Nintendo E3 Prediction/Wish List Part 2 - 3DS & More

Unless I get some inkling to make another blog for the third parties just a couple days before E3 starts, this will likely be my last prediction/wish list post for 2014. For those who haven't had a chance to check it out, Part 1 of my Nintendo E3 blog covered what I'd like to see on the WiiU side of things. Here, I'll be focusing on the 3DS games along with a couple other Nintendo related oddities. Fair warning, most of this shit will probably not happen. So don't get your hopes up.

Metroid 5 (Nintendo Software Technology)


What happened to Metroid Dread, you ask? Who the fuck knows...

Let's get this one out of the way first: where the fuck is my new 2D Metroid? The last sequel we got was 2002's Metroid Fusion (referred to as Metroid 4 in game), followed by a remake of the NES original in '04. Since then, R&D1 (the team responsible for the previous 2D Metroids) was disbanded and turned into SPD Group 1 (overseeing Other M) and SPD Group 3 (overseeing the Prime games). With the rumored Metroid Dread falling into development hell, there hasn't been a team left at Nintendo to make a new 2D Metroid. That's where NST comes in. They developed the competent Prime Hunters spin off for DS, but since then they've only made Mario vs DK sequels. For the love of god, put them on a new Metroid, Nintendo. Stop neglecting this franchise.

Advance Wars 3D (Intelligent Systems)


I admit I only played the GBA titles, but these were some fun turned base games.

I think people have been clamoring for a new Advance Wars for quite some time. Days of Ruin was released in early 2008 to positive reviews, but the 3DS has so far been without a new Wars sequel. Paper Mario has gone to Vanpool and there's no known plans for a new Wario party game, so the only other things Intelligent Systems has on their plate is SMT x FE (co-developed with Atlus) and a new Pushmo game. Given the size of this studio, it's conceivable they could have been working on a new Advance Wars for a while at this point, and this would be a great way to keep the 3DS lineup strong in the second half of its lifespan.

F-Zero 3D (Amusement Vision)


The challenge? Making these games fun *and* profitable.

This franchise has had a rough history. While beloved by many, the 2003 Gamecube sequel F-Zero GX didn't sell very well. Since then, developer Suzak did two GBA spin offs in '03 and '04, the latter of which never made it to the West. The franchise then went dark for a decade. Mario Kart 8 just came out on WiiU, and I doubt Nintendo is in any rush to eat into the sales of that racing game with another one. Instead, how about a new 3DS game? Suzak recently filed for bankruptcy, so they're probably not an option. Amusement Vision, who releasd GX to critical acclaim, is now owned by Sega. Seems like a great opportunity to continue building those third party relationships, no?

Mother 4 (Creatures and/or 1-UP Studio)


I suddenly find myself being reminded of how much I miss sprites...

So I readily admit this one is pretty ridiculous and there's little chance it'll ever happen, but hear me out. Creatures, formerly known as Ape Inc, co-developed Mother 1, Mother 2/Earthbound, and the cancelled Earthbound 64 with HAL. Mother 3, which was never localized outside of Japan, was co-developed by Brownie Brown and HAL, the former of which is now known as 1-UP Studio. If Nintendo doesn't want to put HAL on a niche product like this, I get that. Why not get one or both of these second parties to make it instead? All they do now is spin offs and development assistance on other Nintendo games. Announcing a Mother sequel at E3 would be guaranteed to silence any questions of whether or not Nintendo cares about the "core audience".

Other 3DS Games:

While Star Fox hasn't been as big of a franchise for Nintendo as Zelda, Mario, DK, or Metroid, it's gotten more love than most fans acknowledge. If not a new sequel, how about another 3D re-release? Better yet, how about they update the original alongside a finished copy of the cancelled SNES sequel? Q-Games worked on the last two Star Fox releases, and EAD 5 is probably available given all they do is Wii Fit and Steel Diver. Speaking of re-releases, what about Majora's Mask? We got Ocarina of Time 3D, and with EAD Tokyo finished with it and Four Swords Anniversary I'm sure they'd be up to the task.


Yea... I'll just let myself out.

Of course, Nintendo's two big 3DS games for this year are Super Smash Bros 3DS and Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, set for a Summer and Fall release, respectively. No doubt we'll see plenty of both at E3, including during Nintendo's conference. As mentioned in my WiiU blog, expect character, stage, and feature reveals for the former, and probably some cool new bonuses for the latter. The Pokemon remakes have always added new regions to the original maps, so I'd be curious to see what new areas of Hoenn we get to explore, and what features from Gen VI we see brought over from X&Y.

As for the rest of Nintendo:

If we don't get some announcement of a unified account system between 3DS and WiiU, including some type of Cross Buy for Virtual Console games, I've pretty much given up all hope for Nintendo ever being pro consumer with its back catalog. The fact that it cost $10 just to play 30 year old ROM dumps on your console and your handheld is just embarrassing. And on top of that, where are the GBA and DS VC games for 3DS? Why aren't see seeing more GBC games as well? They just announced the GameCube controller adapter for WiiU, so why not that too? Hell, where the fuck is the N64? In all honesty, if I knew Nintendo's first party backlog was all available on WiiU and 3DS at reasonable and competitive prices, it would be much harder for me not to buy them on nostalgia alone. I absolutely adore those games. Please stop trying to price gouge me, Nintendo.


The N64 and Gamecube were profitable without a gimmick. Remember that.

If you know me, you probably know my stance on the GamePad. Forcing a $100 peripheral on consumers who don't want it is asinine as far as I'm concerned. The WiiU can't compete with its technologically superior counterparts at $400 (both of which are getting far more games in terms of both indies and third parties), and it can't compete with the $200 PS3 or 360 (both of which have massive, dirt cheap back catalogs and wildly better online services). I can't see how the WiiU will ever be more than a Nintendo machine for a niche audience at that price. Microsoft learned its lesson. Nintendo is too stubborn and arrogant to admit its own failure. As much as they should decouple the GamePad from the box (they'll never have third party's to support it either way), I'm sure they won't. And that's massively disappointing as a potential customer.

That's all, folks. After my two part Sony prediction blog, my Microsoft E3 predictions, and Part 1 of my Nintendo wish list, this series has officially come to a close. Thanks for reading along, and I hope you've enjoyed. Please heart/upvote if you like what you've read, and as always I love to hear what you have to say in the comments. Sometime next week, I'll do a wrap up post looking back at how right (read: very wrong) I was with this. Especially my 3DS and Vita predictions, lol. Can't hurt to dream, right?

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