Last-minute E3 expectations from our writers

With E3 only a few hours away, we at NoobFeed would like to seize the opportunity to tell you what we expect to see in the next couple of days. Barely able to curb their enthusiasm (pop culture reference!), three of our writers have individually compiled a list of their expectations, hopes and fears for the upcoming entertainment expo. Regardless from whether you agree with the wise words of our writers, we can already conclude that NoobFeed will follow and cover this year's E3 from vastly different angles. Tunnel vision is not in our dictionary. Let's see if, after the dust of Battlefield Los Angeles has settled and E3 2011 is behind us, our writers will have gotten what they had hoped for.

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azn_pride's E3
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E3 2011 for me is riddled with a multitude of questions; questions I demand detailed answers to. What can we expect from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo? What big, unexpected surprises are waiting just around the corner? The very thought of it is killing me. I have to know now! But I guess that’s the point of E3. You anticipate every single moment, you hold your breath, and watch as the unveilings either blow your mind or outright disappoint you. Though I’m holding some skepticism on how E3 2011 will turn out, I do have high hopes for the games - big and small - that will indeed be showcased at the events. So here it is; the games I can’t wait to see more of and certain events that hopefully won’t disappoint.

My most anticipated E3 game:

Bioshock Infinite – Out of a string of highly anticipated titles that includes Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Asura’s Wrath, Tomb Raider, Batman: Arkham City, and Just Dance 3 (haha! No seriously.), I’d have to go with Bioshock Infinite. After previously experiencing the beautiful dystopia that is Rapture, I didn’t think another game with the Bioshock name slapped onto it would ever be able to recapture the impact the original had for me. When Infinite was first teased, I had my doubts. A city in the sky felt didn’t feel so different from the underwater city we saw in the previous two installments. Seeing gameplay footage though, changed my mind. It seems they’re trying to improve beyond just shooting hordes of Splicers with bullets and plasmids. There are new powers to experiment with and a fast-paced rail system that promotes exciting new prospects in combat and strategy, along with fun ways to explore the sky city of Columbia.

The gist of my excitement for Bioshock Infinite is the relationship that will form between protagonist Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is reluctant to use her powers, while Booker is just trying to rescue her and get the hell out. Over time, these characters will grow together, and I can’t wait to see how that turns out. I’m also glad that they’re making your choices feel ambiguous instead of implying to the player that they may have made wrong decisions. In a way, it eliminates the good vs. bad polarity that was the mainstay of the first two games. Bioshock Infinite is already looking great, and I’m looking forward to playing it. 2012 can’t get here soon enough!

My most anticipated announcement:

??? – There isn’t a single game that I don't want at least a taste of during the event. Persona 5? The Last Guardian finally having a release date? Kingdom Hearts III? One can only dream…

My most anticipated E3 thing that may or may not have something to do with Nintendo:

Project Café – Nintendo’s new console isn’t exactly something I’m terribly excited about, just awfully curious. Looking at it from the outside, the fact that this new console will finally bring gamers HD graphics, feature controllers with 6-inch touchscreens, and present motion controls that supposedly outclass those of the Playstation Move and Kinect seems interesting. But that’s not my primary concern. Sure, all of these features sound neat, but will this Wii successor finally convince me to use it on a regular basis? Of those who purchased a Wii, how many of them actually still use it? How many of those consumers shoved their Wii into storage as it continues to collect dust? The last game I played - and enjoyed - on the Wii was Super Mario Galaxy. And that was it. I never touched the second one. Will Nintendo try to fix that problem or stick to their own guns like they always have?

I think the most important factor that should contribute to Project Café’s overall success is how much third-party support they’re going to get. Nintendo has relied heavily on their own first-party devs, with popular franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, and others selling like hotcakes each year. And what about the rest of the pack? Left to fend for themselves. Companies lost interest and tried their luck elsewhere, and Nintendo owners were treated to lackluster titles that couldn’t demonstrate their full potentials. If Nintendo were to strengthen relationships with third-parties, Project Café will be successful. Right now though, I can’t help but feel that this new console will flop. But hey, let’s hope Nintendo proves us wrong.

The one E3 event I’m worried about:

Sony Press Conference – I feel like whoever is Sony’s host (Jack Tretton, Kaz Hirai or both) this year will be walking on thin ice, as the PSN outage will be one of the publisher’s focal points during the show. Their success, as well as regaining consumer trust, will be determined by how they will address that issue. Will Kevin Butler make an appearance and joke about it? Or will they treat it like a serious matter? More importantly, how will Sony’s fanbase take it? Will they laugh it off or become angry? Despite everything that’s happened in the past month, I hope that everything turns out for the better, and we can finally move on from this.

And that’s about it. I’ve said all there is to be said on my thoughts on this year’s E3, so I’ll just end it on this note. Here’s to a good E3!

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Degtyarev's E3
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While I'm more a PC gamer than anything these days, the thing I look forward to most with the upcoming E3 is probably the conferences by the three big console manufacturers - Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. Alright, so a lot of time is wasted on self-congratulatory PR talk and coma-inducing sales figures (I'm looking at you, Reggie Fils-Aime), but the most memorable moments of the world's biggest video game conference can always be found here. Who cannot remember Sony's legendary 2006 conference with giant enemy crabs and Riiiiiiiidge Racer? What about Nintendo's embarassing presentation of Wii Music in 2008? Fortunately for the industry behemoths, these conferences also tend to spawn some of the finest moments when it comes to creating hype and marketing buzz. Nintendo's presentation of the 3DS last year was a good example of how little it takes to get everyone to talk about your new product as long as your timing's right.

And even though I'm very curious as to what the companies are up to this year with the next generation of consoles finally lurking around the corner, my attention in terms of new video game titles will mostly be devoted to more smalltime efforts, budget and marketing-wise. Take a look at what games I am looking out for during the 2011 E3 conference, and what game I'm going to avoid at all costs.

My most anticipated E3 game:

ArmA 3 - To me it was quite a surprise that Bohemia Interactive, the small Czech development studio behind the ArmA series, is going to appear at E3. When I think about E3, I think about Activision literally spending millions of dollars on a giant display of megalomania involving fireworks, Eminem, and loads of other things that have nothing to do with video games. What I don't expect is an ambitious yet low-budget Eastern European developer that is one inch from being indie promoting its niche games. This is no insult to Bohemia, but I just think that E3 is not exactly a place for the brave and humble.

Be that as it may, I cannot wait to see more of ArmA 3, the third installment in the infamously complex and unrefined military simulator that was announced but a month ago. The announcement of the game itself was as surprising to me as Bohemia's E3 appearance, as ArmA II's standalone expansion, Operation Arrowhead, is barely a year old. The new setting reportedly is the Mediterranean, a location I have not seen before in a modern combat game (except maybe in some individual levels), so the game will at least offer a signficant change of scenery after ArmA II's dense Eastern European forests and Operation Arrowhead's endless deserts. The gameplay itself should be familiar by now, as variation is barely possible in a simulation-based game, but I hope that they at least try to optimise the game better and iron out most of the annoying bugs that plagued ArmA II. If Bohemia manages to do this, it is bound to deliver one of the deepest, most satisfying action titles of 2012.

My most anticipated announcement:

Shattered Horizon 2 - Finnish indie dev annex benchmarking company Futuremark already teased the hell out of us with a mysterious video that surfaced about a week ago. Not only did they announce working on 3 new titles (at least one of which now appears to be an iPhone/iPad game), but they also showed gameplay footage of a Star Fox-like space shooter with the music of their zero gravity shooter Shattered Horizon playing in the background. This could mean that either Shattered Horizon 2 is on its way and now features spacecraft, or they are developing a new game set in the same universe as Shattered Horizon. Either option sounds fine to me, and I'm eager to find more about this game whatever it is. A title, a concept, more gameplay footage, screenshots; anything, and I'd be a very happy camper. Although camping is not very easy in Shattered Horizon.

Game I'm already sick of:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Now please don't think that I am some kind of elitist, indie-loving buccaneer whose sole purpose in life is letting the ships of the wealthy video game corporations sink. While I am definitely not a fan of the Call of Duty series, it is not the FPS franchise itself that bothers me as much as the marketing hype that surrounds it. We're at the beginning of June, and it's not until November until the latest installment of CoD, Modern Warfare 3, hits the stores. Seeing as Activision has a habit of gradually building up hype to a point where it is near unbearable, the fact that people can't stop talking about this game already is worrying. Quite frankly, I'm already sick of hearing about it.

While the uncanny amount of cash earned with Black Ops will certainly have encouraged Activision to let the hype train roll into town even earlier, some of the early buzz can actually be attributed to another game: Battlefield 3. The latest trend on the internet seems to be comparing the two modern combat-based titles and see who has the biggest todger. Whether it's the sickening minority complex of some of the BF3 fans or the pompous boasting of the 'sales are everything' section of the CoD fanbase, I just don't want to hear anything about it. A big chunk of the attention and exposure that these two games get would be better spent on titles that actually deserve it.

The one E3 event I'm worried about:

Nintendo's E3 conferences have proven to be hit or miss, and this year it will be difficult for them to get the hype train up and running for Project Café. They're the first console manufacturer to make the move towards the next generation, so all eyes will be on them. And especially after the rather disappointing first few months of the 3DS, it is probable that both journalists and video game fanatics will be more sceptic this time around. On the other hand, it's Nintendo we're talking about, and their endless creativity both game and marketing-wise should be enough to pull them through this baptism by fire.

There you have it. I do hope that my occasionally snobbish comments haven't put you off too much. Just think that, however small the devs I'm rooting for may be, I'll be there watching Sony's conference just like you to see if any more giant enemy crabs are making their debut at E3 this year.

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Tressilate's E3
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I see E3 as an opportunity to see where the industry is headed, and to build excitement about the forthcoming possibilities within the gaming universe. I’m always about researching games and doing my homework on them before I decide whether or not they are worth my money. This leaves E3 as the ultimate start of the gaming process for me, and is where 90% of the interest I have in upcoming titles stems from.

My most anticipated E3 game:

Although I am incredibly excited for titles such as Prototype 2, Darksiders 2, Body Count, and FFXIII-2,my true guilty gaming pleasure is that I own every wrestling game released in the past eleven or twelve years. Thus, I am incredibly biased about this decision, but can say that I am super excited to see how THQ is revamping its WWE series with WWE ’12. They have spent the last few years making both the in-ring and out of ring action a lot more fluid with their changes regarding the WWE Universe, and speciality type matches. They have since gone on record to state that they are indeed ready to revamp the series to provide a more television like approach to the game, which - to an avid WWE viewed like myself - is something that I am extremely eager to hear about.

My most anticipated announcement:

There are a few titles that I would like to see announced this year, but in truth there is really nothing that will ruin E3 if not made public. However, I will say that there seems to be a plethora of awesome, new IPs that are going to be on display at this year’s E3 which is something I believe everyone ought to anticipate.

Beyond wishing for more IPs, I would love to see a few more remakes of PlayStation 2 games to be released on the PlayStation 3 including Final Fantasy X, Dragon Quest VII, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time as well as the Kingdom Hearts games.

Games I’m already sick of:

Too many. If you’re going to rehash the same IP over and over again, at least bring a game changing alteration to the table.

The E3 events I'm worried about:

The rumour mill is buzzing, and I would not be happy if Microsoft folds under the pressure of the NGP and Nintendo’s “Nintendo” to announce the premature successor to the Xbox 360.

That's it! Only a little while left before E3 starts. Let's see if our writers will get what they asked for. Be sure to stay with us as we guide you through the event during the next few days.

In order of appearance:

David Gabriel, Jesse Dolman, Joshua McCaul, NoobFeed.