E3 2021: The Mega Visions Community Speaks and Predicts
Can you feel that in the air? It’s almost upon us, guys and gals. The gaming event most of us have never been to, yet eagerly anticipate once per annum. Last year saw a conspicuous deficiency when it came to the letter E being of the tertiary persuasion, but fear not: 2021 is putting that number right back where it belongs next to that particular letter. “E3 2021 is here,” is what I’m saying. Minced my words getting there, but when do we not around here?
Now, if things were to carry on as usual in this article, this would be about the point where we’d start noting down all our asinine thoughts and hopes for the various company presentations, maybe include a few stock images of attractive people at nondescript booths playing videogames, and, ooh, let’s not forget the bit where we’re naturally way off the mark in our predictions and then get blasted by folks who got overly excited! I jest, of course – mostly about the last part, we love you all really – but still. Formulae doth emerge.
Which is why this time we’re gonna do things a little differently: just as SEGA does what NintenDon’t, we’ll do what we at Mega Visions previously Mega HaVen’t. Instead of us making the wishes and prognostications for E3, we’ve turned to the lurid landscape of social media to ask you – yes, you – to do our work for us. Aye, in the spirit of Christmas, which won’t of course be for another six months, we want to give a little back to the amazing Mega Visions community by giving some of you a proper ‘hi, mum’ moment. I think most would agree there is no more prestigious honour in the field of gaming. So give a wave, folks – you’re on MegaVision! Here’s what you had to say about E3, with a few of our own thoughts tossed into the mix.
First up to the plate is NikoHazuki on Twitter, who starts things off pretty modestly. Exercising great wisdom, he’s not expecting anything ‘spectacular’. That’s the way, lad: set your expectations obscenely low, and you’ll never be disappointed! He goes on to suggest that our boys in blue at SEGA will have a greater degree of prominence than usual, which isn’t unreasonable to assume. What with the recent announcement of Sonic Colors Ultimate, of which we’ve yet to see anything other than a few nanosecond-long clips of a handful of stages; a new 3D Sonic title which may or may not be entitled Rangers, of which we’ve yet to see anything other than a brief CGI trailer (Forces flashbacks for all!); and the persistent rumours that SEGA is keen to revive some of its most beloved dormant IPs, of which we’ve yet to see anything at all, they’ve a lot of catching us up to do.
It’s a pretty safe bet we’ll see some more in-depth gameplay of Colors Ultimate – perhaps a proper title reveal for Possibly Sonic Rangers, and, if one dares to dream, even an unveiling of the return of such favourites as Jet Set Radio or Super Monkey Ball. Personally, I’ve been waiting since the early 2010s for a sequel to Rhythm Thief; no-one ever thinks of that one, do they? Dang cliffhangers.
Niko also predicts a bunch more remakes, which aligns with the industry’s recent trend for such projects, and fancies a Shenmue IV announcement, but seems to think that’s ‘out of reach’. Some of us on the team concur, though Yu Suzuki has gone on the record as saying it’ll happen. Time will tell. For now, thanks for the contribution, Niko. Hope your prayers are answered.
Off to a different platform now, for a bit of double trouble. Two more folks got back to us, one a little more facetious than the other. thejhamilton is that fellow, proclaiming his desire for them to just rerun E3 2006. Ah, for the glory days when we were all excited for Sonic 2006, and the Wii was fresh, exciting technology on the horizon. People were utterly enthralled at the prospect of waving that remote around like a muppet holding a tennis racquet. Take us back, man. Take us back.
Oh well, back to reality. almiiboo (mind if I call you Al? Or maybe just Boo?) is wanting some more news on the Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel. This is a pretty common ask these days – details on the much-anticipated follow up to the 2017 smash have been scarcer than the PS5, with Nintendo keeping fiercely schtum despite the considerable amount of time that’s passed. It’s understandable, then, that fans are getting a wee bit antsy. The sequel was first announced in 2019, and the entirety of 2020 passed without so much as a brief nod of acknowledgement from the big N. Cut to 2021, when the by-now salivating masses received a tiny glimmer of hope in the form of the first Nintendo Direct in months, only to be met with series director Eiji Aonuma looking them right down the barrel of the camera and telling them no news would be included therein. What did we get instead? An upscaled Skyward Sword port. More on that later this year when we review it.
For many this anticlimax represented a boiling-over point; we still don’t know squat about the mysterious title, other than the fact it appears to be set in the same overworld, Link’s in it, Ganondorf might be in it, and Zelda looks like she’s had a haircut (guys this is like recapping mist there is NOTHING HERE). So what can we expect from E3? Well, a title would be a nice start. Respiration of the Outdoors, maybe. Joking aside, we’re on the lookout for some major upgrades over the original – levelling of some kind would be a fantastic addition, a more involved plot that makes better use of the (let’s face it) pretty barren open world would be great, and we might even get co-op or a playable Zelda! Note, however, that this wouldn’t be the first time we’d get to play as Zelda, despite what some people would have you believe: Spirit Tracks already broke that particular barrier. And if we’re being especially pedantic, Wand of Gamelon beat it by nearly 20 years in the early 90s, but we don’t talk about that one. Except for the king and his dinner. We love that king.
Regardless, Zelda at Nintendo’s presentation seems all but assured, though if they do try and pull another fast one and leave poor Link out to dry once again, it’s anyone’s guess when his next shot would be. Here’s hoping they’ve got more than a Rupoor showing for us. Cheers to Al and Hamilton for the submissions.
Finally, we have another gruesome twosome, this time coming at us over Facebook. David Steck opens the bidding with a prediction of a ‘Dreamcast 2’. Frankly, that seems about as likely as Nintendo unveiling a collaboration with, I don’t know, the Rabbids franchise – oh. Right. Well, then it sounds about as likely as Banjo and Kazooie turning up in Sm – oh, yeah.
Never mind. My point is, given the poor sales of the ill-fated system upon its release, any kind of follow up hardware would be difficult to justify in a market largely lorded over by three major contenders. However, the power of nostalgia is not to be underestimated, and just as we’ve seen such endeavours as the NES Classic and the Genesis Mini resurrect retro consoles for a new age, we may well see a Dreamcast Mini of some description rise from the ashes. Heck, SEGA themselves have even teased the bad boy recently, so it’s not too much of a stretch. What would you want to see included in something like that? Let us know below!
Rounding out our cavalcade of clairvoyant commenters is Jerron Berry, who echoes the sentiments of broke gamers everywhere when he calls for news regarding the PS5 being restocked (if you scroll back up, I even joked about it earlier). Reports of the system being impossible to find continue to roll in, and the resale prices on eBay tick ever higher, with some fetching eye-watering amounts – an almost 200% markup in some cases. If you aren’t loaded, it seems for the most part you’re out of luck, though there have been the odd accounts of lucky shoppers finding a few consoles popping up here and there.
On the whole though, it’s an ongoing problem, and if Sony intends to entice new fans with a slate of cool new titles at E3, they’ll need to get their act together and actually supply the thing people will need to play them. Seems quite fundamental when you think about it. Jerron also wants to see God of War: Ragnarok make an appearance, which has lately been hit with delays and a smattering of controversy regarding its cross-gen compatibility for good measure. We’re all sat just as tight as you are to see how it unfolds. Thanks for chiming in, fellas.
And there we have it. Cheers one last time to the fearsome five that made it to the big leagues; enjoy your newfound fame! The Mega Visions community has spoken – there’s a wide variety of things they’d like to see happen at E3 2021, some of which are no doubt carried over from 2020’s lack of the event. Some of it will come true, some of it won’t, but hey – that’s the case with pretty much every gaming expo in the modern age, and you know what? It’s good to be back.
Are you excited for E3? What did you think of this feature? Would you like to see more like it? Drop us a line and let us know! Stay tuned to all our channels throughout E3 to keep abreast of the hottest news!
