The expectations that surround the days leading up to E3 always make the imagination of most gamers go completely wild. The rumor mill spins so frantically that every single existing possibility is thrown out there in order to generate hype and speculation. Sadly, some of the great scenarios that are spilled are either totally far-fetched or not backed up by any solid evidence.
Mario RPG
Ever since the glorious Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, arguably the peak among all Mario RPGs, Nintendo has made a conscious effort to simplify the gameplay of the franchise, leaving only the Mario and Luigi series as the character's sole pure role-playing line of games. That strategy gave birth to the pleasant Super Paper Mario, but it also brought to life the dull Sticker Star.
Regardless of the recent irregular results, Mario RPGs have appeared on every Nintendo console since the SNES and the prospect of a possible Wii U game is inevitably exciting. Even with the recent shift the Paper Mario series took, moving from home consoles to handheld, expecting some sort of Mario RPG game to eventually show up is reasonable. However, there is not much indicating that this will be the E3 on which we will watch its reveal.
F-Zero
It is ridiculous to think that a franchise as well-regarded as F-Zero has been absent for over a decade. Sadly, given Nintendo's flooring number of successful IPs, the disappearing act is something the company can afford. Still, that drought – much like the one the Metroid franchise went through – has got to end eventually, especially when the futuristic and brutal racing provides a nice counterpoint to the easygoing nature of the Mario Kart games.
Nintendo knows that its fans miss Captain Falcon and his peers, and although Miyamoto was not a fan of the approach Sega had on F-Zero GX, the company cannot get away from the overwhelming acclaim that game received. With the Wii U's power and online functionalities, the successor to GX has the potential of being an enormous leap over the impressive Gamecube outing, and – hopefully – that is an opportunity Nintendo will not pass on.
Star Fox
Star Fox's no-show is not as long as F-Zero's, it is about three years shorter; nevertheless, it is a franchise that is sorely missed. It was responsible for one of the technological peaks of the Super Nintendo, and one of the finest games on the Nintendo 64. However, it lost a great deal of steam following those outstanding hits.
Due to its unquestionable legacy, not to mention the clamors of its fanbase, there is always a chance a new Star Fox game is announced. Additionally, with Nintendo's recent, and generally productive, strategy to outsource some of its franchises, the spacial crew has emerged as one of the main candidates to go through that kind of process. Yet, given that are no significant murmurs surrounding the saga, as opposed to all the talk regarding other expected titles, Star Fox remains a long shot for this year's E3.