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NINTENDO STUFF

I love my Nintendo Switch. It’s an incredible piece of hardware and I’ve already got a dozen games on it. While 3DS will likely have some presence (especially in the Treehouse streams), I want the vast majority of E3 to concentrate on this new platform

Stuff we know about and will see (again) Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC details - at the very least, we’ll get some brief footage and a date. I’m half-expecting them to say “you can download it RIGHT THE HECK NOW!” because that’s a great way to get people excited for an amazing game again.

Super Mario Odyssey - pretty much the only title that can challenge BotW for game of the year in my eyes. The first trailer was mind-blowing, seeing long-form gameplay footage is going to be even more of that.

Fire Emblem Warriors - Hyrule Warriors was a surprisingly fun game to play. Will a follow-up with a far-less-nostalgic IP be as good? We’ll find out.

Xenoblade 2 - the rumour mill is saying this game has been pushed back into the beginning of 2018 and that would not surprise me at all. What would surprise me is not seeing gameplay footage of this game.

Pokemon follow-up stuff - the recent Direct announcing Pokken Switch and Ultra Sun/Moon seemed custom-made to remove the need for Pokemon things in the E3 Direct, but we’ll still definitely have Treehouse segments for all things Pokemon, and the new 3DS sequels will be the cornerstone of any dedicated 3DS segment / montage in the Direct itself.

Mario Rabbids game - yeah, I’m as shocked this is actually real as you probably are. I don’t anticipate a big focus in Nintendo’s stream, since Ubisoft will have presumably already covered this themselves earlier. Also, Rayman cameo please?

Sonic Forces / Mania - Sega doesn’t have a major place to make announcements at most E3s, so if they were going to do a reveal of something special, they’d probably join up with Nintendo. I’d put money on some Nintendo-specific items for the Sonic Forces character creator (Mario hat, etc).

Surprises that seem likely Animal Crossing Switch - it’s been four years since the last proper Animal Crossing game and, at this point in Nintendo’s history, it’s pretty much their third pillar franchise after Mario and Zelda. Or maybe I just think that because it’s my favourite series in all of gaming. Nintendo put a heck of a lot of effort into their terrible Mario Party spin-off on Wii U, which makes me think a lot of the modelling and early design work for a proper Wii U sequel was already done before it got moved to Switch. Also, there’s a mobile app coming in early 2018, and tying that into a proper Switch entry makes sense to me. (I already use a phone app to track my New Leaf progress)

A proper Metroid sequel - there will be much gnashing of teeth if this game isn’t at least confirmed to be in development. If Nintendo value their hardcore crowd’s feelings at least a little bit, they should show something.

Super Smash Bros for Switch - just a straight-up Deluxe version of the Wii U edition, like with Mario Kart 8. Add the Inklings, Ice Climbers, all the DLC and a handful of other new things. Print money.

Virtual Console confirmations - maybe not in the main video, but Reggie is going to give some kind of firm answer on the lack or appearance of a VC service for Switch. 

Surprises that will probably never happen An exclusive Platinum Games announcement - Maybe it’s Bayonetta 3, maybe it’s Wonderful 102, maybe it’s something totally different. But Nintendo had a great relationship with Platinum last generation, and I want to see what they can do with the Switch.

F-Zero Switch - the Switch already has a great selection of fast anti-grav racing games, including Mario Kart 200c mode, but nothing beats the original.

GameCube games on the VC - do I think that we’ll see some more GameCube era remasters on Switch at some point? Probably, yes. Will we get a wide selection of GameCube games available to download on a regular basis? Probably not.

EVERYBODY ELSE

I play a fair amount of PC games and I do own a PS4, even though I barely play the latter any more. Still, I’m definitely keeping an eye out for the following:

More classic PlayStation - Ratchet and Clank was okay, the recent Wipeout collection is great and the Crash Trilogy is my most anticipated PS4 release right now. If they announce remakes (or proper sequels) to Spyro or the original PS1 Ape Escape, I might die of a nostalgia overload.

Steven Universe: Save The Light - this game looks incredible. Please announce it for Switch!

Star Wars Battlefront II - the PS2 originals were the basis of my entire relationship with my younger brother (okay, not true - but we drove our mum crazy with its cries of “losing command posts”). I outright hated the beta for the reboot and never bought it. I’m hoping for full local multiplayer, stronger single-player content and just an all-around more fun game.

Spider-Man - the PS2 version of Spider-Man 2 is still among my favourite games of all time. Insomniac have the skills to make this a great game.

God of War - I’ll admit, the God of War games were something of a guilty pleasure at the end of my teens. This looks to be going a more grounded route, which may pay off or might totally ruin the indulgence factor. We’ll find out!

State of Decay 2 - the first State of Decay, though buggy as hell on my PC, was a really fun and unique zombie action-survival game. A full new-generation upgrade could make this a genre-leader.

Cuphead - JUST RELEASE THE DAMN GAME ALREADY.