It’s already June, and that means E3 is right around the corner. The main event in my mind is always the Nintendo event, which was recently announced as taking place on June 15th! There’s a lot I’ve been waiting to see, and I wanted to make some predictions before everything goes down.
E3 2021 Schedule
E3 this year is kinda all over the place. At the time of this writing, there’s no info on Sony giving a presentation, and there are rumors going around saying they might just skip. The big N’s presentation is going to be rather short as it is, so maybe that’s to be expected. Here’s a super quick overview of the schedule:
- Guerrilla Collective (Presentation 1): June 5
- Black Voices in Gaming: June 5
- Summer Game Fest: June 10
- IGN Expo: June 11
- Guerrilla Collective (Presentation 2): June 12
- Ubisoft Forward: June 12
- Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase: June 13
- Future Games Show: June 13
- PC Gaming Show June: 13
- Nintendo: June 15
Some observations, the June 5 events may not really be considered part of E3 by some, but they’re related. Also, there’s an entire day (a Monday) between everything else and Nintendo’s presentation.
What I’ll Watch
Nintendo is a given for me, but I usually like to catch Sony and Bathesda, but for the first time that means catching the Microsoft presentation too. I won’t get to see most of this live, but it seems right to prioritize the console manufacturers. Ubisoft will hopefully have something fun as well. EA and Square Enix have stuff planned it looks like, but times have not been announced.
Nintendo E3 Predictions
Maybe “predications” isn’t the right word. “Hopes” or “expectations” might be more accurate.
- Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2: …which I assume will have a subtitle with it when announced, instead of a number.
- Metroid Prime 4: Unless BotW2’s trailer looks mind-blowingly gripping, nothing could get me more excited than a trailer and some gameplay for Metroid Prime 4. It’s been a long time, and I trust Retro Studios to deliver on something incredible.
- Splatoon 3: I didn’t think this would get announced back during the last Direct, but here it is, and I can’t see Nintendo passing up the chance to say something about now.
- Mario Odyssey 2: Maybe? I know there have been rumors that the Odyssey team is working on a Donkey Kong 3D game, and that would make me more than happy, but I think another Mario is more likely.
- Mario Kart 9: At this point, I would be surprised if this doesn’t get announced. The speculation seems reasonable, and having a new way to push the Switch among casual players makes perfect sense, especially before this or next holiday season.
- A Major Property gets Ported to Switch: Something from outside Nintendo, like the announcement of 2K games flooding the Switch from last year will probably happen again. Switch sales are up and third party confidence is high. My brain’s rattling on what it would be though.
- Switch Pro: Honestly? I don’t think it will be announced. I’ll probably be wrong, but Nintendo has kept to a tight 5-6 year lifecycle for home consoles, and the most successful have usually been on the 6 year side. A lot of people will go in expecting it, but I don’t think Nintendo will even hint until next year that there’s even something after the Switch in production. Thus, many people will get upset for Nintendo letting them down by creating their own expectations.
- Revival of an Old Nintendo IP: A dream of mine that has lasted almost my entire life is the revival of a certain old Nintendo IP. It’s probably not happening, but I want to see new life given to the Metal Combat/Battleclash series. Otherwise, I could see something of similar obscurity getting a fresh coat of paint.
- Switch Online Service Update: There’s a good chance a major update will be announced for NSO. Maybe going back to the Virtual Console way of doing things, or the addition of Gameboy, GBA, N64, DS and all the way up to Gamecube games, but I highly doubt even that last one.
That’s a lot to go over, and this post is already too long. What do you think is coming from Nintendo at E3?
The Phyronian Chronicle 