Wii U

As big Nintendo fans, it pains us to say that we aren’t expecting much from the Big N this year. The announcement that the company is opting out of an on-stage presentation again concerns us, because Nintendo needs all the publicity it can get for the Wii U at this juncture. Not holding a press conference at E3 2014 and choosing to instead opt for a digital-only event makes us worried that Nintendo simply doesn’t have much to show, what with two of its heaviest hitters, Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. U, releasing this year, but we hope that’s not the case.

If Nintendo knows what’s good for ’em, here’s what we expect to see at E3 2014:

The Legend of Zelda

We already know that The Legend of Zelda is coming to the Wii U, but aside from the teaser trailer that accompanied the console’s announcement (which may not be representative of what the actual game looks like) Nintendo has kept its lips sealed regarding Link’s first original adventure on its new console. 

We’re expecting a new The Legend of Zelda game to be the focal point of Nintendo’s E3, and we hope that its showing is more impressive than Skyward Sword‘s disastrous announcement.

Metroid

​Time heals all wounds, except for the lasting memory we have of the sub-par Metroid: Other M.

Samus needs and deserves a great outing on the Wii U, and we can but hope that Nintendo collaborates with Retro Studios again, the co-creators of the Metroid Prime series, rather than Team Ninja.

Maybe Team Ninja has a good Metroid game up its sleeve, but after Other M we simply do not trust the developer to lead Samus into the latest generation of consoles. Retro Studios knows how to handle the Metroid franchise, and considering it has recently released Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, we hope that the developer now has enough time to work on a new Metroid game that lives up to the stellar pedigree of the series.

A New IP

It’s already been revealed that Shigeru Miyamoto is working on a new intellectual property for the Wii U, and we expect that it will be debuted at E3 2014. 

With Nintendo having basked in the profits of its existing franchises for so long, it’s difficult to image the company giving us a new series, but whatever it is we’re excited to see it. Hopefully it’s not a mini-game collection in the form of the Wii Party series, but rather a fully-fledged new franchise in the vain of the Mario or Zelda series. We know nothing of it yet, though, so at the moment this is all just speculation. Hopefully we’ll learn more at E3.

Xbox One

The Xbox One has some catching up to do if it wants to compete with Sony’s PS4, and Microsoft recognizes this. MS has previously stated that the “console war” is a “marathon, not a sprint,” and that it hopes to eventually be the dominant force of the home console market after a successful year or two of great software releases. With that being said, it has a lot riding on E3 2014, and we expect all the stops to be pulled out when it comes to showcasing the Xbox One.

Here’s what we expect Microsoft will try to bowl us over with at E3 2014:

Halo 5

This one’s a certainty to appear at the show, with Microsoft having already confirmed as much. We’re still not sure whether or not it will actually be called Halo 5, though from the game’s teaser trailer at E3 2013 we know that it at least features Master Chief. 

Given MS’s hesitance to label it Halo 5, we believe that developer 343 Industries might have something bigger in store for the series than it being just another FPS, and as fans of the refinements 343 made to Halo 4′s multiplayer, we’re excited to see what the developer has in store for us.

More Kinect Games

Microsoft has to justify the Kinect 2.0 bumping up the price tag of the Xbox One, so expect to see a handful of Kinect games at E3 2014. 

While we don’t think that the Kinect will be the focus of Microsoft’s presentation at the event (at this point they must realize that it’s the Kinect that is turning many away from purchasing the new console), we do believe that there will still be an ample amount of time given to games that will both court the younger demographic, along with games that aim to give an incentive to adult gamers to try out the tech. 

Although we’d love to see a new Banjo-Kazooie platform game, with Rare having worked exclusively on Kinect games in recent years we’d hedge our bets on the developer bringing out a Kinect Banjo game. How that’d work out remains to be seen.

Gears of War 4

Gears of War: Judgment was met with a resounding “meh” when it was released, but the Gears of War series isn’t being put out to pasture just yet.

With Black Tusk Studios working on the next Gears of War game, Microsoft Game Studio’s Ken Lobb has claimed that the developer is working on an “innovative” iteration in the series, though we’re skeptical as to how innovative a new Gears of War game could be. The first Gears of War game implemented the cover system we now see in practically every third-person shooter available, but the series didn’t deviate at all from its roots during its run, and Judgment was nothing if a huge back step for the series. 

If a new Gears of War game is announced at E3 2014, it will likely be done so in an incredibly hyperbolic way fitting of the series, but we’re going to reserve our judgment (get it?) until we saw the final product.