e3 2018

Be me. Be e3 2018. A beautiful scorched day but inside the auditorium peacefully awaiting the presenter to take the stage. ‘Console Wars’. Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, who’s it going to be? Lights go dim then to dark. Crowd goes nuts with loud chants, hugs and trembles. The floor begins to shake. No not an earthquake. Bigger. Lights illuminate the auditorium. Shawn Layden? Phil Spencer? Reggie? No. To everyone’s surprise it is none other than our lord and savior Gaben. The lord reaches into his pocket deep, pulls out a small device. Complete silence, no one is even breathing. His lips slowly part open, people finally exhale. “Next Gen Orange Box” are uttered from his glorious mouth. Some people faint, others just sit in disbelief. The remaining are as loud as NGR Stadium when JJ Watt gets introduced. (Warning, chills). He raises three fingers. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo each light their consoles on fire. Some of the staff come up and kiss his feet and beg for forgiveness, he pretends they don’t exist. Half Life 3, Portal 3, Team Fortress 3. 4k/60 fps. Same specs as Xbox One X, releasing this Holiday. Lights turn off again. Silence. Camera returns to IGN and everyone streaming. Disbelief everywhere. e3 ends.

True Predictions

Okay, okay that may be a huge long shot but you never know. I’m here to talk about the GWW’s e3 predictions for this year’s hyped conference.

I’ll only be talking about the 3 big dogs and none of the publishers. Sony has already announced that they are taking a break from tradition and shared with us what they will be Showcasing. They mention the big four, Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spiderman, and The Last of Us Part II which will be showcased. Those are big enough for them to just chill out if it’s any indication of the year they had last year. I predict that they drop at least one more first party exclusive announcement. Maybe even sprinkle some exclusive indies in the mix.

Bloodborne 2 announcement? Most likely not, FromSoftwared developer already announced they will be at e3. A source has said that Bloodborne 2 isn’t even in development however it could be an exclusive game nonetheless for PS. Days Gone, will they be here again this year? There has been some hype around this one for a min, I’m kind of feeling maybe a surprise drop this year. Last year’s trailer got me really excited. Sony seems to have huge games incoming this year and they could be just coasting right now in place for a huge announcement at the end of the showcase. I’m thinking a PS5 is in the works at it’s very early stages. They might take a page out of Nintendo’s playbook as it seems they are doing and just not mention it to prevent people from holding off until that year. With Nintendo’s Switch having huge success due in large part to it’s beautiful mobile display, could we get a Vita 2 announcement? One last thing they could possibly drop on us is a couple of PS VR exclusives as Microsoft could come out swinging with the Hololens. Bold prediction but a decent one nonetheless. Will the game Dreams be showcased? I get some eerie/excited chills from this trailer. Maybe they are just waiting to show it at e3 and not mention it, should be a pretty crazy/cool game. Devil May Cry 5 surprise announcement has also been circulating the net. How hype with that be to at least get a glimpse. The big four will definitely be there but the biggest prediction is for sure a Bloodborne 2 announcement, they might be very sneaky hiding leaks and throwing the scent off but either way I don’t think we will be disappointed with the showcase. Sony has also mentioned that they will show off many of their third party games as well. They feed us every year and I haven’t really seen a bad conference from them in recent years.

Where you at Microsoft?

Did they hear our cries? Are they going to make a huge push? Phil Spencer and the rest of the team have generally listened to the feedback and have even implemented major changes based on the community. That’s one thing I love most about them, they listen, looking at you Nintendo. I’ll get to that in a sec. But what will they bring to the table this year after a huge year from Sony and especially Nintendo. What they need is new first party studios. I’m hoping for a Scalebound announcement saying that they heard the feedback and are back in development due to a kickstarter fund of some sort. Shoot, I’ll throw some cash down if it means a legit exclusive. Next, I predict a Banjo-Threeie announcement followed by the Banjo remaster collectors addition releasing this Fall. They are shooting themselves in the foot hard by not making this duo a thing again. Money is being lost as we speak. Same thing for Conker or in place of Banjo, a Conker announcement of some sort. We got a glimpse back when Project Spark was a thing. (Fail). On theme with the classics, a Battletoads reboot maybe, Perfect Dark returns? Give us some of the goods Microsoft. I need to get off the Rare wave but I feel like Microsoft and Phil are all in with these guys and for good reason. But please make a move.

They could very much go the route of already popular franchises sequels like Dead or Alive 6, Max Payne 4, Ryse 2, Gears 5, Halo 6. Whoa really, a Master Chief appearance? At least minimally they feed us with a last second classic quote. “but we have one last announcement..” Master chief in a rundown cape again with a teaser text for Halo 6. 2019. This could most likely happen. They could save face with just that.

So going based off some certain leaks from Walmart, I would like to mention some that sound very likely to shown. Borderlands 3, this seems like a real deal. Next I’m seeing Forza Horizon 4. They seem to be coming out yearly now with the Forza series and for good reason, these games are a true thing of beauty. Much like Borderlands, Just Cause 4 seems likely to be shown. Those two 3 parties can be shown on Microsofts or Sony’s showcase but I have a hunch they will be shown.

I’m also predicting they drop us with a surprise that they have about 6 new IP’s coming and then proceed to show one that will be released this Fall. Yeah that’d be nice about now. “Exclusive”. Last but not least they finally give us an announcent for Crackdown 3 with Terry Crews as the presenter showing us some more gameplay.

I strongly believe if they give at least half of what I mentioned that it will be a succeful e3 for Microsoft. Of course, we are most likely going to get some random bizarre IP’s that no one wants like Super Lucky’s Tale but still should be succesful.

Already the Winner

Put down the pitchforks, but Nintendo had a crazy Direct not too long ago that sorta knocked it out of the park with one simple small trailer of the Splatoon inklings fighting and revealing Super Smash Bros for the Switch. Ah the reactions were priceless. The announcement that it will be released this year and guaranteed to be at e3 where a huge tournament will take place is enough for most gaming fans to dub them the winners of e3. In my small opinion, I agree. Smash Bros has been around for years and is one of the biggest in the eSports community and has a huge cult following. These games have large lifespans so for them to be dropping this gem on us like that is a large win.

Back to the predictions, I am really hoping we get some more Metroid Prime 4 news or trailer of some sort at the least. I am one huge fan of the Animal Crossing series but they have had zero presence in any news or rumors. Here’s to wishfull thinking that we get an announcement of AC for Switch. Yoshi footage is also a big prediction, why would they not show off what they’ve been working on with the green dino. I’m pretty sure we will get some Fire Emblem gameplay. This is one huge IP that Nintendo is delivering this year. Might we get a Mario Maker for Switch? We’ve seen so many ports this year. Some fans are kind of over ports but I am thankful because most of they are the best the WiiU or Wii had to offer and are upgraded with mobile compatibility now. The official Pokemon game announcement we have all been waiting for. This is by far the biggest franchise we have ever seen worldwide. 20 years of popularity and still going very strong. This has to be the biggest selling point right now besides Smash. They will deliver the goods to us. Not going to get into the leaks but I think it is going to be back in Kanto sadly. Either way, a main title Pokemon game for the Switch is enough to put me on all time hype levels.

Let me throw some bold predictions out for ya’ll real quick. Mother 3, yup Ness returns. Mario Party 11 where they actually give us a real game. You know, back to the true roots of Mario Party. A Zelda maker game. Yes, you create cool 2D worlds and puzzles that this beautiful franchise famous. Bayonetta 3. This doesn’t seem too bold but we haven’t heard not a lick of news about it. Pikmin makes it’s debut on the Switch, I predict a port sadly but maybe, just maybe a new game? Last but certainly not least. StarFox Switch. The WiiU game didn’t get very good reviews and not much was talked about it however anything on the WiiU was a waste. A new StarFox game for the Switch would be absolutely stellar.

Phil Spencer returns to the stage and announces a true partnership with Microsoft. Master Chief is now playable on Smash and is announced as a character along with Spyro and Crash Bandicoot. Now how about that for some hype?

3rd Parties

I know I said I would only talk about the big 3 but it I should at least mention some of the predictions from the 3rd Parties. For the Switch, Spyro release date for Switch is same day as others and like mentioned before, he will be playable in Smash, same for Crash. Ubisoft comes out and feeds us yet another Assassin’s Creed. These also seem to be yearly. I also predict a new exclusive for the Switch from them. Bethesda introduces us to a new project they’ve been working on along with Rage 2. Maybe a tease at a new Elder Scrolls. Who are we kidding, they are going to give us another Skyrim port somewhere. Maybe PS5. Fallout 3 Anniversary for all platforms is circulating all over Reddit. Very plausible. EA is going to give us some more junk involving Microtransactions, maybe an exclusive for the Switch considering their fresh partnership.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my crazy list of e3 predictions for this upcoming conference. At the time of this article, we are just about a month away and once again, there is extreme hype. They keep getting better each year as technology improves and I can’t wait. I have high expectations for all the presenters however it never fails that at least two of them are huge flops. Who is it going to be this year? I have a feeling Nintendo will let me down but since Smash is coming and Mario Tennis, I’m good for the year. Spiderman, enough said. Microsoft is the only real one that I could see really truly being a let down but I have been loyal for years so let’s gooooo!. Thanks for reading, as always, stay tuned for more news and coverage on all things games here at the GWW. Send me a tweet with your thoughts.