My E3 2017
Predictions
Alright, it’s time once again to give
my predictions for what we’ll be seeing at the six major conferences this year.
My rule as always: it’s cheating to predict something they’ve already announced
will be there (for example, “new Assassin’s
Creed” would be a no-go because
we know they’re going to announce it). Plus, it’s more fun to try to figure out
the new stuff that’s coming than guessing what’s going to earn a second year at
E3 on its belt. With that said…
EA
A Star Wars game that isn’t Battlefront
EA’s conference is a toughie this
year. Unless they pull out a huge surprise, they won’t have a Mass Effect, Battlefield or Titanfall game
they can rely on to amaze people this year. Are they going to continue the
annual release of screentime given up to EA Sports titles? Or are they going to
try to do what Nintendo pulled off last year and dedicate the entire conference
to Battlefront II?
Honestly, neither of those sound like
a good idea (although this is EA we’re talking about, and they’re the kings of
bad ideas). That’s why I think we’ll be seeing a brand new Star Wars title completely unrelated to Battlefront announced this year.
Last year we got a laughably bad
montage where they showed off all the Star
Wars content that they promised we’d get to see for real…eventually. Well,
a year’s gone by since then, so one would hope we’d be seeing something from
one of those developers this year. 1313 brought
back from the dead, anyone?
Bethesda
Doom 2
They say it’s best to strike the iron
while it’s hot. Doom was met with
huge praise and success last year (which accidentally introduced the worst
review policy ever), so it doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch to think
that plans are already underway for round 2.
While I doubt we’ll actually be
getting the game this year (even next year seems like a stretch), I wouldn’t be
surprised to see a brief announcement trailer for the sequel this time around.
Bethesda hasn’t announced much of their lineup for the next few years aside
from Quake Champions, so announcing
the sequel to one of 2016’s biggest success stories seems like a plausible
route to take.
Microsoft
Halo 6 on Scorpio
The Xbox One’s been floundering ever
since it was first announced, thanks to the initial sales pitch being one of
the worst console marketing schemes ever conceived and having a lack of
exclusives worth buying an entire console for. Considering this conference will
likely be focused on announcing and advertising the new Xbox Scorpio, I’m
willing to bet that Microsoft knows they’ll need a Breath of the Wild sized launch game to really push this console.
And what better route to take than
pulling out Ol’ Reliable?
Halo
5 launched with all the impact of a marshmallow landing on a cotton swab
(note to self: need better allegories), so the franchise that set the standard
for first-person shooter games is currently trying to crawl its way out of
mediocrity. What better way to fix two problems at once by releasing a show
stopping Halo 6, available
exclusively on the Scorpio?
Microsoft has announced that a new Halo game won’t be at the conference,
and usually when a developer says something won’t be at E3 they stick to their
guns. But the Scorpio needs a good game at launch, and having it be Microsoft’s
biggest franchise makes the most sense.
Ubisoft
The ultimate
dance-off
I mean, last time they started off
with a huge dance number, so they’ve gotta top it this year, right? And what
better way to do it than with a massive dance battle onstage?
I dunno, they already announced all
the major games they’re doing this year and it’s too early for sequels to the
stuff they talked about last time. There’s nothing I can really say.
Sony
Spyro Remastered
Sony’s been bringing out a lot of
nostalgic licenses from the PS1 days lately for either remasters or new
installments. The Crash and Wipeout remasters have a lot of people
excited, and fans really enjoyed PaRappa
HD. So who’s next to be brought out of the history books?
People have been asking for this one
ever since Spyro became the poster boy for the first Skylanders game, and now that Sony’s gotten all aboard the
nostalgia train I think it’s finally his time to shine. While I’m not really
familiar with the franchise myself, I think a remaster of the first three games
would really make people happy.
Nintendo
Smash Bros. for
Switch
Nintendo’s been doing a great job in
maintaining a steady stream of popular IPs coming out for the Switch. We
already have Zelda and Mario Kart, and Splatoon 2 and Super Mario
Odyssey are due out for later this year. Honestly, having the next step be Smash Bros seems like a no-brainer.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo
decided to go the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe route
with Smash, releasing a “Definitive
Edition” of the Wii U/3DS game with all modes included in one package, plus all
the DLC included. Throw in a few new characters and stages (Splatoon and ARMS alone would make for a bunch of new content) and Nintendo has
a fantastic little game sure to move more consoles.
So there’s my big predictions for this
year’s conference! Odds are I’m right for at least one of them, so there’s that
I guess.
Stay tuned for next time, as I give
my thoughts on all the major conferences and decide on who my E3 winner is!
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