My Most Anticipated Games of E3

For my final post before E3 starts up tomorrow, I want to talk about the games I'm most looking forward to at the show. Since I've already talked about unannounced stuff I want to see in my wishlists, the focus here is stuff we already now about. Well, here's what I'm excited to see:

5. Resistance 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment, Insomniac Games)



I really enjoyed the first Resistance. It was really fun with friends and had a bunch of cool, unique weapons. Insomniac looks like its making the sequel a ton better and they haven't let me down before. I've actually seen quite a bit of Resistance 2 on GameTrailers TV otherwise it might be higher on the list. I'd love to hear about some new weapons, more on how the co-op campaign will work, and maybe see a new level. Either way I'm pretty much sold on Resistance 2 already, but I'm excited to see a bit more on it.

4. Beyond Good & Evil 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft)


They haven't actually announced the name to this game as far as I know, but Ubisoft released the first teaser trailer at their show in May. It told us basically nothing, but it told us that there would be a new BG&E. The original was a great game and I'm hoping we'll see something more on the game at E3. I'm guessing we'll just get a second teaser trailer maybe featuring Jade or another character, but seeing anything more would be great.

3. Infamous (Sony Computer Entertainment, Sucker Punch)

Sucker Punch is stepping in a new direction with Infamous. They'll be leaving the cartoony platformers behind in favor of their new sandbox, superhero game. We've seen a trailer and a nice article in Game Informer on Infamous, but from what I understand there should be a gameplay demonstration at E3 which should really help us to see how this game is coming along and I'm excited to see how it looks and plays.

2. Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos, Crystal Dynamics)

The old TR games were pretty good, but they were getting stale and I thought Crystal Dynamics did a good job of reinvigorating the series. With Legend, they brought a more up to date control scheme and made a pretty good game. Anniversary was another solid title, but Underworld looks to improve on what the previous titles did with a new game engine, bigger levels, more elaborate puzzles, better combat, and new abilities for Lara. The only problem is I haven't seen any video of the game. So, I'm really loking forward to finally seeing how it looks in motion later this week.

1. Prince of Persia (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)

The new Prince of Persia sounds incredible. Ubisoft easily could have cranked out another sequel similar to the last few (and to be honest I would have been fine with that), but instead they've decided to really take some new directions with the franchise. The level-design has become more open giving players more choices and the game more replayability. The combat has been overhauled to focus on fighting one enemy at a time. The Prince (a new one) now has a new partner in Elika who helps you with combat, platforming, and puzzles. But it also keeps the focus on the series' great acrobatic platforming. All this sounds great, but finally seeing some gameplay footage will really help us to understand how it will all work out. Plus, Ubi has come up with a bold new artstyle that looks beautiful in the screens, but I can't wait to see in video. That's coming this week and it really can't come soon enough.

Those games plus all the potential surprises has me really excited for E3. I hope you guys liked my Pre-E3 coverage. I'm going to have some updates throughout E3 about what I think of what is going on. And then when the show is over, I'm going to give out some best of show awards by platform and for things like graphics, maybe best trailer, and other stuff like that. I hope you guys enjoy E3.

My Nintendo E3 Wishlist

Well, this is the last of my Pre-E3 wishlists. This one's all about what I would love to see from Nintendo. A new Legend of Zelda for Wii probably would have topped this list, but it was one of my predictions that it would be at E3, so, it's not eligible for this list. Same with the 2D Metroid DS. So, here is what I came up with:

5. A big new IP from Nintendo

Well, Nintendo has been coming up with new IP's like Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Nintendogs, but I'm thinking something more aimed at the traditional gamer. The last new thing in that nature I believe was Pikmin. They've been sort of relying on Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Smash Bros., and so on. A new IP along the lines of these is what I want. A character-driven action or adventure type game might be good. I'm thinking for the Wii, but eventually it could have a DS installment too.

4. Better Third-party Support for the Wii

Mad World is as promising as any currently announced upcoming Wii game.

My favorite games on the Wii have been Nintendo games. You know Twilight Princess, Galaxy, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros. There have been some good third-party games like No More Heroes and Rayman Raving Rabbids. Zack & Wiki is pretty good and I've heard good things about Boom Blox. But I'd like more good stuff. I think the upcoming game Mad World looks really good. The Conduit also looks promising. But I'm hoping to see more interesting games for Wii that intrigue me like Nintendo's efforts do. Also, mini-game collections are okay, but I have enough of them. I'm talking more traditional type games.

3. Super Smash Bros. DS

I'm actually kind of surprised that this hasn't happened already. Smash Bros. on DS seems like a great idea. It wouldn't need as many characters or stages as Brawl, but it could have some different characters and stages more based on the DS games maybe. You know use the Mario model from NSMB, Link and Zelda from Phantom Hourglass, Peach from Super Princess Peach, and so on. Maybe some stages based on those games as well as maybe Brain Age, Picross DS, or Tetris DS. Throw some third-party characters in like one of the Castlevania DS characters or Contra 4 characters and some other Nintendo characters not included in the console versions. I think it would work really well.

2. A new New Super Mario Bros.

Yoshi should really make an appearance in the next SMB platformer on DS.

I'm in no way suggesting that should be the name. I'm thinking that since NSMB was sort of a new take on the original SMB, a sequel could be a New Super Mario World or New Super Mario Bros. 3 even (I'm skipping 2 because it was different in the U.S. and Japan and the other two would make more sense to me). I mean if it was a NSMW it could have Yoshi involved and a flying powerup, maybe even a map more in line with World's map (one big one instead of the individual world maps like NSMB). This one is actually kind of likely. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw this at E3.

1. A new land-based Zelda game on the DS

I want it to be sort of like this, but with less water and more Hyrule.

Number 1 and 2 were sort of a toss up for me and this one is a bit ridiculous to expect. For one Phantom Hourglass came out last year. And likely by the time a new handheld Zelda comes out, Nintendo will have a new handheld system out. If it still has a touch-screen, my request will still work sometime down the line. I really enjoyed PH and thought its touch controls worked really well. What I'd like is a land-based one set in Hyrule like A Link to the Past or even The Minish Cap. It could have a new Link and Zelda, and Ganondorf as the main villian would be really cool as well, but retain the artstyle of PH. Some new unique items that haven't appeared in other games would also be good. I'd love to see this down the line at some point.

Honorable Mention:

Nintendo's Biggest Franchises appearing in some form on WiiWare

Nintendo's biggest series appearing on their still young Wiiware program would be great. Metroid, Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Donkey Kong. I did in my predictions say that one of Nintendo's big franchises would be announced for WiiWare, so, it got an honorable mention only. It also might cut into some of my DS wishes, but some sort of spin-off or smaller entry in these series on WiiWare would be cool. A DK sidescroller or some sort of Four Swords-type Zelda game. Maybe something like Star Fox 64. I believe this would help the new service a lot.

There are my ideas Nintendo. Feel free to make them happen. I'll finish up my Pre-E3 coverage with third-party predictions for the show and what games I most want to see at the show.

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.