E3 is right upon us, so much so that I can hear Reggie walking on stage right now, but don't worry, there is still some time left before the big event happens. Now with the E3 summit just around the corner we've all been talking about what we want and what we think will actually appear at the show and the bright sparks in the back room have put together their prediction for you to read.
We have the views of three different groups, firstly there is the press team who have a keen eye on the Wii scene and will probably be the most accurate of the three. Secondly there is the normal guy, sure they're not news reporters however they do have an interest in the gaming world so they'll give us an interesting read. And last but not least the admin himself, a big fan of games and just the like the press, he has a keen eye for the news.
Lets begin with the press team predictions for the 2008 E3 media and business summit!
Billy Hudson (Snake) - Press Trainee
Sharing my predictions was always going to be a tricky job. Over the last couple of years Nintendo has really transformed as a company and the Wii went where no other console had ever gone before. With Nintendo’s biggest guns already on the playing field Nintendo have to start digging deeper to find even more success. What could that be? Well Animal Crossing Wii would be a great guess but that’s more or less confirmed already. So my money is on Kid Icarus making a return; but I wouldn’t be surprised if Pikmin 3 or a new Starfox title showed up. The possibility of a new handheld system is always there, although it isn’t really necessary for Nintendo to shift their focus from the DS; so I have my doubts. There's always a chance that Nintendo has a new peripheral up their sleeve that will once again wow the casual consumer. Only time will tell...
Natalie Wilson (Nata-Wii) - Press Trainee
I'm not sure what to expect from E3 this year but hopefully there will be a few surprises for us all; pleasant ones that is. I am thinking that Nintendo will have something good to show us, maybe something like Animal Crossing Wii, that will be out quite soon maybe? This could hopefully include some good gameplay to be shown. I am also predicting maybe a new Kid Icarus game will be revealed, as there have been a few rumours floating around about it for a while; and I know a lot of gamers would be happy to get a Kid Icarus title. I also predict (and hope like just about everyone else) that a new Zelda game will be announced; it probably wouldn't be out anytime soon though. Another possibility is for Nintendo to reveal a new game to add to one of it's current franchises; such as maybe a new Pikmin game for example. Finally, I think it would be a great surprise if Nintendo brought a brand new franchise to the table, something good of course. I'm interested and really looking forward to what Nintendo have come up with for this year's event.
Aaron Hastings (TheCosmicFrog) - Press
It would take a brave soul to contest that Nintendo didn't rule the E3 show last year, but can they hold their own once again in 2008? Last year's announcements included Mario Kart Wii, the Wii Wheel, the Wii Zapper, Medal Of Honor: Heroes 2 and Wii Fit, not forgetting a first look at live gameplay of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Of course, much of Reggie Fils-Aime's keynote was graceful praise of Nintendo's capture of a wider market, but can you honestly blame them? According to statistics displayed at last year's show, gamers over the age of 25 now represent 23% of video game consumers, one giant leap for the industry as a whole.
But now down to business. What does Aaron believe will appear in Nintendo's address at E3 2008? While many will be expecting the announcement of an official Wii Hard Disk Drive, I can't help but feel a little differently on the subject. While I do predict the appearance of a media storage solution from Nintendo, I doubt the feasibility of a HDD. Perhaps an add-on USB Flash Drive apparatus, with a maximum of 2GB extra storage. We already know of the pending releases of both Animal Crossing Wii and Punch-Out!! Wii, so expect screenshots or videos regarding such.
Much of Nintendo's press conference this year will be concentrating on the ever growing third-party interest in Wii. With EA's BoomBlox and Majesco's Blastworks going down a storm with the critics, Reggie has even more reason to stand up tall this coming Tuesday. One's mouth can water at the thought of more Wii Balance Board compatible titles later this year, and as we have not seen a decent snowboarding game on Wii since the well-received SSX Blur, what better a time to showcase one? On the DS side of things, rumors are already circling of a handheld instalment of the coveted Paper Mario series, so let's keep our fingers and toes crossed until an official announcement!
Whatever comes up, expect an entertaining keynote from the Nintendo team. On a final note, I wonder what Reggie's BMI is these days?
Alex (Alex51011) - Editor
Well, we all know that E3 2008 is slowly creeping up on us and we all are hoping that certain things will be announced. Well, I know that I want some things announced at least; so for you reading pleasure here is my list of E3 Predictions and Hopes:
For starters, I’m excited to see what rumored “secret titles” Nintendo has hidden away from us. I’m excited to see what games they’ll be unveiling. I’d also like to see more on this MadWorld game that was announced quite awhile back. I’d suspect that Nintendo will announce a new Kid Icarus game, but wouldn’t it be great to get a new Star Fox Wii game? I doubt we will see Star Fox, but it’d be nice.
Secondly, I’m hoping Nintendo will address the storage issues. Hoping beyond hope in fact, we need a hard drive and I severely hope Nintendo will pull through for us. Also, I’d like them to do something with voice chatting, there had been rumors of headsets but nothing ever came to fruition. So perhaps we will see something on both of these issues.
Also, it’d be about time that Nintendo would showcase more Wii to DS connectivity, I mean, the option is there so use it! Also, it’d be really cool if Nintendo hinted at a new handheld, not announce, but just hint at, I mean it’s been 4 years for Pete’s sake.
That’s all that I’m really hoping to see on the Nintendo side of things, with the Xbox 360 I’d like to see Dead Space, Banjo-Kazooie, Halo Wars, Fable 2, Fallout 3, Resident Evil 5, and Gears of War 2 showcased. Those should be there for sure, it’d be nice to see Lord of the Rings: Conquest, the new Prince of Persia and Call of Duty 5.
Michael S. (ZeldaFan) - Press Trainee
This year at the E3 I am expecting and predicting great things to come from Nintendo. In particular I am predicting that two games I have been anticipating for quite some time will have some serious news about them. The first game that I am predicting that will make an appearance is a sequel to Kid Icarus. Obviously this game is long overdue for a sequel, and with the new motion sensing technology of the Wii, this game might finally be reborn. Plus there was news constantly coming from IGN of a sequel coming, and it seems that this E3 is a perfect time for Nintendo to bring this sucker out into the open.
My second prediction is that Nintendo will show us what Animal Crossing Wii can do with Wii Connect24. With the Wii’s Connect24 ability the weather in your real town could be in your Animal Crossing Town. Another possibility is that messages from Nook’s Shop and messages you get from your towns people could show up on the Wii Message Board. With the Wii Connect24, the possibilities are endless. If they don’t show something with Wii Connect24, then there is something wrong with them.
No matter what happens, I have a feeling that this E3 is going to have a few surprises that will leave us speechless.
Next, the member predictions!
Mark (M@gicM@rker) - Member
Judging from what Nintendo has done in the past, the most obvious guess would be a new game for the "casual" crowd, but in what direction can they go from here? Perhaps a skate/snowboarding game (similar to SSX or skate it) using the balance board could be announced, but there's no clear idea of what to expect in that area. After all the angry fanboys finish their grovelling debates about which casual game will be released, they will get down to the important stuff: the "hardcore" games. Nintendo has released info about "games to please the hardcore crowd," but aside from the possibility of Kid Icarus, there's not much info to go around. Perhaps a shooter would be appropriate, perhaps not. Perhaps the interesting games that we are hoping for will be released on WiiWare. Right now, however, I am of the opinion that the best thing that could ever happen to WiiWare is for a Super Metroid-like game to be released on it, but in a new environment, and with power-ups and such.
NakedRooster - Member
Nintendo needs a big showing this year, particularly to sway some of us who are beginning to lose faith in their ability to cater to anyone except for the "Wii Fit crowd". Nintendo's show needs to be all about their fans and the core gamer. An announcement detailing their plans to deal with the storage problem is the best place to start. We may see an official Nintendo head set revealed but knowing Nintendo we won't see anything about it. I also suspect we'll see some good Wii titles like Kid Icarus, Animal Crossing and Disaster: Day of Crisis. Some good DS titles are also needed. Square-Enix hit a chord announcing Chrono Trigger for the DS and Nintendo needs to follow suit. In short, Nintendo needs a show that appeals to the 'geeks and otakus' more than to the people who are going to buy a game and never play it.
Finally, the admin!
John Sanderson (D4rk) - UBERPWNZ0R
Well, judging by Nintie's past, I'm going to go for 'Wii Picnic' or some other such pish, so I'll list the things they should announce, but won't. External Storage, A useful free channel, A user-name based friend-code replacement, Voice chat, a new Zelda Game, Smash Bros. DS, Third Party Application Development. In fact, just to cement their position as a company gone a little insane, they'll probably unleash some kind of rabid marsupial onto the press.
But It's not all bad, There's likely going to be Red Alert 3, Crysis Warhead, Left 4 Dead, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Spore, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Portal 2, Half Life 2: Episode 3. PC games make me a happy panda.
