Dr. Eggplant’s 5 things I want to see at E3

With E3 a little less than a month away, the rumor mill around the video game world has started buzzing, in which some news has already been confirmed before the press conferences have begun.  With confirmed titles like Gears of War and Uncharted already in the works to the annual rumor about Nintendo making a new Zelda game for its respective home console, this year’s E3 is shaping up to be one of if not the biggest E3 in recent years.  All of the companies have promised us that they are going to come out firing with games upon games upon games, and why not, a year after the revealing of the new generation of systems between Sony and Microsoft and the fact that Nintendo is releasing quite possibly its most popular franchise on 3ds and the Wii U later this year, the 3 way battle for video game supremacy is hotter than ever.  Of course gamers want to see titles that have yet to be revealed, or something that will peak their interest on upcoming titles that is the whole point of E3 and that’s why gamers look forward to this event every year.  With that being said these are the top 5 things I think gamers would like to see at this year’s E3 press conferences (digital event for Nintendo).

1. Nintendo announces a major title that is not named Mario or Zelda

Now many Nintendo fans wouldn’t be opposed to the announcement of a brand new Mario or Zelda game, (meaning a full game not new super Mario bros. or the upcoming Hyrule Warriors) but I think that it is time for Nintendo to stop spamming us with these major franchises and focus on one of its other ones.  Most notably I think the two franchises that Nintendo should make at least one or both is Metroid and Star Fox.  The last time we saw Samus she was taking orders from Adam Malkovich in Metroid Other M. Ok now first off when did Samus take orders from anybody and secondly how did she go from one of the most bad ass bounty hunters in history to a scared little girl the second she saw Ridley.  Nintendo should put Metroid back in the hands of Rare Studios (the creators of the Metroid Prime series) and make people forget about the abomination that was Other M.  As far as Star Fox goes it is long overdue that Fox Mccloud and the rest of the Star Fox team get their own game.  As a matter fact it has been 8 years since the last Star Fox game was made and that was Star Fox Command on the Nintendo DS.  The last home console game was Star Fox:  Assault which was made almost 10 years ago for the Gamecube.  Nintendo needs to start spreading the love and give its fans something fresh from one of its other big franchises, heck I’ll take a Wii U Kid Icarus at this point just make something fresh Nintendo.

2. Keep the conferences about the games and only the games

We all know that Microsoft and Sony will be talking about some of the new features that will be coming to their respective systems and possibly even talk about their numbers on how much they are selling, but I think for this year Microsoft should not even have anything like this in their presentations (or very little at most), and just focus on the games.  PS4 and Xbox One have been out since November and not much in the gaming library has changed for these two systems besides the releases of games like Titanfall and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare for Xbox One and MLB 14 the Show for the PS4.  EA and Ubisoft are primed and ready to show off a bunch of games from their respective companies, so Microsoft and Sony need to follow suit and show off their first party titles along with gameplay from other 3rd party companies that won’t have a conference like 2k or Activision and not worry about sales figures or some cool kinect feature that you can use this fall with some app.

 

3. Release dates

Plain and simple I along with many of the gamers out there want to know when these huge titles will be coming out.  Whether it’s this fall, winter, this holiday, or next year we want to know when these games will be coming out.  Especially with games that have already been shown off at other Expos throughout the country.  An example is companies like Bethesda and 2k at PAX East this year showing off games like Wolfenstein and Evolve.  I was privileged this year to attend my first PAX East and was lucky enough to get my hands on Evolve (which for the people who didn’t get to go was a 4 hour wait to play) and personally the game looks amazing and is a game that is so unique it will keep gamers interested and entertained for hours and hours.  Personal opinions aside, games like Evolve and Wolfenstein need to have some sort of release date for them.  They have been advertised for a little while now and barring major setbacks, they should be in line for a future release date along with other major titles like Battlefront 3, Call of Duty, and above all Smash Bros.  I and the gaming community want to know when these games will be released so we can start saving our pennies to grab them.

4. Nintendo focusing on Wii U

At this point everybody knows that Nintendo’s Wii U Sales have been less than stellar, but if they focus on the system this year and make games more interactive with the Wii U Gamepad, who knows what could happen with the sales.  With the release of Mario Kart 8 just around the corner and the future release of Smash Bros. for Wii U, it’s no secret that Wii U Sales will be going up from here on out.  So Nintendo this year should emphasize the Wii U this year and limit what they talk about for the 3ds since most of the information for its major upcoming titles has already been announced.  Talking about games like Bayonetta 2 and Hyrule Warriors would be a great start for Nintendo this year.  Also focusing on what 3rd party developers will be making for the system as well will peak interest from the gaming community.  If Nintendo can close out with something big like a new Zelda, or as said before a Star Fox, Metroid, or any other major franchise title for the Wii U heck may be even two of them, then I think Wii U numbers could pull a complete 180.

5. A major surprise

One thing that E3 is known for is surprising the crowds at respective conferences with most notably with Sony pretty much bashing Microsoft for their initial policies during their press conference to Microsoft themselves announcing games like Killer Instinct and Halo last year giving fans what they want.  So if anybody wants to make a huge splash during E3, then pulling a rabbit out of the hat will provide the show stealing moment of E3.  Now this could be from anything like Fallout 4 being announced, Star Wars Battlefront 3 being exclusive to either Xbox or Playstation, or anything that will throw a crowd into a frenzy will be the show stealing moment this year.  Microsoft could have had that moment this year if the plans for their press conference were not leaked already because they are going to show a CGI trailer for a new Gears of War title (the first one since Microsoft bought the rights from Epic), but don’t count them out yet with possibly throwing a curveball at us during their conference.  We also can’t count out Sony either as the rumors of God of War 4 have been running amok and showing gameplay from the new Uncharted answering all the questions that gamers have been asking on if it’s a prequel or a sequel and will we see Nathan Drake in this installment.  A major surprise especially this year will get gamers excited for the future and solidify a companies’ spot at this years’ E3.