Somehow it’s June again, which means it’s time for E3 soon – and depending on who you ask (Sony, Sega, Snowstorm), it has already started. Still, that must mean multiple volcanic eruptions of incandescent excitement are just around the corner, right? You’d think but after the year we just made it it might be better to dampen your expectations. In this week Split screen, let’s make perhaps the tepid E3 predictions of all time.
To kick off the E3 pre-interlude episode (pronounced “Printerlude”), Ash Parrish, Mike Fahey, and I are preparing for this year’s weird E3 by building a historic rabbit hole of all the other weird E3s – from those in Georgia in the late 90s to those miserable couple years when the show was scaled down and mostly took place in hotel rooms. Oh, and then there was that one year that E3 took in the general public and was not really prepared for the effects. That was sure to be a pleasure.
Next, Fahey and I swap E3 war stories while Ash – who has never been to E3 – tries to figure out whether we’re telling her the truth or just making up the weirdest shit we can think of (spoilers: it’s all true) . Finally, we make our predictions for what will happen at this year’s all-digital show, which shares space with many publisher-specific events and former E3 host Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest. It will definitely be … something.
Get the MP3 Here and view an excerpt below.
Nathan: Ash, give us some good predictions. What do you think will happen at this year’s likely disappointing E3?
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Ash: That was my thought: it will be so disappointing. Since E3 is that monolith, that video game cultural institution, a number of developers will be touting a series of games that are in reality ho-hum. But everyone is going to hold onto it with this maddened fervor because it’s E3 and you have to. What else are you doing with your life, right? Because we sometimes associate video games with our identity – like people do with consoles or a particular franchise.
And people do it with the E3 too, for their chosen developer or console or whatever. So these completely disappointing games that no one has heard of, that don’t inspire a lot of innovation or whatever will goet announced, and people are going to absolutely shit about it. This is my realistic prediction for E3. My unrealistic forecast for E3? Bayonetta 3 gets a release date.
Nathan: They might even pull out a Sega Saturn and say, “It’s out now.”
Ash: Haha, that will never happen. But I would absolutely go mad.
Nathan: That would be stupid. But I think your first prediction is actually correct, and I’m thinking about it now, and it’s like, well, what if that’s actually good for a lot of game companies? Because they have these secondary games that normally wouldn’t cause a stir. But now they have this chance to make a splash because all of the top tier games just aren’t really ready to be shown because of Covid and stuff. So there’s this chance for all of those lesser-known games or studios to make a splash.
Fahey: So it happened with last year Bugsnax. Bugsnax was good, but it wouldn’t have got the attention it got if all these other games hadn’t happened. It got a great showcase spot and a great song, and then bam: It grabbed everyone’s heart and ripped their hearts out and then fed it to beetles.
Ash: It had a really dark ending, that is Likewise Mass effect 2.
Nathan: All right Fahey, what’s your prediction for this year?
Fahey: I dont know. See, my thing about E3 this year is that I’m not expecting much. Since we get all of this streaming stuff all year round, I don’t know if there will be a big giant bam this year. Overall, my prediction is that E3 is more likely to go by with a whimper – just a constant flow of little stories, but nothing really like, “Oh my god, they announced blahdy blahdy blah.”
Ash: It’s interesting because what you would have thought safe for E3, like for example Horizon Forbidden Westwas last week. Normally something like this, so close to the E3, would only have been saved for the E3, but Sony said, “Uh, no. We just do it in our own time. “
Nathan: Right, they definitely make it more diffuse this year. Over the past few years, some companies have had their own little showcases happening before or after normal E3 time, but now it’s just about everyone.
Fahey: I hope we can finally see some shots of Breath of the Wild 2 and maybe a few shots of Metroid.
Nathan: My Nintendo prediction is that they won’t show any of these games. Instead, they devote all of the Direct to that Pokémon sleep.
Fahey: Go fuck yourself, sir.
Ash: Nathan, what are your predictions?
Nathan: Mine also revolves around how most of this is likely to be kind of disappointing. We got it out of pretty good authority that Star field will be available in limited capacity, but there will only be a release date for the end of 2022. So whatever. And then there are theoretically some Elden ring Film material that has been circulating on the Internet since the end of February will be shown at some point. E3 feels like having a good time just like any other. But it will likely be pretty limited. There will be a new switch. That too was rumored to be credible over and over again.
What could happen that is maybe a little bit exciting: Hideo Kojima is clearly working on something new. Maybe it is a silent Hill spiritual successor. He’s finally going to do whatever PT it should be – albeit without a license, but hopefully still with Norman Reedus. So maybe we see that? I dont know.
Let’s see what else? I wrote down the sentence “Banjo Kaz-newie. “
Ash: Oh God. That was physically painful to listen to.
Fahey: God damn no.
Nathan: I could see it happening. they provide banjo in the smashso why not bring it back banjo in greater capacity? But Fahey, to your point on a number of other, other events, EA won’t do anything until July, so they’ll be way outside the regular E3 window, but I’m sure they will …
Ash: Dragon Age 4.
Fahey: They give us a screenshot of another screenshot with some concept art.
Nathan: Yes, there will be a couple of concept art.
Fahey: Something only Ash will get.
Ash: And I’ll be able to spin the information in a book out of it.
Nathan: Right, that’s how it will be Battlefield 6.
I’m sure there will be some things in the next few weeks that are relatively surprising, and this will also be a year when companies can lean on and say something they have done in the years before : “We don’t have anything” to show this, but we’re doing this thing. ”A logo, a welcome screen – everyone goes nuts. It won’t be out before 2025, but let’s go. “We’re going to do a new one Jet set radio. Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 It’s real. “Obviously it’s real, but they’ll acknowledge it. Stuff like that. They’ll say,” This is probably real. It could be completely revised or canceled in the meantime before it comes out, but it’s one thing. “
Fahey: “In the meantime, we’re all remastering old ones.”
For all of that and more, check out the episode. New episodes appear every Friday, so don’t forget to like and subscribe Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or stapler. If you feel like doing so, leave a review too, and you can always send us a message at [email protected] if you have any questions or suggest a topic. If you want to yell at us directly, you can reach us on Twitter: Ash is @adashtra, Fahey is @OnkelFahey, and Nathan is @ Vahn16. We meet next week!
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