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All Articles: E3 2016
Pikmin 4 is “hard to fit” into Nintendo’s list of priorities, but they haven’t forgotten about it
Pikmin 4 has been a tricky game to pin down. First announced in 2014 as part of a Shareholder Q&A, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto would go on to tell the media that it was “very close to completion” in September 2015. So what happened to it? In the ten months since, we’ve heard nothing about the next entry in the Pikmin franchise.
Thankfully, Game Rant tracked down Mr. Miyamoto at this year’s E3 Expo to ask him about Pikmin 4. Being his usual candid self, the famed developer confirmed the game is still in development, however, he also admitted that Nintendo has been having trouble fitting into their schedule:
“Yes, you are right, and we’re working on [Pikmin 4]. So, you know, when we’re in development we have to create a list of priorities and it has been hard to kind of fit that into that list, but we’re hopefully starting to see that on the list now.”
Pikmin 4 was originally announced for the Wii U, but with Nintendo’s NX console scheduled to launch in March 2017, it’s possible that Pikmin 4’s placement on the priority list could be a sign the game is moving to the new console. Nintendo has promised to reveal a bit more about the NX this Fall, but a one-two punch of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pikmin 4 would certainly help the new platform make a name for itself.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild named E3 2016’s “Best of Show” by Game Critics Awards
The Game Critics Awards has handed out their annual “Best of E3” honors for this year’s show, and unsurprisingly, Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was named “Best of Show.” The massive open-air game also took home awards for “Best Console Game” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
Even though Battlefield 1 secured the most nominations, only one other game was able to collect more than a single award, and that was Civilization VI, which was named “Best PC Game” and “Best Strategy Game.” This year’s “Special Commendation for Graphics” went to Sony’s God of War reboot.
All told, 13 games (and the PlayStation VR headset, which won for “Best Hardware”) were honored this year by the Game Critics Awards. The full list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham VR, Battlefield 1, Civilization VI, E3 2016, Final Fantasy XV, Forza Horizon 3, God of War 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Injustice 2, Inside, Skylanders Imaginators, Steep, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, TitanFall 2
Battlefield 1 blows away the competition with five nominations from Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2016
The Game Critics Awards has announced their annual Best of E3 nominations, and DICE’s Battlefield 1 has asserted its greatness with five nominations, including one for “Best of Show.” Battlefield 1’s other nominations include “Best Console Game,” “Best PC Game,” “Best Action Game,” and “Best Online Multiplayer.”
Five other games will compete with the historical shooter for top honors including Dishonored 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Sea of Thieves, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Titanfall 2. With four nominations apiece, Dishonored 2 and Horizon: Zero Dawn will surely provide some stiff competition for Battlefield 1.
The Game Critics Awards will announce the winners for Best of E3 2016 next Tuesday, July 5. A complete list of this year nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham VR, Battlefield 1, Civilization VI, Dishonored 2, E3 2016, Final Fantasy XV, Forza Horizon 3, God of War 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Injustice 2, Inside, Sea of Thieves, Skylanders Imaginators, Steep, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, TitanFall 2
Miyamoto: Nintendo hasn’t shared much about the NX because…
Nintendo has been extremely quiet about their upcoming NX console… even moreso than the notoriously tight-lipped company usually is. And though the NX is scheduled to launch in less than nine months, Shigeru Miyamoto explained to the Associated Press that that the reason for all the secrecy is because Nintendo has “an idea”:
“In terms of NX, there’s an idea that we’re working on. That’s why we can’t share anything at this point, and I don’t want to comment on the other companies. If it was just a matter of following advancements in technology, things would be coming out a lot quicker.”
Hopefully, we’ll learn more about Nintendo’s new idea when they reveal more about the NX later this year.
Shigeru Miyamoto wants to make a Zelda game starring Sheik
Nintendo fans got the chance to play as Sheik, Zelda’s ninja-like alter ego, for the first time outside of a Smash Bros. game in 2014’s Hyrule Warriors. Last week, legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto said he’d like to develop a game that shines an even brighter spotlight on the character.
Miyamoto revealed his desire to create the spinoff while speaking to Game Rant during the E3 Expo:
“Within the development team, too, there have been talks about how it might be cool to have a game that features Sheik as a protagonist. It’s having maybe a Zelda spin-off with Sheik as a protagonist, for example, I don’t think that’s an impossibility.”
Sheik made her first, and thus far only, canon appearance in the Zelda series in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. With The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild set to be released for the Wii U and NX sometime next year, any spinoff starring the character is likely to be quite far away.
Platinum Games would like to make another Bayonetta game
After the first Bayonetta released to tepid sales on the PS3 and Xbox 360, Nintendo leapt in to bring the sequel, Bayonetta 2, exclusively to the Wii U. Now, Platinum’s Hideki Kamiya is thinking about Bayonetta 3, and he’s got a plan in place if the developer ever gets a chance to do it.
Here’s what Kamiya told Polygon about the possibility of a third Bayonetta game at this year’s E3 Expo:
“To answer your question straightly, yes,” Kamiya said. “It’s actually something I’ve been thinking a lot about. We’ve talked a lot about it internally at the company and I’ve written some outlines for what the game would be. And I feel really confident it would be cool if we got the chance to make it.”
“Right now, we’re looking at opportunities… If that opportunity ever came up to make Bayonetta 3, that would be really, really cool.”
If we were discussing a congressional bill, this is the point where I’d tell you to call your congressman. But we’re not, we’re talking about a video game. However, in Bayonetta’s case, contacting your favorite publisher and asking for Bayonetta 3 might not be a bad idea. After all, Platinum was able to port the original Bayonetta to the Wii U alongside its sequel thanks to the devoted dedication of its fans.
Marvel has “quite a few” unannounced console games in the works
Disney Interactive may have turned out the lights for good last month, but the Mouse House’s Marvel Entertainment division is working hard to secure development deals with outside publishers. For proof, you only need to look back to last week’s E3 Expo and the reveal of an Insomniac-developed Spider-Man game exclusively for the PS4. But Marvel has also teamed up with Telltale Games for an episodic adventure game that is scheduled to launch next year.
But rather than immediately look to the future, Polygon was interested in the fate of 2011’s Marvel vs Capcom 3, and they asked Marvel Games Vice President Jay Ong about it at E3.
Ong admitted that Capcom’s license for the game has been expired since 2013, so a balancing update to Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 isn’t currently in the cards. But he also hinted at a possible rekindling of the partnership: “We love our fans and we certainly want to please them. Beyond that we can’t say anything at this time. But who knows what the future holds?”
And in an offhand aside, Ong also revealed that Marvel Games has “quite a few” unannounced games in the works:
Ong said Marvel Games has “lots of things in the works, quite a few in the console space that are unannounced.”
What is Marvel Games up to? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d be down for a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the tie-in game from 2009 was surprisingly fantastic.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2016, Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
NetherRealm’s Ed Boon still wants to do a fighting game starring “horror icons”
After Freddy Krueger’s post-launch inclusion in Mortal Kombat was announced back in 2011, Creative Director Ed Boon revealed that when he was employed by Midway, his team considered including characters such as Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, and Michael Myers in a special horror movie-themed entry in the series.
With three-fourths of his wishlist now playable in 2011’s Mortal Kombat or Mortal Kombat X, Game Informer once again pitched Boon on a fighting game filled with “horror icons” ahead of last week’s E3 Expo, and the famed developer still seems into it:
When asked about the possibility of using this trend of guest characters to throw them all together in one big horror icon showdown, Boon was not dismissive of the idea. “Yes, yes! You know, as we’ve been accumulating them, that idea has been coming up more and more frequently,” he says. “You brought it up and a few other people have brought it up like ‘why don’t you do a horror movie fighting game?’ Maybe one day we’ll do it.”
It’s five years later and I’d still sell my soul to make this game become a reality.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2016, Mortal Kombat X