My hopes and fears for the 'big three' at E3

E3 2011 is upon us. Well, as of Monday. Anyway, I'm excited. I'm also a bit wary, as I've been through the ups and downs associated with such events many times over the years.

So, what am I excited about and what is making me a bit wary--or, rather, what are my hopes and fears for the "big three" at this most awesome of gaming events? Well, here are my hopes:

Microsoft--Honestly, I'm not expecting much from Microsoft. You know they're going to show a bunch of "hardcore" games and a bunch of Kinect titles. I have little interest in either. I'll be perfectly happy, though, if they announce even a few wow-worthy XBLA titles.



Nintendo--As of now, this event is all about Nintendo for me, as I'm curious to see what they have planned for the 3DS and the Wii successor, currently known as Project Café. Regarding the latter, I'm looking for the company's latest console as well as its launch software to wow me like the Wii and Wii Sports did at E3 in 2006. Also, I hope Nintendo announces a few more Wii releases. I'd love to see the new Kirby, The Last Story, Rhythm Heaven/ Tengoku Wii and Xenoblade all brought to North America, but I'll be happy if even one or two of them come our way.

Sony--Will we finally get a release date and release price for Sony's next portable, which seemingly is going to be called PS Vita? I hope so. I also hope we get a peek at some of the stellar first- and third-party games that surely are being planned for the system.

As for my fears for the "big three" at this E3, here they are:

Microsoft--I fear they're going to expend most of their energy on so-called hardcore and Kinect games and ignore XBLA.

Nintendo--I fear they're going to completely drop the ball on the DS and Wii. I know the 3DS is now the company's focus in the portable space, but there are plenty of DS and DSi owners out there who aren't going to upgrade anytime soon and who would still like to play some new games--games like the Lemmings-esque Kirby title that's going to be released in Japan this August or the fourth entry in the Professor Layton series. As for the Wii, well, Project Café, or whatever the console ends up being called, isn't going to hit store shelves until next summer, if not later. Why not localize a few--or, even better, all--of the as-of-now-Japan-only games mentioned above in the meantime?



Sony--I fear that Sony is going to wait too long to release the PS Vita in the US--it has to hit store shelves before Christmas, in my opinion--and slap a price tag on the system that's far too high given current economic conditions. The system is likely to find success in Japan regardless of price thanks to its rabid fan base and games like Monster Hunter, but its future is much less certain in the States. If it's not priced competitively with the 3DS, it's going to have a hard time faring any better than its poorly received predecessor.

We'll find out in any of my hopes or fears will become reality on Monday and Tuesday of next week, by the way. Microsoft's press conference will begin at 9 am Pacific on Monday, with Sony's occurring later the same day, at 5 pm Pacific. Nintendo's press conference, on the other hand, will start at 9 am Pacific on Tuesday.

All of the above-mentioned conferences will be streamed live on GameTrailers.com, by the way. I'll certainly be watching them. Will you?

Order Up!! (yes, now with two exclamation points) coming soon to 3DS, PS3 and 'TBA'

The folks at Supervillain Studios have been teasing an Order Up! sequel for some time.

It all started in late 2009, when one of the developer's staffers revealed that "a good amount of work" had been competed on the title. The teasing continued last June when a comic was published on the company's website that suggested the follow-up would be released for the PS3.

Strangely, that's the last time anyone at the Irvine, Calif.-based company talked publicly about the game--until a few days ago. That's when four screenshots--which seemingly showcased a new Order Up! restaurant (below) and waiter--were added to the developer's website. Shortly afterwards, a Supervillain Studios staffer revealed that the screenshots in question were from Order Up!!, an updated--with new content and features--version of the Wii release that will appear on the 3DS, the PS3 and "a third (TBA) platform as well."



Will the "TBA platform" wind up being Nintendo's soon-to-be-unveiled successor to the Wii (i.e., Project Café)? We'll find out shortly, I guess.

In the meantime, add one of the above-mentioned iterations of Order Up!! to your "to buy" list. If it's anything like its Wii-based predecessor, it'll be well worth whatever you have to spend to acquire it.

(Via gonintendo.com)

About those Project Café/Wii 2 rumors ...

Well, the folks at Nintendo of Japan finally admitted that the successor to the Wii--supposedly codenamed "Project Café"--will be revealed at the upcoming E3 event (June 7-9 in Los Angeles) and will be released sometime next year.

Unfortunately, that's about all they admitted during a press conference held earlier today in Osaka, Japan.  (Another will be held tomorrow in Tokyo.)

Sure, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata shared that the company "will offer something new for home game systems," but that's hardly a shocking statement given its forward-thinking DS, 3DS and Wii systems.

The question is, will the "something new" Iwata refers wind up resembling any of the rumors that have been swirling around the Interwebs for the last week or so? (Read about them here.)



Will the system's controller really have a six-inch touchscreen in the center of it (as depicted in the mock-up above), for instance? If so, will it really allow users to stream games and other media to said screen without turning on their TVs?

Also, does this mean Nintendo is turning its back on the Wii remote and the motion controls that were popularized by it--or will this new console be backwards-compatible with its predecessor?

That last question has me feeling a bit edgy at the moment, I have to admit. I've really enjoyed using the Wii remote--its pointer functionality, especially--and I'd hate for Nintendo to give it up just so they can offer the masses something new and exciting.

What do all of you think? Are you curious about Project Café, or could you care less about it?