E3 2017 Surprises: 7 Comebacks We'd Love to See

E3 2017 is now so close we can almost feel the excitement emanating from the Los Angeles Convention Center.

For the second year on the trot, Electronic Arts is set to host its own fan-oriented EA Play event on Saturday, June 10. It’ll herald the first of this year’s seven major press conferences, too, and we know that Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Bethesda, and even Devolver Digital have already secured their respective time slots on the E3 setlist — a setlist that will no doubt toss up all kinds of pixelated surprises and, potentially, moments to forget.

As the main event inches closer and closer, we here at PlayStation LifeStyle have cobbled together to lock down our official predictions, all the while dreaming up 10 game announcements that would steal the show when the lights go down in the LA Convention Center.

And as if that wasn’t enough, we also cast our mind back to the E3 of 2016 to see how Sony’s presser stacks up. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but few would argue that the Japanese platform-holder didn’t pull out all the stops — quite literally, given the rat-a-tat pace of 2016’s keynote presentation — to unveil God of War, Spider-Man, Days Gone, and much, much more.

All three of those titles are expected to be ushered back into the limelight in a few days’ time, but what about those IPs that have spent the past few months — years, even — languishing in the shadows? Forget about the likes of Death Stranding and Bloodborne 2 (?) for a very brief moment and let’s instead focus our attention on those franchises from yesteryear that may well make a triumphant comeback at E3 2017. Let the speculation commence!

From Saturday onwards, PlayStation LifeStyle will be covering all of the major press conferences so you won’t miss a beat — for the record, Sony’s presser gets going on Monday, June 12 at 6.00PM PT/9.00PM ET. Our ground team will then begin relaying their hands-on impression pieces straight from the show floor, so keep your peepers peeled.

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E3 2017 surprises feature

E3 2017...The Comeback Story?

On the eve of gaming's biggest event, PSLS has nominated 7 dormant IPs that may well be on the verge of a comeback.
Spyro the Dragon

Kicking things off with a bout of wishful thinking, Spyro the Dragon is one former PlayStation mascot that has been linked with a comeback — either in the form of a remaster or totally new experience — for years. Activision now holds rights to the IP, and the cutesy reptile has since become a mainstay of the Skylanders franchise.

But after striking up a deal to create the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, speculation is rife that Sony has found a similar workaround to welcome Spyro the Dragon back into its ranks — particularly after a PlayStation-themed ad placed Spyro alongside PaRappa the Rapper, who got a celebratory remaster of his own earlier in 2017. The rumor mill continues to operate at full tilt, so stay tuned for more.
Sly Cooper

Remaining in the realm of dormant PlayStation mascots, our next candidate on this list is Sly Cooper, the wise-cracking sleuth who began life under Infamous developer Sucker Punch all the way back in ‘02. Flanked by Bentley (The Brains) and Murray (The Muscle), Sly became something of a cult hero (or should that be anti-hero?) among the PlayStation community, and it’s small wonder why Sanzaru Games’s HD remaster garnered so much attention in 2010 — followed by that long-requested Vita port four years later.

Last we reported, Sanzaru was quick to play down talk of another entry in the Sly series, and considering that Sucker Punch is hard at work developing its new IP — an IP that may well be in attendance in a few days’ time — chances of a new Sly Cooper game are relatively slim. Even still, we live in hope.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Steeped in the rich history of PlayStation and its world-famous roster of characters, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale initially launched for both PS3 and Vita to overly strong reviews, when critics praised SuperBot’s crossover for its water-tight controls and addictive multiplayer.

Lacklustre sales and those somewhat unfair comparisons to Super Smash Bros. looked to have clipped the franchise’s wings, though, and we understand SuperBot is now toiling away on a new IP of some sort. Plus, a full five years have lapsed between the launch of All-Stars and today, and though there have been rumblings of a sequel, Sony boss Shuhei Yoshida conceded in the past that for all of its promise, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale simply didn’t light up the sales charts in the way Sony would’ve hoped.

A worldwide total in the region of one million wasn’t enough to warrant direct follow-up, but perhaps Sony will crunch numbers in order to bring its intense brawler to a new generation? We'll see.
Resistance

Insomniac's cult shooter series already reared its ghastly alien head during our predictions video, but we’d be remiss if we didn't mention Resistance one more time before the main event kicks off.

Burning Skies notwithstanding, Resistance 3 was the last mainline entry in the cult franchise and six years after Capelli's quest to the Big Apple, Insomniac has been keeping busy with Sunset Overdrive and the as-yet-untitled Spider-Man PS4 game.

Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac Games, has stated in the past that the studio has no intention of releasing another Resistance game anytime soon. Perhaps Sony will shop its IP to another studio?

There is, after all, a rich sci-fi universe still begging to be explored, and though Resistance's online servers officially shut down in 2014, PlayStation users have forever looked to Insomniac's shooter and wondered, "what if?" Is that question about to be answered?
Crash Team Racing

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy knocked everyone's socks offs last year. Here was a PlayStation mascot that had quietly fallen by the wayside, shifting over to Activision as Naughty Dog doubled down on deeply cinematic experiences in the vein of Uncharted and The Last of Us.

But N. Sane Trilogy, a remastered trilogy steeped in a particularly zany blend of nostalgia, represents something of a homecoming for Sony's marsupial. The big question now is whether Vicarious Visions will go one step further to launch a remastered version of Crash Team Racing.

Similarly to how All-Stars was consistently compared to Super Smash Bros., many viewed Crash Team Racing as just another Mario Kart clone.

But such a short-sighted fallacy is a disservice to Naughty Dog's blistering spinoff.

In the days leading up to E3 2017, there has also been a bizarre amount of chatter concerning Bloodborne Kart, but perhaps Sony will still find wiggle room on its slate for a CTR revival?
Socom

When Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida was quizzed on the status of Socom, Sony's head honcho conceded that a reboot was unlikely.

That was almost a full two years ago, but that hasn't quelled hope of a bona fide comeback, and we here at PSLS have long made our desire for a new Socom game clear.

It would be an announcement straight out of left field, of course, but we're crossing our fingers. Here's the latest word from Yoshida-san:

"We have to gauge the interest and what they are saying and what they really want to see or play. We have to balance that with what we can do with the number of people who will enjoy that and we don’t have a good answer to that."
Dreams

Though it's not necessarily a comeback per se, Media Molecule's Dreams has been completely MIA for months — years, even — and barring a status report from the studio in December of last year, there's still no mention of that long-anticipated PS4 beta.

Surely E3 2017 is an opportune time for Sony and Media Molecule to usher their genre oddity back into the limelight? Perhaps announcing PSVR support, too? We'll find out soon enough.