



With E3 just moments away and Nintendo expected to reveal major franchises for Wii U and 3DS, the Cubed3 Team discuss what we're expecting to see and hoping Nintendo will bring to the table this year. This second part the discussion revolves around the new Super Smash Bros. game, third party support, Eastern developers and NFC support for the Wii U.

E3 Predictions - Part 1 - Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mario Kart

E3 Predictions - Part 2 - Smash Bros, Third Party, NFC



A New Challenger Approaches - Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS

Jorge: Onto a series that is bound to take far longer than Mario Kart and making its first public reveal at E3, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS Excited?

Javier: Of course. Did you follow Japan Time? It was an extended hype show, a drop at a time. I'm looking forward to Super Smash Bros., seeing new characters, and most importantly... Better online.

Jorge: I'd like to see faster animation, perhaps more up to Melee speeds compared to a slightly clunky Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Online was the worst feature in Brawl by a long shot. We tried to have tournament on Cubed3 but the performance was poor even with two competitors that had stable/fast connections.

Rudy: I'm not exactly the professional Smash Bros. player, so this has always been a game that I had difficulty to enjoy as much as Mario Kart, with which I can consider myself a good player.

Like I said with Mario Kart, I hope for a very stable online mode. The one in Brawl was a catastrophe indeed.

Jorge: I'm hoping for less clone characters as a start. We don't need the whole cast of Star Fox to have the same movesets, for example. Maybe any older characters who are scrapped can return via paid DLC?

Javier: Character creator application! Mii integration!

Jorge: Would also like to see Nintendo highlight more customisations: character creator as Javier suggests, a far improved level builder and the option to download these creations straight off Miiverse or online Smash database.



Javier: There are so many things Smash can do, so many ways it can go and Sakurai is a genius. Super Smash Bros. U and 3DS is a very exciting project.

Jorge: The 3DS to Wii U connection really intrigues me and I wonder how they'll work both together as both games are being developed in tandem.

Rudy: In terms of online, I'd like it if they made some sort of effort to make players profiles easy to find - like a gamer's badge to use on forums, perhaps?

Jorge: A gamer's badge would be a great idea or a Miiverse Tag of some kind.

Adam: How about character inclusions? Didn't Sakurai-san mention something about not wanting to use too many 'outside' characters?

Jorge: I think Sakurai did, he wanted to justify their inclusion and wasn't sure about Snake at first.

Though a nice pot of gold and I'm sure he was fine after! (laughs)

Would love to see more females included. Krystal from Star Fox with her trusty staff, and that assist trophy girl with the sword from Fire Emblem. Would also love to see Zero Suit Samus as a separate playable character - she's highly underrated.

Javier: Have you guys heard about the "jump from Miiverse to game" feature Nintendo is working on? You can make a post on Miiverse that links to a specific area of a game and people can click on it and jump directly to that area.

Now that I think about it that would make a great "Come play Smash with me" feature.



Jorge: That would be great - a "Javier is looking for new challengers to battle!" post and clicking on it would take a player straight to your lobby, or to watch your in-progress battle.

Rudy: This is the kind of feature that would really make the online on Wii U become more alive, and avoid problems to find someone to play with, like in some games already available, such as Assassin's Creed III which has an abysmal online mode on Wii U.

Javier: I think Nintendo is going to have a good E3 with a lot of interesting things to announce. That Miiverse feature is just one. Beyond Mario and Zelda and Smash, I'm sure they'll have some surprises.

The Element of Surprise - The Rising Sun's Resurgence

Jorge: Definitely. Many big names expected this year, the Nintendo fan's dream! How about any possible surprises, say from third parties. I would love Nintendo to announce a Final Fantasy VII remake, for example

Javier: Like, who could have guessed Pushmo? Dillon's Rolling Western? Despite all the doom and gloom around Nintendo, they do a lot more experimental stuff than people give them credit for.

Jorge: That's true actually; these smaller Nintendo nuggets are often neglected or underrated at least.

Rudy: I would be surprised if Square Enix made any such moves to be frank, unless Nintendo paid real big for that... Dragon Quest X isn't exactly meeting SE"s expectations in Japan on Wii U at the moment…

Adam: Dragon Quest X on Wii U was actually in line with retailer expectations. The Wii version sold 3/4 million and expectations for the Wii U game were low, but met, from what I've read.

Javier: There's been a rumor floating around that Square Enix is working on some sort of Final Fantasy Remake for Wii U.

Javier: Can you imagine if it was Final Fantasy VII? The internet tears would be voluminous.

Jorge: Nintendo does need that sort of huge project of that sale to really lift the Wii U, third party wise. The reaction as you said would be immense! It looks like Nintendo needs all the support from Japanese developers at the moment.

I can't really imagine too many major Western projects announced this E3, to be honest.

Javier: That's another thing I expect at E3: major Japanese 3rd party announcements.



Jorge: Would love to see SEGA's partnership expand into other franchises - like Shenmue, for example. The same level of internet meltdown would happen if they announced Shenmue 3 for Wii U, or more realistically a true HD remake of the first two.

But as for the West, Ubisoft have most bases covered. I am hoping for a big reveal that Grand Theft Auto V is heading to Wii U, for example. The system needs these multiplatform games, especially those released for Xbox 360/PS3 - there really aren't excuses.

Install base and risks aside, a system needs games to sell, simples!

Javier: Definitely agree, even if Nintendo needs to subsidize the ports.

Jorge: Agreed, open up smaller studios to push third parties to Wii U at the very least.

Adam: Nintendo is going to have to do something special to counter the PS4 and Xbox One.

I can fully understand why the company's choosing to do smaller Nintendo Direct updates rather than an all-singing, all-dancing stage show.

Javier: Personally, I love the Nintendo Directs. Cut out all the presentation fat and focus on the games.

Rudy: At least the Nintendo Directs don't pull us the sales figures for half an hour (laughs).



Jorge: That's very true, though a dancing Reggie would be amusing (laughs).

Adam: What do you think about EA? Could there be a surprise turnaround at E3?

Jorge: I hope so. Personally I'm not a major player of EA titles, but it doesn't do well for the Wii U's image to not have FIFA 14, for example. It's a worrying area for Nintendo to be in.

Javier: I think EA has a very aggressive market strategy that revolves around controlling the content delivery service surrounding their games, thereby allowing them to aggressively monetise their games. Hence the reason they jilted Steam and then Nintendo. I'm guessing they'll be running Origin through Xbox and/or PS4.

Jorge: If you watch the showreels of upcoming games after E3, Nintendo Wii U will lack a lot of those major releases from other platformers.

EA has announced a "partnership" with Xbox at the new Xbox reveal. It seems unprecedented.

EA, to me, feels like a very stubborn child who will stomp of if it doesn't get its way. Got to love the "unprecedented" partnerships.

Are there any unannounced franchises from third parties you think will make an appearance on 3DS or Wii U this E3?

Javier: A lot of Japanese franchises, I'm guessing. Capcom, Konami, Sega, Square Enix.

Nintendo 3DS I expect to have another big year. With the way it's selling in Japan it'll have just about everything. Wii U I honestly expect to see a couple of big things announced by the big Japanese publishers. What it will be? I'd love to see Final Fantasy return to the lands of Nintendo.

Adam: Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, no doubt.

Although, I am struggling and can only think of games that have been confirmed as not coming to Wii U!

Rudy: Perhaps some more ports of games already available on the other current gen consoles. Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for example.

Adam: There was that leaked list of games on the Wii U debug screen. I think Metal Gear Solid was one of them.

Rudy: Wasn't there also a Resident Evil game from Capcom rumoured to be remade for Wii U?

Jorge: Resident Evil 2 or Resident Evil 3, I think was one of those remakes from what I've read.

Would love to see another Marvel vs. from Capcom - disappointed Marvel vs. Capcom 3 didn't make the Wii U jump and other fighters in general: Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive. Nintendo used to be well known for fighting games!



Javier: Ghibli vs. Capcom? I'd like another crazy fighter!

Jorge: Ghibli vs. Capcom would be intense! Would love to see a huge cross-over, sort of like Project x Zone, but as a Capcom fighter. Throw in Nintendo characters and you've got a massive exclusive.

Javier: I'd pay a high price!

As for more Western studios, Ubisoft are likely to announce something like ZombiU 2 or a similar Wii U exclusive, though after the Rayman Legends move perhaps they'll remain multiformat for now.

Javier: Zombi U 2 would be great. That game was good but so close to being great.

Jorge: Activision will likely announce a new Skylanders, hopefully Call of Duty: Ghosts for Wii U as it seems unlikely at the moment.

Javier: Activision and Ubisoft seem to be supporting Wii U fairly well. I'd expect more from them, especially Ubisoft. That's kind of the fallout from "losing" EA. You get support from EA's competitors.

Jorge: Am hoping more support from 2K games with hopefully a BioShock Infinity port, maybe a new NBA, WWE and Grand Theft Auto V though these are unlikely at the moment.

Javier: I'm not going to hold my breath there. 2K and Rockstar? Not big Nintendo fans. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised though.

Jorge: True. Nintendo were said to be attempting games from 2K, who knows if they made any progress in those areas.

Javier: Last time anything happened on that front it was the disastrous China Town Wars.





The Dawn of Wii U NFC Support

Moving on from Nintendo third parties to things like NFC and Dual Gamepad titles - do you think we'll be seeing these Nintendo experiments this year?

Javier: Yes, I'm sure we'll see Pokémon NFC at least, and probably some Mario NFC as well. Then there's 3rd party NFC, which I'm sure someone like Activision will want to capitalize on.

Rudy: E3 sounds early for dual gamepad stuff. They may mention it but I doubt we'll be seeing anything concrete so soon. NFC though could make an appearance in a practical form, methinks.

Jorge: Would love to see a Pokémon Stadium with dual GamePad support, having that ability to pick moves off-screen for both players would be great. But I agree, perhaps too early given the situation the Wii U is in at the moment.

Pokémon trading cards + Pokémon Stadium Wii U and Nintendo would quite easily rule the world. Easy money, I feel.

Rudy: Yes, Pokémon NFC is something they'll definitely cash in. It's surprising already that they didn't do it any sooner, seeing how Skylanders has been huge, even on Wii.

Javier: Well, they do have the one game for Japan. I fully expect that to be shown at E3 - Pokémon Scramble U.

Jorge: That's true - though limited to those initial figures for now, but imagine if they sold all 600+ Pokémon in that form. Just wow.

It would be interesting to see if Nintendo included NFC support for games like Super Smash Bros. too, being able to "download" new characters, items etc. using bought NFC cards.

Or a Nintendo Land expansion where these NFC cards act as your passes to new DLC events, perhaps.



Rudy: You could take you Smash Bros. figure out with you when you go play at your best mate's house, carrying with you sticker data for example. This is an idea they already toyed with in the past, remember the initial uses they planned for the N64 Controller Pack.

Javier: I'd hate to see my games ruined by pay-for-content, though. If they did it like Fire Emblem Awakening, where all the DLC was 100% optional and non-essential, that would be fine.

Rudy: Yes, definitely agree on that.

Jorge: That's true, optional DLC rather than included DLC that's "unlocked".

They'll no doubt announce more DLC options at E3 I feel, like they've done with New Super Luigi U - am feeling that Nintendo Land could see extra attractions perhaps.

Javier: New Super Luigi U is fine. I like that. It's a lot of content and a true "expansion pack", in old PC terms. Actually, New Super Luigi looks pretty great. You can tell they've put a lot of work into it. I would actually say it looks a bit nicer than New Super Mario Bros. U.

Rudy: I'm glad they announced it as a separate physical package too. I wish they did this with more games.

Javier: That box is pretty great, as well!

Jorge: Love the whole crossed out logo and green box, does look great!

Jorge: So to wrap things up, what do you think will be the biggest, must-see game of E3 from Nintendo?

Javier: Old Standards: Mario U, Mario Kart, Zelda. New Surprises: Retro.

3rd Party Support: Capcom, Konami, Sega, Square-Enix.



Rudy: Of those announced already, definitely the new 3D Mario for me. As for surprises, I would like to see a Metroid, Star Fox or F-Zero. Maybe a new side scrolling Donkey Kong too. There's ample room for surprises from them.

Javier: Fingers crossed for F-Zero!

Jorge: Agreed! A new F-Zero, Star Fox and Metroid each would be potential E3 winners for me too. All three would be a classic "Megaton"!

Javier: Hear, hear!

Jorge: Thank you all for our pre-E3 Cubed Table; let's hope Nintendo can truly deliver the Wii U and 3DS goods this June!