Topic: E3 2021 Predictions!!!

@GrailUK Well, not that I'm negative, other than slightly miffed about the short Direct and single shot Treehouse session, but I'm just expecting nothing, so as not to be completely disappointed. Hoping for stuff, for sure, but not counting on anything, like some people are...

@Dogorilla Well, I meant the Direct in combination with just a single day of Treehouse, instead of the usually somewhat longer Directs, and three Treehouse days, so all in all, it's rather minor, compared to previous years. And looking at the other parties, they are having presentations of well over an hour, so in comparison it is disappointing, because you can only cram so much in 40 minutes, and knowing Nintendo, they'll start off with a large segment of their most important or imminent game, and then only show a bunch of rushed trailers/teasers of other stuff.

But I guess we'll find out soon enough. I've taken the weekdays off, so I'm going to follow all of the events live as they happen. With my attention divided across all platforms, I'll at least be assured of some interesting titles to appear, in case a single platform disappoints...

@EOTW In their case, what with they've promised us so far, it probably might very well be that.

@ThanosReXXX Past years had directs that were like.. 5 minutes longer. 40 minutes is still a lot of time to cover a bunch of games, especially if they rapid fire through them, like they usually do. The treehouse being 3 hours is mainly trimming the fat, since they would repeat showing the same content and games during TreeHouse live. I don't really think there's that much to worry about. If the direct was 25 minutes or something, and the TreeHouse 1 hour, then I'd agree with you.

@VoidofLight Last year, we've had three Treehouse days, totalling an amount of well over 16 hours, so only one session this year is a HUGE downgrade. As for rapid firing titles: Nintendo typically only does that in the second part of their Direct. The first part has been very slow and VERY long in the last two years. Last year, it was the Smash Bros marathon, explaining ALL new characters and ALL their moves.

I found it agonizingly boring and it took up almost two-thirds of the ENTIRE Direct.

But, as I mentioned in my previous comment: it is the COMBINATION of it all, so a single Treehouse day and a shorter Direct, and far as we know only a few (unknown/not yet completely confirmed) titles to announce, meaning that there will more than likely once again be one title that will occupy/take over the bulk of their Direct.

They just don't understand how to get the cart rolling and how to create actual hype anymore. At least all the other parties actually still know how to take care of that at E3...

Well, at least: maybe not Ubisoft. If they start this year's presentation with yet another extended Just Dance event, I'm definitely going to punch somebody...

@ThanosReXXX Personally I'm fine with Treehouse being shorter. Normally there's too much for me to watch it all, and it's not really worth watching it all anyway because they go over the same games several times. It is surprising that they're only doing three hours this year but I'm hoping that's because it'll be more focused than usual and not because they have nothing to show. And even if it's a slightly disappointing Direct (like the one you mentioned where they went way overboard with Smash Bros*) I'm sure there'll be at least some exciting reveals, so I'm looking forward to it.

*Just to be pedantic, I think you're misremembering that one slightly. It was 2018, not last year, and it was mostly returning characters they were talking about. They went over each character and mentioned what was different about them compared to the previous games, even if it was just things like 'Wii Fit Trainer's face looks a bit different'. Either way, I agree, it was an unnecessary amount of detail that took up far too much time, as much as I love Smash.

@Dogorilla True, Treehouse events are mostly play sessions of games they announced in the Direct or before the Direct, but seeing as they usually drop the odd surprise in there, that they didn't show in the Direct (well, at least: they did so in the previous two editions of E3), I still watch them anyway.

Well.... watch: I have them playing in the background, while I'm eyeing my daily TV programs with the other. In that case, if something interesting does pop up, I'll at least be able to catch it instantly.

As for Smash: no worries, I'm not offended in the least, and I could very well have mixed up the dates in my head. It's probably because it's still such a vivid memory. Other memories of first halves of Directs that were WAAAAY too long bring back images of a Woolly Yoshi, explaining in full detail how the ACTUAL Woolly Yoshi was made... Yawn... errr... I mean yarn....

@cmbaum Nintendo always says their Directs are "focusing on X time period in the near future", but it's quite common to see information on games that are further away. There will most likely be 1 or 2 announcements for 2022 games in there, and if BotW is within a year of release we should get a blowout on the game this year regardless of whether or not it's a late 2021 or early 2022 game. And the fact that Aonuma promised us we'd see the game this year implies that it probably is that close to release.

@ThanosReXXX Count how many of those 16 hours were them covering the same game and same stuff from the game over and over. You'd get probably around 3 hours of them covering actual new stuff, and not double dipping.

Also, again, I don't get how 40 minutes = short direct. 45 minutes is the literal amount of time the other e3 directs were. 5 minutes shorter isn't really much of a difference..

@VoidofLight Let's not dwell on details: it's my personal opinion/sentiment after all. No one said you had to agree with it. And again: you're only focusing on one part of my comment, but I explicitly said that it's not JUST about the Direct, it's the entire combination of things which seems like a downgrade from earlier E3's.
I could be wrong, of course, but for now, with what we know, it definitely seems that way to me.

As for Treehouse sessions being a repeat-a-thon: sometimes, but definitely not all the time. Over the last three years, they've featured plenty of variety, and saying that there's only about 3 hours of new or different titles on average is an over-exaggeration, to say the least. Remember: I watch ALL of them ALL the time, so I should know...

On a side note, and another thing you missed: I also meant short presentation in regards to the other parties, something I actually mentioned in my initial comment. Microsoft for example, is doing a presentation of an hour and a half, and Sony will probably do something similar for their "we're not going to be at E3" presentation. So, in general, Nintendo is at around half that time with their presentation, and contrary to the other two parties, they usually use a large part of that 40 - 45 minutes for one single game, which in my opinion is a waste of time and a shame, because they could use it to show SO much more, spreading out titles more evenly.

But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, so who knows? Only 8 days left until E3 starts, so we'll find out soon enough, I guess...

@ThanosReXXX @VoidofLight At times I’ve found that a 40 minute Direct was packed with more meaningful content than a 50 minute one. E3 2018 was one example because of the heavy emphasis on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The discontent at it being 40 minutes is jarring. Not aimed at you two but in general. That’s a flaw of the human; complacency and entitlement. I’m grateful we have a Direct and even though Treehouse time’s been cut down I feel like it’s appropriate, because some people like me, may try to watch the whole thing.

@TheJGG I feel like e3 2018 is probably a bad example, since the only people really happy about that direct were the smash fans who were hyped over more info for the game. However, I still feel as if 40 minutes is enough time for multiple new games, and some old games, given that most e3 directs are 45 minutes.

@VoidofLight Precisely. The thing with this Direct though is that there’s little to be built upon. For example in March 2019 we were shown a teaser for Link’s Awakening, in September 2019 we were teased Xenoblade DE, in E3 2019 we were teased the Breath of the Wild sequel, and in February 2021 we were shown as Splatoon 3. Almost everything in that Direct save for Splatoon 3 has been pretty much done and dusted.

I rewatched a bit of that one and it makes me even more confident we’ll see the Breath of the Wild sequel.

@TheJGG I have no doubts we'll see BotW 2. We were promised more info this year, and e3 is probably the best time to talk about it.

Also, the potential of this direct honestly makes me excited for possible new game reveals. There hasn't been much revealed ahead of time, and the direct has no focus like previous years did. I feel like Skyward Sword HD will probably get a brief mention, if anything at all, given that they already announced the big amiibo tie-in that's released with the game, and the fact that they've been talking about the game on twitter all month. They also cleared up some of their smaller announcements out of the way through the month, like Mario Golf and Game Builder's Garage.

I do have to agree on the lack of repeat content point. The only upcoming games we know about are:
Splatoon 3, Project Triangle Strategy - Almost certain to not show up
Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, BotW2, SMT V - We know basically nothing, so showing up is tantamount to a new reveal
No More Heroes 3 - This is perhaps the only middle level reveal. One that we already know quite a bit about, but could easily add a good deal more.
Digimon Survive, NEO:TWEWY, Skyward Sword HD, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Pokemon BDSP, Pokemon Legends - These are the six titles likely to not show us much new but take time up anyways. Far less than usual.
DLC/Updates (Hyrule Warriors, Mario Golf, Smash, Animal Crossing)
Tony Hawk, Disgaea 6, Ys IX, Lego Star Wars, Pillars of Eternity II, Ni No Kuni II, Rune Factory V - This pile is likely to be relegated to the quickies section at the end.

That's basically every known, non-indie title that could show up and won't be released by E3. Counting the titles in the E3 2019 direct gave a count of 23 repeat titles from previous directs (including almost 8 minutes for Smash). The total list of titles that could show up this year above is only 20, 18 likely the max, 15-16 being a more probably estimate. It's also quite likely we'll only get 1 smash reveal here, instead of both remaining ones.

And finally, E3 2019 ran for... 43 minutes total. Which means it's possible it'll have been shorter than this one (Nintendo always underestimates direct times).

So, from a mathematical perspective, it's most probably that this Direct will have more new content than the 2019 direct, despite the possibly shorter runtime.

EDIT: Actually, as I dig into this, I'm finding that 2018 and 2019 were both announced to be 40 minute presentations... and 2017s was only 25 minutes (possibly?). Where did them announcing 45 minutes come from?

Just looking for BOTW 2 info. I go into E3 with no expectations and always have a good time. Will have to get inventive for bingo cards this year to track the meltdowns. Besides. I am drowning in games I can’t beat what I have let alone buy more.

I’m kinda hoping for more fighting games/content though.

@link3710 I believe I got the 45 minutes thing mixed up with General directs that did 45 minutes. At least we know that the e3 direct is the same length as all the others.

Thing is I can see the E3 Direct not including Pokemon and Zelda as they could have their own Directs plus possibly some other publishers will wanna have their games in their own presentations which frees up time for Ninty’s own games.

Now with this month having 3 retail releases I do reckon the games this year will be stacked otherwise why didn’t they just delay one of those games by a month so I’m expecting at least a game a per month for the rest of the year.

So 40ish minutes is enough time for 6/7 new games the size of a new Kirby, WarioWare, Bayonetta for this year, as well as updates about DLC plus having a marquee title like say Donkey Kong to get the hype going.

Regardless of Treehouse only being a day or the Direct isn’t 3 hours long I’m optimistic about the quantity of games for this year and Zelda, MP4 might be panty droppers but I’d be just as happy if there are “lesser” titles like Star Fox, Fire Emblem or Fatal Frame for this year.

@jump I agree with the Pokemon thing, since that's mostly what they've done aside from getting brief mentions in the directs themselves. Zelda on the other hand, could probably show up, seeing as it has in the past.. and I'm kind of doubting we'll get a Zelda 35th direct.

@VoidofLight I’m 50/50 on Zelda. They should have given details over for AOC DLC already so they are holding that back, it could be for the E3 Direct but it seems too close to its release date to announce it properly for E3 but if they are wrapping it together with a Zelda Direct I could see it.

I’m any case I’m not just after BOTW2, I’m looking for some great games in general.

@jump Yeah, they could probably do something with the Age of Calamity DLC before e3, and maybe a Zelda direct.. but I could also see it fitting in well with them announcing gameplay for BotW 2, given that Age of Calamity is a part of the BotW "series".

Also, that's fair. I'm honestly looking forwards to seeing more about Zelda, but at the same time.. I honestly can't wait to see what they have in general. I really want to see if there's a new WarioWare coming or not, since that's probably one of my favorite Nintendo series. The talks of a 3D Kirby game is also pretty interesting, even though I probably won't play it, due to being burnt out on the series by Star Allies.

Given that The Last Guardian was released in 2016, I think there's a fair chance we'll see Ueda's new game.