E3 2011: Big Three Predictions and Third Party Hopes

With just about a week until gaming's biggest event, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), I decided it was just about time to chime in with my predictions, hopes, and fears for what is promising to be a very exciting year. To make things easier I'll divide this blog into the familiar breakdown of the big three conferences and then wrap up with some third party games I'd like to see. Let's start with the system I no longer own, X-Box 360.

Microsoft

What they will do:

My guess for Microsoft's press conference this year is that they will rattle on about Kinect sales and hopefully announce at least a few actual games for the controller-less system. I wouldn't be surprised to also see a focus on more media-partnerships for the X-Box 360 (maybe Youtube or some form of television?) as Microsoft leans more toward the casual "whole-package" approach.

You can almost guarantee that both Modern Warfare 3 and Gears of War 3 will both have a time slot and Microsoft will probably reannounce the inevitable map-pack exclusivity for the former. I think an XBLA montage also won't be out of the question and I wouldn't put it past Microsoft to announce some sort of cheaper Kinect bundle or price cut.

What they should do:

With the onslaught of incredible AAA titles that Sony has slated for this year (some of which already released in the first half) and Nintendo's shiny new console glimmering on the horizon, X-Box certainly has some catching up to do here. I think the best thing they can do is have some sort of huge surprise to draw attention and put some wind back in their sales. A new Halo title (non-Bungie of course) might be a good start but I think something bigger like some sort of blu-ray support or perhaps signing an exclusive deal with former Infinity Ward heads Respawn Entertainment would be smart moves.

How they could win the show for me:

At this point it might actually be a bit difficult for Microsoft to even get me to purchase a system again let alone win E3 but it's not out of the question. As I mentioned above, some solid exclusive titles and price drop would be an excellent start. Outside of that, I think the only way they could really win is to have some incredible surprise that nobody has seen coming.

Sony

What they will do:

Apologize. Whether you were furious at Sony for the PSN crisis or not, you have to admit that they dun goofed it up this year and it's not hard to predict that a portion of their conference will be dedicated to apologizing and showing how they are fixing things.

Luckily, Sony has also had a fantastic year so far, so you know that they're going to brag about it for a while with plenty of exhilarating charts, pie graphs, stats, and talk about their systems' "ten year life cycle". After those two major events negate each other Sony will probably go about revealing more of the NGP - including a price point and solid release date.

I would also expect some big announcements and showings for Uncharted 3, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, Starhawk etc. I think Sony has also learned that their Valve announcement last year went over extremely well and I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar one this year - maybe Bungie's new game?

What they should do:

I feel like Sony's in a pretty good place at this point despite their troubles and I feel like most of what they should do, they will do. However, what I think they should do is not take any time out of their press conference to talk about the PS2 or PSP.

As much as I detest motion control, I think Sony needs to also get behind the Move more and show some content that people will care about. They've done a good job of tacking the controller on to some of their popular FPSs but there's still no have-to-have third party Move game (akin to Kinect's Dance Central).

Finally, a price cut and perhaps one final system redesign might also be smart moves here but I'm not entirely sure if Sony will go for either.

How they could win the show for me:

It really would only take a few words for Sony to win E3 for me this year "Kingdom Hearts 3 on PS3." I understand that the team has been hard at work on Final Fantasy Versus XIII (which they'd better have a release date for by now...) but come on - Kingdom Hearts is one of Sony's best selling franchises and it's about dang time they stopped all this spin-off and handheld nonsense and continue the main series.

If this is out of the question for E3 2011 at least announce a Kingdom Hearts triple pack (with KH1, KH2, and Chain of Memories) similar to the Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider triple packs. It can't be that hard to bring those game up to HD, slap them on a blu-ray, and ship them out.

Nintendo

 

What they will do:

Bust the roof off of the convention center with their new console release. Despite the fact that everyone now knows that it's coming, the advent of a new system is undoubtedly the most exciting aspect of E3 2011 at this point - and Nintendo knows it. I would expect a strong showing with a fair share of release window titles announced. I could go on about my expectations of the new console itself but let's just stick with the obvious: it'll be HD, it'll have some clever new mechanic (touch screen controllers... something else?), and it'll appeal to the hardcore crowd.

Moving along from the console reveal, Nintendo will spend a large chunk of their press conference showing off the 3DS and no doubt announcing some new first party titles - perhaps a new Metroid or the first handheld Pikmin? 

As far as games go, Super Mario 3DS and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will also take center stage. I wouldn't be surprised to also see Pikmin 3 and a new Kirby title officially announced and revealed.

What they should do:
This new console really needs to bring back the Nintendo fans that have been so harshly alienated by the Wii and finally redeem the house of N for third party developers. I'm sure Nintendo will still have their tried and true family-friendly presentation but some serious concessions (and apologies) need to be made to the core fans that have been waggling Wii-motes for the past five years. Yes I'm being harsh here, but having to walk by the Wii games wall at Gamestop and see the mountain of shovelware garbage titles breaks my heart.

Anyway, aside from a strong showing of third party support and hardcore games support there's one more leg of the table that Nintendo needs to cover with their new system: online support. I don't even care if they keep the friend code system - they just need to have an online that is supported by the majority of their games and actually works smoothly.

How they could win the show for me:

Similar to how Sony could win E3 for me, it would only take one game being announced for Nintendo to win: Super Smash Bros. It released alongside the Gamecube, it was announced with the Wii, and with the advent of a new system, an announcement that we will see more Smash needs to happen.

On a similar note, I think it would be an incredibly smart move if Kingdom Hearts 3 was announced for this new console. Nintendo has managed to get a Kingdom Hearts game on the GBA, DS, and now 3DS so would a home console really be out of the question?

Third Parties

It would take too long for me to go into detail of what I'd like to see from every major third party so instead I'm going to simply list some of the third party games I'd like to see announced this year at E3.

Mirror's Edge 2

EA had a fantastic year in 2008 for original IPs between Mirror's Edge and Dead Space. It's now pushing on three years since the two have been released and a sequel to Dead Space has already come and gone so why hasn't there even been an announcement for Mirror's Edge 2. In a world of brown and gray space marines and war shooters, Mirror's Edge was one of the most stunning and refreshing breaths of air I can think of - and I for one have been holding my breath for too long now. 

Borderlands 2 (Borderworlds?)

The fact that many people are still playing and enjoying Borderlands just goes to show how incredible the game is. While the cavalcade of amusing DLC was definitely an awesome thing of Gearbox to do, I'd say it's about time to either head back to Pandora or see some of this interesting universe's other worlds. After all, there ain't no rest for the wicked, right?

Lego Lord of the Rings

I know I just did a post on this but I feel like I need to mention it again (and as many times as it takes before Traveller's Tales takes notice). It's just been so long since I've played a good Lord of the Rings game (Return of the King on Gamecube) and I know Lego would do the franchise right. Yes, I'm aware of War in the North but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Timesplitters 4

I'm not going to lie, I almost cried when Free Radical shut down - especially considering the fact that there was a teaser trailer for Timesplitters 4 released and everything. Someone needs to pick up this incredible franchise and announce the fourth title at this E3. It's been far too long since I've had my chimp-filled time-traveling classic arcade FPS action and, if done right, the online multiplayer could rival the best out there.

Afterword

And there you have it. I may add a few more titles to the Third Party list above, but those are the big ones that matter to me this E3. I'm also extremely excited to see more about some of the big titles like Arkham City, Rage, Bioshock Infinite etc. but I feel as though that's pretty much a given. Whether any of the predictions or hopes come true or not, there's no denying that next week is going to be a huge week for gamers and I, for one, am definitely excited to see how it turns out.

So what are you excited about? What would be your dream announcement? Which of the big three do you think will win E3? Please let me know in the comments below.