Look into the crystal ball
A few weeks back we put this article together, with 99 predictions for E3 2014. We were wondering exactly how right (or wrong) we were, so we went through and added commentary below each prediction. Want to see our score? Here it is.
Sony predictions
The show will open with Assassin's Creed Unity in a demo that looks absurdly good.
Wrong! Microsoft got the Unity reveal.
Assassins Creed Comet will also be mentioned. Much to everyone's surprise, it will not be based on the cleaning product--but it'll be a smaller AC game focused on last-gen consoles.
SUPER WRONG! Never even got mentioned.
Sony will spend the next ten minutes of its press conference doing what amounts to a victory lap around Microsoft and Nintendo.
They definitely gloated, but not a ton. Let's go with a "eh, a little" for this one.
There will be no other PlayStation 3 announcements whatsoever, save for revealing that some PS3 games are heading to the PS4
Yes! GTA 5 next-gen was confirmed, and otherwise last-gen was silent.
...like Gran Turismo 6, God of War: Ascension, and The Uncharted Collection.
Nope, nope, nope.
An unnecessary amount of time will be spent showing off The Last of Us on PlayStation 4 (which, by the way, will come with a multiplayer beta for Uncharted 4).
Wrong. They actually did a good job keeping it short.
Speaking of, as soon as that demo is over, we'll get our first look at Uncharted 4.
Correct! Uncharted 4 was revealed.
Drake will be hanging upside down, half-unconscious, and bloody
Fairly accurate. We'll give ourselves this one.
...he'll say something like "Well, this is different," and then the camera will pan out to show him in a mostly-destroyed car or something, leading to...
There was voiceover, but he was silent. Eh... no. We didn't get this one right.
Uncharted 4: Drake's Destiny. 2015.
1/2 right: we got the year right.
Sony will show a 10-second teaser trailer for a new God of War, likely hitting in 2015 or 2016. It'll be set in a totally different time than the previous games.
NOPE! No new God of War.
PlayStation Now's pricing will be laid out, and its scope will be expanded to more games on more platforms...
Nope! Despite talking about it for like 15 minutes, we didn't get info on this front.
...and Sony will do one of those "and it's available, right NOW!" things
Um... there were more beta invitations sent out? Eh? Eh? No...
...and one of Sony's big E3 2014 games will actually have a streamable demo to PS4s for free.
Sadly, no. Missed opportunity--maybe next year?
Remember that promised PS4 feature where you can control a friend's game remotely? Sony will announce that's finally coming this holiday season.
No news yet on this feature. Oh well.
PS Vita TV will finally get a US/UK release date, and a price to compete with Amazon Fire TV.
A WINNER IS US!
David Cage will come out to talk about a new game, but it'll get a code name like "Souls" or "Endworld" and it'll include that old guy.
Cage was silent. And absent.
Sony will explain that it "hasn't forgotten about the Vita..."
It did say how important the Vita was, yeah...
...and then will proceed to reveal nothing of interest about the Vita...
Sadly, this was pretty true, too. Nothing besides indie ports and obscure JRPGs.
...except a price cut, slicing it down to a shockingly low $175/120.
Another "sadly, no." Still the same price.
Sony will also reveal a PS4/Vita bundle, retailing at $550/450.
This didn't get revealed, but it showed up on Amazon's website, so we'll say we got it on a technicality.
The Order: 1886 will be shown off for exactly six minutes, and most of the gameplay will be the same stuff Sony has been showing off for the past six months. 2015 release date.
Different demo, right release date, right amount of time. So another half-point. We need to be less specific with these...
Sony will continue to grab exclusive single-player DLC for a number of major third-party games.
Actually, Sony grabbed like... betas and alphas and stuff.
Square will have a lengthy trailer for Final Fantasy 15. Release date? "Please look forward to more information."
We didn't even get half of this. FFXV was just absent.
Square will have a lengthy trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3. Release date? "Please look forward to more information."
And for as little as we heard from Final Fantasy, we heard even less about Kingdom Hearts.
Sony's big game of 2014 will be revealed to be The Last Guardian. Yes, we're actually predicting that. We'll be right one year!
*cries*
Or maybe Agent?
*cries harder*
Or Prey 2? We're just making this shit up as we go along. STARCRAFT GHOST! MEGA MAN LEGENDS 3! CRASH BANDICOOT!
*never stops crying*
Sony will spend at least ten minutes talking about virtual reality and the exciting future promised by Project Morpheus
VERY little time was spent on Virtual Reality. This... honestly, we should have seen this coming.
...and will show off some new, exciting demos that showcase the types of experience we have to look forward to.
Um. They showed off a Street Luge demo? Does that count? No? Alright.
No new information about a retail version of Morpheus will be revealed; it's coming "when it's ready" because they "don't want to rush it."
Screw it, we're giving ourselves this one.
"Pompeii by Bastille will be played at least once during a sick montage of games.
We're taking 1/4th a point on this. We heard the song on the show floor, and that counts. SHUT UP, IT COUNTS.
9-3/4 out of 33
We're not too proud of this. We expected a lot of HD remakes and dips back into the backlog, but there wasn't a ton on that front. Actually, that's a good thing. Good work, Sony!
Microsoft predictions
The press conference will start with an extremely loud montage of games, most of which have already come out.
Nope! Right into new games. Good work, GamesRadar.
Like Sony, Microsoft will pay some lip service to its last system's legacy before moving on, never mentioning it again during the show.
YAY! We got one! Microsoft barely acknowledged last-gen.
Don Mattrick is BACK
No.
...and he will utter this exact sentence: "Since launch, we've provided the best gaming experiences, with huge AAA blockbusters like Titanfall, and great downloadables like Peggle 2. And this is only the beginning."
No...
Then he'll go crazy, saying "Oh, we have something for gamers that can't afford a $500 Xbox One. It's called a $400 Kinect-less Xbox One."
WHY DID WE PREDICT THIS?!
Several Kinect games, including D4 and Fantasia, will be shown off
What's a Kinect?
...and most will be playable without voice/motion control because Kinect is no longer mandatory.
They didn't talk about Kinect enough for this to be right. So... screw it--POINT!
There will be a new Kinect camera revealed--smaller, less accurate, but still able to provide a majority of the functions that the systems needs for $50.
Ha! Nah. Sorry.
We'll get to see about ten minutes of unedited Sunset Overdrive footage, and it'll look amazeballs
It wasn't ten minutes, but it was amazeballs. POINT, GAMESRADAR.
...and Insomniac's Ted Price will take the stage and say something about "not compromising on its vision," to make people shut up about Fuse.
What's Fuse?
The rumored Halo: Master Chief collection is totally real, and will be the big Xbox One exclusive for 2014.
It's real, and it's spectacular.
A short teaser will show off Halo 5: Guardians, and it'll look pretty much exactly like the video from last E3 save for the inclusion of minor plot details
Half-point--we saw a short teaser, but it looked unique. Didn't copy last year's thing.
...and you'll be able to find out more in the Master Chief Collection, which has some kind of reference to Halo 5 buried either as an Easter Egg or a special ending.
FULL POINT! There will be new information on Halo 4 in Halo 1-4. Nailed it.
Also, Cortana is probably alive. Just, you know, throwing that out there.
Maybe? No point, but maybe.
Microsoft will reveal similar next-gen upscales for Gears of War 1-3
Nope. Nothing on this front.
...and there'll probably be a Mass Effect Collection hitting in 2014.
Wrong again! We thought there would be a lot more last-gen remakes for next-gen, but it didn't happen.
A teaser for a new Gears of War will be shown off, but it'll contain literally no new information whatsoever
HALF POINT! There wasn't a trailer, but there also wasn't new info. See what we did there?
...except that it'll be running on the Unreal 4 engine.
Shit. No points for that. Should have quit while we were ahead.
Speaking of Unreal: Epic will announce and show its new game during Microsoft's conference. No, we're not talking about Fortnite (but they'll show that, too).
Epic might be working on a next-gen game, but it wasn't revealed.
Microsoft will continue to grab exclusive multiplayer DLC for a number of major third-party games
Yeah! They kept grabbing them.
...and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will be chief among them.
Bingo. Point!
Bethesda will take the stage and spend a good amount of time introducing Fallout 4.
Oh, dammit. Wrong. So wrong. So, sadly wrong.
Everyone will be shocked by Microsoft's exciting announcement that Lost Odyssey 2 is in the works. Hey, we can dream, right?
Phantom Dust is basically the same thing, right? Right? Wrong? Okay, wrong.
The rumored "big third-party exclusive" Microsoft has? Mirror's Edge 2.
Mirror's Edge was there, but wasn't an exclusive (or part of Microsoft's presser).
Or Agent?
*sobs*
Or Prey 2? We're just making this shit up as we go along. STARCRAFT GHOST! MEGA MAN LEGENDS 3! CRASH BANDICOOT!
*sobs harder*
Not wanting to be the odd one out, Microsoft announces its very own virtual reality headset.
*SOBS THE HARDEST*
Said headset will be shown off with Milo, which is still totally a thing. He misses Peter Molyneux. He won't stop asking about him. It's sad.
Lol, this one is kind of funny, though. Right? Can we have a point for it because it's funny?
A small portion of the show will be spent by Microsoft briefly covering its non-game media improvements.
We're actually super happy to have been wrong, here.
...like movies, TV, sports, movies, TV, sports, movies, TV, sports, and TV. Also Game of Thrones.
Yay! We were wrong! *high fives a million angels*
New SmartGlass features will be mentioned
Nope.
...and everyone will nod and smile, pretending that they'll use--even though they won't.
No SmartGlass. No dice.
"Pompeii" by Bastille will be played during five different sick game montages.
No, but "Happy" got played a few times.
9 out of 33
Ouch. Even worse than Sony. How is that possible? Maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't have had like... 75% of these jokes making fun of Microsoft's 2013 press conference.
Nintendo predictions
Like last year, the Nintendo Direct will have the same amount of information as a typical E3 press conference
Sure did! Go us!
...but people will continue to complain that it isn't technically a livestream, and that Nintendo is doomed.
Another point! We're on a roll!
A few minutes of the press conference will be shown from within Tomodachi Life, leading to many an Internet meme.
Half a point! The Robot Chicken thing was basically the same thing.
The show will open with footage of Smash Bros., focusing on the Wii U version and showing some new features.
It did! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIIIIIENDS.
We'll get release dates for both versions: end of July for 3DS, early December for Wii U.
Crap. 50% right. We DID get a release window, but not these dates.
A totally new character will be revealed for Smash Bros that no one could have predicted.
Three Miis no one expected and Pac-Man, so... FOUR POINTS! THAT'S RIGHT, FOUR!
(Bubsy, btw, it'll be Bubsy)
Pac-Man is basically a yellow Bubsy, right? Shit. No points. THE STREAK IS OVER.
Yarn Yoshi will be shown off, and officially titled Yoshi's Epic Yarn--it'll be releasing in August for the Wii U.
Wrong on the date, wrong on the name, right on the game. 1/2 point.
Hyrule Warriors will get another trailer, and it'll keep the name Hyrule Warriors so that no one mistakes it for a real Zelda game...
Nailed it. Hyrule Warriors is still Hyrule Warriors.
...and it'll also finally be announced that it'll launch in the West this holiday season.
FULL POINT! September in America. Two points back-to-back.
Nintendo will say the next Zelda Wii U game is in the works, but won't show anything besides a single piece of concept art
Half point--we didn't see a TON...
...which will include a small detail that we will extrapolate into four articles a week for the next two years.
LITERALLY 10 POINTS.
Or we'll get a full reveal of Zelda Wii U for 2014. We're predicting both because we just want to get a Zelda prediction right for a change.
Shit. Negative four points for that. The year is so wrong.
Bayonetta 2 will be hitting early in September, and there'll be a demo on the Wii U later in June.
One month off, so 1/2 a point. Why? Why not!
X will get its full name: Xenoblade Chronicles, and it'll be basically a mix between Xenosaga and Monster Hunter, with an online-focus.
It's called Xenoblade Chronicles X, but otherwise we're right. We think. We actually have no idea. Zero points, maybe?
There'll be a Fire Emblem x SMT trailer, and a majority of people watching will have absolutely no idea what's going on.
They were so quiet on this front some people thought it was cancelled.
Majoras Mask 3D will also be confirmed and playable on the show floor.
*whimpers*
Nintendo will talk about the Miiverse for WAY too long
The Miiverse was barely mentioned. I don't know if we're happy or sad about this.
...unfortunately, it will NOT do so while displaying hilarious entries from BadMiiversePosts. Missed opportunity.
...point?
A Nintendo Land sequel, called Nintendo World, will be revealed. Despite minimal reaction from the audience, we'll all be really excited.
This was a great idea! But, no.
Several HD-remakes of Wii/GameCube games will be revealed, including Mario Galaxy 1/2 and Twilight Princess.
No, because Nintendo hates money.
Nintendo's NFC lineup will be revealed, and it's much more ambitious than expected.
Aw yeah! Point.
Smash Bros. will be the first game to support it, but it won't be a full-blown NFC game--instead, it'll have some minor functionality that lets you upgrade your characters in Smash Bros. and bring them to OTHER games.
YES. WE ARE DOING IT. THIS IS THE RUN.
Nintendo will say that "all major Nintendo games moving forward will have NFC functionality," but it won't provide too many details just yet.
NOT 100% BUT WE'RE SO EXCITED THAT WE'RE GOING TO GIVE IT A POINT.
The one big NFC game that will be revealed: Nintendo Adventures, a single-player game with Smash Bros' roster that is basically a massive action RPG, like Skylanders meets Subspace Emissary.
Dammit.
A deal with either Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network will be revealed, bringing Nintendo characters back to cartoons.
This is the story of a girl
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world
And while she looked so sad in photographs
I absolutely love her
When she smiles
A major 3DS game will be revealed for 2014, and it'll either be
Weirdly, no. Nothing.
...a big 2D Metroid game, or
Nothing on the Samus front.
...a Star Fox game.
Half a point, because there's a Wii U Star Fox that plays like a 3DS game.
Pokemon Alpha Ruby and Omega Sapphire will be shown off, looking identical to X/Y
Identical, yeah. Full point.
...and they'll sport some kind of NFC gimmick, similar to the Pokewalker from Heartgold/SoulSilver.
There's no 3DS NFC stuff until next year, so... nope.
Nintendo will cut the price of the Wii U to $250/200, but there won't be any Ambassador Program-style rewards for early adopters.
Nope. Really should have, but no.
"Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 will be played three times, reminding everyone that Nintendo is two years behind everyone else on most things.
No. They didn't actually play a ton of music, so... we were so wrong, you guys.
23 out of 33
Yeah! That's a lot of points! Sure, we lied to give half of them, but... whatever. We did it! We were mostly right!
Well, let's find out!
Phew, that's a lot of predictions. And so, so many of them were wrong. Oh well--we think we had good fun with these. Let us know in the comments if you disagree!
And if you're interested in more, check out the biggest games from E3 2014 and the biggest changes from last E3.
