E3 Predictions: Gaze Into The Crystal Ball

The E3 prediction game isn’t getting easier. With publishers opting for smaller game lineups, the number of cards they can hold close to their vests is getting smaller and smaller every year. That’s not going to stop us from gazing into the crystal ball to identify some trends, surprise appearances, and new initiatives we expect to see unfold next week. Here are our most educated guesses for what to expect at E3 2014.

More New-Gen Exclusive Trailers Than Demos
Given the small install bases of the new-gen consoles, publishers would have a hard time recouping expenses, let alone turning profit, on triple-A games launching exclusively on those platforms. This necessitates making cross-generation games that can find fans among the large install bases of the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well. We expect this trend to continue through the year as well, which means the majority of new-gen exclusive titles are probably still a couple years out. This being the case, expect the majority of these announcements to be CG trailers rather than true gameplay since they likely won’t come to market until 2015 at the earliest. To see which games we don’t expect to see, check out this feature we ran last week.

Small Game Lineups
Given the rising cost of competing in the triple-A space, we expect publishers to release fewer games each year going forward. This means game lineups will likely continue to shrink as these companies double down on big franchises or a small group of new IP they can throw considerable marketing dollars behind. Some publishers like Activision and Take-Two may only have a handful of games to show.

Star Wars Games Stay In The Shadows
Upon the launch of Battlefield 4 last October (and November for new-gen consoles), DICE turned its focus to Star Wars: Battlefront and Mirror’s Edge 2. Visceral Games also has a Star Wars game in development, bolstered by the addition of Naughty Dog/Crystal Dynamics vet Amy Hennig. But don’t expect either title to get much stage time outside of a teaser trailer. Both games are early in development, so we don’t either one is in a condition where EA would feel comfortable showcasing actual gameplay.

Nintendo Unveils A New Metroid
If you don’t include the horrendous Other M tragedy, fans haven’t experienced a proper Metroid game since 2009. That drought should end this year after Nintendo announces a new title in the series. The big question is whether or not the big N will listen to its clamoring fans to deliver a traditional 2D Metroid experience that resembles the classic entries, continues in the vein of the Prime Trilogy, or takes another unexpected detour with the series. We hope Nintendo chooses wisely.

The Last Guardian Migrates To PS4
Given the torturous development cycle that has included countless delays, E3 no-shows, and the launch of a successor console, shuffling Team Ico’s The Last Guardian over to the PlayStation 4 makes sense. Even if the game isn’t ready for a full demo quite yet, Sony can remind everyone the game is still coming alongside the announcement of its migration to the new platform.

PlayStation Now Gets Release Date
Sony’s cloud gaming service has been incubating for a while now, which means we expect to receive some information about when it plans to launch the platform for the first time at E3. It’s tough to say what kind of support Now will ship with, but a handful of games and a demo service for new titles coming to market would be a great place to start.

Bungie Announces Destiny Beta Date
Fans are anxious to find out when they can give Bungie’s next sci-fi shooter a test run in the summer beta. On the stage of the Sony press conference, we expect Bungie to finally reveal when fans who pre-ordered the game can finally jump online to help with the server stress tests beyond the vague “July” window we have right now.

Rockstar Skips E3 Again
If you make games as big as Grand Theft Auto V, you don’t really need the spotlight that E3 affords. Whenever Rockstar takes the veil off one of its games, it becomes the centerpiece of the industry whether or not a convention is underway. Because of this gravitas, we don’t expect any announcements to come out of the Rockstar camp about a GTA V port to new-gen consoles, a Red Dead sequel, Agent, or any of its other franchises.

Virtual Reality Waits In The Wings
We expect both the Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus to have a big presence at E3, but we doubt either will announce a release date. Both technologies are still evolving every day, and neither company wants to release a product that isn’t completely user-friendly and boasting an impressive launch library out of the gate. With a few more hurdles to overcome regarding the base technology, we expect release dates to slip into 2015 or even further out.

Dino Crisis Reboot
With Resident Evil’s popularity waning a little bit, now would be an awesome time for Capcom to confirm the rumors and reboot its other horror classic. In the hands of some capable developers (and with modernized controls), a new Dino Crisis could be very exciting. Plus, everybody likes dinosaurs.

Tidal Wave of new First-Party 3DS Games
The 3DS is Nintendo’s most successful piece of hardware on the market. Between Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokémon X/Y, Luigi’s Mansion, Fire Emblem: Awakening and several other notable titles, Nintendo has a ton of awesome games that make the system worth having. Of course, they’re all first-party games. We think the big N will try to keep the momentum going. Frankly, it needs to.

Indies Stay On Center Stage
As large publishers shy away from risky game concepts in favor of proven profit drivers, the indie space will likely become the primary hub of innovation in game design. As more indies push the boundaries of game design, we expect the platform holders to continue to court and showcase them in an attempt to give their platforms some much needed diversity.

Those are our predictions. What are yours?