http://www.xboxinsider.net/10-things-we-want-to-see-at-e3/
10 Things We Want To See At E3
With E3 just around the corner, and not a word from Microsoft, we speculated as to what might be shown this year. Here is our top 10 list for what we at Xbox|Insider think (and hope) will be announced at E3 this year.
10. Project Gotham Racing 5
Yes, we are well aware that Microsoft let Bizarre Creations go a while ago, but they may have built a smaller internal development team using assets and the game engine from the previous Project Gotham Racing games. One of Microsoft’s two premiere racing franchises, fans have been eager for the next installment seeing as we haven’t had one since 2007.
9. Forza 3
PGR offers a great street racing experience, and Forza offers a great motor sport experience, releasing both this year would allow Microsoft to fill the racing void on the Xbox 360, as well as double team against Sony’s Gran Turismo 5. It’s been confirmed it will come on two discs as it has so much content, it’s been in development since 2007 and we’re due an announcement any time now.
8. Gears of War 2 Story Expansion
Joshua Ortega hinted at a Gears 2 story expansion many moons ago, perhaps a locust campaign, or maybe following what happened to Cole and Baird before they were reunited with Delta squad, who knows? But the Gears 2 ending left alot to be desired and this may fill that gap.
7. Halo Chronicles
Announced in 2006, what has happened to the Halo Chronicles? Rumoured to be down loadable Halo stories, originally conceived by Bungie, with your choices effecting the way the game pans out. Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Interactive, the developers of the game, were still hiring in 2008 so the project may still be on the wall.
6. Kingdom Hearts 3 coming to Xbox 360 (and other platforms)
Based on Square and Microsoft’s close new relationship and Kingdom Hearts 3 being highly anticipated, it would make sense for Square to debut it on the Xbox 360. We’re not saying it will be Xbox 360 exclusive, it will most likely be on PS3 as well, but we’re saying that Square will first show it at Microsoft’s E3 conference, much like last year when they showcased Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant and Star Ocean: TLH.
5. Final Fantasy 13 (and versus) coming to Xbox 360 in Japan
Based on the massive success (by Xbox in Japans standards) of the previous Square RPG’s on the Xbox 360 in Japan, it can be guaranteed Microsoft has negotiated Final Fantasy 13 to come to Xbox 360 in Japan. If brand new IPs like The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery can sell hundreds of thousands in Japan, then the crown jewel of Japenese RPGs could probably sell a million Xbox 360’s all by itself. As well as Final Fantasy 13 it is also likely Microsoft would have negotiated Final Fantasy Versus 13 to come to Xbox 360 aswell due to the same reasons as the main game.
4. Crackdown 2
The original Crackdown was a massive commercial success, probably because it had the Halo 3 beta included, but a lot of the people who bought it just for the beta actually ended up enjoying the game, and Microsoft like money, so a sequel can be guaranteed. Very recently it was rumoured that ‘Ruffian Games’, formed by some key people from Real Time worlds who worked on Crackdown, is working on the sequel. Real Time Worlds confirmed that Microsoft has approached them over a Crackdown 2, but they were too busy so Microsoft may have turned to Ruffian games.
3. Project ego/Dimitri/X (Molyneuxs next project)
Molyneux first told us about Project X nearly 7 years ago, and has recently been adding to the speculation during post Fable 2 interviews saying that “I’ve planted the flag so far away, if my team even gets half way it will be amazing”. Now with Fable 2 out of the way, Project X is the only game currently known to be in development at Lionhead and an announcement should be coming very soon.
2. Halo 4
Based on the pattern of a new main Halo game being released 3 years after the previous, and the announcement coming the E3 the year prior to release, our next game is coming 2010.. and our announcement is coming E3 2009. And before anyone says anything otherwise, Microsoft have made $5billion from the Halo franchise, do you honestly think they’re going to wait much longer before they can get another game out? Microsoft have had many job offerings for people to work on a new Halo project, most recently someone to work on the online stat tracking. It has also been rumoured that Gearbox Software are working on the next Halo game. Microsoft blatantly offering jobs to work on the new Halo and Gearbox hinting that they’re working on a ’sequel to one of the biggest franchises of all time’, work on Halo4 is definitely in motion somewhere.
1. Zune HD
The Zune HD is rumoured to be able to play Xbox games, whether it is similar to remote play between the PS3 and PSP, or maybe just that you can gain achievements on Zune games with your XBL gamertag, it would still be Microsoft’s foray into portable gaming, and this makes the top of our top 10 at E3 list.
If you think we missed anything that you think (or hope) is coming at E3, please leave us a comment.
********************************************************************
Seems like a level headed list to me, except for FF. The most realistic things on the list are Forza, Crackdown(cannot wait to hear whats coming from this series), Gears expansion, Lionhead announcement, and Zune HD. If Halo 4 is announced with some video, I will be in heaven, but I am not holding my breath.
.
