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Some staff thoughts, predictions [and guesses] before E3 kicks off

Ben

Wii U needs a new football game
These days I’m finding the Wii U has almost everything I need, aside from my occasional dose of Fifa or PES. Isn’t it time for EA and Konami to re-assess their position make a surprise comeback? Since they made the decision to focus on Microsoft and Sony formats the Wii U has more firmly established itself as a great console with a decent fanbase. The publisher who decides to bring a football game to Wii U is going to sell many copies – there’s still people buying Fifa 13 such is their desperation. I would also welcome a completely fresh take on the football genre from another publisher. As it stands the only one on the horizon is the soccer mini-game featured in the upcoming Mario & Sonic at the Rio Olympic Games.

Jake

The Eternal Darkness Sequel We All Deserve
With the eventual release of Fatal Frame V in the US, it got me thinking about another great horror game that once graced the Nintendo platform: Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. A unique and awesome game for the Gamecube, any hope for a sequel were lost as the years went by and the developers (Silicon Knights) were disbanded. Despite all of the time spent waiting (and two failed Kickstarters trying to create a spiritual successor), Nintendo keeps holding onto that trademark, and with a relatively niche horror series making its way to the west on a Nintendo console for the first time, I think it’s time for the return of a cult classic. While obviously sales (there weren’t a lot) have played a big factor in the delay, there’s always room for differentiation on the Wii U. While other games have used something akin to the sanity meter from Eternal Darkness, none have truly brought back the joy of watching your own head pop off, or of the “Your controller’s been unplugged” that sent many-a-gamer into a desperate and confused scramble. There’s only so many times you can beat the game before your desire for a return from the Roivas family returns. Let’s hope the rats feast on our eyes once again.

Dominic

It could actually be…
To the window (to the window), to the wall (to the wall), to the sweat drop down my balls (my balls). Those are the lyrics I remember hearing – and are now drilled into my head – when first turning on Need for Speed: Underground. To this day, I still have great memories of the first Need for Speed game that changed the franchise into a The Fast and the Furious wannabe. EA are saying this is a reboot of the franchise and not a sequel to Underground, but the nocturnal city, the wet roads and the cars all scream Underground to me. Maybe this could be the game to bring back the sheer dumb brilliance that has been missing from recent Need for Speed games. E3 should at least give us a glimpse if that is the case.

The obvious… Nintendo surprising
It’s probably fair to say that Nintendo surprising people at E3 happens every year. It’s not necessary always for the good – the stuff that we want Nintendo to say and show, but whatever the case, the surprises do happen. Last year was a good example of the the Nintendo I like seeing, with the company announcing Splatoon, a brand new IP that covered (or should that be splatted?) a genre Nintendo never does – third person shooting. It also ended up being rather great fun. I suspect Nintendo to do the same this year and surprise us with either a returning IP that was once left for dead or working with a third party developer on bringing something great to the Wii U.

The wishful thinking…Konami actually finds itself and brings Suikoden back
I absolutely love the Suikoden series, but for someone living in the UK where we don’t even get the latest spin-off games, such as the PSP title Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki, it’s truly a nightmare. With Suikoden I and II on PSN and rumours of Suikoden III arriving on the service, could that mean, in the words of Lloyd Christmas “so you’re telling me there’s a chance?” Maybe if Konami gets their shit together and returns to their former glory, but with all the crap that is currently going on with the company at the moment, I highly doubt this is anything more than my perfect dream E3 causing me heartache. I guess all I can do is sigh and let loose those tears of sadness and despair to help me get through the this painful time.

Shenmue 3……
Ha… Ha… Hahah… Hahahrawrrahaha 😉

Ian

A strange feeling
As E3 approaches us again I am hit by a strange feeling. I can’t wait to see more on Kingdom Hearts 3, Uncharted 4, Mad Max, Cyberpunk 2077, No Man’s Sky, and so on; but when I asked myself the question “what am I most excited to see at E3 2015″, I was taken aback to realise that above all else, I really just want to see more Final Fantasy XV. I mean, this is a game that we’ve already seen so much about. A game that I’ve even played for around 3 hours, in the demo that came with the HD re-release of Final Fantasy Type-0. It’s not new and it hasn’t been teased. It’s there! There’s plenty of available footage and documentation already on it, but it really captivated me this year and I think it’s going to be something very special.

No hope
Although, there is one game I’d like to see more. One game that I always think about. A game that has never been teased, never been announced, and will likely never see the light of day – Psi-Ops 2. The original Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy was a masterpiece in power fantasy and psychic ability mechanics that no game has even come close to since. I feel it’s a game that was severely under-appreciated, a game that I love to go back to every now and then, a game that ended with ‘To Be Continued’ but sadly never will be.

Playstation Move: The Sequel
God, please don’t let Playstation’s VR headset ‘Project Morpheus’ suck. Please. I rather enjoyed the depth of the Playstation Move but with extremely little third and even first party support, it was doomed to fail. The Oculus Rift is only usable because it can be run on powerful machines that can play games at an extremely high FPS, with great anti-aliasing and a refresh rate to counter nausea, but the PS4 simply can’t meet those standards. Will they be able to have it working well enough so that it can be used for more than 30 minutes at a time? Will it cause migraines? Will it be supported by many developers? We don’t know, but we’re sure to find out soon.

Thomas

The New Last Guardian
I had poked fun at other people in the past who thought The Last Guardian would once again show itself during an E3 press conference in recent years. Then I felt really smug in myself when it eventually never materialized. This year though I am joining the masses of people who believe – and have never stopped believing. I have no idea what state it may now be in, nor do I have any knowledge of what people will have touched the game after 8 long years in development. Can a game even turn out good after near a decade of on and off work? Regardless, I think Sony are finally in a position to (re)show The Last Guardian. I want the game to be good, I really do, and I am sure Sony do too. If (when?) it eventually shows up during E3, regardless of what it may have turned into, I feel both Sony and the game’s army of long hurting fans will be happy to finally get this monster off their back.