E3 Wish Lists and Predictions

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3 as it’s more affectionately known) is like Christmas for gamers. Over three action-packed days, gamers are treated to a veritable smorgasbord of information regarding upcoming games, with more vertical slices than a child’s birthday party as well as a few surprises and shock announcements of previously unknown projects in the works. There’s no small amount of drama too, with the big developers all vying for gamers’ attention. No E3 would be complete without a dollop of cringe too; jokes will fall flat, technical issues will derail presentations and games that no one cares about will talked about with painfully forced bravado. It’s just a good time all around. With E3 kicking off tomorrow, a few of us at DYEGB thought we’d give our wish lists (some more optimistic than others) as well as some predictions which are a bit more firmly planted in reality…

Wish List

While wildly improbable, I hang out every year for an announcement of a new Burnout title that throws the open world format of Burnout: Paradise in the nearest landfill and sets fire to it. Hell, I’ll even take a remake of Burnout: Revenge or an indication that it will be made backwards compatible on Xbox One. I’d also ninja-flip with excitement if another entry in the Tenchu series was announced. I long to throw poisoned rice balls at least one more time in my life. While we’re still dreaming, Knights of the Old Republic could do with a sequel, unless twelve years isn’t quite long enough to wait.

Predictions

I believe that Xbox will do an extensive reveal of their more powerful Xbox (which has the ridiculous codename Scorpio) in a bid to get a one-up on Sony in the pissing contest that is as old as time itself. Sony have already confirmed that the PS4K won’t be making an appearance, so surely this is a time for Microsoft to capitalise. I also predict that Titanfall 2 will turn some heads, and its reveal will be spearheaded by a look at its single-player campaign. I say this because the decision to omit a campaign in the original was widely lambasted to the point of angry gamers more or less calling for a public crucifixion. They most certainly will not make the same mistake twice and will want to assure the gaming populace of that fact.

Wish List

Well it would just be fitting to mention Half Life 3 here. I mean we know it ain’t coming, but what an amazing thing it would be if it were to suddenly appear. I am hoping to see some serious gameplay footage for Mafia 3, Dishonored 2 and Re-Core, which I am actually really excited about mainly due to how extremely unique it appears. I’m also keen to see what’s in store with South Park: The Fractured But Whole and Titanfall 2. Expecting good things all around here.

Predictions

This E3 will be the year of VR. I expect that there will be a lot of VR-related content, mainly around the Occulus Rift 2 and HTC Vive. I love that VR is coming to gaming, but I am worried it’s going to take centre stage. We’re also going to hear something about The Last of Us 2 (calling it). Hopefully we may hear about a new Elder Scrolls, even if it’s just a hint!

Wish List

Every year before E3 I pray to the Gaming Gods, hoping that at least one of my wishes will come true. Alas, my requests are yet to be answered, but that doesn’t stop me from trying and this year’s E3 is no different. First up is Crytek’s Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, a game which ever since its unveiling at E3 in 2013 I have longed for confirmation on when I could expect to be playing it. Given that Crytek is heavily invested in VR game development, I think any news on the current status of Hunt is more hopeful than probable. I would also love to see the newest iteration of my beloved Resident Evil (RE7) announced as well as a new Splinter Cell, and a release date for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 wouldn’t hurt either.

Predictions

I think this year is the year that RE7 will be announced and I think it will be announced during Sony’s presentation. Secondly, Bethesda’s presentation will feature the unveiling of the next game in the Wolfenstein series, a game that I would welcome with open arms and legs. Lastly, I think Deep Silver and 4A Games will announce the third instalment in the Metro series during Xbox’s conference.

Wish List

There are many things that I wish for every year. For starters I’d love a new Crash Bandicoot, but seeing as Activision love leaving him as a dormant IP my hopes are not very high. But, there are a few titles or potential games I’d like to see at E3. Bloodborne was probably my favourite release last year, so any news from the guys at FromSoftware and Japan Studio in regards to a possible to sequel to the fantastic PS4 exclusive would be greatly appreciated. I’ve also been following the Capcom IP Deep Down as much as I can, but we’ve really heard nothing about it. Given that my MIA article about the game mentions that the trademarking for the IP is almost over if it isn’t used, my hopes remain high for any news regarding this title. Another title that looks pretty good to me is ELEX. I love myself a good RPG and this game looks to be a fantastic addition to my collection. But my main wish is for anything in relation to Kingdom Hearts 3, please Gaming Gods allow there to be an announcement about this game!

Predictions

I do think we will get a release date for The Last Guardian, which is easily my most anticipated title of 2016 (yes, beating Dark Souls 3). Given what I said about Deep Down’s trademark almost reaching its expiry date, I’d expect some news as to whether the IP is still alive or not at E3. I also predict that a major announcement about Bungie’s upcoming Destiny expansion, Rise of Iron, will also be one of the major announcements from Sony and/or Activision. Watch Dogs 2 will probably be present at E3, as well as Ghost Recon: Wildlands and pretty much every other Ubisoft IP. Battlefield 1 will get some form of reveal through Microsoft, as well as at the EA conference across the road, and people will go crazy for it. As for actual real new stuff? I’d say Shenmue 3 and Persona 5 will make a shock appearance.

I’m amazed I have managed to become aware of E3 this year – with the release of Overwatch such a short while ago, I was positive that my life was slowly descending into a haze of brightly coloured explosions and rapid trips to the bathroom. But here it is, the gamers’ Christmas in June. Or at least it was – You see, E3 is a devil to me. It robbed me. It stole so much of my enthusiasm over the years that I slowly became more and more jaded. But, as all gamers, I am incredibly fickle – and the 2015 E3 had enough things to bring me back into the fold of those who employ child-like wonder when watching each major company’s presentation. So here I am, newly aware that it’s time to squeeze every gram out of my excitement gland (those are real, I think) and ready myself for a lot of footage that will hopefully grip me in new exciting ways.

Wish List

My wish is quite simple, and also very likely to be granted: I am hoping to see more details for Horizon Zero Dawn. Stupid name aside (let’s be honest, the game looks like a random cool word generator was used), it was truly one of the most impactful items I saw at E3 2015 – and with a year of development now under its belt, I am ready to see the project fully matured. Red-haired heroines and robotic dinosaurs are entirely my jam – and in my honest opinion if the game was just named Robot Dinosaur Hunter it would probably have built even more sizzle over the last 12 months. But hey, if they want to name their game Horizon Zero Dawn Millennium Gold Turbo Edition, they are entirely allowed to. Just make the gameplay good.

Predictions

Let’s address the procedurally generated elephant in the room. We are going to see No Man’s Sky again this year. I have to stress: AGAIN, as this will be the third E3 that this is colossal project has appeared at. I hope there is some kind of award given to a project that has achieved such a feat, because I am not entirely sure we won’t see it again next year and I would love to see the awkward shuffle around by the developers when they are handed another award that boils down to: ‘Good job, your game still isn’t out yet’. But I digress, the game itself has a scope that is true epic in scale. The word ‘epic’ within gaming culture is a worn out, tired thing – but No Man’s Sky is truly deserving of such a descriptor. So let’s hope that the third year of E3 content for the game continues to nourish the people who are hungry for such a game – because at this point they are surely starving.

I would not entirely be surprised to see more information regarding the South Park sequel The Fractured But Whole. After a very fleshed-out trailer was shown in June of 2015, the project then went amazingly dark. Ubisoft has already played one of their cards early this year, showing us Watch Dogs 2 to a middling response, so I can only imagine they are aiming to fire the big guns during their presentation proper – and the ammo may well be a plethora of immature and poorly-received jokes.

Another year, another E3! I’ll be frank and say that I don’t watch E3 for the games anymore. I mean, where were they last year? No, I’ve decided to watch them purely because of the embarrassing stuff that happens on that conference floor. Last year was a ripper, and I expect Ubisoft to outdo themselves with the cringe this year!

Wish List

There’s a name out there that I want to see more than any other this year, and that’s Wolfenstein. The New Order. It was my favourite game of 2014, and I really hope that we get a follow-up this year. Maybe even…dare I dream…set in the 80s or 90s? Civilization VI was announced recently, so what better time for more information? Perhaps announcing some never-before-seen playable civilisations? Or selling the controversial art style a little more? At any rate, colour me keen. My main man Nintendo may have Nintendo Directs all the time, but that didn’t stop the disappointment train. Hopefully this year they’ll break their promise of only showing the upcoming Zelda and throw in their NX system too, which remains shrouded in mystery. Anything less than blowing us out of the water is unacceptable for either gamers or Nintendo themselves, so fingers crossed. A new F-Zero would be nice too. For the History nerd in me (all of me), Battlefield 1 looks to be both a fun romp and a fuel for the neckbeard fire inside. The historical inaccuracies for the sake of gameplay are guaranteed, and I can definitely see myself getting a little hot-headed. Nevertheless, I’m excited for an EA game I actually want to buy.

Predictions

EA talks mobile again, this time for six minutes instead of five! Ubisoft announces more party games that nobody wants to see and tries to get people to like The Division again! Microsoft wank on about useless Xbox Live features, sales figures and peripherals for an hour and a half before shitting out a Banjo-Kazooie game to salvage the show! Sony have the best exclusives of the show again! Bethesda tells us lies, tells us sweet little lies! All this, and more, coming to E3 2016! I’ve bought a pair of soft gloves so I can repeatedly facepalm without risk of injury.

YouTube credit to bigMooney06