Worry not young ones. Despite what seemed like a lackluster event this year, what with no new hardware announced (microphones don’t count Nintendo), and some companies talking about a movie that’s not due out until 2011 for half an hour (Capcom!) the ESA has confirmed that E3 will be returning next year.
Hooray!
Like Janus I think we need to look back on E3 2008 and bid it adieu, while looking forward in anticipation for E3 2009. An ESA rep told Edge Magazine Online, "As we do every year, we’re beginning the process of surveying exhibitors and attendees to determine potential changes to the Summit."
And changes do indeed occur. In 2006 there were upwards of 60,000 people at E3. This year, that number was closer to 5,000. Now you can check my math here but that’s a 91% decrease in attendees and some would argue that there was a 91% increase in entertainment… which is ironic for E3.
I’m going to make my predictions now for E3 2009, so feel free to either keep reading or skip to the next story.
Nintendo will have outsold everyone, everywhere, by next year. The DS will continue to be a juggernaut and Nintendo will reveal a newer version of the DS. It will be sans GBA slot, a little smaller, and somehow have better battery life. They will also show some improved connectivity between the Wii and DS (or if it’s radically different, the DS Advanced). We will learn what the Zelda team has been up to since 2006…
Microsoft, having betrayed their hardcore with avatars, will reassure everyone they are committed to gamers by announcing Halo 4! No, I’m just kidding. They won’t do that. They will show off more streamlined online integration, maybe Halo Wars, Alan Wake, and (fingers crossed) a device that allows you to download games off the marketplace onto an Xbox Memory card and pop that into a portable gaming device so you can game on the go. Just thinking about Geometry Wars on the train to work gets me excited.
Sony will have had a huge year. Probably better than Microsoft. They will have released LittleBigPlanet, God of War 3, (maybe) Killzone 2. They will show off the full version of Gran Turismo but will not offer a downloadable upgrade for those who spent 40 bucks on the demo that is GT Prologue. It will piss some people off. They will also show off SOCOM for the PS3 and it will look really good.
Those are my predictions for the next E3. I will be sure to link back to this in a year to see how wrong I was. Wouldn’t it be really weird if I was dead on about everything?
[via CVG]
