Okay, it’s that time of year where E3 is looming and I start making my predictions... So here goes
(I must state again that I have both a Nintendo and Sony products, not Microsoft, as such, my Microsoft predictions are limited, as I don’t tend to follow X-box news)
Nintendo
For Wii:
Very few game announcements will be made, but those that are made will be the big Japanese releases which have previously not been translated, namely: Pandora Tower & The Last Story (both of which would be good).
Dragon Quest X will be shown (perhaps).
There will be a further price drop for the Wii (hopefully bringing it to the $150 to $99 bracket for the US). As such, the Wii will be positioned as a budget home console system... Which will continue to perform as a little brother to Project Cafe.
A budget range of games will be announced for the Wii (a classics range) including the likes of Mario Kart etc again to compliment the position of the Wii as a budget console.
A full proper trailer will be shown for Zelda: Skyward Sword, hopefully revealing a little more about the game.
(Note: Just as I was posting this, I have read that 2 of my predictions have already passed, namely the price drop and budget range)
For DS/3DS:
A release date will be given for Mario Kart 3DS as winter 2011 and more footage will be shown.
Footage will be shown for Mario 3DS and a title will be given to it, but it will be announced (probably after the conference) that this will not make a 2011 launch.
Further details will be given in respect of 3D movie download and 3D streaming, along with an approximate launch date for these services.
Monster Hunter will be announced for the 3DS (or the NGP – or both).
A Pikmin game will be shown (or Project Cafe).
More footage will be shown of the following games: Starfox 3D, Paper Mario 3D, Animal Crossing 3D and Kid Icarus: Uprising.
A new trailer will be shown for Resident Evil: Revelations.
A trailer will be shown for a Metal Gear Solid game for the 3DS, however it may not be Snake Eater, but may be another game (possibly or an original game)
The virtual console for the 3DS will be expanded to include other platforms.
For Project Cafe:
Will be given an official name (possibly Stream).
The console and the controller will be unveiled and will be playable at E3.
A worldwide release date is given as winter 2012 (or sooner if we are lucky, but no sooner than April 2012).
The controller will be like a cross between an ipad and a gamecube controller and will feature a 6 inch touchscreen.
The console with be backwards compatible with both the Wii and gamecube and (hopefully) convert games to 720p or 1080p.
The console will allow you to transfer all virtual console and Wiiware from the Wii.
There will be a proper online service akin to Xbox Live and PSN and this will also be tied in with the 3DS friend code. Speaking of which, there will be none of the stupid friend code per game nonsense of the Wii.
There will likely be further surprises in relation to the console or the controller.
A Pikmin game will be shown (or 3DS).
Retro Studio’s will announce their next game for Project Cafe, possibly a new Metroid Prime game.
A trailer will be shown for a Project Cafe version of Smash Bros.
Nintendo will get a group of developers to state how fantastic and innovative the machine is.
Not much will be shown in the way of games, but there will be rough demo’s available for people to try out the console, many of which will be aimed at the “hardcore” audience.
The 3DS will be shown to be able to connect to Project Cafe in some form, either acting as an additional controller or similar.
Sony
For PS3:
Starhawk (sequel to Warhawk will be announced – if not for the NGP)
Extended service for Playstation Plus customers will be announced.
There will be some form of apology for the PSN leak mess-up, together with assurances that this will not happen again.
A further trailer for Uncharted: Drake’s Deception will be shown.
Sony will make a big deal of the games which support Playstation Move and 3D.
There will be a further price drop announcement.
Agent (Rockstar) will finally be shown.
No mention will be made of a next generation machine (Playstation 4).
More footage will be shown for The Last Guardian.
HD remakes of the Metal Gear Solid games will be announced (MGS, MGS2 & MGS3).
Valve announce that they will be releasing PS3 versions of Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 as a compilation package.
For NGP:
The official name will be announced, which will either be PSP2 or something along the lines of PSP (subtitle).
Further games will be shown including: Uncharted portable, Possibly Final Fantasy VII remake and a new Wipeout game.
Monster Hunter will be announced for the NGP (or the 3DS – or both).
The NGP will be given a launch date and a price which will be very similar to the 3DS.
There will be some sort of connection between certain games on the PS3 and NGP, allowing games to be played on the go between both devices.
Microsoft
A remake of the original Halo will be announced for the 360, with a Holiday 2011 launch.
There will be a further price drop announcement.
A slew of games will be shown for Kinect, many of which will attempt to be aimed at the hardcore audience.
Dance Central 2 will be shown for Kinect.
Further enhancements to Xbox Live will be announced, including access to further services via Live.
Microsoft will likely take to opportunity to take a dig at PSN and go out of their way to state that Xbox live is both a more secure and better service and value for money.
The next Call of Duty game will be shown and will have exclusive content for Xbox.
Other game will also be shown stating that there is exclusive content/DLC for Xbox (Mass Effect 3 possibly).
No mention will be made of a next generation machine (Xbox 720?)
Multi platform
GTA V will be announced (with a launch due for Spring 2012).
A new Soul Calibur game will be announced.
A full trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Risen will be shown.
A new (fantastic) trailer is shown for Bioshock: Infinite
The new multiplatform game from Bungie (a FPS) is announced.
The new multiplatform game from Insomniac (a FPS) is announced.
There is news (and a tentative release date) for the next Half Life game. They also state that they have scrapped episode 3 and instead will be incorporating this into Half Life 3 (fingers crossed).
