Lots of impressive announcements will be made in Los Angeles next week

Jun 8, 2014 23:03 GMT  ·  By

E3 2014 kicks off later today, June 9, with the traditional press conferences from large hardware makers like Sony and Microsoft, as well as big publishers like Electronic Arts or Ubisoft.

Plenty of big announcements and reveals have already been made official lately while others are available just as leaks or reports.

Even so, on this day gamers can finally see what pre-E3 2014 speculation was current and what is complete fabrication.

Seeing as how I'm staying home while my colleague Andrei Dumitrescu heads to Los Angeles, I wanted to take the time and offer some predictions about what's going to happen at E3 2014 and what Sony and Microsoft will announce for their new consoles, in terms of games, features, and more..

Microsoft's Xbox One

First up, Microsoft's Xbox One will get a press conference called "Game On" so you can expect the company to make some big reveals and presentations, in order to emphasize the gaming abilities of the Xbox One, not to entertainment ones that generated a negative backlash last year.

Expect gameplay demonstrations of already confirmed titles like Forza Horizon 2 or Sunset Overdrive, the few titles that are still set to appear this year, but also expect Halo 2: Anniversary Edition, which should appear this fall exclusively for the Xbox One.

Already a few teaser statements have appeared concerning a remastered Halo 2 and, considering Halo 5: Guardians will debut in fall of 2015 for the Xbox One, it makes sense for Microsoft to keep people interested in the franchise with a semi-new experience. The only question is whether or not it will also appear on the Xbox 360, like 2012's Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

Rumors also say that a major third-party exclusive will be secured onto the Xbox One but here things are quite murky, to say the least. Reports of Resident Evil 7 have surfaced from time to time but, considering previous Xbox One exclusive Dead Rising 3 is making its way onto the PC, it's unlikely Microsoft will sign a new partnership with Capcom.

Now that former Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer leads the Xbox division overall, you can also expect some focus on the internal projects, like the new Gears of War, as well as on independent titles made via the ID@Xbox initiative.

Sony's PS4

Even if the PS4 has an advantage over the Xbox One in terms of popularity and sales, the upcoming price cut from Microsoft and the offensive in terms of games will give Sony a run for its money. As such, expect plenty of major announcements during the company's press conference.

Uncharted 4 will undoubtedly be the star of the presentation, as Sony wants to establish it as one of the big upcoming titles for PS4. Unfortuantely, it's less likely that it will appear this fall, so expect a fall 2015 release, to give Halo 5 a run for its money.

Hyped up exclusives like From Software's Project Beast are also possible, as are some of the titles in development at Guerrilla Games.

You can also expect a few remakes to be on display, including the already-confirmed The Last of Us: Remastered Edition and even the rumored God of War: Ascension, possibly with a teaser for a new PS4-only God of War game.

Sony is bound to continue its indie offensive this year and brag about the special experiences coming to the PS4. It might also introduce some extra features for PS Plus users, now that Microsoft's Games with Gold has expanded on the Xbox One.

Considering a previous listing, it's also possible that new and improved PS3 and PS4 models might be revealed, with better and more efficient components, but don't expect any external redesign.

Even with these predictions, both Sony and Microsoft have rather successfully managed to keep some of their E3 2014 announcements under wraps, so expect to hear plenty of surprises later today.