The busiest time of the year for video games is upon us once again. With the Electronic Entertainment Expo just a week away, it’s time to start talking about what I hope to see announced. The past couple years have been less than stellar for me and my hopes. Many of the things I’ve wanted to see for a long time have yet to be fulfilled. However, I have learned my lesson and there are certain items that may have made such a list in previous years that I’m smart enough to leave off by now. For example, you won’t see me clamoring for party chat on PlayStation 3; I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed.

Now the things I want from E3 are likely farfetched. We all know what to expect: Call of Duty, Halo, God of War, Mario, etc. These are things that are gaming mainstays and honestly it’s going to take something special for me to get excited by any announcements in those titles. However the stuff that’s out on the edges, the unexpected, that’s what I crave every year and, sadly, what I come away from E3 disappointed about. We got it several years ago when we received announcements like Left 4 Dead 2,  Project Natal and Rockstar’s Agent (which sadly has yet to materialize). Hopefully this year will be more like 2009 than like 2011, which saw little surprises between all of the press shows.

So without any further blather on my part, let’s get to five things I wish would happen next week at E3.

Kevin Butler announced for PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale

At this point I have little interest in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Sure it looks like a decent Super Smash Bros. clone with some interesting ideas but I think that type of game is a bit old school at this point. One thing that would certainly increase my interest is an announcement that Kevin Butler is one of the playable characters. Sure, the VP of Awesome may have been sidelined lately in Sony’s marketing but I always found his ads to be clever and amusing. If they incorporate him into the game as a combatant it would be awesome. However, it would have to be done right. I’m talking original Mortal Kombat-style motion capture, not some cheap animated version of him. The only trick about including Butler would be nerfing him to fit the other fighters. Obviously, the real Kevin Butler would wipe the floor with the likes of Kratos…not to mention what he might do to the pathetic Fat Princess.

Likelihood of happening: 80% that Butler will be included in some way, 30% that he’s an actual fighter

Rare returns to form

Okay this is one of those things that I wish for every year and every year I come away disappointed by. Being a hardcore Nintendo 64 fan, I have a deep seated love for everything Rare. Microsoft’s purchase of the company was one of my buying decisions for the original Xbox. Sadly, the team seems to be dormant for the past couple of years, content with working on avatars and Kinect Sports. Once again I am calling for a return of the Rare that we used to know. Hell, I’d even settle for the Rare we knew fairly recently that put out titles like Kameo and Viva Piñata. My ideal situation would be legitimate sequel to the Conker or Banjo-Kazooie, not HD remakes or whatever Nuts & Bolts was. After all of these years it’s hard to believe it will happen but a guy’s got to hope, right?

Likelihood of happening: What I want it to be: 100%. What it actually is: 5%

PlayStation Vita price drop

I’m not going to lie: even with the sub-par library and the fact that I rarely use my Nintendo DS, I still want a Vita. I see a lot of potential in the little guy with games that utilize the touch screen, motion, back touch, and enough buttons and sticks to challenge a PlayStation 3 controller. Now obviously software is a big deal and I hope that we see some exciting things on that front but what the Vita needs perhaps the most is a shot in the arm via a price drop. While $250 is, perhaps, worth it for the tech, it’s just not appropriate in the current market. If they can get closer to the 3DS’ $179 price point, I will be a lot more likely to jump on board.

Likelihood of happening: 50%

Less than 25% Kinect talk

Ever since Project Natal was announced in 2009, Microsoft’s press conference has been taken over by the little motion device. Last year Kinect took well over half of the show with inclusion in games like Mass Effect and Ghost Recon on top of the many Kinect exclusive games. Seeing Commander Shepard responding to voice commands is fine but watching two grown men poorly pantomime playing football is a memory I can never get rid of. Sadly, pretty much all uses of Kinect have so far been disappointing but it almost seems inevitable that Microsoft is going to continue to focus heavily on the peripheral. Obviously they aren’t going to completely abandon Kinect talk but is it too much to ask that they focus more on regular games and console features?

Likelihood of happening: 0%

Nintendo gets me excited about the Wii U

Often when a  new console is announced it’s accompanied by tons of over-hype and excitement. Think back to when the 3DS or the PlayStation Vita were unveiled and think about how great those sounded at the time. However. once they finally materialized the anticipation had certainly died down. Now go back to last E3 and think about how Nintendo handled the reveal of the Wii U. It was met with confusion, disbelief and flat out hate. This goes against what you want to get out of a big announcement like that. This year Nintendo’s number one job should be to prove to me why I need a Wii U. How great are my favorite Mario and Zelda games going to look? How much better will it be to play third party games like Batman: Arkham City and Darksiders 2? They failed at this last E3 and this year is all about proof of concept for Nintendo. They need to get me excited about it for me to continue caring at all about what Nintendo does. On top of proving the idea of the Wii U Nintendo also needs to sell me on the price and the features that come with the experience…a hefty task no doubt but one they have to do to be successful going forward.

Likelihood of happening: 40%