Thursday, June 7, 2018

E3 Wishes and Predictions 2018 - Nintendo

So Nintendo has a 45 minute long Direct this year. We got a 34 minute Direct in March with Okami, Crash Bandicoot, Undertale, Dark Souls, South Park, Sploon 2 DLC, Mario Tennis, and Smash 5. Imagine what we could get in a 45-minute E3 direct, even if 10 minutes or so are dedicated only to Smash 5.

First off, I hope we'll get something from Activison. Crash and Skylanders are the only Activision games on the Switch, and I think CoDBlOpsIIII will be on Switch. I would really appreciate if CoDBlOpsIIII would be cross-platform with Xbox One and PC. I gave up hope for crossplay with PS4 last year.
I didn't make this picture. I stole it off the internet.
I might have said this in my Square Enix post, but I have a feeling that Square is going to announce a new Switch game because they have a new division devoted entirely to the Switch. What I want them to announce is Shadow of the Tomb Raider for Switch. Maybe it's in the Direct, maybe not.

You know what I want announced during the Direct? I want Nintendo to announce that the Wii U Pro Controller is compatible with the Switch. The only things the Switch Pro Controller can do that the Wii U Pro Controller can't are reading amiibos and motion controls, which aren't even used in a majority of games. The Wii U Pro Controller is cheaper than the Switch Pro Controller, better than the Joy Cons, and more compatible with the GameCube controller. The GameCube controller isn't great for some games that use the ZL or - buttons, or games that map the jump button to anything other than A. It works fantastic for Mario Kart and Minecraft, though.
This controller feels really great. The GameCube and Saturn controllers are the only controllers better.
I want Nintendo to announce a new F-Zero game. Or they could announce that Fast RMX is getting a physical release. I would be fine with both. Fast Neo got a physical release in Europe, but I can't run it, so I'm not getting any Fast Racing games.
Amazon UK has low-res images.
And finally, I hope Snake, Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Bayonetta, Ryu, Cloud, Bayonetta, Pichu, and the Ice Climbers are back for Smash 5. I think all the first-party characters from Smash 4 will return, but the 3rd-party characters and cut characters are not as likely.

Ubisoft will have a Switch game to announce. I guarantee it. Ubisoft is one of Nintendo's biggest 3rd-party allies, if ZombiU and Watch Dogs and Mario Rabbids are anything to go by. In March, they announced South Park for Switch. At E3 last year, they announced Steep and Mario Rabbids. I think it's safe to say that Ubisoft will have a big title to announce for the Switch during the Direct. I can't say that it will be an exclusive, but I would be shocked if it wasn't.

Nintendo is going to talk about Smash. I don't think Solid Snake will be back. Sonic will. Mega Man will. Bayonetta will. The rest might be back as DLC, but I'm not counting on it.

There will be some crazy announcement that nobody was expecting. Eternal Darkness? Probably not. Timesplitters? Probably not. Sonic Unleashed? I would love that, but probably not. But I'm not expecting them to announce it, so there is even more of a chance that we'll see it.

We might see more of Pokemon Pikachu/Eevee. I hope we do. That game sounds like fun, considering I really enjoyed LeafGreen.

So this whole time I've been going in order of the conferences. But Nintendo is the last conferences, and I still have companies like Sega and Activision to talk about. So what I'll do from now on is what I did last year- just pick the companies in a random order. See you later when I make a post about whatever company I decide to talk about.

E3 Wishes and Predictions 2018 - Sony

I'll be honest, I almost fell asleep watching Sony's E3 show last year. It had some cool games, but it really didn't have anything to pull me in or even keep my attention for great periods of time. There didn't seem to be a big variety of different genres. Everything was an open-world game with realistic graphics and good cinematics. Hopefully it's different this year.

Last year, Microsoft surprised people at E3. It wasn't with Minecraft, and it wasn't with the car, and I don't mean with OG Xbox compatibility. I'm talking about Super Lucky's Tale. Microsoft has made more mature games for years now. The last kid-friendly game Microsoft not counting Kinect or karaoke games is possibly Viva Pinata Trouble In Paradise back in 2008. And now they had a 3D platformer coming out. Sony should have a new 3D platformer coming out. They've made mostly mature games over at Sony for a while now as well. We have God of War and Detroit and Uncharted, but we haven't gotten a really good kid-friendly game for a while. When did the last Ratchet and Clank come out?

Sony needs to give a 2 hour presentation of that new Tetris game by the Rez guys. I love Tetris.
Sony needs to announce new Vita games. That is the law. They broke the law last year. The Vita is awesome. At least acknowledge that the Vita exists.
A gorgeous blue PS Vita
I think Sony could easily make PS1 discs work on the PS4. The PS3 can do it. The PS2 can do it. The Dreamcast can do it with a boot disc. I think you can mod your Wii to do it. Why they haven't at this point is beyond me, other than the fact that Sony wants you to rebuy all their PS1 games digitally. Joke's on you, Shawn. I might have bought your console if you would let me run my PS1 and PS2 games.

I'll get to the point now. Sony, make PS1 games and PS2 games compatible with PS4. Or, at the very least, the PS4 Pro.

Finally, the PS4 and Vita need a Twisted Metal game. Twisted Metal only had 2 games last-gen, one of which was on the PSP. There hasn't been a Twisted Metal game this generation. I would love to play a Twisted Metal game for the Vita.

I expect Sony to have a trailer of some sort for their limited Days of Play console and then a bunch of trailers for new games that aren't out for a long time. They'll probably have some PS VR games to show off. I expect more of Spiderman, since the release is coming closer and they've shown it at E3 for a while now. I don't expect Sony to even mention the Vita, since they've effectively disowned the thing; it's a shame. Naughty Dog will have at least one game to show off. Capcom will have a game to show off. Hideo Kojima might show off his weird new game, but I can't say for sure.

Nintendo has a 45 minute show this year. Oh boy.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

E3 Wishes and Predictions 2018 - Ubisoft

Ubisoft had a great E3 conference last year. It had Bebe Rexha in it. They finally announced a sequel to Beyond Good and Evil on the Xbox, and Bebe Rexha was there. Shigeru Miyamoto helped announce Mario Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Not to mention, Bebe Rexha was there. So how do they follow it up this year?

Announce

a

new

Rayman

game.

Rayman Legends came out 4 or 5 years ago already. I would love to have another 2D Rayman game like it available. Rayman is an awesome franchise that I really like. I wouldn't mind if it included Rayman Legends content as unlockable content or DLC either.

Just Dance 2019 is pretty much a given. But what's not a given is whether or not it will be on Wii U, 360, or PS3. I have no doubt it will be on the Wii, since that version always sells well, but I hope it's on Wii U, 360, and PS3 just for the legacy of it all. Oh, and feel free to include some songs from Kesha's Rainbow in there. That's my favorite album of 2017. Green Light by Lorde should also be in there. Hopefully there's enough good songs in there to make me feel like it's better than JD18. Just dance 3, 2014, and 2017 are currently the best ones. Hopefully I can add 2019 to the list.
The guys behind Let's Sing 2018 got lazy and released it for Wii and Switch, but not Wii U. That's why I'm not sure about Just Dance 2019 for the Wii U.
You know a really good franchise the Ubisoft now owns that sold really well in the past, but they haven't done anything with recently?
Uhh, yeah, that might be it. Thanks, wallpaper guys. I've heard some say that Prince of Persia evolved into the Assassins Creed series, but I think the Prince of Persia series just has a much more interesting aesthetic to it. Assassins Creed has Roger Craig Smith, but it doesn't matter if the environments aren't that interesting. The only interesting-looking AC games I've seen are Black Flag and Origins, and I don't think we'll be getting those again soon. So give us more Prince of Persia. Did you guys know that Prince of Persia had a movie and LEGO sets? isn't that neat?
If that were all Ubisoft announced this year, I would be more than satisfied. Rayman, Prince of Persia, and a good Just Dance game are all I really need from them. But there is some more stuff I'd like to mention.

Starlink is a game I haven't seen or heard anything about since last E3. Where has it been? I hope it returns this year. I was super hyped and it looked really interesting. I really, really want to play it, and it's supposed to be out in the fall of this year, so we should see more of it this year.

I've heard in the past that Watch Dogs and Assassins Creed were going to both be on a biennial cycle- Assassins Creed one year, Watch Dogs the next. It's clear at this point that's not happening, but I really wish it was. It seems like the perfect fit. I have Watch Dogs 1 on Wii U and it has its fun moments. I've heard the second one is a lot better. I have high hopes for a third one, if they ever decide to make it.

I expect Ubisoft to show off Just Dance. They did last year. Bebe Rexha was there. This year I think they'll get someone like Dua Lipa, although I wouldn't count Bebe Rexha out with the popularity of Meant to Be this past year. I also expect to see some Beyond Good and Evil 2 footage, including gameplay. I think they'll show off some more Starlink, since the last we've heard of it was at last E3. I really thought that game was interesting and I want to see more. We'll probably get a trailer for the new Assassins Creed game. It will be a great show, no doubt. It can't say it will be better than Nintendo's or Sony's, but I have high hopes. Next I'll discuss Sony's show. Goodbye!

E3 Wishes and Predictions 2018 - Square Enix

I was surprised to read that Square is having a conference this year. I haven't paid much attention to them recently; they just don't seem to make the content that appeals to me, for the most part. But there is a conference, and they are a company, so we'll see what they have.

First of all, I hope that Shadow of the Tomb Raider is announced for Switch. Square Enix just announced that they have a whole new division just for Switch game development. Tomb Raider probably isn't what they're working on, but I really hope it is. I would love to have that game on Switch, assuming it runs.



I hope they announce that Final Fantasy XV is coming to Switch. LambHoot said it was the one of the best games of last year, and it would be interesting to see how it would be converted. That would be cool. I might even buy it.

Square Enix owns Eidos, and Eidos owns Crystal Dynamics. And do you know who Crystal Dynamics owns?

Crystal Dynamics owns Gex. Gex is awesome. Wouldn't it be super rad if Gex got a new 3D platformer? I would think that would be great. Or Square could put the original trilogy on a disc or on a cart for 30 bucks, add in like a set of stickers, and you've got a definite sale from me. I love Gex.

But I don't expect Square to announce that Gex is getting a new game. I expect them to talk about Octopath Traveller for a bit, and then they'll talk about Tomb Raider and Dragon Quest, and they'll announce a JRPG that I likely won't play. Not that any of them are bad, but I would really like Gex 4.

But the next conference is Ubisoft. I love Ubisoft. They're great. But I'll talk about that later. Goodbye!