Some dude just told me on Twitter that Nintendo's SpaceWorld is supposed to come back in 2018.
He says it's supposed to happen in September. It's apparently going to be a 2 day long experience, instead of the 1 day that was used way back when. He also claims that they're considering dropping out of E3 next year to focus on SpaceWorld. They don't have a plan where they are holding the show but they want to find a place large enough to hold 50,000 people comfortably. They also plan on showing a direct the day before. And last but not least they want to debut Pokémon Switch, Paper Mario Switch, the new Zelda (2D), and the first gameplay of Metroid Prime 4. He also said that he wasn't told any other games besides those from his 'source' but that GameCube fans will be really really happy. Virtual Console probably. He also says that this plan for SpaceWorld is in early discussion so minute details will change most likely but he says he is 'confident' that SpaceWorld is absolutely happening.
I saved the best for last. He said that the new Smash Bros. will be revealed there. He said it's being fully developed by Namco with some input from Sakurai. AND he said that the big 3rd party character floating around right now is... Crash Bandicoot...
So, here's the thing. I don't really trust this guy. He usually throws out a 'leak' that is pretty wide. Some of his true-ish leaks were 'Nintendo-Ubisoft crossover'(that was well before Laura Kate Dale I might add), and that 'Super Mario Universe' would have a city as it's hub world(which isn't really true but kinda, and he got the name really wrong). This is the first time he's ever been this specific. I dunno if he's straight pulling this out of his *** or if he actually has info.
Either way it's something to discuss. Especially that Crash Bandicoot thing. That's pretty interesting.
...Yeah, that seems pretty suspect.
A lot of the details don't add up. For one, why stick a convention of that caliber that late in the fall for what would presumably be holiday titles? You're giving only 2-3 months at most to spread hype compared to the near half year from E3, which they did pretty damn well at
this year. For two, what reason do we have to think they'd bring back Spaceworld
now? A special presentation for the Switch made sense since they were showing off their new system and needed to win back favor after stumbling with the Wii U, but beyond that, they've shown a desire to move away from yearly big-budget press conferences to focus more on bringing the news directly to the fans. Doesn't it seem to anyone else like name dropping Spaceworld here is an appeal to nostalgia to get a hoax to spread?
(Admit it, you imagined Iwata or Reggie doing the motion when you read the second last sentence.)
For two, the list of games feels cobbled together from what we know of, with two we
don't, relying on big names to catch people's attention. If we know of Metroid Prime 4's existence now, why wait 15 months to show anything about it? With how main line Pokémon games are always late fall or holiday releases now, why keep the existence of one a secret all the way to September of that year when main line games have been revealed no later than the spring as of late? It'd be completely out of character. To say no less of claiming a new Paper Mario game just two years after Color Splash, despite Intelligent Systems already being at work on a big budget Fire Emblem game for the Switch that's
already set for next year! Call me skeptical, but I don't see how they'd be able to finish two major titles in such a short span.
To say no less of telling us both Smash
and Gamecube VC wouldn't be unveiled until late next year, despite us having credible rumors of their existence dating back to early
this year! And not knocking Crash or anything, but doesn't he seem like the exact kind of third-party-character-who-did-something-notable-lately that a fake leak would add in to seem more believable?
So yeah, that's my admittedly too long analysis of that. I don't have much reason to believe it, especially since his track record doesn't sound like it's worth writing home about. "A Nintendo-Ubisoft crossover" is too vague to say he knew something, while "Super Mario Universe" isn't even close thematically to Odyssey (it
does sound like something a fan would assume was the next logical step up from the Galaxy games, though), and New Donk City isn't a hub, it's just one of several worlds in the game.