Monday 10 June 2013

E3 Predictions

E3 starts today and with the Xbox press conference only 10 minutes away I though now was the chance to provide me quick predictions for the event itself. This conference goes one of two ways; either it fills all our hopes and dreams or it crushes our expectations more than any other yearly event. In either case though expect a spectacle of games on offer as the world waits for the surprises and unexpected announcements that makes this conference the best in the business.
 
1)       Expect Microsoft to reveal the online counter to PlayStation Plus

It’s hardly a strange thing to predict as this has pretty much been the non-existent portion of the Microsoft reveals so far. The company keep pumping us with details of the Xbox One’s online features but they haven’t explained, yet, whether this will require paid subscription or what different features will require different licenses.
 
The online features expected and announced already will be pricey ventures for the American powerhouse and you can expect these to be subsidised by your monthly membership feet.

2)       Super Smash Bros. Wii U / 3DS

The next really obvious inclusion is the Super Smash Bros announcement from Nintendo. The Big N need to hit the ground running this year and what better way than by bringing forward the project that the fans really want? – None I hear you say!

Smash Bros is a franchise that most games (casual or hardcore) have grown to love and is one of their in-house titles that could sell a whole console. Put that together with the fact that a new Zelda is still a long way off on the Wii U and you’ve found what may compete with the next generation of consoles from Microsoft and Sony. 

3)       The PlayStation Vita will get a price drop and be announced as a PS4 companion

Sony are fully expected to announce a price drop on the Vita to get the handheld market share that they really wanted, especially if this comes in the Autumn for the Christmas present season. The Vita hasn’t been as strong as Sony may have originally have wanted but the quality games are started to spill through and getting people involved on the platform will put the consumer-base firmly in the court.
 
This leads me into the fact the you can expect the Vita to be tied to the PS4 in one way or other – perhaps as a second screen like the Wii U has done with their tablet controller.

4)       Halo 5 will be announced (and most probably as a Day 1 release)

In the history of Microsoft consoles their day one game schedule has been poor and as the industry develops in different ways expect the developer to go with a AAA exclusive title off the bat. 343 don’t seem to have been doing anything new and we know that Halo 5 is scheduled to be released on the Xbox One so what better way to get people excited on their new console than announcing this at E3-  over 4 months in advance to get people’s excitement levels up.

5)       Pricing of the new consoles

Wild speculation has hit the new for the pricing models of both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Most people believe that the Xbox One will be the more expensive option since we will all be given the Kinect hardware at the same time but I’m not so sure. Sony won’t be throwing their console in at a high price and Microsoft need to follow suit. Both companies will be looking at their options and the views of their competitors so expect the pricing announcements today.

Seeing as this is a US event I’ll go for the dollar options (as the UK prices never reflect a standard like-for-like):

Xbox One $499.99 (£399.99)
PlayStation 4 $449.99 (£399.99) 

What do you expect to see at the show – sound off below…..

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