User blog:Astrogamer/Road to E3: Part 1 - The Known Games

With E3 coming in a few weeks, it would be cool to highlight Nintendo stuff we might see in the Nintendo Spotlight and Treehouse Live. To start off with, we got to cover the games we know. Since the Spotlight is confirmed to be focusing Switch games, there shouldn't be any 3DS games in it, but they will be covered Treehouse Live

ARMS
Since this game is out a day after E3 ends, I'm not expecting this to show up in the Spotlight. The tournament is more suited to cover the game though it wouldn't be surprising to see this pop-up during the Treehouse Live. We likely are not getting anymore notable info aside from maybe the first DLC character, (with its release towards the end of the month)

Splatoon 2
Splatoon 2 is coming out a little over a month after E3 so, it isn't a surprise if this game shows up. We do know about the single player and Salmon Run but, for the multiplayer, it feels like we only know an inkling about it. There's a tournament during E3 and we only know the base level weapons really plus the few weapon types that be announced since its reveal. We also don't know what the modes are. I'm expecting a new trailer in the Nintendo Spotlight showing off new stages and new weapon types. During the Treehouse Live, I expect at least two sessions with the game with an announcement of the next Testfire being towards the end of June and early July.

Super Mario Odyssey
Since the game was included with Nintendo's press materials, this game seems like it will be the focus of the spotlight, possibly being the first game of the presentation. We should also be getting several sessions of the game during of the Treehouse Live like Breath of the Wild last year. On the topic of things we'll discover is a couple new worlds, expanded looks of the four worlds we've seen and probably the reason behind the eyes on the hat. We won't get all the info though since there would probably be at least 5 months til release.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2
For Xenoblae Chronicles 2, it's in debate of whether the game will release in 2017 or be delayed to 2018 like similar scale titles. We do know the game's music has been orchestrated and recorded. Soraya Saga (wife to Monolith Soft's head Tetsuya Takahashi) has strongly suggested the game will be out in 2017. The original trailer hinted at several aspects of the game but, we only seen glimpses of the actual story. For whatever we get during E3 2017, it should clear some of that up as well as the first proper glimpse of gameplay.

Fire Emblem
With the release of Echoes and the success of Heroes, 2017 is looking to be a big year for Fire Emblem. To top this off, we may learn about the next two titles related to the series, the exciting Fire Emblem Warriors and the mystery Fire Emblem for Nintendo Switch. We are most definitely getting the first proper footage of Fire Emblem Warriors as we only know of Chrom. From the teaser, we can guess Xander, Ryoma, Corrin and Marth are characters in the game as well and it wouldn't be a stretch to expect that lords will make up the majority of the cast and the characters in the trailer. I hope they cover all the weapon types though.

For Fire Emblem for Nintendo Switch, it's a bit more contentious. While I'd suspect the game is in a presentable state at this point, they can hold it off if there are other major games they wish to announce. Just as a reminder, the past few Fire Emblem games were not revealed at E3. If we do get a trailer, it may be similar to how Fates was revealed and it will stick to just a trailer

New 2DS XL and Summer 3DS titles
Soon after E3, we'll  start getting an onslaught of 3DS titles, starting with Ever Oasis and followed by Hey! Pikmin and Miitopia with the launch of the New 3DS. The lack of coverage of these titles suggests they will get at least a segment at Treehouse Live.

Ever Oasis was originally revealed at last year's E3 and is coming weeks after E3 so, it probably won't be covered much. The Japanese site has been giving updates since the April Nintendo Direct, but we've been missing this. We could be getting this info during Treehouse Live.

Hey! Pikmin is also a curious case. We learned about the game last year but it wasn't revealed until the last Nintendo Direct as well. It is also getting an amiibo so maybe we could get new amiibo info.

On Miitopia, the game is a very complex concept as a game despite being simple to play. It's essentially tighter Tomodachi Life as an RPG. This needs some coverage at E3 to make sure it can sell. The game has sold decently in Japan but a good direct like Tomodachi Life and more viewable coverage can get the game to sell well.

Known Fall 3DS lineup
For the fall, we know we're getting mostly localizations with Monster Hunter Stories and Yokai Watch: Psychic Specters. Monster Hunter Stories is an RPG spin-off of the beast hunting series where the player works together with their riding monster to collect eggs. It is also a good looking game with an ongoing anime (Monster Hunter Stories: Ride On) as well. The box art given to the press has an amiibo icon meaning it will be compatible with a line of amiibo. In Japan, the game got 8 amiibos featuring characters from the game riding monsters. This icon likely means that this amiibo line will comeover. Because of this, the game should be featured in the Treehouse Live

The other game, Yokai Watch: Psychic Specter is Yo-kai Watch 2's 3rd version filled with features and expanded content. Most notable was an expansion to the Busters  mode, an action multiplayer mode. There are also new Yo-kai including the villains. This is hard to say if the game is going to be at E3 since the game is honestly a very minor game and people who want it can learn about it from closer events to the release.

And that's all we know from the known games. Next time, I'll cover the internal Nintendo studios and titles that can come from them.