E3 is once again upon us. Announcements will be made, and Nintendo will do doubt use the show to outline some of its plans for the future. The anticipation is part of the fun, so we're looking into our crystal ball to predict some of Nintendo's next moves.
More Amiibos On The Way
This is a no-brainer. Amiibos have been very successful for
Nintendo, so much so the company has a hard time keeping up with the demand.
While that isn't winning Nintendo any points with fans, they're still selling
out fast with every new wave. We suspect Nintendo is going to capitalize on
this even more at E3, announcing a new wave or two. We wouldn't be surprised if
a new line was attached to Zelda or Star Fox. Furthermore, Nintendo could also
do more with Amiibo cards, which they introduced with Animal Crossing Happy
Home Designer. These portable cards contain Amiibo functionality, and
Nintendo is likely to use them for more than just Animal crossing. We expect
more franchises to be featured in Amiibo cards.
An Amiibo-Centric Game
As mentioned, Amiibos have been popular and selling well for
Nintendo, but the company still hasn't found a way to make good use of them in games. We've
seen more titles, such as Yoshi's Woolly World, Chibi Robo Zip Lash,
and Splatoon, support Amiibos. We wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo tried to
capitalize on their popularity even more by finding some creative way to put
them all into a game. Knowing Nintendo, it would probably have something to do with
minigames...or who knows, it could be something completely different.
Zelda Will Make Some Sort of Appearance
Nintendo already said The Legend of Zelda Wii U won't be
making an appearance at E3, but we think we'll at least get a new trailer. It
just doesn't feel right to have an E3 without some sort of Zelda news. Who
knows? This could also mean a new handheld Zelda for the 3DS. Let's face it; Link's
adventures aren't ending anytime soon.
A Wii U Price Drop
It's no secret that the Wii U has struggled to sell. Nintendo
needs to give people incentive to purchase it. New
IP and new iterations in popular franchises are great, but the best way to get
people reaching for their wallets is a price drop and/or a good bundle. The Wii
U has been out for three years now, and this seems like an opportune time to draw
some more interest to it.
More Splatoon Content Arriving
Time will tell what sales are like for Splatoon, but the
new IP from Nintendo certainly generated a lot of buzz and positive reception, currently
holding an 81 on Metacritic. Outside of a chat feature, the biggest complaint
from reviewers was not having enough content. Nintendo is promising free post-launch
content to support the game, such as new stages, weapons, and a ranked battle
mode called Tower Control. Nintendo confirmed a major update is set to go live in
August, so it's likely we'll see some of that showcased at E3. This update
promises functionality for four players to team up and battle other teams, the
ability to create private eight-player matches, new items, and another new
ranked battle mode, Rainmaker. We also predict Nintendo will spend way too much
time talking about all of this.
Miyamoto's Projects Get Real Names And Release Dates
Last E3, Miyamoto showed off two projects still early in
development dubbed Project Guard and Project Giant Robot. Both focused on the use of the GamePad – something
not all Wii U games have been great at incorporating. Project Guard was all about micromanaging
a security guard in a sci-fi base, while Project Robot had you fighting robots and messing around with physics. We expect Nintendo will let more out of the bag on
both these projects, giving them proper names and release dates.
Coming Up Next: Animal Crossing, new games, and more DLC...