This year's E3 has a weird, mysterious vibe about it. Nobody really knows what's going down.
The consoles are completely bedded in now, with the XBO catching up to the PS4 in terms of market share and the Wii U predictably shirking away from the fight after it's head start. There's little on the cards for so many major players in the industry this year, however, that it's beginning to feel like we're being played. Either everyone is hiding something from us, or there really is bugger all coming in the next year. Here's a few logical expectations, based on my twisted, cynical mind.
Sony have several exclusives they've yet to show off. Uncharted 4 and Street Fighter V are almost certainties. Sony Santa Monica have also been incredibly quiet lately, and with a God Of War 3 remaster already confirmed you can bet they're still trying to pummel that horse. Forgive me, I loved the earlier games, but the genre has moved on. Sucker Punch are probably working on a new inFamous game. I wouldn't bet against Tony Hawk showing up, knee-pads and all, to flash his creased-up smile and show off the new Pro Skater on the Sony stage either. Bloodborne DLC probably earned itself a cameo with it's strong exclusive sales.
Square Enix have plenty to show off, but their timed exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Tomb Raider means they'll probably be wearing green rosettes this year. Final Fantasy XV is expected, but don't forget the new Deus Ex game; the last one came and went with unspectacular grace despite critical acclaim. There's also Kingdom Hearts 3, Just Cause and Dragon Quest in the works. I'd expect little of the former, a cinematic trailer of the middle and the latter to pop up in Nintendo's conference as part of their 3DS lineup.
Of all the conferences, I expect Microsoft to play it the most safe. They have their own GoW remaster to show off after leaked footage confirmed alpha testing on it was well underway. If I had to bet on Call of Duty appearing somewhere, I'd put it here. Halo 5 is a given following cryptic CGI trailers being shown on TV for months now. Other surprises could include first-party properties that we haven't seen on the new consoles yet (Crackdown, anyone?).
EA will do their thing with sports and shootin'. There'll be some celebrity trotted out to promote Madden or NBA. Kendrick Lamar, probably. Dragon Age's first DLC took a long time coming, so I would assume they have more in the pipeworks to promise. Bioware don't seem ready to show much of Mass Effect 4 yet, so I'd assume cryptic CGI is the best we'll get. Please fucking give us some Mirror's Edge 2 shit though. PLEASE.
Nintendo's big thing this year is Splatoon. Expect it. Zany live multiplayer gameplay! Young people and adults having fun! There has to be more big Wii U announcements coming though: Mario and Zelda are conspicuous by their absence. The 3DS should have a good year with the redesign's release: Dragon Quest, Xenoblade, Final Fantasy and more could get a whirlwind plug.
The world doesn't just expect Fallout 4 from Bethedsa, they're demanding it with such fervour you'd think they were able to squirt it into existence from their pores. So yeah, it's coming, but there'll be plenty of time devoted to their other big hitter. Elder Scrolls Online launches on consoles a week prior so updates and expansions are going to be pledged. With the main series taking a backseat to Fallout for a couple of years, I'd expect a HD re-release of either Oblivion or Skyrim too - it's surely too easy a cow to milk to not, right? We'll get more DOOM, but whether the world cares any longer is another question.
Ubisoft have Ass Creed. They have Rayman. They have Watch Dogs. They have Just Dance. Sequels to all of these things are more certain than the rising of the tides, the continuation of time or the inevitable heat death of the universe.
I can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment