Pre-E3 and Nintendo Talk

It is very nearly E3 time…. That time of year in which my gaming geekiness beaks free of any sense of self-control I may have. I’ve booked days off work and I’m pondering what snacks ill need to fuel me through my obsession. This year I’ve been telling myself not to get too hyped but I fear it won’t work… The buzzing glee, the soul-crushing disappointment, it’s all part of it and its all-consuming.

It’s also blooming silly and doesn’t really matter in the long run. E3 2013 was the first to occur after Nintendo had launched the Wii U. I hated it. I read the rumours, I convinced myself that my wish list would all be announced and I’d be blown away. Instead they showed Mario dressed as a cat and their only western studio had been working another 2d platformer instead of fricking Metroid. It was awful. But… When those games eventually came out I played them and I loved them. That 2d platformer was Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, a game I never got excited about playing but I bought it anyway. It’s now probably my favourite title in that genre. Ever. 

E3 is all about the announcements and the spectacle. Sony get this and have been brilliant the last two years. The downside though is that it takes too long to back up that spectacle afterwards. E3 2015 has been dubbed ‘The year of dreams.’ Gamers talked every year about how The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake would appear until it became a knowing joke. They would never appear, they were pipedreams. Then Sony announced them… That was fun. A hype generator on full steam. But of those three games only one has since actually come out and the other two won’t make it to store shelves in 2017 either. A brilliant E3 show doesn’t guarantee a great time with a controller any time soon. 

I’m now on paragraph four and just realised that I’ve only written an intro. This blog was supposed to be me talking about next week’s show and my predictions for what the big three will reveal. The point of that meandering dribble you’ve just read was to keep expectations in check. A good E3 show is helpful to the perception of a console, it gets people talking and it builds the hype. A bad E3 does not mean the opposite, that I’ll end up hating all the games or have nothing to play… Its just a mood dampener. 

If nothing else is announced for the Nintendo Switch I still know I’ll be busy. ARMS, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda DLC, Steamworld Dig 2, Runner 3, Stardew Valley and plenty more. Next week the focus will be on that new Mario and my calm, rational inner-adult is convinced that will be enough. Show me how great it’ll be, tell me it’s out by Christmas. Job done. No disappointment here. 

Then of course there’s that freakish man-child side of me that will have consumed copious amounts of coffee and cake (snack plan for day 2) whilst scanning forums endlessly for others peoples rumours and wish lists. I want Nintendo to blow me away damn it. It won’t even take that much. Just one big shiny surprise that isn’t some party game or another Mario spin off. So here then are my predictions and my over eager wants.

Realistic:

• A new title from Retro studios. Don’t have a clue what it will be. Pretty sure it won’t be Metroid. Not convinced it will the some mature action title like people want, but it’ll be announced.

• Metroid. It just has to be time. Not sticking it in my dream list because I fear it could underwhelm me somehow. After Other M and Federation Force it’s hard to be optimistic. There’s some rumours of a new 2D title which could be cool but I want Prime 4 dammit.
  

Wishful Thinking:

• Metroid Prime 4/new fully 3d Metroid. Ok I cheated, it’s in two sections. I want a big single player 3D Metroid that matches the brilliance of Prime.

•  F-Zero... GX was 14 fricking years ago. I loved that game and I hate that we haven’t had a new one since. The f-zero tracks in Mario Kart 8 were great but they just make me want it even more. An HD remaster of GX will do.

•  Animal Crossing. It’s pretty much guaranteed to be in the works but I don’t think it’ll be shown next week or out before summer 2018. Fingers crossed though.

•  A new Platinum games title. Either Bayonetta 3 or a new ip with big action set pieces and a similar balletic flow to its combat.

• Some big 3^rd party exclusive. A single player focused title that offers something different from Nintendo’s own portfolio whilst also causing a bit of an internet shit-storm. The reactions to the Bayonetta 2 announcement were a beautiful thing that I’d love to see repeated. Just for laughs.

And that’ll do me…. I’m trying not to get carried away remember. Before this week ends I’ll do another blog covering PlayStation and Xbox. Next week I’ll probably have three blogs up covering the conferences of each day. The writing in those may reflect my emotional state after conference so it could be entertaining reading…