21 Predictions For E3 07: The Good, the Bad and the Crazy
The Good
Here it is, these are the stories and announcements that I believe will make E3 2007 a very interesting place to be.
#1 Firm release dates for Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Galaxy
By E3, Mario Strikers Charged will be only a few weeks away and Metroid will be a little over a month out. That leaves four months in which Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy can be released if Nintendo wants to make their 2007 release date. So if they are truly coming out in 2007, Nintendo would be wise to tell us when as soon as possible and I think that'll be at E3. Halo 3 and GTA IV have been scheduled already and Nintendo fans want to know when they can get excited as well.
#2 Sonic's participation in SSBB will finally be confirmed
On that note, any discussion of Super Smash Bros. Brawl will also include vconfirmation that Sonic will be making an appearance in Nintendo's mascot battle royale. People have been speculating it was going to happen since the very beginning and I believe that if it wasn't, Nintendo would be more firm with a denial. Between Sonic and Mario at the Olympics and the inclusion of new characters a bit more "unconventional" than Sonic makes this a no-brainer.
#3 We will see Animal Crossing Wii
Financial statements have already shown Nintendo is working on Animal Crossing Wii. I wouldn't be surprised to get a first look at some concept art or possibly real screenshots. As I said above, with the Wii's 2007 slate almost set in stone, Nintendo needs to show that the Wii's future is equally bright. A first look at Animal Crossing proves that and when...
#4 Nintendo announces Mario Kart Wii...
it will set it in stone. Everyone and their grandmother knows a Mario Kart game is coming to the Wii. If Nintendo's huge 2007 is still on track, we're going to want to know what 2008 and beyond looks like. And every previous Mario Kart game has been released between one and two years after the launch of a new Nintendo system. 2008 sounds like a good release date and E3 2007 sounds like the perfect place to announce it.
#5 Dead Rising 2 will be announced
Speaking of announcements, another title that everyone and their grandmother knows about is Dead Rising 2. Capcom executives have talked about continuing the franchise since the beginning of the year and I think Capcom is just about ready to make it nice and official. It may not come out until after Resident Evil 5 (and I'm not touching the multiplatform debate surrounding all Capcom games), but I think the announcement is coming.
#6 Capcom will drop a major demo on Xbox Live and/or PSN during the show
Capcom also knows the value of a good demo, as the sales of Dead Rising and Lost Planet prove and I think they'll supply the gaming public with another major demo at this E3. It's probably asking too much to expect a first look at the new Resident Evil, I'm sure the game we do get won't be one to "cry" about.
#7 A secret Mortal Kombat game will be revealed
Ed Boon and company have been saying that they expect a new Mortal Kombat game to be released every year. This has held true for the last three years (Deception in 2004, Shaolin Monks in 2005 and Armageddon in 2006). And while the Wii just got Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, I'm not sure that counts as a proper Mortal Kombat release for 2007. While it obviously won't be a game for the next-gen systems, I think Mortal Kombat DS or a new Shaolin Monks game is definitely in the cards.
#8 A Heroes game of some kind will be announced
The geek topic du jour is the new NBC show Heroes. The show covers it all; from the sword-wielding, space-shifting Hiro Nakamura, to the emo-headed Peter Petrelli to the villainous Sylar. Between the multitude of characters and branching storylines, the series is perfect for the video game treatment. A mobile phone game was announced a while back, but the possibilities of a big screen version are just too cool for an intrepid game publisher to leave untapped. As long as the show stays good a game will happen someday and I think the announcement will come at E3.
#9 Killzone in real time will blow everyone away
It's put up or shut up time for Sony when it comes to Killzone. The E3 2005 trailer and its pre-rendered graphics has become symbolic of all of Sony's empty promises for the PS3. Since then, the entire development team and Sony themselves have engaged in radio silence concerning the title. Well, two years is a long time and if Killzone is ever coming out (and I believe that it is), real-time gameplay has to be shown off now. And I have a hunch it's going to make us all gasp at the computerized carnage Sony and the guys at Guerilla Games will produce. Of course, that will just start a whole new fanboy debate over whether it's real-time or pre-rendered.
#10 PSP redesign is coming soon
Nintendo has been redesigning their handhelds for years to great success and I think Sony looks to this as a model for the PSP (even if they won't admit it). Sony also has to realize that the PSP is getting spanked in both public perception and sales and the reason for both seems to be at least partly cosmetic in nature. So I'd expect a PSP with a foldable design, a built-in hard drive and faster UMD read speeds is in the works at Sony headquarters. And I think we'll get to play with it by this holiday season.
#11 Nintendo will expand the Virtual Console in some way
The final bit of good news to come out of E3 2007 will be an announcement from Nintendo concerning the future of the Virtual Console. Now, I'm no Nostradamus, so it could be anything. It could be details on the new consoles (MSX, Neo Geo) Nintendo plans to add to the service. It could be an announcement about the addition of really new consoles like the Saturn or the Dreamcast. It could be a pledge to release five or more retro classics every week. It could be a release date for when the first original content is added to the service. Or it could be something else entirely. But it will be big.
The Bad
Not everything we learn at this year's E3 will be good news.
#12 Sony won't say anything about God of War III
When God of War III is finally "officially" announced, it will officially be the worst kept secret in all of gaming. I mean, David Jaffe told the world that pre-production of the game had started before E3 2006. But with Kratos' second adventure still burning up the sales charts and a PSP rendition on the way, don't expect the trilogy-capping PS3 title to be announced anytime soon.
#13 Konami will tease us but won't show us anything big that isn't MGS4
We know Konami is working on next-gen sequels to many of their biggest franchises (Gradius 6 was announced at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show for pete's sake), but I will be very surprised if they do anything more than tease a release date. Designers and developers working on Silent Hill 5 have also been talking to the press quite a bit lately about the future of that series. But I don't either of these games will be revealed in any meaningful way. A release date sure, maybe even a few screenshots, but they will be strictly background noise as the focus will be on Metal Gear Solid 4. Oh, and speaking of Metal Gear Solid 4...
#14 Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4 will stay exclusive to the PS3 (for now)
It has become a fanboy topic of choice: what will happen to Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. I think it's pretty obvious that both will make it to the Xbox 360 someday. The install base of Microsoft's console is just too large to ignore. And it will only grow after the release of Halo 3. But so as not to cannibalize sales of the PS3 versions, I predict that neither game will be announced for the Xbox 360 until several months after the PS3 versions are released. Which, of course, means Xbox 360 ports will not be announced at E3 2007.
#15 Ubisoft will continue to operate as if the Lost game doesn't exist
Aside from a few comments from television producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, Ubisoft hasn't said anything about the Lost game since its announcement at E3 2006. And since I don't believe the game will be ready before the start of the next season in January 2008, I think the mysteries of the island will stay a mystery for a little bit longer.
#16 Gears of War 2, Resistance 2 and the next Zelda will be whispered about but not shown
Everyone wants to know more about sequels to each system's killer app. Well I think the wait will continue for at least one more E3. A cornered developer might make mention of "looking into things," "backroom discussions" or a mythical "drawing board," but that's the only thing you'll hear about any of these titles. Microsoft will be too busy talking up Halo 3. Nintendo will be pushing Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Sony will have a good half dozen titles to hawk (Lair, Heavenly Sword, LittleBigPlanet, Killzone, Sly Cooper 4 and Warhawk).
#17 Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be a no show
And speaking of sequels that no one will talk about, we come to Final Fantasy Versus XIII. With Final Fantasy XIII still a minimum of two years away, no one at Square-Enix will want to talk about the second game in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series (which has been said is even further away from completion). Versus XIII director Tetsuya Nomura has his hands full at Square-Enix with several high-profile projects including the next Kingdom Hearts (see below) and several Final Fantasy games for the PSP.
We might get a bit of concept art of the "action RPG" half of the FF13 story, but I think the only Fabula Nova Crystallis game Square-Enix will want us talking about is Final Fantasy XIII itself.
The Crazy
Now we come to the crazy. Most of these predictions don't have a leg to stand on but I bet at least one of them will come true.
#18 Tecmo Bowl 2008 will be released on XBLA/PSN/VC
Tecmo has said that the upcoming Tecmo Bowl 2008 will appear on a "surprising platform." They then proceeded to show a trailer detailing gameplay from 1993's Tecmo Super Bowl for the Super NES while "The Legend Returns" is splashed on the screen even though the last Tecmo Super Bowl game was released in 1995. Coupled together, I believe these two statements tell us that the gameplay will be based on the 1993 release (everyone's favorite Tecmo Bowl game) and it will be released for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, Virtual Console or all three.
#19 First in-game screens of Sadness will be revealed
We've all laughed at the garbled English Nibris uses in the press releases concerning their moody Wii title Sadness. But all along they have said they've found a publisher that wants to reveal Sadness on its own terms. I think a few in-game screens will be released by this mystery publisher (maybe Majesco or D3, one of the smaller North American outfits anyway) in an attempt to get them buried in the rush of new Wii announcements (see above). This little bit of subterfuge will be necessary to make gamers ignore the fact that the screens are still pretty raw and that the game itself is still a long ways out.
#20 Kingdom Hearts X refers to an Xbox 360 version
Square-Enix doesn't do cagey. They let you know what they're up to and when they'd like it to happen. Then whatever they said is negated a few months later when whatever it is they're working on gets inevitably delayed. But they don't seem to want to discuss anything relating to the project company executives are referring to as "Kingdom Hearts X." Why? Because I believe the X stands for Xbox 360.
This belief jibes with two recent statements from the company about their future projects. First, an executive was quoted as saying "The Xbox 360 slate is empty as far as it comes to Final Fantasy." Meanwhile, the company's CEO, Yoichi Wada, stated that the company will focus on multiplatform gaming because that's what the market demands. Before this, Square-Enix has basically ignored the 360 (a port of Final Fantasy XI and the unproven Last Remnant don't count) and if the PS3 and Wii have Final Fantasy games locked up, what's left for the 360? Kingdom Hearts X, that's what. The 360 gives the company the install a game like Kingdom Hearts needs and the graphical abilities that developer Tetsuya Nomura wants.[/i]
#21 Take-Two will pledge massive support for the Wii including a GTA collection
This just might be the craziest one, but it's also the one I think is most likely to come true. We know that Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime spoke to Take-Two execs back in September about supporting. Since that fateful meeting, the company has announced ultraviolent Manhunt 2 (from Rockstar), extreme sports title The Bigs, movie tie-in Fantastic Four 2 and mini-game collection Carnival Games will be coming to Nintendo's next-gen system. So they obviously aren't averse to working with the Wii. We also know that Take-Two has been having some money troubles as of late and a boost of Wii-fueled cash would be a welcome sight. New Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick even said as much when he confirmed the company is looking very closely at Wii development
So here's what I think will happen. Take-Two will announce a massive increase in Wii development starting with their full line of sports titles (to fill in the gaps that EA Sports doesn't find worthy of the Wii). From there they'll announce that a Grand Theft Auto game will finally appear on a Nintendo home console. It probably won't be a new game (although a Wii-exclusive San Andreas Stories would sell a lot of copies and move systems). It'll probably just be a GTA3/Vice City/San Andreas collection with Wii controls. And that announcement may not happen at this E3. But mark my words, a Grand Theft Auto game of some kind will appear on the Wii soon. Take-Two loves the rock star life and Wii owners have a lot of money they're just itching to spend on good games. It's a match made in heaven (or Hell's Kitchen, I haven't decided).
20 Days :: 23 Hours :: 59 Minutes :: 59 Seconds and Counting
So there you have it, 21 predictions for the 21 days leading up to E3. Are some of them going to require me to eat some crow? Of course. But I think there are quite a few surprises in store for E3 2007 and I think companies are still operating on the idea that the E3 show is still the "default" place for big announcements. Check back in three weeks and we'll see how good my prognosticating abilities really are.
