E3 Predictions Part 3: Nintendo

In part 3 of my E3 predictions, I'm talking Nintendo. Nintendo's E3 plans are interesting because we know very little about their plans for the Wii or DS in the future. So, we're pretty much guarenteed some new stuff from them and here's what I think they'll show at E3:

-Nintendo will show off Super Mario Sluggers for Wii, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse for Wii, Warioland: Shake It! for Wii, Kirby Super Star Ultra for DS, Fire Emblem: New Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light for DS, and Mystery Case Files: Million Heir for DS. These should all be playable.

-The new Animal Crossing for Wii will be shown off and be set for a Fall 2008 release date. It should be pretty similar to the previous Animal Crossing games, but with more stuff to do in town, more other animals to interact with, and more interaction with other players online. Also, of course expect plenty of new and old activities to involve motion controls like fishing and bug catching for instance.

-Either a new Kid Icarus or a new Pikmin will be announced and set for a Fall 2008 release date. Both are in development, but they'll only show one. I'm thinking it will be Kid Icarus, but if Kid Icarus isn't shown, Pikmin will be shown. I doubt both will be shown though. Whichever it is will be shown in trailer form and be playable on the floor.

Pit should be starring in his own game on the Wii after appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl earlier this year.

-Wii Music will be a large focus of the press conference. It will be set to release in the first half of 2009. It will allow you to play various music minigames based on playing various musical instrunments. This should be their "Wii ____" game aimed at the more casual audience like Wii Sports and Wii Fit before it. It's possible that their is another one of these"Wii ____" games as well. Also, I'd expect some other casual games for DS to be announced.

-Retro Studios will have a teaser for their new Wii game. It won't be related to Metroid and it should be a new IP. Expect it in the second half of 2009.

-They will announce a new 2D Metroid game for the DS. It will be set for a 2009 release.

The DS could really use a new 2D Metroid game along the lines of this one.

-Nintendo will brag a lot about Wii and DS sales and their expanded audience.

-Nintendo will show off some new Wiiware games. One will involve a major Nintendo franchise (possibly Mario or Donkey Kong). They'll help with the Wii's storage issues somehow for Wiiware purposes, but there won't be any harddrive attachment.

-The press conference will end with a teaser for the next Legend of Zelda game for Wii. It will give us an idea of the artstyle and a bit about the theme of the story and gameplay, but don't expect any details outside of what's shown in the trailer. I expect it to be a new Zelda game (different Link and Zelda and so on), not a sequel to Twilight Princess or any other Zelda game. I expect the game to release in Fall 2009.

The new Legend of Zelda game for the Wii is what I want to see more than anything else from Nintendo at E3.

Let's be serious. If Nintendo did all that, they'd have a pretty great E3 conference. That leads me to believe I'm a bit off somewhere. I mean my Zelda Wii and Metroid DS predictions are probably the most unlikely of all my predictions for E3. But Zelda seems right time-wise to me and it seems like we always have a big DS game to look forward to from Nintendo (like NSMB or Zelda before), I'm guessing a 2D Metroid will be next. Anyway, we'll see next week. I'll have my Nintendo wishlist and other misculaneous E3 predictions later this week.