Author: Kyle Orland

That's not exactly what we mean when we say consoles are becoming more like mobile phones... (credit: Destructoid)

For decades now, the game console market has progressed in a reliable pattern. Roughly every six or seven years, console makers would introduce new hardware expected to completely replace the old. After a short transitional period, support for the older hardware would dry up on the part of both developers and the console makers themselves. Everyone would move on.

This year's E3 has provided an important inflection point for that model. Both Sony and Microsoft are announcing new hardware intended to complement, rather than replace, their current consoles. It's a move that will have far-reaching implications for what console gaming looks like going forward. Goodbye to the game console as we know it. Hello to the tiered console platform.

Sony technically started things off, confirming days before E3 that the codenamed PlayStation 4 Neo would "sit alongside and complement the standard PS4" throughout that system's lifecycle. Microsoft took it even further at its press presentation Monday, announcing the codenamed Xbox One Scorpio as a six-teraflop workhorse that will support "true 4K gaming" and high-end virtual reality by the end of 2017.

That Steam logo is the only outward sign that this is a Steam Machine and not an Alienware Alpha.

Valve's Linux-based Steam Machines gaming initiative might be struggling to make much of a dent in the massive PC gaming space so far. That hasn't deterred Dell, though, which is introducing new Steam Machines with more powerful graphics hardware through its Alienware line this week.

As reported by IT World, a $749 Alienware Steam Machine system will feature an Intel Core i5 Skylake CPU, an Nvidia GTX 960 GPU, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. For $899, you can upgrade that basic configuration with a Core i7 CPU and a 1TB hard drive.

Alienware is also keeping around the current, ultra-low-end, $449 Alienware Steam Machine, which sports a Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a custom Maxwell graphics card that "performs similarly to the NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 860M."

A gaming PC.

As part of this year's E3 festivities, PC Gamer is once again hosting a night of press announcements devoted solely to PC gaming. Ars will be on hand to liveblog the event starting at 11:30am PDT (2:30pm EDT, 7:30pm UK time) on Monday, June 13.

Last year's first ever PC Gaming Show was a long-winded lineup of PC developers chatting awkwardly on stage about newly announced games. This year's show promises to be shorter and snappier, but it should still pack in plenty of announcements from the likes of Microsoft, Oculus, AMD, Nexon, Square Enix, Sega, and more.

Before E3 starts properly on Tuesday, Sony will unveil its plans for the show at a press conference from Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. Ars will be on hand to liveblog the event at 6pm PDT (9pm EDT; 2am Tuesday UK time) on Monday, June 13.

The big rumors surrounding Sony ahead of E3 this year have all swirled around an expected "PlayStation 4K" mid-cycle update for the PlayStation 4 hardware. Sony confirmed those reports just days ago but said the hardware wouldn't be ready to be shown at E3.

That leaves the upcoming PlayStation VR headset as the sole likely hardware focus for the press conference. This is the final E3 before Sony finally releases its PlayStation VR hardware to the masses, so expect an intense push to show off the potential of living room VR. There will probably be showcases for some of the software that will launch alongside it this October.

Before E3 starts properly on Tuesday, Microsoft will unveil its plans for the show at a press conference from Los Angeles' Galen Center. Ars will be on hand to liveblog the event at 9:30am PDT (12:30pm EDT, 5:30pm UK time) on Monday, June 13.

The big buzz surrounding Microsoft at this year's E3 concerns persistent rumors of a mid-cycle refresh for the Xbox hardware. Reports suggest that Microsoft could be planning a more powerful, VR-capable Xbox One for release next year as well as a smaller, cheaper version of the current system for later this year.

We also expect more details about Microsoft's effort to bring the Xbox One and Windows platforms closer together, both for gaming and more generalized apps. After an intriguing demo of Minecraft on Microsoft's HoloLens at last year's E3, don't be surprised if we hear more about the company's augmented reality gaming plans this year.

As the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) gets set for its 21st annual show this week, game publishers are faced with the dilemma of how to integrate their bombastic, explosive, often gun-soaked entertainment marketing blitz with the sense of national tragedy emanating from the historic mass shooting at a gay night club in Orlando, Florida.

Speaking to Ars, the head of the organization running E3 says that participating companies are tweaking their convention plans somewhat out of respect for and sensitivity to those affected by Sunday morning's tragic events.

(credit: Image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks)

Before E3 gets going, Bethesda will be sharing its plans for the coming year in a splashy press conference from the LA Hangar movie studios here in California. We'll be bringing you all the updates live as they happen starting at 7pm PDT (10pm Eastern, 3am Monday UK time) on Sunday, June 12.

Bethesda doesn't have a lot of experience with this whole E3 press conference thing, but last year's premiere presentation from the publisher blew the roof off the place with lengthy reveals of Fallout 4 and the upcoming Doom reboot, as well as a brief announcement of Dishonored 2. Expect a lot more Dishonored 2 at this year's show, as well as possible announcements of a remastered Skyrim and sequels for Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Evil Within, and even Prey, if rumors are to be believed.

Titanfall 2.

LOS ANGELES—Though Electronic Arts officially dropped out of the Electronic Entertainment Expo this year, its press conference presentation at the EA Play event felt a lot like a standard E3 presentation.

The event started off with new footage from Titanfall 2, which now comes with the single-player focused campaign its predecessor lacked (including a talking Titan voiced by Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen). The new game features six new giant walking titans, a "deep progression system," and a grappling hook that can be used to launch yourself right into a Titan cockpit or grab an enemy out of the sky. The game is available on October 28.

Battlefield 1

We also got more information about Battlefield 1, the previously announced military history shooter set in an alternate history version of World War I. EA promised that "destruction is more intuitive and natural than ever" in the game, and it highlighted the ability to take control of "behemoth" vehicles like air ships, armored trains, and entire battleships. A dynamic weather system with rain, fog, and blinding sunlight will also feature prominently.

A work-in-progress shot from the next Star Wars Battlefront title, announced today.

LOS ANGELES—Electronic Arts isn't merely sitting on its video game rights to the Star Wars license after last year's multiplayer-only Star Wars: Battlefront. In an E3-adjacent press presentation today, the company announced plans for a number of upcoming story-driven Star Wars titles from some of its biggest studios.

The announcements began with a new Battlefront game from developers DICE and Motive, featuring content from the new films. "What excites me now is bringing in more characters, more planets, more environments, more eras..." DICE Senior Producer Sigurlína Ingvarsdottir said.

That comes alongside a third-person action-adventure game from Titanfall-maker Respawn from "a different Star Wars era." Then there's the new action-adventure game from Visceral with "an original narrative... with new characters" from former Naughty Dog scribe Amy Hennig. "Our goal has always been not to just make a game in the Star Wars universe, but to tell an authentic Star Wars story... How do you ground the unfamiliar and new in the familiar?" Hennig said.

Mass Effect Andromeda.

EA may not officially be part of E3 this year, but the mega-publisher is still doing its own press conference as part of its EA Play show-aside-the-show. The presentation is at the Novo at L.A. Live at 1pm PDT (4pm EDT, 9pm UK time) on Sunday, June 12.

Expect a lot of the usual discussion of EA's annual sports franchise updates, as well as already announced sequels for Battlefield and Titanfall coming later this year. We also expect EA will announce at least one new game exploiting the Star Wars license, after last year's Star Wars: Battlefront sold so well. We're hoping for more concrete news about Mass Effect Andromeda, which only got a brief mention and teaser at last year's press conference and was recently delayed into early 2017.