Various developers, publishers and console manufacturers made their presence known and showcased their latest offerings to the crowds. This year, there was a lot of activity within the circuit regarding E3, as both new hardware and games were being pushed and demoed to the consumer market, and what we got was a highly memorable and surprising E3.

The event started with press conferences of the top three console manufacturers, along with a few publishers. Microsoft took to the stage early on June 10 to talk more about the Xbox One, and a host of new games that were demoed for its next-gen console. Microsoft played it smart and threw in a slew of games supported by their new console in their media briefing. They started off by showcasing the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the latest offering from Konami and Kojima Productions that included open-world gameplay, dynamic stealth and weather systems and a strong storyline trailer. The popular PC game World of Tanks was showcased to the masses on its new Xbox One Edition, which would be free-to-play. Trailers for Dark Souls II and Max: The Curse of Brotherhood were shown next, after which the Crytek game Ryse: Son of Rome was displayed. Forza Motorsport 5 had a trailer of its own, followed by Minecraft: Xbox One Edition, the TV-show styled Quantum Break, Japanese horror game D4, the new world-building Project Spark. The long-awaited Killer Instinct game was also revealed, Dead Rising 3, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Battlefield 4 and a surprise teaser for the new Halo game. Once all was said and done, Microsoft announced the price for the console – a whopping 499 US dollars – before closing off with Respawn Entertainment’s exclusive title Titanfall. The press event was one of the better ones that Microsoft had done in recent years, with the focus being solely on new games and intellectual properties (IPs) rather than on the console itself.

Next was Electronic Arts’ press conference, which started off with a fun take on the Plants vs. Zombies games with Garden Warfare. Need For Speed: Rivals was then showcased, along with trailers for the upcoming Need For Speed live-action movie starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul. EA Sports was, as always, the main highlight for the company. Titles such as NBA Live ’14, FIFA ’14, Madden NFL ’14 and the new UFC game were showcased to the audience, touting new features and greater control with its new system. The announcement of a new Star Wars: Battlefront game and the return of Morrigan in Dragon Age: Inquisition took people by surprise. Battlefield 4 was once again showcased and demoed for the audience by developer DICE, and the event was rounded off by one of the most anticipated games from the studio, Mirror’s Edge 2.

After EA gave their presentation, it was time for Ubisoft to make their presence felt by throwing their own press conference, hosted again by gamer girl Aisha Tyler. The show started with the trailer of Splinter Cell: Blacklist and the announcement of a new game mode for Sam Fisher’s latest exploit. Rayman Legends was next shown with its quirky and off-beat humour and charm, followed by a trailer for South Park: The Stick of Truth. One of the most interesting titles shown this year was the new social driving game The Crew, which had players forming a party from across the US, and taking on rivals in open-world racing events. Watch Dogs, a highly anticipated title by the company was also showcased in their presentation, followed by Just Dance 2014 and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Finally, the event rounded up with the debut of the new massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game, Tom Clancy’s The Division, set in a near-futuristic dystopia. Like last year, Ubisoft showed a strong line-up of titles being released under their banner, and they managed to excite a large number of people.

Up next was Sony’s media briefing, which started off with an announcement for The Walking Dead coming to the PlayStation Vita later this year. Trailers were also revealed showcasing games such as The Last of Us, Puppeteer, Rain and Beyond: Two Souls for the PlayStation 3. Batman: Arkham Origins was showcased with a new trailer. Later, the President of Sony Computer Entertainment officially unveiled the new PlayStation 4 system, showcasing the console’s new design and form factor. Games trailers shown for the new console included the new IP, The Order 1866, the highly impressive Killzone: Shadow Fall, DriveClub and InFamous: Second Son. Among the notable debuts were Mad Max, Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III. There was also an emphasis on Sony’s support for the indie market, showing off titles such as Transistor, Oddworld: New n’ Tasty and a host of other games lined up for release. By the end of the conference, Sony had the audience excited for the content that was coming to their console, and then they made their biggest announcement: the PlayStation 4 would have no always-online requirements, no used games restrictions, and would sell at a retail price of 399 US dollars. With this news, Sony won the crowd over and the conference ended with a roaring round of applause. Suffice to say, Sony had made all the right moves and brought about an amazing show.

The next day came the final press event held by Nintendo, and they decided to do things a little differently this year. Instead of holding a normal press event, Nintendo decided to treat the audience with a few video sequences dubbed Nintendo Direct, where the President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata announced a slew of content for the Wii U and the 3DS systems. The show kicked off with the announcement of Mario Kart 8, the next title in the venerable series that promises lots of exciting kart-racing fun. Wii Party U and Wii Fit U were also showcased and given release dates for the end of the year, with Art Academy for the Wii U releasing on the eShop this summer. Nintendo also showed its support for third-party content by highlighting the release of Batman: Arkham Origins, Assassin’s Creed IV and the new Oddworld game for the Wii U. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD was previewed for the audiences and is set to release later this year, along with the highly-entertaining superhero game The Wonderful 101. Next up was the announcement for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, a new title developed by Retro Studios that brings back Donkey Kong to our consoles! The biggest news for the crowd was the announcement of the new Super Smash Bros. for both the Wii U and 3DS, which included new characters such as the Villager from Animal Crossing, the Wii Fit Trainer, and one of the most iconic old-school characters, Mega Man. Other games that were included are Super Mario 3D World, Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut, Just Dance 2014, Scribblenauts Unmasked, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Sonic: Lost World, Bayonetta 2 and a new title from Monolith Studios. Towards the end of the 40-minute presentation, Nintendo also revealed new info on Pikmin 3, New Super Luigi U, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, Yoshi’s New Island and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

With that, the E3 presentations wrapped up, and the show floor was open to all attendees for the next three days. Plenty of games were highlighted and touched upon, and developers and publishers were eager to draw in the masses with their latest offerings with game demos, trailers and new information. In summary, many believed this year’s E3 to be the defining moment for the next generation of consoles, as both the Xbox and PlayStation brands showed their new hardware and endeavoured to appeal to the masses by ushering forth a new chapter in gaming. There’s still debate on who ‘won’ E3 this year, but we’ve definitely seen some amazing new stuff and a glimpse of the future for the gaming industry.