E3 Day 1 News Wrap-up: Microsoft and Sony

The first official of E3 is always the biggest, with both of the console making titans (Microsoft and Sony) presenting their wares in press conferences throughout the day. Adding even more fuel to the madness is Ubisoft, one of the biggest publishers in the industry, also presenting its next year worth of games. With so much to cover, let's just delve right in.

Xbox One S

Microsoft kicked off the day by confirming the much buzzed about Xbox One Slim, officially named the Xbox One S. The console will be about 40% lighter than the current edition, and support 4K and HDR video. It will hit stores in August for about $300 for a base 500 GB version.

Gears of War 4

Microsoft followed their hardware unveil with a long gameplay demo for this October's Xbox One exclusive Gears of War 4. Also unveiled around the same time was a special version of the pro controller custom made for the new game's release.

Recore, Inside, and We Happy Few

A trio of Xbox One exclusives were also shown off during the event, with Recore (officially launching September 13) gameplay leading the pack. Following it was a little bit more from Limbo developer Playdead's next game, entitled Inside. That game will be launching in just a few short weeks on June 29. We Happy Few saw its gameplay reveal with a pretty creepy little tease; that game will hit Steam and Xbox One Early Access in August

Scalebound, Sea of Thieves, Dead Rising 4, and Halo Wars 2

But that wasn't all for Xbox One exclusives; Scalebound got to show off its first ever gameplay at the show, Rare's Sea of Thieves got a quick focus, and Halo Wars 2 released a brand new trailer. Dead Rising 4 was also confirmed at the show, although there's no telling at this point if it will end up an exclusive. No release dates were confirmed for any of the games

Xbox Scorpio

Concluding its show was a confirmation of the much buzzed about Xbox Scorpio, a more powerful iteration of the Xbox One landing sometime in the Fall of 2014. Microsoft claims it's the "most powerful" console ever made, and claims it's capable of true 4K video game performance.

Ghost Recon: Badlands

Ubisoft kicked off its show with both a new trailer and four player co-op gameplay of the next Ghost Recon game, entitled Badlands. It also got confirmed for a release date of March 7, 2016 for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were present for an in depth presentation of the new game, a sequel to The Stick of Truth. A funny new trailer was also released for the game. It will be released for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One on December 6.

Watch Dogs 2, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, and For Honor

Rounding out Ubi's conference was Watch Dogs 2 with a brand new, extended gameplay demo. Ubisoft also talked about a big foray into the VR realm with Star Trek: Bridge Crew. A video demo featured three cast members of the J.J. Abrams film franchise playing the game. Concluding Ubisoft's showing was knights vs. vikings vs. samurai fighter For Honor, with a new gameplay video and a fresh release date of February 24, 2017.

God of War 4

E3 Day 2 closed off with Sony's press conference, with started with an extended look at the newly announced God of War 4. No release date has been given for the PS4 exclusive at this point, although it's likely arriving in 2017.

The Last Guardian, Days Gone, and Horizon: Zero Dawn

Sony followed God of War 4 with a one time punch of exclusives, showing new gameplay footage from Guerilla's Horizon: Zero Dawn and a new trailer from Team ICO's long awaited The Last Guardian. Both games were also officially given release dates of February 28, 2017 and October 25, 2016 respectively. Also presented was a new zombie game from Sony Bend entitled Days Gone. That game got both a trailer unveiling, and a special gameplay presentation at the end of the conference.

Detroit: Become Human and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream got to show off Detroit: Become Human in a special gameplay trailer. No release date has been set for the game yet. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare also took a spotlight, with Sony presenting the first gameplay from Infinity Ward's ambitious retooling of the CoD franchise.

Resident Evil VII and Playstation VR

A surprise Resident Evil VII trailer was revealed alongside confirmation the game would be playable in full through Playstation VR. The PS VR was also given a release date of October 13, and new VR experiences from Star Wars, Batman, and Final Fantasy XV were also confirmed.

Death Stranding and Insomniac's Spider-Man Game

Concluding the show was a presentation of Hideo Kojima's first new game for Sony, entitled Death Stranding. The trailer confirmed that it would star his once Silent Hills actor Norman Reedus, but little else is known about the game at this time. Ditto for the Spider-Man PS4 game, which will apparently be developed by Insomniac Games as a console exclusive. With a new Spider-Man movie hitting next July, chances are this one will be landing sometime next year.

And that concludes the loaded day that was E3 Day 2. Check back tomorrow for more coverage from the biggest video game event of the year!