E3 is a special time for fans of the industry. A time when the future seems brightest and our hopes have yet to be dashed by server issues, lack of content, or review scores. It’s a time when every game coming could be a hit and surprises could be waiting for us at every press conference.
So as we prepare and plan for mid-June and the warm Los Angeles weather, here are our best hopes and wishes for E3 2016.
Austin: 
I just wanna see some more of that sweet, sweet Persona 5, baby.
It’s been a while since I’ve been very interested in Zelda, but as one of the world’s eighteen Wii U owners, I’ve gotta be optimistic about this one. Between the aforementioned Persona and some other confirmed titles like Star Ocean, I Am Setsuna, and of course Final Fantasy XV, it’s looking like a good E3 for a weeb like me. I’d love to see some Nier: Automata gameplay this year, especially since Platinum’s latest game was… not so great. As someone who played a lot of Watch Dogs for some reason, some hope for a better sequel would be really welcome. Alternatively, I’d love to see Mafia III come out swinging, especially since we could use some more protagonists of color in this industry. Really though, my brightest hope for E3 is to hear someone talk about FFXV using the phrase “boy’s trip.”
Ryan:
Jeez. What do I expect from E3? Well, not a whole lot right now. Last year I was mostly blown away by games I didn’t expect, and I generally don’t anticipate a whole lot out of E3 beforehand…I like surprises! There are a few games I’d like to see of more of- namely Persona 5 and seeing if Sony actually delivers on the hype-fest they dropped on us last year…or even ups the ante with more info about Kingdom Hearts 3. In addition, I wanna know if Bethesda can deliver for the second year in a row with how strong their first conference was last year. However, there’s a few newer things I’d like to see, although most are just speculation at this point. Stuff like, maybe a new Alan Wake game or a Wolfenstein sequel, which, admittedly seems unlikely since Doom just came out. Whatever the case, I’m looking forward to E3 just to see what shakes out- if there’s anything half as disastrous as EA and Ubisoft were last year, I’ll consider it a success.
Scott:
Man, I really don’t know what to expect at this point. I want an update on what Kojima’s working on. Chances are we won’t hear anything so soon, but considering not too long ago they talked about how their logo was an actual character, anything goes at this point. Fingers crossed for an announcement, let alone a trailer.
I also hope the new Legend of Zelda game is good, and considering there’s going to be an 8 hour stream of it, we might have a pretty decisive idea of how that game is. I still don’t own a Wii U, and if the NX is a real substantial upgrade, then God willing I never will. I also really wanna see more of the Final Fantasy 7 remake… despite my long and sordid history with the original.
I’m also expecting a lot of VR so if you weren’t tired of it yet then hooooo boy.
Michael:
Out of every E3 the biggest impressions are always made by games I didn’t know were coming. Cuphead, No Man’s Sky, and Horizon: Zero Dawn all suddenly appeared and wowed at press conferences. PS4 and Xbox One have finally hit their stride with two solid years of releases but the impending potential of a hardware change means changes are afoot. With possibly only one E3 remaining to launch games for current hardware I hope to see a slew of game developers reaching their potential. New games, new franchises, and solid information from games we’ve only been teased about up until now.
Last Guardian, Horizon, Sea of Thieves, Wild, and Zelda are all games that could really impress but I’m tired of seeing E3 demos with nothing to show for it. This E3 should be all about next year while fulfilling the promises from previous years.
Ashley:
As E3 has changed in size so have the games that have shared the main stage with the likes of Halo, Uncharted, and Fallout 4. Seeing a new quirky game like Cuphead or Broforce surprise me is always a lot of fun. Even though I’m not sure about many of my bigger hopes, namely Bully 2, I’m confident that there will be a diamond in the rough of corporate speak and talk about soccer cards.
I also hope that Nintendo has something to show me that may bring me back into its family friendly fold. The new Legend of Zelda has my interest but I want something that will really jump out and grab me. I’m not quite sure what it is but Splatoon and Mario Maker have me looking wistfully on lands I thought I had given up on.
Niall:
This is about as excited going into an E3 as I’ve been for years. Usually there’s one or two games we already know about that I’m pumped to see, but this year, there’s a lot of ’em. I’m crossing my bony ol’ fingers that we finally get to see gameplay from Detroit: Become Human, and that they don’t decide to hold off on showcasing the game until Paris Games Week. And I mean, hey, we gotta get my boy David Cage up on stage again.
But I’m looking forward to more than just the return of the king- we should finally get to see what’s up with the English translation of Persona 5, as well as Zero Time Dilemma. We should get a look at- and maybe even a hands on with ReCore, so that could be cool. There’s a lot of potential for catastrophe too- Watch Dogs 2, Shenmue 3, the Final Fantasy VII remake and the potential for EA to trot Pele and Tha Hoop Gawd out for twenty minutes each all loom over the show. As for new announcements, I’d love for Ubisoft to show me something, anything, that has some semblance of a soul. It doesn’t need to be Child of Light, but, c’mon, toss me a bone for once. If I’m really being selfish, a new Skate or SSX wouldn’t go astray either, EA. Well, unless you go grimdark like you did the last time we hit the slopes. I still haven’t forgiven you.
John:
My big E3 hope is that we have a good time.
BUT NAH REALLY, my hope is that I’m surprised and intrigued by software. I’m a bit worried that this E3 will be light on news since Microsoft seems to be dropping a console half-step on us and Nintendo/Sony are waiting a month to talk about their new machines. I desperately want to see something that makes me say “wow” at this show so Tokyo Game Show isn’t all that’s on my mind. I’ll keep in tune with the choir by mentioning Persona 5, Cuphead, and Horizon: Zero Dawn, but I’m also crossing my fingers that we’ll get more New Danganronpa V3 details (unless, again, that’s for TGS). I also read somewhere that CD Projekt Red has something ready for E3 that isn’t Cyberpunk, which I’m excited for.
No matter what, I’m sure it’ll be a good time, and since we have no masters this time around, Chooch will bring the heat and the fresh opinions to you at a fast and hard rate!
