E3 2014 Will Be All About Software Instead of Hardware

Now that the Wii U, Xbox One and PS4 are all out, E3 2014 will be all about the games now.

There will probably be some announcements regarding new hardware, but E3 2014 will be all about games. There have been some criticism that the new consoles lack “must-have” games. Well, E3 2014 should be the stage where game developers finally unveil what they have been up to over the past year/s. It’s about time to reveal release dates and gameplay trailers for future games.

For Nintendo owners, the Wii U has some decent games already. The only problem is that the casual buyer has yet to buy the console. Sales for the Wii U haven’t been that great. For Nintendo to try and fight back, a new Legend of Zelda game could do the trick. The 3D Wii U Legend of Zelda game was somewhat revealed back in 2012. This was just a demo and wasn’t really confirmation of an actual game. Hopefully Nintendo has had time to work on the game and finally reveal what this game will truly be like. Nintendo should also announce a release date for Monolift Studios’ “X” game too. That game is looking very impressive already.

For the Xbox One, there are likely to be more announcements regarding classic franchises such as new entries from the Halo, Gears of War and Fable series. Microsoft however should announce more games from new IPs. Sunset Overdrive and Quantum Break are good starting points. I’m sure Microsoft will announce a ton of new exclusives this year that could blow everyone’s minds. They will need to if they want to stay in competition with the PS4. There are likely to be some Kinect games announced too. Hopefully this is brief…

Speaking of the PS4, Sony must be happy with the amount of sales the console has right now. One problem some people are having is the number of exclusives that are available for the console. Thankfully, Sony has announced games that will be out for the console in the future already. We do know that the likes of The Order: 1886 and Driveclub will be out later this year. Another Uncharted game has also been announced. Naughty Dog should show some gameplay footage from the game which could potentially steal the whole show. Sony has a lot of first-party studios and have released a ton of quality exclusive PS3 games over the last few years. Now it’s time to see what these studios can do with original content on the PS4.

Sony could also trump both Nintendo and Microsoft if Project Morpheus proves to be a success. If this virtual reality headset cam prove to be popular, it could change the way we play video games forever. With Oculus Rift now belonging to Facebook, gamers worldwide are hoping Sony’s device can succeed and be made exclusively for gamers in mind.

The third party publishers have a lot of games that they can show off as well. We’ve already expressed that EA should announce one or more Star Wars games at E3 this year. Star Wars is a popular franchise and it’s been a long time since fans have been treated to a decent Star Wars game. As for Square Enix, any sign of a release date for Kingdom Hearts 3 and/or Final Fantasy XV will be nice. It would be cool if they announce newer RPGs while they’re at it too. Ubisoft is likely to show more footage from The Division and Assassin’s Creed Unity. Here’s hoping Rainbow 6: Patriots is back on the drawing board too. That game has been on the shelf for years now.

Activision is likely to show more gameplay from Destiny and Call of Duty 2014. Activision has always stuck to the same franchises year after year. It would be cool if the publisher surprises everyone like Ubisoft has done in the past. Ubisoft caught everyone off guard with Watch Dogs and The Division in the past. Does Activision have a killer game up its sleeve that isn’t Call of Duty?

There have been rumors already that Capcom are announcing Resident Evil 7 this year. Pretty sure fans want this game to be more like the older ones and nothing like Resident Evil 6. Capcom better not announce another Street Fighter IV game! Maybe Bandai Namco can finally reveal the status of Tekken X Street Fighter instead. This is another game that’s been quiet over the years.

Overall, E3 2014 should focus more on killer games rather than hardware. Now that the new generation is in full swing, true next gen quality games should finally be coming out.