What I expect/want to see from Playstation in E3 2018:
Sony’s having an extraordinary generation thus far; their console has sold more than double of what their competitors have, and their exclusive catalog grows in critical and reception as well as providing healthy profits. This has been going on since the start of the generation, 4 years ago, and with each year, Sony has upped itself and keeps on delivering improvements and worthwhile experiences; this year seems to be primed to keep this sequence going, even if the bar was raised incredibly high.
They’ve already announced the games that they will focus on for this year’s conference, and they are very exciting prospects; as The Last of Us Part Two has been long awaited, Death Stranding is Kojima’s new game, and Ghosts of Tsushima (by SuckerPunch) and Spiderman (by Insomniac) had captured the public interest due to their developer’s history and previous showings. Even though I don’t actually own a PS4, I’m personally really excited for these games, not only because of their potential impact and quality, but also because these are the type of games that will push Microsoft to invest and bring similar experiences to the Xbox platform. I’m also really looking forward to the conference, due to Sony leading the generation in terms of sales, thus this will be the preferred conference for developers to announce big AAA games, and for Japanese indie developers to show off their creations, due to Sony having closer relations with them and the popularity of the Playstation brand in Japan.
The conference, however, is inherently less interesting, because we know most of the titles that will show up; at least where the focus will be. I’m still expecting to get some new info on Days Gone (the Bend Studio, open-world, zombie game), Dreams (the Media Molecule game) and Concrete Genie (from PixelOpus), which all look interesting in their own ways-especially Concrete Genie with its vibrant art style- however, it will most likely serve as the venue where we can have our first look, in E3 at least, for games like Kingdom Hearts 3 and other big AAA games. Playstation would be likely to show PSVR titles as well, although I don’t have any clue what they might be, but I hope in a strong showing as that medium has been seemingly stagnant in recent months.
That’s basically it for Playstation in E3 2018; there isn’t much to discuss right now, and since they already made their announcements about what is going to be in E3 from their part, there aren’t many rumors to go through and discuss which I’m more interested on etc. However, it will eventually be a huge and entertaining conference to watch; we are talking about the conference where a Kojima game will be shown at some point, so I’m already hyped about that. Again, all Sony need to do this year, is have another decent showing, just like they did last year; not only did they not screw up, they announced some pretty big hitters and put on a great show for all fans, and I expect they will do the same this year as well.
What I expect/want to see from Nintendo in E3 2018:
Nintendo had a great 2017; they launched a very successful hybrid console, that worked as intended- a handheld and a home console in unity. On top of that, they supported their console with incredible 1st party software from their 2 biggest franchises- Mario and Zelda- and built a community of indie developers willing to port and develop their games for the Switch. However, they go into 2018 with some warning signs; the recent releases have not been poor by any measurement, but they have not urged me to keep coming back to my Switch for new releases. Furthermore, with Zelda and Mario having made their debuts on the console, there isn’t much left to excite people, right?
Well, it seems Nintendo is firing on all cylinders and is willing to take risks in bringing back properties from the catalogue of Wii U (like Captain Toad), announcing long-awaited sequels (like Bayonetta 3) and bringing experiences that were mostly existent on handheld devices until now (like Animal Crossing? Please!!!). They’ve already announced that in their Treehouse stream and their E3 booth, a large section will be devoted to the new Super Smash Bros., with another game almost certainly taking equal screen time; probably the much anticipated Pokemon game developed for the Switch. There will be extra goodies like RollerCoaster Tycoon for Switch, which I didn’t know how much I wanted, until I heard about it recently, and more details on already announced games like Project Octopath Traveler. There are also rumors flying around for a new Metroid Prime 4 trailer and a Yoshi’s Wooly World port from the 3DS; all in all it seems to be a packed schedule for Nintendo this year. Lastly, they will surely give more detail on their online service launching later this year, with the details released being a little light thus far. I also hope that we hear more about the rumored Phoenix Wright game or at least the port of previous games to the Switch.
In conclusion, Nintendo is in a similar situation with Sony this year; their console has been met with praise on most aspects, and while there are a few grievances that can be thrown at the Switch (for some questionable decisions), as a Switch owner, all I want from Nintendo this year is to give me more reasons to love my Switch. Their Nintendo Direct and Treehouse streams don’t seem jam-packed with new and exciting games, but they do have a handful of games that are very exciting to me; a new Pokemon game is absolutely on top of my wishlist, but seeing more from new experiences like Project Octopath Traveler, Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4, as well as ports of fan favorite games like Super Smash Bros., Yoshi and RollerCoaster Tycoon for Switch, is good enough for me, due to the success that the Switch had so far.
Ruler of Owls 