With Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing basically right around the corner (next week), We know we’re not the only ones wondering just what exactly we’re going to see and hear. That said, there are several talking points that we’re hoping we’ll see or at least hear about during the Microsoft E3 2017 conference.
Forza Motorsport 7 Officially Announced
When CEO of Fantec let it slip that Turn 10 Studio’s had already started working on Forza Motorsport, it was expected, yet it wasn’t. Ever since Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon ended up in what I call the Forza Circle, it was only a matter of time. For the past few years, the titles alternated, with Forza Horizon releasing one year, Forza Motorsport the next. We got Forza Horizon 3 last year, so we should see Forza Motorsport 7 later this year. or at least that’s what I’m hoping. That said, I fully expect the game to be officially announced. In addition, we’ll get to see the game in action on both Project Scorpio and PC, at 4k.
Going into this new title, I expect that we’ll see dynamic weather effects make into the game, as well as an expanded track selection and maybe even some off-road racing. I’m a huge fan of city based tracks and was pretty saddened when the New York track didn’t make into Forza Motorsport 6 – those type of tracks need to make a comeback. I’d like to see a more robust career mode, one that spans over the course of several seasons (like GRID Autosports). Lastly, we’ll see either an announcement on the release date, which will be prior to the launch of Project Scorpio. Between and you, this should be a launch title.
Project Scorpio Gets a New Name and Pricing details
Calling Microsoft’s new 4K console “Project Scorpio” sounds cool and all, but we’re past the point of it being a project. That said, I expect that we’ll get the actual name during Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing, as well as a first look at the beast and pricing info. For what I’m seen and heard, the system should be no bigger than the recent Xbox One S. Which shouldn’t be that surprising as the chipset/SOC should be the same size as the one in the Xbox One S. Pricing details will also be available, with two different SKU’s being announced. Price-wise, I’m expecting to see no thrills package at $349.99-$399.99 with a 1TB drive and $499 for a 2-3TB drive.
I don’t even want MS to spend time on the specs of the system, as they did that already. Just come to the stage, say the new name and then show us why we want/need it.
Unannounced Fighting Game from Capcom
When Street Fighter V was announced as a Sony exclusive title, the collective groan of Xbox gamers everywhere could be heard. Was the first time that a Street Fighter title had been a system exclusive and as a result, unless you owned either A PlayStation 4 or PC, you couldn’t play the game. Of course, this didn’t sit well with Xbox gamers and they descended upon the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer to see what he could do about it. Obviously there wasn’t anything he could do about it, however, it did promise to make things right. He mentioned that he’d make amends for Street Fighter, though that was back during 2014. And we don’t have any idea as to what that means. Did that mean another fighting game? Perhaps one from Capcom? Or did it just mean something regarding 3rd party support?
All I know is I’d love another fighting game on the Xbox platform. A high budget fighting game.
@broggiedoge Love the idea of game franchise bartering, I'll work on making amends for SF.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 8, 2014
That said, I’m going to with some sort of unannounced fighting game title that will be heading to the Xbox. Sure, there’s Killer Instinct, but what the fans really want is a fighter from Capcom. To be perfectly honest with you, I’d be ok with the announcement of Ultra Street Fighter IV being backward compatible with Xbox One, with PC crossplay.
Crackdown 3 goes Full Frontal
I’ll be honest, I was never a huge fan of the Crackdown series. In fact, the only reason I picked up the second title was for the Halo demo. However, Crackdown 3 does interest me, more so than I thought. There’s only one little issue – the lack of updates for the title. We haven’t heard much of anything regarding the title since April 2014! On top of that, the title was supposedly being prepped for a Holiday 2016 release but was later delayed due to the line-up being stuffed with other great games. Maybe that should be been released during Q1/Q2 2017?
Here’s to hoping that Crackdown 3 has a solid, single player experience. In light of Phil Spencer’s comments about story driven content, and the fact that I don’t like being forced to play online. Online multiplayer and co-op gaming is fine, but there are just times where I want to play alone. Outside of that, I want to see a beefy combat system that involves both melee and gunplay. Fast cars, vehicles with big ass guns on them and maybe even some aircraft’s involved that let me plan out moves and how I’m going rain destruction on my foes.
As for expecting to see Crackdown 3 at E3, I suspect we’ll hear more than a fair share of news regarding the game.
2017 is shaping up to be great! #Crackdown3 info is on the horizon, and we're ready to bring the boom! pic.twitter.com/l59odUKSsH
— Crackdown (@crackdown) April 4, 2017
Destiny 2 on Project Scorpio details
When Destiny 2 was officially announced, there was no mention of their Project Scorpio plans. Why? Because Microsoft basically told Bungie not to say anything about it. They more than lightly wanted to save those specific details for their E3 2017 conference. But what can we expect exactly? The PS4 Pro version of the title will provide some sort of 4K support, but it has been confirmed that it won’t be at 60FPS. Is this going to be the same for the Project Scorpio or will MS and Bungie leap onto the stage and say those magic words – “Project Scorpio, 4K, 60FPS”. Tell me you wouldn’t lose it if that happened?
It would also be nice if we got some news regarding the content. We already know that Sony has locked up exclusive content for an undisclosed amount of time, but could there be more?
Xbox Game Pass on Windows 10
Dubbed as the Netflix of video games, Microsoft is on to something with the Xbox Game Pass. For just $10, you get access to 100 games across the Xbox One and Xbox 360, for 30 days. It’s a great service and I’ve used it several times. But what could make it better? Well, Microsoft could put this onto Windows 10. We already saw previously that this was “supposedly” coming to Windows 10, it was even stated in the application.
Though there hasn’t been any mention of this. Yet, a few months ago there was a rumor that Microsoft was thinking about making Xbox 360 games available on the PC. This could be what was being referred to.
More JRPG presence on the Xbox One/Windows 10 Platforms
The biggest weakness of the Xbox brand has been the lack of JRPGs on their systems. Whether it stems from the circular logic that plagues the decision makers in Japan, or the lack of support in the country for the Xbox brand, western Xbox owners have been slighted by the lack of high-profile JRPGs such as Persona 5 and others of that sort.
If you recall, Phil Spencer recently went on a trip to Japan to discuss the possibilities of having more Japanese publishers bringing games over to western gamers, however, that effect has yet to be seen, outside of SEGA bringing Valkyria Revolution Azure to the Xbox One in Western regions. There hasn’t been much in the way of these types of games, and I’m slightly disappointed in that since Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon were fantastic titles. We didn’t even get Monster Hunter Online, which still irks me to this day.
Will we get some major JRPG announcements? Will there be some classic titles making their way to the Xbox One? I can’t wait to see.
There’s plenty more that we are looking forward to, but if we were put all that here, we’d be here for a while. What are you looking forward to hearing about from this conference? Let us know in the comments below.
And of course, we’ll be in attendance and will be blogging all the news from the event, live. Details on where to catch that will be posted in the upcoming week.
