So I thought I'd do a recap of new Japanese game announcements (where both the publisher and developer are Japanese) from E3.
Three notes first:
1.) This is a Western focused show, so I wouldn't hit the panic button over a lack of third party 3DS titles.
2.) I didn't source what I put in here, but if you want sources for anything in particular, feel free to ask.
3.) Please point out anything I missed. I tried to stick overwhelmingly to new announcements.
Square Enix:
-Nier 2 (PS4): This is the one game of their three new titles (WoFF, FF7R, Nier2) that uses the word "exclusive" when referring to platform, so I suspect there was a fair amount of support thrown in by Sony. It's externally developed by Platinum. The game sounds pretty far off.
-World of Final Fantasy (Vita/PS4 First): Based on the press release description, this is a Pokemon competitor. The press release is titled "Collect, raise and battle iconic monsters for the first time in world of Final Fantasy". Square Enix and Silicon also announced it runs on the Orochi 3 engine, which to my understanding doesn't support 3DS or Wii U, so if it's coming to a Nintendo platform eventually, it would be the NX. It appears to be internally developed. It releases in 2016.
-Final Fantasy 7 Remake (PS4 First): It sounds like an enhanced remake. Next update is in the Winter so we can put this down as not coming for a while.
-Final Fantasy 7 Port (iOS/PS4): They announced that Final Fantasy 7 is getting ported to iOS this Summer while announcing a delay in the PS4 port until Fall.
-"Project Setsuna" ("consoles"): Your guess is as good as mine. It's a new studio making a new IP RPG that's supposed to harken back to older times and they seem to be using Unity as an engine (so probably not regular 3DS, but everything else is at least hypothetically possible). Their game releases in 2016.
Capcom:
-They showed a new VR demo on Morpheus called "Kitchen" that is apparently on a newly made engine. I don't think this is a game so much as a tech demo.
From Software/Bandai Namco:
-Dark Souls 3 (PC/XB1/PS4): So Miyazaki mentioned this isn't the last Dark Souls game, but Namco thought it was, so I'm guessing they're just going to self publish the next one or renegotiate their contract or something. It seems to have a Microsoft marketing deal given the conference it debuted at and that they showed it off on Xbox One afterwards, but I doubt it applies to Japan. This is a Q1 2016 release.
Sega/Atlus:
-They announced a Hatsune Miku VR demo running on PS4, but again, this was a tech demo and not a game.
Konami:
-Hahahahaha
Nintendo:
-Star Fox (Wii U): I'll count this as an announcement since we didn't really have a handle on it before. It's offline and it's made by Platinum. I'm guessing it's a budget title, but I could be wrong. Coming this year.
-Project Guard (Wii U): I can't quite tell what this is yet? A tower defense game? Platinum is also working on it. Online is more of a focus here. Unsure when it's releasing. Sorry about the lacking description on this one.
-Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (Wii U): It's Mario Tennis. You're probably familiar with this. Out this Fall.
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (Wii U): This is a party board game, but what's most notable is that it *requires* you own one Amiibo per player. I think this is the first notable title that's true for. Coming this Fall.
-Zelda: Triforce Heroes (3DS): Multiplayer focused Zelda game kind of like Four Swords, but derived from ALBW. Out this Fall.
-Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS): It's the new Mario & Luigi RPG x Paper Mario x Minigames. Out Spring 2016.
-Hyrule Warriors (3DS): This is a port/rework of the Wii U game onto 3DS with characters from Wind Waker. Made by Tecmo Koei. Out Early 2016.
Sony:
-The Last Guardian (PS4): I'll count this as a re-reveal given it moved platforms. It looks like Ico for the most part. Out 2016 (maybe).
Kickstarter:
-Shenmue 3 (PC/PS4): Sony seems to be partially funding this, but obviously so is GAF. I'm guessing they will help distribute it in Japan when it comes out the other side of forever.
Overall:
-This E3 was pretty embarrassing for Japanese publishers overall, especially in terms of new announcements, but really in most ways you look at it. Arguably one of the worst if not the worst showing ever.
-Sega, Capcom, and Konami didn't even show up with any new games. Koei Tecmo's presence was pretty minimal, but I don't really blame them for that given many of their games aren't self published.
-Bandai Namco had a pretty sparse line-up of one new game and even that was a game they help another company publish.
-Sony continues to show they're barely a Japanese publisher.
-Nintendo had the most games, but it was less than we usually expect out of them. However, it seems they're about to replace both the 3DS and Wii U with NX, so this was mostly expected.
-Square Enix was definitely the star here, presenting a strong line-up of titles from both their Western and Japanese divisions (assuming they ever get them out the door). They're the only publisher who came with Japanese content that felt like they were actually trying to compete with the other big companies at the show. I didn't even list games like Kingdom Hearts 3 re-revealing or their other line-up of existing titles like Star Ocean or FF14's expac and localizations like Bravely Second or Dragon Quest Heroes.
