May 29, 2009

E3 – Nintendo Predictions

Categories: Nintendo

Tags: e3 2009 | Nintendo

nintendo

In just a few short days we will be given more gaming news than our little hearts can digest. E3 is coming and Nintendo has a lot to prove after last year’s lackluster presence. While this conference is expected to be more about the games than anything else, Nintendo loves to surprise us with some little piece of hardware or two. So what can we expect from their Conference on June 2^nd? Here are Nintendo’s E3 predictions for 2009.

I scoured the web for the most common predictions amongst the biggest game sites. I also listened to the voice of the little people, reading through forums dedicated to the topic. Below is a compiled list of the most popular things I came across. I even threw in a few small predictions of my own.

Wii Hardware: Due to the recent decline in Wii sales we can expect Nintendo to try something new. If history has taught us anything it is that the Big N loves to give their hardware a fresh look, so our first predictions are new Wii colors. We have been teased different Wii colors even before they launched the console. Perhaps we could even see something as subtle as the Wii DVD slot with a different color.

We may also see a strategy that will decrease price or even a new bundle that packs in Wii Fit and doesn’t change current retail price. There was a recent trademark filed for Wii Fit Plus, which seems to be an updated version of Wii Fit that would coincide with the Wii Motion Plus. Can anyone see a bundle for these two enhanced features in one neat little package? I could.

Any other piece of new hardware would be a complete surprise at this point. Nintendo has already covered all of their previous peripherals in exception to R.O.B (which was a robot for the NES way back in the day). There have also been grumbles from fans for some sort of USB storage device like a hard drive attachment. I don’t expect to see R.O.B. make a comeback nor do I expect to see a hard drive after we just received the SD card integration into the Wii menu, but these are predictions just the same.

Wii Software: With the upcoming release of Wii Motion Plus, you can bet your bottom dollar that we will see more first party games based on this technology. Nintendo wants you to buy a few of these controller add-ons so there has to be some incentive for you to go out and part with your money besides Wii Sports Resort. While speaking of Wii Sports Resort, we know that we will be getting rehashed Golf and a new Table Tennis game added, but I predict that online play will be announced as well.

We all heard about the Metroid Prime Trilogy that is coming to America and Europe which puts all three games into one box and all of them with Wii motion control. Retro Studios has produced all three of these games and rest assured they have been taking on things other than retooling their previous work. An announcement from them is expected and expected to be big. Some suspect that their next project could be a revival of another long running Nintendo franchise known as Star Fox. Others speculate that they will indeed stick to the Metroid universe and create Metroid Dread, since this had been hinted about in Metroid Prime 3. I hope to see a new Metroid go back to its 2D roots.

We have all been frothing at the mouth for a Kid Icarus announcement for some time and a slip up by Shigeru Miyamoto in 2008 almost confirmed it was in production. While he may not be producing it, we do expect some sort offering from the legendary developer all the same. It’s expected that Miyamoto will have an all new IP (intellectual property) to show off. We should also see Pikmin 3, which was another slip up by Miyamoto at an IGN roundtable meeting.

Many of us fully expect to see sequels to long running franchises like Mario or Zelda. The fact of the matter is that we heard these teams were getting together to work on a new project so something has been in development. It makes more sense to see a sequel to Mario since he is more marketable than Link and Mario games are indeed higher grossing. That aside, the Nintendo hardcore fans do love them some Zelda and we haven’t had a true Zelda game for the Wii yet. If you remember, Twilight Princess was a port from the Gamecube version and since the last Zelda game was released in 2006 we are actually overdue for another one. I would love to see both made and released within the next year but we will most likely only get one and my money is on the man in the red hat.

Other rumors that are less talked about are a possible Donkey Kong Country game or even a Kirby game. I could see either of these games coming back into action especially since these are still prominent characters in the Nintendo franchise.

Here are some games that we know will be there, but we may actually have a playable demo; Red Steel 2, Monster Hunter 3, Gladiator A.D., No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, and The Grinder.

Lastly, we may see an announcement for a new Wii Channel. A good contender could be their video service which would allow you to watch TV programs and possibly feature length films right from your Wii. This has already been slated for Japan, but we could be seeing a US and European launch date.

DSi: Even though the DS has a short supply of E3 predictions, the newly released DSi is sure to hog this year’s show since Nintendo has a new piece of hardware to promote. We can expect to see a large amount of software on the showroom floor and we should be seeing announcements for first party games that take advantage of its capabilities during the press conference.

So what could we possibly be getting? Well, going back to the Retro Studios project, they could be designing a 2D Metroid game that would fit quite nicely on the DSi. This platform has many franchises that thrive in 2D and I look forward to this if it does get announced.

Another contender for a DSi announcement is Art Academy, which was accidently leaked with the Wii Fit Plus trademark when they were both filed at the same time. So what could this be? Many imagine it to be Mario Paint for the next generation. I really could see this one using the DSi camera as well as the touch screen for creating personal works of art. Hopefully we can even get a DSi channel that lets us post these and view other compositions from users around the world, kinda like the Check Mii Out channel on the Wii.

Another possibility is the DSi Fit channel. This could be something that works with Wii Fit Plus. Perhaps something that allows you to keep track of your caloric intake so that you can properly shed them once you return back home. I hope Wii Fit Plus is a little more sensitive to us ‘fluffy people’.

One last game that is almost a shoe in at anytime for the DSi is another Pokemon game. Nintendo loves to churn these out every 10 seconds or so and we are sure to see a new game in some form or another.

Finally, this is my most anticipated prediction. I really hope that this comes true and I will rush out and buy a DSi as soon as I can, if this does happen. DSi Virtual Console. I’m not sure what sort of processing power of the DSi will need so I am unsure of what systems it could emulate but wouldn’t this be freaking sweet? Of course we could have our favorite Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advanced games. But, also consider other platforms like Sega Gamegear, Atari Lynx (one of my personal favorites), Neo Geo pocket, Nokia N-Gage, and who knows what else. This could be a huge show stealer depending on how much backing they have from third party publishers.

In conclusion: I think this will be one heck of a show. Nintendo is really hurting from last year’s show and they know that they have to make things right. I really expect this to be geared toward all of us who are starting to get a bad taste in their mouth from all of the casual gaming. My final prediction is that Beyond Good and Evil 2 will be revealed and it will be launching for all systems. (That is more of a wish than a prediction). Check back throughout next week for all of the gaming news that you can possibly handle, plus some. E3 is always one heck of a ride.