Year 5: November Update

Last year I posted a lot of food ads on the blog's Facebook page for the holiday but I don't think I have anything special for today, there or here. I did scan another Electronics Boutique catalog recently that I need to put into a post for the big shopping day tomorrow. Other than that, no videos are currently in the works. This month on the YouTube channel I played Ghostbusters on the Sega Master System to tie into the launch of the latest movie (the video is included in the previous post). Too bad I'm no good at the fast shooting/dodging final stage and so I couldn't show the ending. Although I'm a fan of the first two films, I never owned much Ghostbusters merchandise. Along with the game I have a children's book with stickers and a Ghostbuster II book with various activities that I did post a few scans of on Facebook last year in this album (look toward the middle between Garfield and The Flintstones).

On November 12th Disney announced a lot of new content in the works for its subscription service and the one that stood out the most to myself is a continuation of the X-Man animated series from the '90s. Being a fan of Marvel's mutants, that's one of my favorite cartoons so I'm looking forward to more episodes, not that the show will be out any time soon (scheduled for 2023) and it will probably have a new voice cast. As for games, Warner Bros. showed off MultiVersus, a Smash Bros.-like free-to-play title coming in 2022 that will feature characters from a wide range of properties, such as DC Comics, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, and Adventure Time. Last week Bandai Namco revealed an upcoming game called Pac-Man Museum+, a compilation of 14 Pac-Man games with a customizable arcade area to access each game from. I've never really enjoyed Smash Bros. types of fighting games so I'm much more interested in Pac-Man even though I've already played some of the classics that are included.

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the original Xbox console and a couple weeks ago I joined a Xbox Fanfest trivia event to celebrate. I thought I'd do better than I did but the first few rounds had a lot of tough questions that weren't even necessarily Xbox-themed. However, I made the first cut which was for the top 2,500 and that was good for a $10 gift card to the Xbox gear store. Unfortunately, I didn't make it into the top 1,000 though I kept playing until the end for fun. There was never any indication of how many people were actually playing or where I ranked overall. I'm not a super fan of Xbox or of any one company or platform; well, aside from Sega back in the day. Coincidentally, I did get the first Xbox because of Sega as Shenmue II was only available on Xbox in North America and I had to play it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jonathan

Year 5: June Update

Topps Brady Bunch Trading Card

I've been quite slow to post here and upload YouTube videos this month but I need to take some weekends for myself from time-to-time or rather very often this year. As I write this I spent the better part of yesterday making seven attempts to record the die-cast cases video, and that was after making my first attempt on the Friday before. It's not much of a video but I made mistakes and had some issues during the recording process and then had to put together the blog post and it all ended up more time consuming than I'd have liked. Next I need to start work on a die-cast car video and I had a request not too long ago for another Starting Lineup Talking Baseball video which I plan on preparing for July. I also hope to launch another YouTube channel shortly but that might require days increasing from 24 to 30 hours because I don't have enough time!

June is still a month of many game announcements with an E3 digital event taking place again. I'll highlight a few of the reveals though nothing blew my mind. Being a Forza Horizon fan, the unveiling of the fifth game coming later this year was my favorite game of the show. I know, the fifth entry in a racing series isn't anything special but I find the games to be a lot of fun and mostly relaxing to play. Developer Playground Games has been working on the next Fable game too which led me to believe a new Forza Horizon wasn't releasing any time soon.

Square Enix and Eidos Montreal have been working on a Guardians of the Galaxy game that is on target for an October 26th release. Ubisoft and Nintendo showed off the second Mario + Rabbids game subtitled Sparks of Hope. Nintendo made no mention of a new Switch model but it did announce Metroid Dread, WarioWare: Get It Together, Mario Party Superstars, Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp, and a Game & Watch handheld that includes three The Legend of Zelda games plus one mini-game. 

Sony skipped E3 again and Sega is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Super Monkey Ball with a new game that includes 300 stages from previous games. While not announced specifically at E3, Outright Games has revealed quite a few more licensed games recently that are expected to release before the end of the year. Since I've played a few of its games on my YouTube channel and I like to promote family-friendly games, I'll list those here too. The titles are PAW Patrol: The Movie -- Adventure City Calls, My Friend Peppa Pig, PJ Masks: Heroes of the Night, The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem, Blaze and the Monster Machines: Axle City Racers, and Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Rise of Sh1ft3r. I had no idea there even was a Fast & Furious cartoon.

Thanks for visiting,

Jonathan

Year 4: July Update

I only managed four posts in June and July has been busy so I might not be able to even match that. A large part of my time has been dedicated to the Video Games 2020 project that I keep thinking about quitting. I'm currently playing games released in June for that so I am still more than a month behind. Other than that I'm just busy with life, working, sorting stuff, listing items on eBay, and doing yard work at two properties.

LEGO unveiled a new Star Wars item coming September 1st but it is part of the LEGO Art line rather than the standard vehicles and play sets. On September 1st you'll be able to purchase a 3-in-1 Sith-themed art set for $119.99 that features Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and Kylo Ren.

There has been quite a bit of video game news this month and one game that has peaked my interest has not been officially announced yet. It was in the first week of July that I received an email at work from a distributor listing a new G.I. Joe video game that is coming October 13th! It's titled Operation Blackout, will cost $39.99, and be released in stores for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Switch. While it was the Australian game rating board that outed the title, I shared what I knew with G.I. Joe fansite HissTank and I believe that was the first place you could learn much of anything beyond the title. Gamefly later posted the same details with a placeholder genre and someone on Instagram recently acquired the box art from somewhere, most likely an obscure retailer. We don't know the developer but there is good reason to expect mediocrity due to the publisher being GameMill Entertainment. I'll hold out hope that it will be fun though and if you want to refresh your memory about previous G.I. Joe video games check out one of my earliest blog posts: G.I. Joe: The Video Games.

If you're a Karate Kid fan you might be more interested in the other GameMill game coming in October: Cobra Kai. It's the same price and on the same platforms as Operation Blackout but I don't know the genre of either game at this time. Intellivision Amico continues to promote its October release as well with a special presentation coming August 4th. Atari has been making news too with its VCS that releases in December. Both are expensive with the VCS costing from $249.99 to $399.99 depending on the model and if you want a bundle with controllers, while Amico is $249.99 which includes two controllers plus six games. Although not direct competitors to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the release timing certainly isn't great. Four new systems within a three month span is a lot even if they appeal to different audiences.

Intellivision Amico

Atari VCS 

Ubisoft and Microsoft both had presentations this month too. There isn't much worth noting from Ubisoft since it primarily showcased games we were already familiar with. Microsoft showed quite a few games over an hour, including more on Halo Infinite, Psychonauts 2, and Grounded. Plus many new games were announced, such as State of Decay 3, Forza Motorsport (no number in the title), Fable (again, the same name as the original), Everwild from Rare, and Avowed from Obsidian Entertainment. Brief trailers were shown for most games with little actually being said about them. Some of the third-party titles on display were S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, Tetris Effect: Connected, and Tell Me Why from Life Is Strange developer Dontnod.

Grounded

Everwild

Baseball season actually started two days ago and while I didn't have a post ready, I did post something back when the season was originally going to begin: Delay of Game. In the grand scheme of things sports aren't important right now and shouldn't be taking place. It's possible the 60-game season will fail to finish too but I'll it enjoy it while it lasts. Take care of yourselves.

-Jonathan

Year 3: December Update

It's time to close out another year with January 2, 2020 marking Vault 1541's 3rd anniversary. As the years have gone by I've actually kept rather steady even though I've not posted as much as I'd have liked (by the way, this is the 300th post!). I'll be wrapping up the game ads in 2020 but once I complete the publisher posts I will have some other ads, plus I'll upload new ads as I find them. YouTube is definitely going to slow in 2020 as I'm preparing to launch a new channel that will take a lot of my time. It's strictly for the year 2020 only and I won't be appearing or speaking in any of the videos, they'll be only gameplay of physical games released in 2020. I'll post more about it once I finalize and launch it. Three days ago I did purchase a Nintendo Switch so I could play the 2020 exclusives for the new channel though I have yet to actually open it. Why even start another channel? Well, primarily to leverage my access to most retail games in an attempt to generate ad revenue but I know the odds of that are not good. Also, I felt like the idea here wouldn't really fit with the Vault 1541 theme so I thought it best to make a separate channel. As I said, it's a one year project so it at least has an ending point.

I wouldn't have expected December to have too much game news but it actually did. The big story hit during The Game Awards when Microsoft showed the next Xbox console but the name is causing some confusion. It was shown as the Xbox Series X though whether the "Series X" part is just one model of the next Xbox or the official name isn't clear. A Microsoft representative has since indicated that it would be called Xbox which is obviously the same name as the original if that's the case. It's a big rectangular box that can be stood vertically or horizontally and is backwards compatible. Here's a semi-shocker: Sony will be releasing its baseball video game series MLB: The Show on other platforms as early as 2021. This is more Major League Baseball's (MLB) doing than Sony's but I do think Sony was in the driver's seat on this. MLB wants a great baseball game to exist and its own RBI Baseball series has not been good. Therefore, it wasn't going to keep the license from Sony if it didn't agree to release the game on Xbox or Switch but it likely offered a great deal that will benefit both parties financially. It's not easy to start developing a realistic, in-depth baseball game from scratch; there aren't too many publishers with the resources and maybe none with the desire to attempt it. I'd say it is also very possible Sony won't actually be the publisher for the other consoles. Instead there will probably be a distribution or publishing agreement like Microsoft has for Minecraft.

Intellivision turned 40 this month and I didn't do anything for it since I already have done coverage on the console though I did post a video of Astrosmash. I also didn't do anything for the PlayStation which turned 25 based on the original release in Japan. North America was the following year so maybe I'll do something next year if I have the time. Makers of TheC64 Mini, Retro Ltd., unveiled a new version called TheC64. While it is another plug 'n' play device with built-in games, this is a full size Commodore 64 functioning keyboard so you can use the keys for gaming this time and even writing programs. Although it was intended to release this month, I'm not sure if it actually has and it will probably take a bit longer to reach North America.

A couple weeks ago I posted an early video of Shenmue III and today I finished the game. While making the video it was tough to cover a lot as I didn't want to show any story and I was still early on and thus learning everything myself. The game begins in the village of Bailu which isn't too big but you'll still spend a fair amount of time there before heading to the city of Niaowu where there are a lot of vendors, mini-games, and capsule toys to collect. If you're a fan of the series then you should play it, however, I don't think it is worth paying full price. Although I was aware that the game would not conclude the story, it really doesn't move the story forward much at all. Most of the game is spent looking for thugs and Shenhua's father, and for all the time I spent improving Ryo's kung fu, there aren't enough story battles. I also don't like the stamina/food system and the quick-timer events that are far too fast for me. It was rare that I actually completed a quick-timer event on the first try. Also, I should point out that the mini-games do not include any classic arcade cabinets, likely due to Sega not being involved. 

December also marks the release of another Star Wars movie. I've not seen it yet but reviews from critics seem to indicate fans should have fun with the spectacle despite an unsatisfying story. I'm not sure when I'll see it as I don't go to the movies too often and don't mind waiting to avoid the initial crowds. Christmas is in a few days for many people so if you celebrate: Merry Christmas! If not, hopefully you'll at least enjoy a few days off from work or school. That's kind of where I'm at since I'm not traveling and don't live close to family so I'll be working three days out of the week. Then the following week will be a couple more days off for New Year's Day. Take care and enjoy the holidays!

-Jonathan

Shenmue!

The third game in Yu Suzuki's epic adventure is finally upon us and so, of course, I scanned what magazine coverage I've got on the first two games. It's been 19 years since the first game released for the North American Dreamcast and 20 years since it debuted in Japan. Then, while the rest of the world played the sequel on the Dreamcast in 2001, U.S. fans had to wait until 2002 to continue Ryo's journey on Xbox. These are two of my favorite games as I enjoy the settings, characters, and story, plus the combat is fun though the quick-timer events can be hit or miss, literally. I really want to give the first two another go before the new part but I simply cannot find the time so I'm likely going to jump into the third one this week. From what I've read Shenmue III doesn't complete the story -- let's hope we get a Shenmue IV!

If you are a Shenmue fan and missed my coverage for the North American Dreamcast's 20th anniversary you might want to check this article (scroll way down) to see some Shenmue press materials (flyer, press release, trading cards, t-shirt). There is also a post about the Dreamcast magazine here that has a couple pages of Shenmue information with a Yu Suzuki interview. The scans below are from a few different magazines with the first game's coverage being from the Official Dreamcast Magazine (ODM) and Next Generation. For Shenmue II I scanned articles from ODM, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), GamePro, and Xbox Nation (XBN). Also, I spotted a glaring error in a Next Generation preview crediting Sonic Team as the developer (it's AM2) and a couple spots where Ryo Hazuki's name is incorrect (EGM refers to him as Hazaki and ODM calls him Ryu). Something else you may notice are screenshots of Shenmue II in a Shenmue preview. I'd have to assume it wasn't known at the time if or where the story would be split between multiple games.

SHENMUE

Pre-Release

ODM #2

ODM #5

ODM #5

ODM #5

ODM #11

Next Generation - April 1999

Next Generation - March 1999

Next Generation - March 1999

Next Generation - October 1999

Next Generation - October 1999

Next Generation - October 1999

Next Generation - October 1999

Next Generation - October 1999

Reviews

ODM #8

ODM #8

ODM #8

Next Generation - December 2000

SHENMUE II

Pre-Release

ODM #10: Shenmue II is coming
out in 2001! Isn't it, Peter Moore? 

GamePro #159

GamePro #160: Shenmue II
canceled on U.S. Dreamcast.

GamePro #161: Peter Moore
apologizes.

EGM #159

Reviews

EGM #161

XBN #5

Year 3: June Update

I almost let June go by without a monthly update! Obviously not a big deal but I've been busy and haven't been getting as much done as I'd like which seems to be the case most months. June was rather quiet with E3 being the highlight. My E3 predictions were posted at the end of May and then I updated it a few times as the show was in progress. As I stated in the updates, it wasn't a show of big announcements which was expected. Microsoft did reveal that its next Xbox hits retail holiday 2020 but didn't provide many details. Something I didn't mention since I was focused on the big games and my predictions is that Konami is going to release a TurboGrafx-16 mini (aka PC Engine mini and PC Engine Core Grafx mini). This is surprising because the console was never very popular though I believe it did fare better outside of North America. While the system was originally from NEC, Konami now owns the rights to the console due to its acquisition of Hudson Soft. No price or release date were given.

I've not been playing too many games. I did post a Let's Play video of the LEGO Speed Champions add-on that released a couple weeks ago for Forza Horizon 4. Since posting that I realized there is a barn find (it's an achievement) but from what I've read the vehicle in it is not yet available, and there are only three LEGO cars in the game currently. While the add-on is cute and I've enjoyed it, more cars and LEGO buildings in the world would make it much better. You can drive the regular cars there too, it's not LEGO-only. Yesterday I started Judgment which is a M-rated game from the studio that makes the Yakuza titles. One of my Let's Play videos that got a ridiculous (for me) amount of views is Paw Patrol from Outright Games. If anyone is interested in more licensed kid games that publisher did recently unveil upcoming games based on Jumanji (second movie) and Ice Age.

I currently have a free month of Netflix which is one of the reasons I've been busy. Every year Netflix offers me a free month to try and get me to subscribe but I always cancel at the end of the free month. During last year's free month I recommended the Netflix exclusive The Toys That Made Us. There aren't any new seasons but it's worth mentioning again because it is great. However, as I stated last time the Barbie and Masters of the Universe episodes are not kid-friendly due to some images in the background of interviews and the language used by former and current Mattel employees. There are two seasons available with four episodes per season that also cover Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Transformers, LEGO, and Hello Kitty. Season three is in production and it is expected to include Power Rangers, wrestling toys, My Little Pony, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

That's about all I've got this month though I will say summer has definitely arrived as Southeast Michigan is quite warm this week. I'll try to get a Let's Play classic game video done next weekend. 

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan

E3 2019 Predictions

As I mentioned in the May update, this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) will likely be Xbox-centric since Sony is skipping the show. With the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 generation winding down, Sony skipping the show, and more and more games being announced or leaked ahead of time, this could be a very quiet show for new games, especially exclusives. The last couple from Sony were primarily trailers and Nintendo does the prerecorded video with some folks showing a few games afterwards (not on stage).

Last year I didn't spend too much time on third-party publisher predictions after going all out in 2017. I've spent a few hours writing this and now I'm basically rewriting it because my first draft was too much rambling and news is hitting earlier than I was ready for so I'm posting early this year too. It's not unusual for news to start weeks before the show but one of my predictions already came true! I said Nintendo would reveal a sequel to Detective Pikachu and while it did not provide many details, it did say yesterday that a new one is in development for the Switch that would conclude the story to the 3DS game. I know, that was an easy one to guess.

While Sony won't be on the show floor, E3 is still a convention for retailers to see what's upcoming and help steer their orders so Sony could be there behind closed doors and there could be some news, like the release date for Dreams (Game Informer reviewed it already based on the early access version). Sure, PlayStation 4 has sold extremely well but it still has to keep the sales going by convincing retailers to order more, more, more. In my first draft I also mentioned trailers could be shown for Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima, and nearly two weeks before E3 we now have both a new trailer and release date for Death Stranding (November 8, 2019).

I'll break up the rest of this post as it will still be just a bit long though I'll skip mentioning most of the games already confirmed to be there.

Microsoft
This is Microsoft's time to shine with the only console maker to have a stage presentation so I have to believe the next Xbox will be the highlight. I'd say seeing the hardware or game demos is unlikely, instead it will be a name, specs, maybe a tech demo, and perhaps a release window (November 2020?). Last year it purchased a few development studios that may or may not be able to get games ready by then. I lean toward it being too soon especially with Obsidian being busy on a game for 2K and InXile currently working on Wasteland 3. Microsoft isn't quite done with the Xbox One but I doubt there will be any exclusives we don't already know about as it looks to the future.

If, and it's a very big if, Microsoft lists a bunch of games with working titles for the next Xbox here are my guesses: Forza Motorsport 8, Halo Infinite (in addition to Xbox One), Gears of War 5 (in addition to Xbox One), Minecraft 2, Fable 4, Crimson Skies (that was my prediction for Xbox One last year), and a third-person action game from Ninja Theory (too generic? how about a third-person Age of Empires action game...but with Ninja Theory it is more likely something original).

Bill Gates and an original Xbox prototype at the
Game Developers Conference - March 10, 2000.

Nintendo
Earlier this year Nintendo stated Metroid Prime 4 development had been restarted so don't expect anything from Metroid. Maybe it's time for a new Donkey Kong Country or with Sonic and Crash returning to kart racing, it could be time for Diddy Kong Racing 2. Unlike the other consoles, the Switch is hitting its stride so Nintendo should have some new announcements, however, it could also hold back for the Tokyo Game Show. There were some rumors of a redesign for the Switch and it's probably time for new bundles and colors. I didn't think Arms was huge though it sold well enough to get a comic book so I'll predict we see Arms 2.

Random thoughts & predictions for the rest...

-Ubisoft recently delayed Skull & Bones to 2020 and it might be too soon for another Assassin's Creed. Who am I kidding, it's never too soon for another Assassin's Creed game. We all know Just Dance 2020 is coming and it must be time to leave the Wii behind (Just Dance 2019 is available for Wii and Wii U) and probably the Xbox 360 too. Following the success of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle another team up with Nintendo could be in order. Many keep expecting a new Splinter Cell and one employee mentioned it before Ubisoft said it was a joke. It's possible it unveiled the next Ghost Recon already to put the spotlight on Splinter Cell at E3.

-Sega will finally be bringing the Yakuza samurai spin-offs to North America. Skies of Arcadia 2 will be announced for release in October 2020 on the first game's 20th anniversary. Hey, it's possible!

-XCOM 3 will be unveiled, it has to be! It's been more than three years since XCOM 2 released which was my favorite game of 2016. For myself, being able to create a team that resembles G.I. Joe characters is one of the highlights when playing XCOM.

-There have already been LEGO Star Wars rumors and although Warner Bros. skipped The Last Jedi, we could be hearing about a trilogy with a complete edition of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. With Telltale gone and Warner owning Batman, it just might find a way to continue the Batman adventure game Telltale started or we'll hear about a brand new Batman game. Last year I thought Rocksteady would show its new game that has been in development a while but it didn't so why not this year. The money is on a Superman game though maybe it's Wonder Woman or Justice League or something else completely.

-Square Enix did confirm a big presentation for Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers game. I'm thinking Tomb Raider takes a break and I'm hoping Deus Ex returns from a break.

-What happened to Activision? Not including Blizzard, it just doesn't make many games any longer having recently let go of Destiny. Last E3 it did have Sekiro and it published that game outside of Japan for FromSoftware earlier this year. Call of Duty is the one and only big franchise it goes back to time and time again, and lately it's been leveraging older properties, such as Spyro and Crash Bandicoot. Maybe it doesn't need much more beyond Call of Duty but for a publisher of its size it must have something else in development. In 2017 I thought Pitfall could make a return and I'll just keep guessing a new Pitfall until it happens. Other than that, perhaps it will get a big license to focus on. Folks from The Simpsons television show are going to be at E3 so a game must be in the works; maybe Activision is involved?

-If Activision isn't backing The Simpsons the next best guess for publisher would be Electronic Arts which has published a variety of Simpsons games over the years. I think we know most of what EA is currently working on but I'll throw out a guess for a new SSX; not like the last one, instead something more like the first few. A remaster of the first three would work though it would probably not be able to get all of the same music.

-Bethesda is another publisher we've probably already got covered after last year's E3 where the announced games are still a ways off. It's likely going to try and redeem Fallout 76 so expect some changes for that game to be shown.

-THQ Nordic has bought up many properties and other companies the past few years and now has more than 80 (!) games in development across all of its subsidiaries. I'll say it will show a new Saints Row game and since it owns Deep Silver I'll put my dreaded Shenmue III prediction here. I'm thinking Shenmue will be delayed until at least Q1 2020. It's currently three months away which feels too soon.

The presentation schedule:

June 9th: Microsoft (1 PM PT/4 PM ET), Bethesda (5:30 PM PT/8:30 PM ET)
June 10th: PC Gaming Show (10 AM PT/1 PM ET), Ubisoft (1 PM PT/4 PM ET), Square Enix (6 PM PT/9 PM ET)
June 11th: Nintendo (9 AM PT/12 PM ET)

6/7/19 UPDATE: This past week has been full of announcements, leaks, and rumors so I'm doing a quick recap before the press conferences begin on Sunday. Only a few tie into my predictions above.

-Shenmue III has indeed been delayed though not for as long as I expected. It's currently targeting November 19, 2019.
-The next Watch Dogs game called Legion was leaked and Ubisoft confirmed it. I'd actually forgotten about this series when writing my predictions even though I did complete the first two.
-THQ Nordic unveiled Darksiders Genesis which differs quite a bit from the other Darksiders as it is an isometric RPG. Also, the publisher and Black Forest Games are remaking the 2005 title Destroy All Humans, and THQ Nordic is partnering with Purple Lamp Studios to remake the 2003 game SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom.
-Ninja Theory's next game leaked today and it appears to be an original third-person action game. However, it also looks to be multiplayer focused which is very disappointing to myself. I very much enjoyed the stories in Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice but this game might not have much of a plot.
-Rocksteady says that it will not be showing anything at E3. That's unfortunate.
-Larian Studios announced Baldur's Gate III during Google's Stadia conference (I did not realize Google was holding that this week). I've played very little of Larian's games but its Divinity RPGs have been well received so hopefully it can do Baldur's Gate justice. The first two were developed by BioWare way back in 1998 and 2000. In somewhat related news, on June 3rd Beamdog and Skybound announced the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Editions (as well as Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights) will be coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Switch this fall (at retail too).
-Bandai Namco had a big leak on Friday as well. The first Ni No Kuni is getting a remaster already. Eldin Ring is the game collaboration between FromSoftware and George R.R. Martin. A new Tales game called Tales of Arise is in development.
-Not every game announced in the past week is timed for E3 but here are a couple others: there is a sequel in the works for Yooka-Laylee and Outright Games (focuses on licensed kid games) will be publishing a game based on the most recent (2017) Jumanji movie.

6/10/19 UPDATE: Not sure if I should keep doing updates as I might make this post super long and I doubt many if any at all will come back to read the updates. In any case, I messed up and said EA wasn't having a conference; while that is partially true as it hasn't had an actual press conference in years, it did do an EA Play briefing which was held outdoors. That was primarily about FIFA, Madden, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and a new expansion for The Sims 4.

The Microsoft presentation was very close to what I expected, though it did not spend too much time on the next Xbox other than to say it's powerful, it's coming holiday 2020, and Halo Infinite will launch with it. As mentioned in the previous update, Ninja Theory does have a third-person action game coming soon for Xbox One. Also, a new Minecraft game was announced but not a sequel, instead it is a dungeon crawler and I'm not too sure you can even build in it. Many of the games shown were from third-parties that are not holding conferences; with Sony not appearing Microsoft was the place for those games to get some time in the spotlight (CD Projekt Red even had Keanu Reeves representing Cyberpunk 2077). New content for State of Decay 2 and Forza Horizon 4 were shown as well but no major titles which doesn't surprise me as I expected any AAA games in development to be for the next console.

There should be more from third-parties in the next day or two so I don't know how wrong I was on all my predictions but we did see a new LEGO Star Wars title from Warner Bros. It does not appear to be a compilation of past LEGO games even though it covers all three trilogies. Sega is indeed bringing a game over to North America that has been in Japan for a while, just not the game I guessed. Phantasy Star Online 2 will be free to play on Xbox One. No other consoles were mentioned, however, that doesn't mean they aren't included. Onto Bethesda which, of course, is trying to redeem Fallout 76 and to do that it is adding human NPCs that players can converse with and a battle royale mode. New announcements included The Elder Scrolls: Blades for Switch, Commander Keen for mobile, Deathloop from Arkane, and Tango Gameworks' Ghostwire Tokyo.

6/13/19 UPDATE: This should be my final update as the show is just about over. My predictions didn't work out too well. Nintendo mostly had expected updates and third-party announcements aside from a Breath of the Wild sequel teaser. It is possible I missed some news but I didn't see anything new from Activision. I think EA might have The Simpsons license as the Tapped Out game is still active which was talked about at that Simpsons panel. However, there was no mention of a new Simpsons game which made the whole thing seem odd. 2K didn't announce anything new so no XCOM 3, unfortunately.

Square Enix's press conference had a lot of Final Fantasy and other classic JRPG stuff. It showed off Marvel's Avengers but that did not grab me at all. Ubisoft's conference wasn't as good as the last couple of years. No Splinter Cell though you can be Sam Fisher in a mobile game with other Tom Clancy characters. There is a new Rainbow Six that involves alien parasites which is not the Rainbow Six I know, and really, why even call it that (yeah, I know, brand recognition). Watch Dogs: Legion does have a cool feature where you can recruit any NPC, though the setting doesn't interest me much (dystopian London). Just Dance 2020 is actually going to be released on the Wii! The Wii U and Xbox 360 platforms have been dropped but not the Wii, amazing.

If you want to see Shenmue III footage it was shown during the PC Gaming Show. Yu Suzuki was there too though he didn't say very much. While he primarily speaks through a translator, they really should have spent more time interviewing him. I suppose PC players might not be too interested in the series, however, with Sony not there and the game not on Xbox One there wasn't anywhere else for him to be. There were plenty of other games announced from smaller publishers this week but that's about it in regards to the games/companies I was making predictions around. As I said at the start of this post, I expected a quiet E3 for new AAA game announcements and sure enough it was. Regardless, I still enjoy taking it all in and watching all the conferences, and expect next year to be a huge show.