18 Things To Expect (And Not Expect) From E3 Next Week

The number of pre-E3 announcements this year means that most crystal balls are looking pretty foggy at the moment.

With games such as Halo 5, Battlefield: Hardline, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Forza Horizon 2, Homefront 2, Mortal Kombat X and Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded already out and proud, many are wondering if there will be any surprises left for the E3 showcase that kicks off on Monday?

None the less, MCV has shuffled its tarot cards REALLY VIGOROUSLY and kicked up a right kerfuffle in the space-time continuum to list what we will, won’t and might see at E3 2014.

1. A New Legend of Zelda
It’s been a long time coming, what with Nintendo teasing that lovely HD Zelda tease at E3 2011. Whether Zelda Williams was teasing the Wii U project or not, Nintendo has promised more on the game this year and in the current climate surely cannot risk not announcing the game that its fan base so passionately desires. Although it could announce Majora’s Mask HD instead. Or as well as. Or not at all. That pretty much covers all the bases.

2. Project Beast
Or Demon’s Souls 2, if you prefer. The Dark Souls series may remain a niche, but it’s one that’s growing in popularity. And the hundreds of pages this game has already inspired on NeoGAF on the back of a few stills and tiny gameplay snippets proves how passionate the fan base for this series is. A PS4 Demon’s Souls successor would tick a pretty important box for Sony next week.

3. Some Halo – Although Maybe Not Halo 5?
Microsoft spilled its Halo 5: Guardians beans last month, so while the Xbox One title may not front the Xbox One’s E3 showing you can be certain that Halo will be big news next week. With 343 emphasising that Halo’s Xbox One journey will begin in 2014, could we be in for an Anniversary HD remake of some sort?

4. PS Now
Sony sees streaming as a key USP for PS4 and various PSN slip-ups over recent weeks point to a big PS3 streaming push for the console in the very near future. Expect a list of titles, details on pricing and the first details of regional availability. And lots of debate about lag.

5. Men Shooting Guns
Because video games. At the very least we can look forward to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,Battlefield: Hardline and Homefront: The Revolution but we very much suspect the men-shooting-gun club won’t end there.

6. A New Lara Croft Game
Yep. Lips = sealed.

7. Rabbids TV Invasion Interactive TV Push
There’s more about this in this week’s copy of MCV magazine!

8. Wii U 2
Nintendo has insisted that its new focus on ‘Quality of Life’ initiatives does not mean an end to its console aspirations. But if there’s one thing you can safely rule out it’s Wii U 2. The console has fallen significantly short of Nintendo’s estimations, and while releases such as Mario Kart 8 may be showing there’s still some life left in the machine, you can bet whatever Nintendo has in the pipeline will work very hard to distance itself from the currently confusing Wii brand message. GameCube 2?

9. Resident Evil 7
Not only will Capcom not be showcasing Resident Evil 7 at this year’s event, MCV understands that it won’t be demonstrating ANY console titles at the show. Sign of the times…

10. Half-Life 3
Technically a Half-Life 3 reveal is possible, we suppose. But then so is the coronation of Reggie Fils-Aime as the King of England and the return of Sega to the hardware market yet we’d still feel safe describing all three as outside bets”.

11. Vitality Sensor
Yes, yes – a re-reveal for the Vitality Sensor would be mental, right? Perhaps not. We expect Nintendo’s Quality of Life program to focus firmly on health. Some have even gone as far as to predict that Nintendo will make in-roads into the gym sector. Could the infamous sensor yet find a place on Nintendo’s roadmap?

12. Last Of Us: Remastered – Out Now!
Everyone loves a and guess what – you can buy it RIGHT NOW!” type announcement and rumours today suggest that Sony might be preparing just that with a mid-conference digital release for The Last of Us on PS4.

13. PS4 Slim
We’re not convinced ourselves, but it’s a rumour that keeps bubbling away. There’s a hundred reasons to suspect it’s too early and it would certainly risk agitating early adopters. But then who expected that second PS3 or Xbox 360 re-design?

14. Crackdown 3
Because, simply, it’s about bloody time.

15. The Agent
You can be sure that both Microsoft and Sony are working very hard on securing console exclusives right now – with both consoles currently scrapping it out for the early next-gen advantage, exclusives have arguably never been more important. Just imagine the PR boost Sony would get from an exclusive Rockstar title on the way to PS4.

16. Red Dead Redemption 2
With Grand Theft Auto V (perhaps) out of the way, Rockstar must be working on something. And yes, it could be a new Midnight Club. Or Manhunt. Or even Bully. But if we were to put money on it we’d place a hefty sum on Red Dead Redemption 2 being the next IP to roll out of the Rocks