E3 2017 Predictions

E3

     It’s the most wonderful time of the year, people. And no, I’m not talking about Christmas, I’m talking about E3! The biggest video game expo of the year, where everybody who’s anybody in the gaming industry (minus one notable exception) comes together to show off their investors and fans the cool stuff they’ve got going on this year and in the near future. If you want coverage of E3 go check out the cool folks at IGN and keep an eye on their site, because that’s not what we’re doing here today. Predicting these things is always fun, and today I’ve brought in two friends of mine to help me out: Kevin from the Comic Book Revolution and Brandon from Gamers Pantheon, who I’ve collaborated with once before. The format is simple: for the big three companies (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo), give six predictions of what you think you'll see this year. Fun, right?

     Before we dive in, though, I want to give a little bit of background to this year’s events. It’s been an interesting ride so far this year, and every company is coming in with something heavy on the line. Sony is the undisputed champion of this generation, selling over sixty million PlayStation 4s, but they have some issues that need to be addressed, namely the lack of support for PSVR (as well as lackof units) and the fact that most of their first-party games are currently scheduled for “the future.” Following right behind them is Microsoft, which has rebounded since the disastrous Xbox One launch, but aren’t in the clear just yet. The lack of first-party support, lingering resentment over the “entertainment first, games second” attitude they have shown, and an uncertain future have put them into a corner. However, with the mysterious Project Scorpio on display this year, Microsoft will have to put their chips on the table and go all in if they hope to regain the momentum. Lastly there’s Nintendo, fresh off the launch of the Switch and here to prove that they are still in the race.  Though, since this is just another of their quarterly presentations, will they even need to bring it? Interesting times, folks.

     Let’s get to those predictions! First up is Kevin, current writer for the Comic Book Revolution, hardcore gamer and all-around nice dude. Whatcha got for us?

Tenor

1) Marvel And Microsoft Will Announce An Exclusive Game For The Scorpio

Marvel's video game strategy is all about partnering up with other developers and publishers rather than doing things in house. We’ve already seen how that has gone with Telltale Games’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Square Enix’s Avengers game in development, Gazzillion’s Marvel Heroes and Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinity. And with Marvel giving Sony an exclusive Spider-Man game for the PS4, I see them sharing the love by giving one of Microsoft’s first party developers one of their properties. If I had to make a prediction of which property it would be, I could see it being a squad based game like the Defenders or a Doctor Strange game since we don’t have many games that explore magic.

2) Sucker Punch’s New IP Will Be At And Close Out Sony’s Press Conference

When an exclusive PS4 Spider-Man game was rumored it seemed obvious that Sucker Punch would be the one developing the game. Insomniac turning out being the developer left the door open for whatever Sucker Punch is working on. They haven’t released a new game since the First Light standalone content for Infamous: Second Son and that was 3 years ago. Now is the perfect time for Sucker Punch to announce what they are doing. It will probably be a third-person action/exploration game but unfortunately I don’t think it’ll be a new Infamous, as much as I would like it to be.

3) Amy Henning’s Star Wars Game Will Be Revealed

Back when EA announced their deal to make exclusive Star Wars games one of the games announced to be in development was one written by Amy Henning’s. Henning has incredible pedigree as creative director and writer for the first 3 Uncharted games and being part of the Jak and Daxter team. Now since she is working with Visceral Games as the head writer on a Star Wars game this is the perfect time to show off what she has been working on. With Visceral Games history with the Deep Space game it would be great if Henning’s game was a horror space game set in the Star Wars Universe. It is a genre in the Star Wars Universe that has not been explored but has great potential and could even borrow elements from the canceled Star Wars 1313.

4) New Chrono Trigger Sequel Announced For Nintendo Switch

Something that is missing from the Nintendo Switch is a big RPG, something other Nintendo consoles are known for. With Chrono Trigger having such a loyal fan following this would be a good time for Nintendo to possibly partner with Square to get a sequel to the iconic game. It would definitely help the bad aura around Square Enix right now after they announced that Final Fantasy VII: Remake and Kingdom Hearts 3 aren’t going to be released for at least 3 years. Help heal that hurt Square and give us a new Chrono Trigger for the Switch and PS4. Please!

5) Digital-Only Katamari Game Announced At Sony Press Conference

Katamari Damacy is an incredibly fun game that I spent hours upon hours just seeing what I could collect and create planets. Seeing as Sony loves to announce fan favorite games returning to life at their press conference and a new Katamari would elicit a big response among PlayStation loyalist that make up the crowd.

6) 90s Crash Bandicoot Commercial Mascot Will Open Sony Press Conference

Some of the greatest gaming commercials were the 90s was the Crash Bandicoot commercials with Crash talking mad shit about Nintendo’s “Plumber Boy.” With Xbox Scorpio being announced and detailed 24 hours earlier Sony will have Crash Bandicoot, in the full 90s costume, come out to talk crap about their competition. It would all be fun, not serious, way to start the conference, especially if they give him a Jimmy Hart-style megaphone to speak out of. Let him come out and talk about the “Plumber Boy” and the Scorpio’s “stingers” and then go all in with hype videos of game trailer after game trailer.

GIPHY

Crash dance or GTFO.

Brandon's an old-school gamer from back in the day, constantly telling the new games to get off his lawn. In all seriousness I've never met someone with the depth of knowledge about the medium and about Nintendo in particular, so I'm interested in what he has to say:

1. Microsoft will once again forget about games, touting the multimedia power of the Scorpio and bragging on its native 4k ability, despite the fact that the majority of gamers will not shell out $400 for a console to play slightly better looking CoD, not to mention 4k tech is still too expensive for many to invest in...unless…

2. Microsoft brings back Scalebound as a Scorpio exclusive. Stating the power of the Scorpio has allowed both them and Kamiya to achieve their desires, please buy the Scorpio to experience the next big Platinum Games release.

3. Nintendo will not announce a new Metroid. Nintendo will focus on the Switch’s portability with games such as a new HD Animal Crossing and the new Fire Emblem, both games that work well on the go. There will be a lot of focus on BotW DLC, possibly revealing the final pack in the season pass. Mario Odyssey will appear in some form, even if not yet playable.

4. In contrast to pushing the Switch, Nintendo will announce 3DS versions of games coming to Switch (such as Fire Emblem Warriors), thus undermining the new console and telling gamers they don’t need to purchase a Switch for a while as long as they don’t mind reduced graphics and screen size. They did this with Smash Bros and the Wii U so I 100% claim this will happen in some form.

5. Sony will ignore the Vita. They won’t even say the name. It’s dead. Move on.

6. Sony will announce a new exclusive IP, either from them directly or a close third party. This game will be set to release within a year. There will also be a Naughty Dog remaster of some sort because that happens every month or so anyway.

Why I always love Brandon's predictions.

Steven is the writer of this blog, the author of Red Steel (on sale now!) and the co-host of the Discoverography podcast. I'm sure he has intelligent things to say:

1. Microsoft's Scorpio will not be a brand new console OR a VR machine, as some have suggested. It will be an enhancement of the Xbox One, possibly with the stupid and played out tag of "Elite" added somewhere onto it. They'll focus primarily on the specs (because God knows at a conference for games we want to hear about tech specs) and really push the 4K gaming, though, which could give them a killer app to sell the system.

2. I'm calling it now,  Crackdown 3 will be shown, and there will be gameplay. It's been three years since the game was announced, and it's time to put this fun series back on the map. Put Crackdown 3 out with the Scorpio or the Xbox One Elite or XOE or whatever, and it will move units. Count on that one, folks.

3. After showing footage from the Crash Bandicoot Collection, a Spyro Collection will be teased, but there will be no actual trailer. Re-releasing old games is the trend now, and Sony is bound to tease the Crash collection given that it comes out in just a few weeks. What other big PlayStation franchise from the past haven't they touched yet? They did Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper.... Oh, yeah, that's right: Spyro. Seeing that little purple dragon flying across the screen in glorious HD would be a welcome treat for longtime Sony fans, and a great way to continue pushing into the kid-friendly market so long dominated by Nintendo.

4. Sony will have a dedicated section to indie games, more than likely to counter Microsoft's section, and we'll see some cool new titles. In the realm of fantasy, though, I have to make the prediction that the folks at Cabybara Games will be brought on stage and we will get an announcement of a sequel to Super Time Force (one of my favorite games, period). Kookabunga!

5. Nintendo will discuss their “Year of Kirby,” and how none of the games planned will come to the Switch. Nintendo is a curious beast, in that they released a new console that is meant to bridge the gap between the handheld and the home console, but they still have their 3DS market still going strong and show no signs of slowing down. They announced that 2017 would be a big year for our favorite pink fluffball, but it's a safe bet that Switch users will have to wait for any games, I mean, Kirby games.

6. Nintendo will not showcase any of their big franchises outside of Mario, Kirby, and Pokemon. That's right, I don't think there will be a new Metroid or F-Zero, and Kid Icarus and Star Fox are definitely not coming anytime soon. I dog Nintendo for not being aggressive enough in the console wars, and how if they just dipped into their pool of IP (which arguably rivals the likes of Marvel and DC), they could be selling Switches like nobody's business. But I highly doubt that this is the year they will change all that.

Me, with pretty much every bit of Nintendo news these days.

With these predictions done, I asked my friends three simple questions about the three companies to address the state of them and their video game slates. Here they are:

Microsoft: What does Microsoft need to do to make a PS3-style comeback?

Kevin: A PS3-style comeback is not necessarily what Microsoft is aiming for. Because unlike the PS3 comeback were Sony was playing catch up by dropping the price, Microsoft it looking to dictate how the rest of the generation will go. From everything we know about the Scorpio it looks like it will be treated as a new console. That may be made clear with the price point for the Scorpio, which is rumored to be be between $400 to $600.

But as much as that price point may turn off some fans it does not mean Xbox can’t make a comeback. If Xbox wants to make their comeback it will be crucial that they make some strong partnerships. Their partnership with Call of Duty was huge for the 360. That is something they need again and possibly to get more into the international markets, where the PS4 is dominating, partnering with EA for FIFA would be a great move. Adding to that, connecting the Xbox to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 with exclusive content would be a big deal, especially if they have a special edition Scorpio bundle with the game. Special editions are crack for fans that would be hard to resist.

Outside of that Microsoft also needs to come strong with their first party titles. With Scalebound being canceled recently along with Halo 5 and Gears of War not hitting the big sales numbers Microsoft would’ve liked this is the time they need to come back strong. Showing off Crackdown and Halo 6, with a focus on Master Chief and Cortana, in its full Scorpio beauty would help sell the console. Adding in State of Decay 2 for a fall release would help. All that, plus intriguing new IPs would help Microsoft make the gap in sales between them and Sony closer than it has been so far. 

Brandon: GAMES. For the love, it’s a gaming console right? Why would I buy one if I can play everything on it elsewhere and then some? They need to make people like me see an advantage to what they have. Even the few exclusives they do have are available on PC as well. They need to stop shooting themselves in the foot and differentiate.

Me: Honestly, it has to be about the games, as Brandon said. Why did the PlayStation 3 come back and end as strongly as it did? Because the games were just so much more interesting then! Having so many studios like Naughty Dog or Insomniac or Sucker Punch either owned or closely linked to Sony allows them to pump out a steady stream of first-party exclusives that draw the eye, and Microsoft just doesn't have that. It also doesn't have the deep library of IP that Nintendo has that will bring in the dough no matter what, leaving it at an even greater disadvantage. Microsoft just needs to buckle down, stop with the "entertainment system" crap, and shell out the money to get us those games.

Sony: Which of these exclusives is coming out this year: Days Gone, Spider-Man or God of War?

Kevin: Sony at E3 is always an interesting beast. They’ve had the luxury of going last in terms of press conferences and that luxury is even bigger they will have a full 24 hours to respond to whatever Microsoft announces. And that time will probably allow them to adjust plans appropriately and decide between 10 different presentations I’m sure they have that depends on what Microsoft announces.

All that said, of the games mentioned Days Gone is the only one I see coming out this year. The game falls into that Until Dawn camp, as it is not one of the “system seller” games but could be a strong addition to the PS4 library. And with its zombie direction it makes for the perfect Fall game that should be released in October to take advantage of Halloween and Walking Dead coming back.

God of War and Spider-Man are the more unpredictable ones as their release dates could also be affected by where games like Detroit: Become Human and whatever Sucker Punch is doing. If I had to predict I see God of War coming out in March 2018 to be that big Spring release Sony loves to do as they found good to great success with Infamous: Second Son, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Uncharted 4. And God of War fits into the mold of big first party games that PS4 sees as a “system seller” that will be well received by fans and critics.

As for Spider-Man, that one is more of a tricky one in terms of releases. Ideally it would be released in Fall 2018 but Detroit: Become Human could be released in that time period depending on where it is in development. So because of that maybe we don’t see the Spider-Man game until Spring 2019 to help space things out for Sony’s line-up. That or, they could make Spider-Man their big release alongside Avengers: Infinity War in May 2018 to take advantage of the Marvel hype during that month.

Brandon: I think Spider-Man gets a 2017 release date at E3. Maybe God of War as well but I don’t see that happening. Days Gone gets delayed.

Me: Gotta agree with Kevin, it's Days Gone. It's the only game that debuted last year with any real, substantial gameplay footage (not to put down the awesome God of War stuff we saw), and I can't see Sony just not having anything in the fall to challenge Super Mario Odyssey. That being said, I feel like both Spider-Man and God of War are still too early in development.

Nintendo: Is the "companion console" approach a winning one?

Kevin: Being the “companion console” is exactly where Nintendo should position itself. They will never be able to match Sony and Microsoft when it comes to being the most powerful console. That is something they have never been interested in since at their heart Nintendo is still a toy company. Leaving Sony and Microsoft to battle it out when it comes to power allows Nintendo to focus on what they do best, polished gaming experiences that can only come from a Nintendo console. And with games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe and ARMS we are seeing people fall in love with Nintendo once again as they deliver that special Nintendo sauce every month or so.

What I hope they start doing to increase the success of the Switch is that they start going away from 3DS development. They need to put all of their attention on developing for the Switch and cut 3DS owners cold turkey like they did for Wii U owners. Until that happens, the 3DS will only keep the Switch from being as big as it could be, though supply issues with parts isn’t helping matter. Still, Nintendo being healthy is only a great thing for the industry and not being afraid of being the “second” console in a household should not make them be seen as the lower system. Plus, if Nintendo announces Smash Bros, Pokemon open world or Snap, Animal Crossing and Metroid for the Switch they could end up sneaking in the big win at E3.

Brandon: Sure, once you transition from your current handheld. I think it’s a great idea in theory, but it’s hard to execute without putting yourself in a bind. On one hand, you have a console that you can take with you, that’s great! On the other hand, how do you keep from alienating the 3DS install base, which is one of the strongest out there, if not THE strongest? It will be interesting to see what they do. Exclusives will make or break the Switch as well. Stop dumbing down Switch games for the 3DS. The 3DS has it’s niche that works well. Continue to exploit that while making the Switch what it needs to be: a console that you can carry with you.

Me: That's a tricky question (I know, I came up with it, wink wink), because they need to have the fire in them to compete in order to really succeed, but they also need a dose of reality. Realizing that they can't match Sony or Microsoft is a good starting point, and that most gamers only want a Nintendo console to play Nintendo games. But I still feel like they need to fight like they are still competing with them, because otherwise what's to stop them from barely making games for their new consoles or just relying on old stuff to make money while simultaneously losing fans and money because of their refusal to innovate? Oh wait, that's happening right now. Huh.

Alright guys, thanks for scrolling through and checking out our predictions! And special thanks to my friends for popping in and giving their six cents! Here's where you can find them:

Kevin is on Twitter and at the Comic Book Revolution. Check out his stuff, lots of comic book reviews, movie stuff and more!

Brandon is also on Twitter and at Gamers Pantheon. Video game news, opinions, and more for those who want to keep up with the business!

You guys know where to find me! Twitter and my podcast's Facebook page. You can also get my book, Red Steel, in both digital and paperback format. Thanks again and enjoy the conferences!

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So is mine, Reggie. So is mine.