E3 09 Predictions Report Card

Written by John Scalzo  on June 05, 2009

Special: Gaze into my crystal ball!

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Metal Gear Solid 4 will come to the Xbox 360 Partial Credit
A Metal Gear Solid game was announced for the Xbox 360 and the Xbox Division's head honchos seemed pretty pleased by that. Plus, the game's tagline is "Lightning Bolt Action." How can you not love that? Half credit for this one.
Scorecard: 4.75 out of 10 (48%)

Warner Bros. Interactive will announce a few new games, possibly based on classic WB movies Partial Credit
While Warner Bros. did announced a handful of games (chief among them Aragorn's Quest and Lego Harry Potter), none of the games could be considered powerhouses. And while they are using their movie licenses to development games, The Clique is not what I had in mind.

But with their impending purchase of Midway due to take place by the end of the month, I'm sure we'll hear more from WBIE very soon. Quarter credit for this one.
Scorecard: 5 out of 11 (45%)



God of War III: 2010 CORRECT!
In hindsight, this one was blindingly obvious. All of the previous God of War games were released in March. So when Sony announced God of War III would be released in March 2010, I don't think anyone was surprised. No, the emotion most gamers felt was disappoint that they wouldn't get a chance to play it this Fall.
Scorecard: 6 out of 12 (50%)

Sony will announce a major new PlayStation Eye title CORRECT!
While it isn't officially a title, Sony's "Wand" motion-sensing controller requires the PlayStation Eye to work. I'd say that's a pretty important piece of the announcement. On a much smaller scale there's also EyePet, Sony's pet simulator for the PS3. Motion controllers, virtual pets, man, Nintendo has done a number on the executives at Sony.
Scorecard: 7 out of 13 (54%)

Nintendo will resurrect a long dead franchise like StarTropics Partial Credit
Mario is coming back to side-scrolling on home consoles after a nearly 20 year drought. Does that count? Personally, I think it's good for at least half credit. Otherwise, it was business as usual at Nintendo's booth. A lot of familiar franchises, but none of the old favorites that we haven't seen in at least a decade. Some, like the fabled Kid Icarus remake Nintendo is rumored to be working on, haven't been seen in almost 20.
Scorecard: 7.5 out of 14 (54%)

Sony will announce a new Sly Cooper WRONG!
Aside from the words "Sly Cooper 4" appearing on a movie marquee in Sucker Punch's most recent release, Infamous, we haven't heard anything about Sony's third unofficial mascot in a while. But unless Sucker Punch has something completely new up their sleeves, I'm sure we'll be hearing more from Sly Cooper fairly soon.
Scorecard: 7.5 out of 15 (50%)

Another publisher will pledge to publish Six Days in Fallujah WRONG!
Six Days in Fallujah has been completely upstaged at E3 by Rendition: Guantanamo, a game that was recently canceled that was little more than a few scribblings on a cocktail napkin. But throwing the word "Guantanamo" in the title (even though the game's story was set in the future and had nothing to do with the U.S. military) just sends some people in a tizzy. Atomic Games did not have an E3 presence of their own, so Six Days in Fallujah didn't even make an appearance at E3 as no one has stepped forward to publish it yet.
Scorecard: 7.5 out of 16 (47%)

Sony announces something, anything about Gran Turismo 5 CORRECT!
While it's true I did put the odds of a Gran Turismo 5 announcement at an astronomical 1000:1, Sony came through with a new trailer and confirmation that Polyphony Digital has more or less completed the game. We'll probably never know whether or not the game actually is in the polish stage or not until Sony releases it in 2009. Or 2010. Or 2011. My crystal ball isn't that good to figure that one out.
Final Scorecard: 8.5 out of 17 (50%)

So my E3 prediction record is no better than flipping. Oh well, fifty percent is still pretty good. Better than noted "game analyst" Michael Pachter could do, that's for sure.

But you don't need psychic powers to realize that this year's E3 was a huge success and surely next year's will be even better.