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The Games That Missed E3
E3 2014 was loaded with games, games, and more games. But with every annual iteration that goes by, there are some games people were hoping to see more of that don't make it to the show. Plenty of highly anticipated titles technically appeared at the show in some form, be it a teaser trailer or even a brief mention of the game's existence (see EA's press conference for plenty of examples). The following list covers the games that didn't show up at E3 in any form. Some of them have been shown before. Some have simply been announced. And some series are just due for a new entry.
Concept art for Beyond Good & Evil
ANNOUNCED GAMES:
Beyond Good & Evil 2
During a livestream back in April, Michel Ancel showed some concept art for Beyond Good & Evil's Jade. Many assumed this was for the sequel, but it turned out to be old art from the 2005 game. All hope was not lost, however, as Ancel said in the livestream, "Working on Rayman Legends was a nice, early holiday. So we are going to make serious games now. Beyond Good & Evil [is] a good candidate for making a real, serious game." We were hoping this would be the E3 that we'd see more after waiting for so many years after the 2008 teaser trailer.
Deus Ex: Universe/Hitman
At different points in the last year, Square Enix has acknowledged the existence of the next Deus Ex (October 2013) and Hitman (January 2014). Neither of these games made it to E3, with the publisher instead focusing on the teaser reveal of Rise of the Tomb Raider. We can't fault the company for this decision. No need to blow all your announcements at one show.
Gears of War
Early this year, Microsoft announced that it had acquired the rights to Gears of War from Epic Games and hired former Epic employee Rod Fergusson for a key leadership role on the game. Black Tusk is developing. Things seem pretty early, but you'd think there could have been a simple teaser thrown into the Microsoft press conference.
The Last Guardian
The only mention of Sony's long-awaited action/adventure title during E3 was Sony shooting down rumors that it was canceled. How much longer do we have to suffer a complete lack of updates?
Mad Max
In April, we got a new trailer and word that the game would be pushed into 2015. Wouldn't publisher Warner Bros. want to promote this 2015 title alongside its other projects releasing in that same timeframe, like Middle-earth: Shadows of Mordor and Batman: Arkham Asylum?
Persona 5
In February, Atlus confirmed that Persona 5 is headed to PlayStation 3 in North America next year. Unfortunately, there were no updates at E3. However, Japan usually gets dibs on new Persona details first, so it's not super surprising.
Rime
Tequila Works' striking third-person adventure/platformer game received a big spotlight at Sony's press conference during Gamescom 2013. It's strange that there was no follow-up this year, especially with Sony's big focus on indie titles.
Shin Megami Tensai X Fire Emblem
The only mention of this big-time crossover during E3 happened on one of Nintendo's livestreams. Nintendo designer Hitoshi Yamagami denied the assertion that the newly announced Code Name S.T.E.A.M. would delay development of SMTXFE.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
RUMORED TITLES:
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3DS
Nintendo has been teasing this one for awhile. Click the title above for one of them. Or you could reference our February 2014 issue interview with The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds game director Hiromasa Shikata, in which he said, "[Having Majora's Mask in Link's house] was a special request from Aonuma's production team. Now why would they ask us to do that?" Let's not forget that the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time has sold 3.35 million units to date. Maybe Nintendo didn't want to steal thunder away from its new Legend of Zelda Wii U announcement. Still, squeezing Majora's mask into the fall/winter 2014 slot would give it plenty of space before the new home console Zelda entry.
Prince of Persia
We haven't seen a new Prince of Persia game since 2010's The Forgotten Sands and rumors swirl of a new 2D game featuring Ubisoft's impressive UbiArt Framework system seen in the recent Rayman games and Child of Light. In an interview with IGN during E3, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot addressed concerns about both Prince of Persia and the aforementioned Beyond Good & Evil. "We are not going to stop those properties. We are going to work on them. The teams are really looking at what we can come with. I think you will really like what you see in the future. It could take some time to make sure we are really delivering what we want."
Remedy's Sam Lake
NO ONE EXPECTED IT, BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN COOL:
The Elder Scrolls/Fallout
The Elder Scrolls Online aside, we haven't seen a traditional Elder Scrolls game since 2011's Skyrim. Fallout fans have had to wait even longer, with the Obsidian-developed New Vegas released back in 2010. Bethesda has got to have at least one of these franchises cooking. At E3, it released a teaser for the new Doom game, which has been in the works longer than either of the RPG entries, so we can't be too mad.
Final Fantasy XV/Kingdom Hearts III
Square Enix made it clear that its two big E3 2013 reveals would not be returning this year, but that doesn't make it sting any less. When these games were announced, we felt simultaneous excitement and dread that they would take forever to release. With no updates scheduled any time soon, our worst fears could be realized.
Game of Thrones
Telltale clarified ahead of time that its new Game of Thrones title wouldn't appear at E3, choosing instead to focus on Tales of the Borderlands. This was a smart call to focus on a project that's further along. That said, it might have been nice to hitch new game info to the excitement about the television series (whose ratings keep breaking records).
Metroid
Every year, Nintendo fans watch the company's E3 presentation with the hopes of a new 2D or 3D Metroid game. We got the Team Ninja-developed Metroid: Other M in 2010, but it didn't hit for many fans of previous games. Nintendo didn't show anything at E3, but in an interview with Kotaku during the show, Nintendo’s Shinya Takahashi said: “…The hope is that at some point in the near future we’ll be able to share something about them [the Metroid games].”
Quantum Break
Just before E3, Remedy Entertainment released a video explaining that its new game would not be at the show, but instead would appear later in the year at Gamescom in Germany. I'm totally accepting of this full-disclosure announcement, rather than leaving everyone hanging like several of the other titles on this list.
Resident Evil 7
It's been a couple years since the release of Resident Evil 6, which met with middling reviews. Now that new-gen tech is out, it would be a great time for Capcom to try to get its marquee franchise back on top.
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