The Electronic Entertainment Expo is always one of the most exciting gaming events of the year, and it’s a little more than a month away (June 10 to June 12 in Los Angeles).
We got our staff together and asked everyone what they were looking forward to or hoping for out of this year’s event. Some of us picked specific games, others are hoping for surprises, and some are probably getting their hopes up. Still, we’re all excited, and these are the reasons why:
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1469623,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']Editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu
Fallout 4, Advance Wars, and “TV stuff 2.0 for Xbox One”
I’d actually take the next single-player Elder Scrolls game over another Fallout, but I know publisher Bethesda’s not announcing one anytime soon. So I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for a Fallout 4 instead, which isn’t a bad second-place option for me. I love these open-ended, open-world games from Bethesda, and another visit to Fallout’s nuked-out, postapocalyptic wastelands would suit me just fine. I’m sure a surprise announcement like that would thrill our readers, too.
Same with Advance Wars. If Nintendo were to announce a new edition in the turn-based strategy series, fans — including me — would go nuts. It won’t save the company from its financial woes, but it’ll keep me happy as a gamer.
I’m also curious to see if Microsoft pushes its agenda to further integrate its Xbox One into our living rooms. I already love controlling all of my TV viewing with voice commands, but other hardware is catching up. Can Microsoft stay ahead by offering cool features no one’s thought of yet? I hope to hear more about this, but of course, Microsoft has to present this sort of news in a way that won’t turn off the core gamers (again).
Above: The PlayStation 4’s Project Morpheus virtual-reality headset.
Lead news writer Dean Takahashi
Surprises
Above all, I’m hoping to be surprised at E3. Too often, leaks or previews give us too good an idea of what is coming. EA hopes to surprise us with an unannounced major game coming this fall. I’m looking forward to that, if it really still is a surprise by the time that E3 arrives. I also like to see progress reports from the big things I do expect. I hope that Sony shows more working demos of its Project Morpheus and that Oculus VR shows the progress it is making with the Rift. Virtual reality is coming faster than a lot of people expected, and I want it to stay on that pace. I also hope that Microsoft comes up with some interesting new technologies or at least some games that exploit Kinect. I also want to see the latest on major games like Activision’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Ubisoft’s The Division, Sony’s The Order, and some cool indie titles too.
And I would really love to see Nintendo announce a new console. It desperately needs to do so, but I know it won’t.
Managing editor Jason Wilson
Some goddamn PS4 and Xbox One role-playing games
[aditude-amp id="medium1" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1469623,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']
The launches of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were devoid of one of our hobby’s most important genres — role-playing games. And that made me, a devotee of such games, almost cry. Here we are in May, and one of the few bona fide RPGs for these new consoles is the PS4’s Bound By Flame, which came out a day after I wrote this. (A few others are out, such as Child of Light.) And while I know more are coming this year — like Dragon Age: Inquisition — I hope to see RPGs for these consoles announced at E3.
E3, though, will likely let me down.
Above: We haven’t had a new Advance Wars in a long time.
News reporter Jeff Grubb
The big stuff from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo — and Advance Wars
I think all of the platform holders need big shows this E3. Sony is doing well, but the PS4 is getting a (maybe unfair) reputation for a dearth of games, Xbox One is falling behind despite Titanfall, and Nintendo … well, because no one wants a Wii U. So I’m excited to see each company’s presentation (I’ll watch Nintendo’s online) to find out what they have that’s big and unexpected.
[aditude-amp id="medium2" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1469623,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']
In terms of specifics, I want to get try Nintendo’s new Skylanders-like Mario games. I’d also like to see Uncharted 4 from Sony and Sunset Overdrive from Microsoft.
Really, though, I just want a new Advance Wars game from Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. The team found a lot of success with Fire Emblem: Awakening, but it’s time for more cartoon war.
Staff writer and community manager Mike Minotti
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS
Playing Smash Bros. always takes me to my gaming happy place. I still play Brawl and Melee on a regular basis. It’s just the perfect balance of fun and competition (with items turned off, of course), and these next versions look great. I mean, one of the new characters is Mega Man, who’s also one of my favorite gaming icons. How could I not be ecstatic?
[aditude-amp id="medium3" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1469623,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']
I’m curious to see how the franchise translates to a handeheld platform, but I’m more excited to see how pretty the HD version on the Wii U looks. Also, I’m hoping we get a few more character reveals during the show (fingers crossed for Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening).
Above: Will we see more Mass Effect at E3?
Writer and editor Eduardo Moutinho
Anything Mass Effect … anything
Mass Effect 3 came out more than two years ago — in March 2012. Yeah, it’s been that long. And even though the rabble-fueled cloud surrounding Mass Effect 3’s ending has settled, nothing worthwhile has emerged regarding the franchise’s future.
It’s time for some real news … or at least a trailer. I’m tired of reading vague tweets and click-bait articles.
[aditude-amp id="medium4" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1469623,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']
EA needs to drop a bombshell, one that will send shockwaves throughout the galaxy. And E3 is the perfect place to do that.
Writer Evan Killham
More Last Guardian disappointment
How many years have we been waiting for more information on Team Ico’s latest project? And how many E3s have left us wanting?
I don’t even know the answers to those questions because I stopped counting a couple of years ago when I decided to drown my sorrows in as many pancakes as the folks at my local flapjack establishment would give me before they had to close. And I’m really looking forward to doing that after we don’t hear anything this year. Because I love pancakes. And if I don’t make a tradition out of mainlining them for a very specific reason after E3, then I’m just that sad guy in the corner asking for still more syrup.
[aditude-amp id="medium5" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1469623,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']
I’d honestly love to hear more about The Last Guardian, but I’m not holding my breath. I will, however, be holding the biggest stack of grilled batter you’ve ever seen.
Above: We don’t know much about Halo 5, but the series about Master Chief hasn’t let us down yet.
Writer Gavin Greene
The unknown knowns
E3 always has the potential to surprise us with something completely out of left field. But multiple studios have already begun to capture the preshow news cycle with psuedo-announcements. Deep Silver will be revealing two new “triple-A games” at this year’s E3, and both Microsoft and Sony are desperate to either avoid or repeat their game showcases from last year. The already teased Halo 5 and Uncharted 4 are well on their way to the next stage in the hype lifecycle. Nintendo’s doing the livestream event again this year, but the Big N is in a good place to finally have a “Wow!” moment for the Wii U. It’s getting that last little chunk of information, those announcements that manage to hide in plain sight, that makes the show worthwhile.
Dishonored II would be also wicked awesome.
Writer Samir Torres
Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat
Many fighting-game fans have dreamed of a Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat crossover for years, and it’s about time we finally get it. If Capcom can strike deals with SNK, Tatsunoko, and Namco, then they can sure work something out with Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios.
And speaking of NetherRealm Studios, Kiefer Sutherland mentioned recently that he had done some voice work for a Mortal Kombat title. Could we see a new entry in the series at E3? Is Kiefer voicing Raiden, Shinnok, or Bo’ Rai Cho?
Above: From left to right: Yoshiaki Koizumi, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Kenta Motokura.
Writer Daniel Crawley
Nintendo finally doing something with NFC
When I first heard that the Wii U GamePad came equipped with near-field communication (NFC) technology, I thought Nintendo had hands-down won the console war. Releasing a Pokémon game with interactive figures and cards would surely be its first priority. Even the (then exclusive) Rayman Legends teased a mashing of toys and games in a leaked trailer.
It’s taken 18 months, however, for Nintendo to finally talk about tapping into the Wii U’s NFC potential, with a project codenamed Nintendo Figurine Platform. Is it too late to save the Wii U from its disastrous retail performance? Possibly. But it’s probably the best chance Nintendo has.
Writer Giancarlo Valdes
Star Wars: Battlefront and Eve Valkyrie
I haven’t stopped thinking about Star Wars ever since Lucasfilm announced the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII last week. In between binge watching episodes of The Clone Wars on Netflix, I’ve thought a lot about what EA’s new Battlefront game might look like. I just hope they can capture some of the magic from the old games; I have a lot of good memories of playing them with my buddy on PlayStation 2.
Eve Valkyrie was my game of the show at last year’s E3, and I can’t wait to see how this Oculus Rift game has changed since then. Aside from reading about a major announcement or two (they hired Katee Sackhoff, who play Starbuck from the Battlestar Galactica reboot!), I’ve purposely kept myself in the dark.
Above: We’re ready for more Persona.
Writer Stefanie Fogel
Anything and everything Persona
Atlus recently revealed it’s expanding the Persona universe with a number of new games in development, and I can’t wait to hear more! It’s been six years and one full console cycle since we last saw a new entry in the main series. Now, we not only have Persona 5 on the PlayStation 3 to look forward to, but we have spinoffs like Persona Q (3DS), Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (PS3/360), and Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Vita) as well.
>Hopefully, fans of the series will get to hear more about all of these games next month.
Writer Stephen Kleckner
Alien: Isolation … aka I’m excited! I think. Yes! Definitely excited! Wait! No. Wait! Maybe?
Alien: Isolation is causing me a severe case of envy toward my game press colleagues. Why? I’m one of the few Alien fans in this line of work that has not been able to sit down to a demo yet. Worse than envy, however, is the child-like excitement this game has put me in while not actually having experienced any of it. Adding on top of this, or at least making things more bi-polar, are some mood spoiling truths hanging in the air that are threatening my potentially gullible buzz.
The first crack in my excitement occurred when the mixed word-of-mouth was getting out from those who had played an early version of Alien: Isolation. A lot of verbal “enh” and “hmmm”’s followed by shaky hands and stark face expressions.
There’s also those times where I play amateur game producer and question its scope. The stealth, hunted-in-a-confined-space design premise is the sort of creative thinking the franchise needs, but it is also the sort of hook I would expect in a smaller downloadable game from an independent developer. With this project shooting for a retail shelf release of a big Twentieth Century Fox property, is Sega trying to stretch an intimate experience on a bloated summer blockbuster body?
I also can’t ignore the recent history associated with Sega and Gearbox Software’s Aliens: Colonial Marines. A different developer, The Creative Assembly, is working on Alien: Isolation, but I’ve heard rumors that the Isolation concept was an early internal pitch for the project slot that Colonial Marines filled. The pessimist in me is wary about that possible connection.
These circumstances have put me in the “pregame giddy” dilemma. Am I being embarrassingly naïve when I work myself into excitement over Alien: Isolation (or any game in 2014), or would it be unfair to dial my hype meter way down and toss-up my ridiculously jaded defenses? Sega, when you go to E3, do an Alien fan a solid and put me out of my first-world misery.