The 2014 Electronics Entertainment Expo lacks the major trappings of the past few years. There were no major consoles to announce, no hour-long presentation on the next big console’s features and what it means to the games industry, few talks on the next huge feature in gaming.

This year’s E3 was, by and large, about the games — at least, as of Wednesday, when this column went to press. That’s how it should be.

E3 has become such a prestigious conference to announce huge developments in how we play games that it can feel like the games themselves aren’t represented as much as they need to be. I know that sounds like a ridiculous statement about an annual event dedicated to games, where more than 100 new games are shown to the public each year. But the fact remains the average person doesn’t hear as much about all the games as he or she does about the next way to play them.

It’s good, then, to see an E3 dedicated by and large to the games. Like many pieces of art or other content, businesses are focusing more on how it’s delivered to people rather than whether or not it’s good. I’ve written before about how studios are making less games and going with safer concepts to market to gamers in order to make money. That trend leads to fewer new concepts and less emphasis on the games themselves, as we’ve seen.

That’s why it’s great to hear about games like “Devil’s Third,” a bizarre M-rated game from Tomonobu Itagaki, the mastermind behind the Xbox version of “Ninja Gaiden.” It’s exciting to see gameplay from “Xenoblade Chronicles X,” the sequel to “Xenoblade Chronicles,” a Japanese RPG which fans petitioned to get released in the U.S. That game became a huge hit and used copies of the game routinely sell for a high value.

It’s fun to see Pac-Man added to the latest version of “Super Smash Bros,” to hear about games like the new “Star Fox,” “Borderlands: The Prequel,” “Final Fantasy Type-0,” “Assassin’s Creed Unity,” “Bayonetta 2” and even crazy-looking independent games like “No Man’s Sky” and “Entwined.”

These are the games we’ll play in the future. These are the drivers for businesses to get more money. It’s good to see them as the focus instead of a new gadget this year.