Some Crazy (sort of) E3 Predictions

E3 is so close I can almost smell it. This is the Superbowl for gamers, the masters, the NBA Finals. Just thinking about it gets me all giddy. There is no better time for video game lovers because that’s when we find out all the new and interesting experiences we will be playing for the year and maybe even years to come. But what I might love even more than the actual show is the anticipation up to E3. When rumors start to percolate. When we start seeing the gigantic billboards and posters rolled out in LA. And of course what you are here for, predictions. So let’s get started with 7 crazy but not too crazy E3 predictions.

 1. Three or more games will include battle royal modes

We all know that the new battle royale genre is here to stay. PUBG was adored by all of the Internet when it was first released and was skyrocketing on the steam sales charts every single month after launch. Then Fortnite hopped on the bandwagon and that’s when everything exploded. Now everyone could play a battle royal game on any console of their choosing besides the Nintendo switch which I have to believe will be announced at e3. But that’s an entirely different prediction. It’s safe to say that the market is hungry for this new genre. I really believe Fortnite is such a success because for one it’s free, and two it is available to play on most platforms while the only other battle royale game is stuck on the PC with a terrible Xbox one version. If developers were smart they would be working tirelessly to put a battle royal mode in every shooter release from now on. I mean just look at how much money PUBG and Fortnite make every month. Now, this leads me to the question, which games will feature this hot new mode? Well, we already have heard rumors of this year’s renditions of call of duty and battlefield introducing their own versions. I have to believe those are inevitable so I will leave those out. But I think a couple other games would greatly benefit with a battle royal mode.

We know already that The Division 2 is going to have an E3 presence with most likely some gameplay show. And I think it would be a perfect fit not only for that game’s gameplay but for the atmosphere as well. We don’t know for sure if the game will be set in New York again but just imagine 100 players battling it out in the middle of Manhattan. That would be insane. The original already had some elements of a battle royal game in the dark zone where players could kill one another and loot their bodies but it wasn’t as deep as a full-on mode. I really believe the sequel could sell big time numbers with this addition.

Nintendo has teased a future announcement for Splatoon 2 that will supposedly “shock the world”. The news will be revealed on June 9th which is technically before E3 but I’m going to tie it into my predictions since it is so close. Fans have speculated if Nintendo’s shooter will take on the battle royale genre for a little while now and I have to believe this tease is going to be that. Splatoon could add such a new and wonderful twist to the mode that really could make an entirely different experience. While The Division 2 I would imagine would be a more traditional realistic experience like we see in PUBG, Nintendo’s new darling IP could switch it up a bit just like Fortnite did with crafting.

Now hear me out on this one. I know this is very far-fetched but that’s why the title of this video says crazy in it. The last of us actually had a very deep and fun multiplayer. It wasn’t just put in there to make some cash like most single player games did around that era. There was some thought put into it. So why not expand on that in the sequel with a battle royal mode. We all know Naughty Dog is going to knock it out of the park with The Last of Us Part 2 single player. But I would love to see them take on this new challenge in their multiplayer. Imagine scrounging for materials and crafting bombs and traps to use against other players. Or they could introduce their ammo scarcity in the multiplayer and provide the most careful, crafty, and challenging experience out theirs. Out of the three games I have talked about, this idea probably gets the most excited and I believe could be a knockout game.

 2. Mario Odyssey drops two new kingdoms in paid DLC

Super Mario Odyssey was one of the best games of last year and one of the best Mario games ever made. And Nintendo has been supporting the game ever since launch with a new balloon hunt mode and additional free costumes. But we still haven’t seen or heard of any new DLC expansions. As we saw with Breath of the Wild, Nintendo isn’t afraid to drop some paid extra content and I think Mario Odyssey is the perfect game for it. Why not just drop two additional kingdoms to jump around and explore? I mean it’s only the best selling game on the switch and I believe the market will love some new kingdoms. But what will they be? Well, I have to believe we will see a brand new original level and an area based off of a prior Mario title. Maybe a Luigi’s Mansion area where you can actually play as Luigi. Or possibly Isle Delfino. That was already a pretty big area and I think Nintendo could come up with some fun and interesting ways to hide some more moons there. Odyssey was a wonderful game and I just can’t believe Nintendo is done with it just yet.

 3. Virtual Console is Rebranded

As of right now, we know that the virtual console is no more. At least the virtual console as we know it. In the last couple years, we have seen 3rd party companies embrace their nostalgic consumers by releasing their classic games themselves or in collection packs. The Neo Geo games coming to the Switch and the mega man legacy collections are perfect examples. So, as we can see, developers are noticing they can create make their own money by releasing their old games themselves rather than relying on Nintendo’s virtual console and the big N is probably noticing that. What I believe will happen is that we will see something similar to that E3 leak that just came out. “Virtual Console” will now be named “Nintendo Classics” and will get an entire relaunch. Nintendo will focus heavily on their 1st party games. We won’t get a boatload of games at first because Nintendo is Nintendo. But we will get a few big SNES games when they kick off the Nintendo classics sometime in the late summer with more SNES games to follow. After trickling out SNES games, Gameboy and Gameboy Advance games will follow. Then N64. And even Gamecube. But once again, Nintendo will gradually release their new rebranded classics. The virtual console I think was too profitable for Nintendo to drop. And since the Wii, we have seen that they absolutely love to give players a way to enjoy all of their classic games on their consoles.

 4. Sony will not announce any new first party games

Sony, in odd fashion, gave us some information on their upcoming E3 press conference. Shawn Layden, chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, was stated on the PlayStation Blogcast that they will feature exclusive looks and deep dives on four upcoming titles: Death Stranding, Spider-Man, Ghosts of Tsushima, and The Last of Us Part II with announcements from third-party games and indies as well. Remember a few years back when Sony just went bonkers on their E3 press conferences? I mean they just had big game announcement after big game announcement. And while everyone was going crazy about these new titles, everyone looked over the fact that they wouldn’t release for two to three, maybe even four years later. Well, that time has come and it seems that Sony is running out of first party games to announce. They have already shown all their cards. We even saw shades of this last year when the only really exclusive big name game announced was the Shadow of the Colossus Remake. I still believe these four games will look spectacular. Trust me, I couldn’t be more excited to find out more details on the sequel to one of my favorite games of all time in The Last of Us. But I just don’t think Sony will have anything new to show. They will be missing that big E3 surprise that they were so freaking good at a few years ago.

 5. Xbox “wins” E3

Now, this is probably a bold take. A very bold take. But if you go back throughout the last couple years, Microsoft has been making the right moves to win back their gaming audience we saw on the Xbox 360. They weren’t afraid to spend the money on adding backward compatibility for 360 and even the OG Xbox. Phil Spencer has been leading the charge on cross-platform play. And the Xbox Game Pass is an amazing subscription model that has all of their first party games as well as other fantastic titles for just ten bucks a month. So Xbox is saying and doing all the right things. But will they come through? I think Xbox might do what Sony did and have big reveals for new exclusive games that look awesome but will release years from now. This will show fans that Microsoft is working to bring their fans what they deserve. Exclusive, single player games. Before Sea of Thieves, I can’t even remember the last semi big exclusive game they had. Probably Halo Wars 2, but that’s nothing compared to what Sony has been releasing. So I have to believe Xbox has some stuff cooking in the oven that we don’t know about. Though, I have thought that for the last couple years.