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Seven Games We Never Thought We’d See At E3 2015
E3 2015 was the year all of our joke predictions finally came true. From Ubisoft to Nintendo, there were surprises for fans across the board this year. Here’s a list of the games announced at E3 that we never saw coming.
EarthBound Beginnings
EarthBound Beginnings was the first surprise game to take E3 by storm. Announced during the Nintendo World Championships just before E3, EarthBound Beginnings is a localized port of the first Mother game released exclusively in Japan in 1989 on the NES. And while characters from EarthBound have been appearing in Super Smash Bros. games for years, no one thought Nintendo would ever release the very first game in the Mother series to the west.
The Final Fantasy VII Remake
Square Enix picked the perfect time to hop on the HD Remake train. The announcement of a Final Fantasy VII remake at Sony's E3 press conference was a moment many fans had hoped for, but few felt would ever come. The announcement trailer itself toyed with fans until the last second and avoided showing anything definitively Final Fantasy VII until Cloud Strife’s familiar buster sword entered the frame. This newest FFVII won’t be a shot-for-shot remake of the original, but fans were certainly thrilled by this surprise announcement.
Shenmue III
Shenmue was a series many thought to be long dead, until the reveal of Shenmue III during Sony’s E3 press conference. Shenmue follows the story of Ryo Hazuki as he sets out to avenge the death of his father. The story was to be told across a series of games, but only two games ever made it out of development. The announcement of Shenmue III and its wildly successful Kickstarter campaign have breathed new life into a cult classic after 13 years.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
After the release of South Park: The Stick of Truth, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said they were done making games. At Ubisoft’s press conference, the announcement of South Park: The Fractured But Whole thankfully revealed that Parker and Stone had changed their minds. While the first game explored realms of fantasy, The Fractured But Whole will continue the superhero storyline originally debuted in the South Park TV series.
Check out the second page to see one of the biggest announcements of E3 along with a game that caught fans completely off guard.
Unnamed Nier Sequel
The announcement of a new Nier game took everyone by surprise. The original game released in 2010 and became a cult classic, even though it didn’t have the best sales. Not much is known about the currently unnamed Nier sequel, but the settings shown in the reveal trailer seem to promise a strong character-driven story, much like the one that fans of the original title fell in love with.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Fans of the series had hoped for the announcement of a new Metroid title, but Metroid Prime: Federation Force wasn't the game they expected. The new game is a 3DS exclusive complete with a 3v3 sports mini-game and a four player co-op campaign. And while Federation Force bears the Metroid Prime title, it is far from the Samus-focused game fans were hoping for.
The Last Guardian
For years The Last Guardian has been the game everyone wanted to see at E3 but no one expected to ever show up. The Last Guardian has been in development since 2007, was first announced at E3 in 2009, was originally planned for release in 2011, and has been in development purgatory ever since. The little boy and his adorable bird-dog friend instantly stole the show when The Last Guardian was officially re-revealed at the Sony press conference this year. More details on development will no doubt continue to emerge as we get closer to that 2016 release window.
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