12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They’ll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting Them

E3 is a place where dreams come true. Many announcements have been dropped on those hallowed stages that have shaken the hearts of fans. Let’s get shaken once more. Here are our dream announcements that may or may not happen! Do you agree?

 

 

Fate/stay night Official English Localisation, Backed by Sony as a New Vita Initiative

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It fate-stay-night-realta-nua

 

Why it’d be great

We’ve received a few Fate games in the west, but oddly never the actual, original game. It first released on PC, but has since spawned many re-releases, sequels, and spin-offs. If you’re wondering what the deal is with the series, check out our guide. Not only is it one of the most famous visual novels out there, but it’d also make it way easier to get into the daunting series if this was available officially in English in some form or another. And who better to help with this than Sony themselves? You thought they’d forgotten about Vita? Too bad. They’re back, supporting the platform tenfold with this, and a slew of other niche releases.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

A Vita port of the game already came out in Japan in 2012. It would have been the perfect opportunity to bring it west. But, instead, they decided to settle with only having Extra available in English at that point. It just doesn’t seem like a priority for some inexplicable reason. Maybe there’s a boring excuse like they lost the source code and it would be too expensive to re-engineer.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

Well, Fate/Extella has been a pretty big deal. For a time, Fate/Extra was the biggest chance to play Fate in English. Extella is a direct follow-on to Extra’s story. Not only has Extella released on PS4 and Vita, but it’s even getting a Switch port soon. There’s a commitment to keeping the series going, so what better time is there to reach back and show us where it all began? Also, my uncle is Kinoko Nasu and he says it is definitely going to happen.

 

Retro Studio’s New Metroid Game

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It Samus_acquires_Missile_Launcher

 

Why it’d be great

Metroid fans are so thirsty for something new. Anything, really. Retro are the developers who breathed fresh new life into the Metroid series. Prime, as a series, was one of the most surprisingly successful 2D to 3D series transitions there’s ever been. The original Metroid games were so definitively 2D, and Prime was somehow so definitively 3D, yet felt the same. No matter where Metroid goes from here, it’d be safe in Retro’s demonstrably loving hands — be it Prime-style, or something more along the lines of their fantastic rebirth of the Donkey Kong Country series.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Since Metroid Prime 3, Retro have been pretty much devoted to the Donkey Kong Country series. To top that off, all Nintendo seems to have been able to offer in terms of Metroid lately has been the double disappointment whammy of Metroid Other M followed by Metroid Prime Federation Force. If they really wanted to reassure fans Metroid was still on track, then they should have announced something Metroid being in-development well before now.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

Retro are definitely working on something. Since the Switch release there are still a lot of big Nintendo franchises that are up in the air. We know about ZeldaMarioFire Emblem, and Splatoon, but that’s about it. If The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Odyssey show anything, it’s that Nintendo are currently very willing to revitalise some of their oldest series. So, something Metroid very well could happen, but it might not be as simple as just “a new Metroid Prime“. My other uncle is CEO of Retro, and he has told me this is absolutely what they are working on.

 

Mother 3 Localisation, Though

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It Lucas

 

Why it’d be great

Because we already know it would be great. There’s been a fan translation of Mother 3 kicking around for a long time, and it’s pretty great. Fans are mostly unanimous too that Mother 3 is a pinnacle of not just the series, but of JRPGs. But, not everyone wants to fiddle around with fan translations on patched ROMs. Many people simply won’t come across it if that’s the only method. It wouldn’t only be great to have Mother 3 get an official English localisation in the west, but it’d be great to see a strong commitment to the future of the series from Nintendo. Why is the Mother series so great? Check out our recent Mother retrospective!

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Mother 3 came out in 2006. 11 years ago. Nintendo aren’t exactly in the habit of releasing brand new translations for games over a decade old. Even with the inclusion of Lucas in recent Smash Bros. games, they’ve not really felt the need to revive the game he’s actually in. It would just seem a little unbelievable to think that, of all things fans have been constantly asking for, they would choose to buckle and hand it over now.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

It might not have been the Mother 3 announcement we were hoping for, but Nintendo have previously made a further commitment to the Earthbound series in the west when they released the orginal Mother as Earthbound Beginnings as a Wii U Virtual Console game. That was the first time it was ever released in the west. Sure, the translation already existed, and had simply never been published (it was too close to the release of the SNES). But, a commitment to the series is there. With successes of quirky, indie RPGs lately — most noticeably Undertale — everyone is primed to embrace Mother once more. My other, other uncle is close friends with series creator, Shigesato Itoi, and gives me a thumbs up on this one.

 

Something New from tri-Ace That Isn’t Star Ocean or a Mobile Game, and Is Good

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It Resonance of Fate

 

Why it’d be great

First creating the Star Ocean series in 1996, tri-Ace have also been responsible for many creative and unique other JRPG projects too. They might not be mega huge releases, but many tri-Ace games have a special place in many hearts. Be it Resonance of Fate, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, or even some of their work on the last two games in the Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy. They’re a talented bunch, respected in the industry. The last Star Ocean was okay, but nothing too great. They’ve shown they’re capable of coming up with some new, innovative ideas — so it’d be great to see them striking out truly fresh.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Something new can be a big risk, and with the last Star Ocean, Integrity and Faithlessness, not being that well received, it’s a risk they might not be in the position to take right now, sadly. It seems that tri-Ace have mainly been relying on working on some Japanese exclusive mobile games lately.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

A re-release of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time just came out on PS4, so it might be a good time to cash in on some of that goodwill. There’s also not a wealth of JRPGs of the scale tri-Ace usually make — slightly smaller, but packed with charm. With the right publisher backing, potentially from a platform holder, someone could be getting a unique exclusive. Microsoft in particular are hurting for exclusives, moreso after the cancellation of Scalebound; or Sony could crown themselves the JRPGs kings after Persona 5‘s well-deserved success. Tri-Ace is a pretty safe bet to help someone out with something new, even if it’s co-developed. One of my uncles was a programmer on the second and fourth Star Ocean games, and has tipped me off they’re one to keep an eye on.

 

Nintendo Switch Virtual Console

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It super_mario_bros.0

 

Why it’d be great

There’s pretty much no point in filling this section in. You all know why a Nintendo Switch Virtual Console would be great. Of all the current platform holders, Nintendo is the oldest — with a back catalogue packed to the brim with some of the best games literally ever made. None of these are currently available on Nintendo’s latest platform, despite a Vitual Console existing on 3DS and Wii U. Time to step it up.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Repeatedly all Nintendo have said about the Virtual Console on Switch is “we have nothing to announce on this topic”. Their new monthly subscription service, not launching until 2018, will provide access to a constant library of (at first) only NES games. This could be the VC’s successor, and a weaker one at that. They’ve not done a very good job at communicating how classic games will come to Switch at all. Perhaps because they don’t know.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

Because Nintendo have access to so many great old games! It’d be foolish to not offer them on Switch. It would… it’d be… unbelievable… right? That can’t happen… right? Look at… look at NEOGEO! There’s a whole bunch of NEOGEO arcade games available on Switch. Surely… surely Nintendo can’t ignore this any longer… right…? My Uncle Reggie has had to calm me down frequently by telling me this is going to happen.

 

A New Silent Hill, with a New Creative Pedigree. That’s Right, Either Shinji Mikami, Makoto Shibata, or Both of Them.

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It silent-hills-2

 

Why it’d be great

There will always be a PT shaped hole in my heart. But Silent Hill is a great series, and if Kojima isn’t able to make his Silent Hills vision a reality, then maybe someone else with some prestige should step up to the plate. Maybe that’s the kind of series Silent Hill should become, something a lot of different creators can have a crack at, the vision of what the games should be shifting slightly between each instalment. For now, though, we’d love to see what the creators of Resident Evil or Fatal Frame/Project Zero would make of the Silent Hill series.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

PT was the ultimate hype machine. Everyone was so enamoured with it, and the prospect of a Kojima x Toro x Ito collaboration, that when Konami brutally severed ties with Hideo, they may as well have been putting a bullet through the head of the franchise. This wasn’t a mercy, behind-the-back-of-the-shed, killing — this was a brutal public execution. Can it ever bounce back? Shinji Mikami, the original Resident Evil creator, would be luxurious — but he’s probably working on a sequel to The Evil Within with Bethesda. Shibata on the other hand…

 

Why it kinda could though…?

Konami don’t really seem to care what the public think all that much. Metal Gear Survive is happening, after all. On top of that, Resident Evil 7 just wowed everyone by revitalising that particular series, showing some long running horror series still have legs (even if you need to sew them back on). In fact, there’s never been a riper time to relaunch Silent Hill. With the right pedigree making it, many could forgive PT‘s unceremonious implosion. None of my uncles know about this one, unfortunately.

 

Skies of Arcadia Remaster

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It soa_108

 

Why it’d be great

Skies of Arcadia is still one of the best JRPGs ever made, especially the tweaked and refined GameCube version, Skies of Arcadia Legends. It needs to make the jump to current platforms so it can be rediscovered by a whole new audience. The old game is pretty rare these days on both platforms. Too many people simply haven’t experienced the game, or even had the opportunity. Only then can we start talking about a Skies of Arcadia 2, right?

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Back in 2010, Sega began to re-release some of their older titles, with their brand manager at the time saying that Skies of Arcadia and Shenmue would likely follow. These never materialised. Since then, they’ve never really acknowledged anything further happening with the series. Even though there have been a few cameos, such as the gorgeous Skies of Arcadia stage in Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed. The silence on bringing the series forward may be telling.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

Sega has had some big successes with Bayonetta and Vanquish coming to PC. On top of that, we know Shenmue HD is a thing that will be happening. Sega definitely seem to be reevaluating some of their older gems, and are making a concerted effort to no longer put them to waste. Jet Set Radio is on PC (Future soon, please), Shenmue HD is finally coming, surely that means Skies of Arcadia on the cloudy horizon somewhere, right? My uncle who works in a GAME told me that there used to be debug units of the Xbox 360 that had a build of a Skies of Arcadia HD on it too, so there’s that.

 

Final Fantasy IX Remake

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It FFIX

 

Why it’d be great

Final Fantasy IX took the lessons learned from VII and VIII and seemed to apply it to more of an old-school Final Fantasy vibe. It straddled the vibes of both the true classic Final Fantasy games and the slightly more modern PlayStation era, and in a sense perfected them. It’s still a beautiful looking game thanks to the visual styling, and has one of the best stories in the series. A lot of Final Fantasy games have been, and are being, revisited — but this one really deserves it.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Square Enix are super busy at the moment. Leave them be for now. As much as we want it, we’ll probably just have to wait. Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age aren’t even out yet. On top of that, Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood is just about to release, and they’re still hard at work trying to finish Final Fantasy XV months after release. Final Fantasy surely still has a long life ahead of it, hopefully including something new for IX, but now just doesn’t seem to be its time to shine.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

With that said… XII Zodiac Age and Stormblood are literally just about to release. That’s going to free up some space. Square Enix do have a history now of doing fairly big remaster jobs for some of the old Final Fantasy games. I’m not saying we’ll definitely get a IX Remake announcement this time around, but we could expect some kind of long term plan for carrying forward legacy Final Fantasy games into the future. Even if it’s some boring looking slide that says in a tiny, sans-serif font “2019 – Final Fantasy IX Remake“, then I will be satiated for now. My other, other, other uncle doesn’t agree with this one, as he thinks IX is trash, but he liked XIII on release anyway so I wouldn’t believe him.

 

Swery65 x Suda51 Collab Project

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It Swery 65 Suda 51
Both of them posing with a fan in Croatia.

 

Why it’d be great

These two auteurs have their own distinctive style that, to my mind, would perfectly compliment one another (as long as they remain creatively on equal terms). There’s honestly not that much to say about this. If you love their games, then you know what I mean. I don’t care what it is. A rail shooter, a hack and slash, an adventure game. These two guys need to come together and make something awesome.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

To be honest, it’d be just too perfect. Not to mention both of the guys are, by the very nature of human life, just themselves. They seem to be hard at work on their own projects at the moment, and just haven’t given any indication yet that they’d be working on something together. Now just might not be the best time.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

They’re busy working on stuff… But nothing specific that I can name besides Suda 51’s The 25th Ward Remake. But that’s just a remake. He can’t be that busy with it, right? What if the two things they’re supposedly working on are actually… one thing? They seem like good enough friends for something like this to believably happen, and Suda 51 has worked with other well-known creators before, such as Shinji Mikami for the underrated Shadows of the Damned. My uncle, Junpei 78, knows these guys, and told me it’s pretty likely.

 

Pokémon Sun & Moon on Switch (Pokémon Stars, I Guess)

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It Pokemon Stars

 

Why it’d be great

Pokémon is the crowning glory of any Nintendo handheld. The Switch is one of the most glorious handhelds ever made, in that it’s a hybrid between being a home console and a portable one. The only true way to christen the handheld is with a version of the already fantastic Sun & Moon, right? Let’s tweak the promising mechanics of Sun & Moon into something truly special, and iron out those visuals too. It’s been a long time since the (rose-tinted) lovely visuals of the GameCube’s Pokémon Colosseum series graced these eyeballs.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Nintendo have been pretty sketchy on where they stand with the Switch as a home console or a handheld. That’s because they (quite rightly) want to sell as many 3DS units as possible. On top of that they just held a Pokémon Direct in which they announced the successor to Sun & MoonUltra Sun & Moon… also for 3DS. That was their time to announce Stars, and they definitively did not announce it. They doubled down on 3DS. Which makes sense for now, I guess.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

Why make your biggest announcements right before E3? The public outcry was pretty strong both before and after the Pokémon Direct. People really want Stars. For a lot of people, announcements of 3DS exclusives just make them sad it’s not coming to Switch. So, maybe they hear everyone loud and clear, and are just sitting on the announcement for a while while they ride that 3DS train as far as those little wheels will go. Don’t forget, they said the same thing about the Game Boy and DS that they’re now saying about the 3DS and Switch. Now could be the time. Or it could not. I asked one of my uncles if this could happen, and he snapped my 3DS in half. I don’t know if that meant yes or no though.

 

NieR Remake

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It Nier

 

Why it’d be great

Yep, please pay attention to the header of this one. That’s remake, and not remaster. Sure, the original NieR was pretty fun, but NieR: Automata seemed to really succeed in carrying out what felt like the original intentions for how NieR would ideally play. It doesn’t have to just take Automata’s mechanics wholesale — they can still feel different, but it could definitely use some tweaking. Alongside Drakengard, a lot of people missed out on NieR. It’s not even available digitally on PSN. And there’s the whole thing with the version differences (we only got one version of Japan’s original two). It needs to be revisited. Why was it such a great game? Here’s our retrospective on it!

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

They’ve already announced a reprint of NieR on PlayStation 3. It would seem a little silly to do that and then also announce a remake.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

Well, it would certainly annoy some people who rebought NieR on PlayStation 3, but if they were to announce a NieR remake now they’d still have soaked up that reprint money. Not to mention remakes and remasters take time. A reprint will certainly tide you over the year or two that may remain after this E3 announcement. My uncle is Yoko Taro, but even he wouldn’t tell me if this would happen or not.

 

PlayStation Vita 2

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It PlayStation Vita Persona 4

 

Why it’d be great

As lovely as the Switch may be, there are some titles that will always pledge alleigance to the PlayStation brand. Not to mention PlayStation’s sublime back catalogue, which the OG Vita already does a lovely job of making available (the JRPGs available on the thing are, frankly, astounding in number and quality). There may only be so much the Switch can do, so many of the Vita’s leftovers it can soak up. I’ll always feel a PlayStation shaped hole in my bag if the Vita must eventually leave us.

 

Why it’ll probably never happen

Sony pretty consistently go out of their way to avoid mentioning this still ongoing machine these days. It’s wildly regarded as a failure, home only to niche games, and hardly makes any physical sales this side of the globe. However unfair those accusations may be (Vita is home to some of the best games of recent times, and also stretches back to some of the most classic of classics from PS1), those are the hard numbers. When it comes to making new hardware, numbers count to the guys up top.

 

Why it kinda could though…?

No two ways about it, even though the Vita might not be mega popular in the west it still has a big following in Asian territories — as all of us here well know. It’s even been acknowledged by higher ups at Sony. Frankly, if they don’t take another stab at doing something handheld, then they’re leaving the handheld market bare for only Nintendo to compete (bizarrely) with themselves — 3DS vs Switch. The ball is in Sony’s court. Could this be the time…? My final uncle is actually a PlayStation Vita with a face. When I asked him if this could be true, he simply shed a tear.

 

12 Dream E3 2017 Announcements & Why They'll Probably Never Happen, but If They Do Happen Then We Deserve Recognition for Predicting It Reggie Time

 

Well, those are some of our dreams. But the question is… are they dreams… or premonitions? If any of these come true, then we’ll be sure to post about how clever we were for predicting these slim chances. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta believe.

 

What dreams are you holding onto for this E3?

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