E3 2018 Hopes and Expectations · 12:54pm May 17th, 2018
We're just over three weeks out from the biggest event in the gaming industry, and as we get closer, I've been thinking about what to expect from this year's show.
Sony
Sony has come out and said that they are focusing four titles; Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man, and The Last of Us Part II.
I've heard of two of those, and care about one. The Last of Us is still one of the best games I've played in the past decade.
Sony has said no new hardware will be revealed, so it would seem the PS5 is still a ways away. Personally, I think Sony currently has the best first party library, and has the best footing going into E3 this year.
Microsoft
The Xbox One X may be the most powerful console, but that doesn't mean a whole lot when there's nothing to play on it. Microsoft has been getting absolutely destroyed when it comes to console exclusives.
Halo, their flagship franchise that put the original Xbox on the map, failed to make an E3 appearance last year for the first time in nearly a decade. The franchise has more-or-less been significantly struggling under the in-house studio 343 Industries.
Out of the gate, Halo 4 had a gripping story but was severely lacking in the multiplayer department. The Master Chief Collection is infamous for the most disastrous launch in franchise history, and is only now being fixed to such a degree that I'm going to go so far as to call it a re-launch later this year. Halo 5's multiplayer was received much more favorably, but the campaign was a jumbled mess that took a shit on everything Halo 4 set up; bad enough for the Narrative Director responsible to leave 343 Industries in early 2017. Post-launch support was steady, but many, myself included, felt that content added in the first six months should have been there at launch.
My point is, Halo has been fighting to remain both faithful and relevant, and it absolutely cannot do that if it skips E3 two years in a row. Get up on stage and let us know how much more amazing MCC is going to be than it was four years ago; tell us it's coming to PC. Then close your show with a good Halo 6 teaser.
I'm also wondering since it is releasing on Xbox One this summer, if Hello Games is going to have the balls to show up and show off No Man's Sky with it's 1.6 "NEXT" update. It's what I'm waiting for to pop it in on my PS4.
Nintendo
Well, what can I say about Nintendo that I haven't said in months and years passed? I don't really care. Since 2004, my main draw to Nintendo has been nostalgia, and the Switch currently offers little to none of it. I want 2D Mario, F-Zero, and a faithful StarFox. We last saw 2D Mario with the Wii U's Super Mario Maker, we last saw F-Zero 15 years ago on the Gamecube with F-Zero GX while Nintendo continues to parade Captain Falcon around in Smash Bros and tosses in a track to Mario Kart, and every single year a StarFox game is revealed and launched, I shake my head a little bit more that they cannot grasp what made StarFox 64 such a smash hit. Not only that, but their paid online service is launching later this year, and it's going to be a disaster when their handful of multiplayer communities are split in two between those that pay and those that won't.
Did I mention you'll need a phone to voice chat?
I'd love for them to put the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Switch, but I'm not sure how they'd rework Metroid Prime 3.
Not that I would mind; MP3 is the only one I have not played because of the motion controls.
Third-Party
If the Big Three are the meat, third party offerings are certainly the potatoes. I'd love to see Bethesda whip out a surprise Doom 2 announcement after 2016's campaign offering was absolutely everything I dreamed it would be. Unfortunately, I believe them when they say Elder Scrolls VI is as far off as they say it is. Rage 2 turned a lot of heads when it was revealed this week. Prior to earlier beliefs, I don't think Borderlands 3 is ready to make an appearance yet. It would be awesome if CD Projekt Red showed off Cyberpunk 2077. Brady is absolutely stoked for Division 2's reveal. To round out my radar, I'm chomping at the bit for a look at Resident Evil 2 Remake, and a release date for Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
What about you fine folks? What are you expecting and hoping to see at E3 this year?
I'm excited about a fair amount of these titles. I mean, the Switch has had a fair few good titles, Breath of the Wild for one. But yeah, a good chunk of what you hope for comes out I do too. I wanna see maybe a trailer for Yakuza 2 Kiwami
I hopeing for dead Island 2
Hoping to see whatever it is that FromSoftware is working on, definitely looking forward to Death Stranding, but I can NOT look forward to anything Halo related after the horrible betrayal of Halo 5.
I think Nintendo needs to step up their game and get some good third party titles for the Switch, and go back to some of the bundels they did for the Wii that made it such a success. Heck, consoles in general these days don't seem to understand why it is that consoles of old would come pre-packaged with controllers and at least one game that showed off what the system was capable of. It was a way to drum up interest in the console and boost sales.
I'm also curious whether or not Nintendo's going to announce details on the rumored Pokemon games in development for the Switch, or the possiblity of the next Super Smash Brothers, because something tells me either of those titles might end up boosting the Switch ever so slightly.
If Nintendo announces the Pokémon for the Switch, they'll win again.
Predictions and wants for me?
A new sly Cooper game
Spyro collection
Devil may cry 5 (sequel to 4)
Boku no hero ones justice
Darksiders 3
Spiderman 2018
Cyberpunk 2077 is all I care about at the moment.