How Did My E3 2010 Predictions Go?

Badly. Spectacularly badly. My predictions for a whole bunch of surprise announcements was foiled by a show where the real surprise was the lack of surprises.

Let’s run through them on by one.

1. Sony will tease Uncharted 3 with a very brief CG trailer.
Wrong. Nathan Drake was name checked at the Sony press conference and while Naughty Dog is obviously working on another Uncharted adventure there was no mention of it in any form whatsoever.

2. Sony will announce Demon’s Souls 2 (exclusive to PS3) during their press conference.
Wrong. This was always a long shot, so I’m not terribly shocked that Demon’s Souls played no part in this year’s E3, at the Sony press conference or otherwise.

3. Microsoft will not show a slim 360, nor announce a 360 price drop.
Wrong. Microsoft did announce a new, slimmer 360 and the older Elite model did get a price drop. My thinking here was that it was too soon for an announcement and that Microsoft would wait until closer to the end of the year. For me, this was the show’s one major surprise.

4. EA will unveil a new Need for Speed from Burnout developer Criterion.
Right. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was unveiled and Criterion is driving development.

5. Nintendo will show just one Motion Plus title at their press conference: Zelda.
Right. The Wii accessory everyone seems to have forgotten about was represented by just one game and that game was the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, pictured.

6. Kevin Butler will MC the Sony press conference.
Wrong Right. Sure, Jack Tretton may have – technically speaking – been the official host. But there’s no arguing over the real star of Sony’s show.

7. A new Wii Fit will be announced and support the Wii Vitality Sensor.
Wrong. Nintendo did not announce a new Wiit Fit. And in an odd move, no mention was made of the Vitality Sensor at all.

8. Microsoft will announce Killer Instinct for Project Natal.
Wrong. Killer Instinct developer Rare is making games for Project Natal Kinect, but a fighting game was not one of them. Instead, they showed us Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures.

9. Nintendo will announce a new title from Retro Studios based on an original IP.
Wrong. Half-right, at least. Retro did have a new game announced and it was heavily featured during Nintendo’s press briefing. However, Donkey Kong is about as far from an original IP as you can get.

10. Call of Duty: Black Ops will have DLC exclusive to Xbox 360, while Medal of Honor will have DLC exclusive to PS3.
Right. More right than wrong, at least. Microsoft and Activision partnered to bring all Call of Duty DLC to Xbox 360 first over the next three years. And Sony and EA partnered to bring a limited edition of Medal of Honor (with bonus MOH: Frontline remake) exclusively to PS3.

11. The Last Guardian will be given a 2011 release date.
Wrong. The Last Guardian was not even mentioned. What a tragedy.

12. Both Sony and Microsoft will tie up at least one third-party title as a timed exclusive.
Wrong. Microsoft announced Kingdoms from German developer Crytek, but it will be published by Microsoft Game Studios. Sony, meanwhile, secured some exclusive content from third-party publishers (Medal of Honor, Dead Space 2, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood), but not entire games exclusive to PS3.

13. Valve will announce Half-Life: Episode 3 for PC and Xbox 360.
Wrong. Sigh.

Four out of thirteen is appalling. And it’s two worse than last year. I think next year I’ll play it a bit safer: “EA announces sports game”, “Microsoft mentions Halo”, “Reggie Fils-Aime is tall”… that sort of thing.

How’d your E3 predictions fare?