As is tradition, rumors and theories ran rampant in the build-up to E3 2018. From new iterations of classic franchises to remasters to consoles, everything was fair game for the rumor mill. The major E3 presentations and reveals have come and gone, and we now have a better idea as to the theories that are becoming a reality, versus the rumors that we hope eventually come to full fruition.

We take a look at some of the biggest stories that took place leading up to E3 2018, that ended up being noticeably absent from the conference.

Rocksteady’s Superman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMmi1jr0Psg

If kryptonite is Superman’s primary weakness, video game franchises would arguably be a close second. The Man of Steel has yet to leave his mark on the gaming industry. Sure, he maintains a solid presence amongst the ensemble cast of the Injustice franchise, but Superman has failed to find his footing within a standalone title.

Rumors surfaced last month on the bulletin board-based website 4chan, indicating that Rocksteady – the studio behind the wildly successful Batman: Arkham games – was, in fact, working on a standalone Superman title, and that the game would be shown at this year’s E3 during the Microsoft press conference. Unfortunately, the press conference came and went with no presence of Rocksteady, nor any mention of a Superman game. The 4chan post has also since been deleted.

It is clearly wise to take posts on sites such as 4chan with a grain of salt. Although, if any studio were to make a new Superman game, Rocksteady would no doubt be the most capable in doing so, considering the incredible job they did with the Batman: Arkham series. With E3’s passing, the hype surrounding a new Superman video game may have cooled for the time being, but hopes are certainly still high.

Star Fox Grand Prix

https://www.journaldugeek.com/2018/05/15/rumeur-nintendo-plancherait-jeu-de-course-star-fox/

How about that Nintendo presentation? It had everything: Super Mario Party, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Fortnite for Switch, and of course, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which will feature every character ever featured throughout the franchise’s history, including the space-hardened characters from the Star Fox series.

Alas, Nintendo’s E3 presentation concluded with no mention of the rumored racing game set within the actual Star Fox universe, allegedly titled Star Fox Grand Prix. Retro Studios’ name has been associated with the project, with Eurogamer indicating that their sources have corroborated similar reports.

The Star Fox universe definitely lends itself well to a racing game within the franchise, but we can only keep our fingers crossed for now, until a Grand Prix-style game is confirmed. In the meantime, fans will be able to satisfy their Star Fox thirst through Ubisoft’s Starlink: Battle for Atlas, which will feature Fox McCloud as a playable character exclusively for the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

RELATED: Fox McCloud - And Maybe Other Star Fox Characters - Will Be Switch Exclusives In Ubisoft's Starlink

Splinter Cell

https://dontfeedthegamers.com/splinter-cells-michael-ironside-sam-fisher/

Thanks to a Walmart Canada website leak that occurred back in May, Splinter Cell fans have been champing at the bit to once again tackle covert missions as iconic assassin Sam Fisher.

It appeared that the stars were aligning, as many of the games included in the original leak were announced in the buildup or at E3 itself, such as Rage 2, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Gears of War 5. However, hopes were dashed as Ubisoft’s presentation closed with no mention of a new Splinter Cell game.

When asked if we would be seeing new Splinter Cell game soon, in a follow-up interview with Geoff Keighley, Ubisoft President and CEO Yves Guillemot stated, “We love the brand, first. We really want to come back with it at one point, but I can’t say much today.”

While Guillemot’s comment neither confirms nor denies that a new Splinter Cell title is in the works, fans can at least continue to hold onto the hope that they may still see the next chapter in the series at some point.

Fallout 3 / Fallout: New Vegas Remasters

http://www.map028.com/gallery/fallout-3-game-hd-wallpaper.html

With so much hype surrounding the announcement of Fallout 76, it’s easy to forget about the recent massive mystery patches that Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas received in May.

One of the leading theories for the large-scale patches was that Bethesda was looking to remaster the two titles, which were released in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Would the studio finally depart – or at least take a break – from its never-ending remasters of Skyrim?

It seems we’ll have to continue to wait to find out for certain, as the Bethesda presentation made no announcement of a remaster for either Fallout title.

Skate 4

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/session-interview-crea-ture-studios

The build-up to this year’s E3 gave Skate fans ample reason to believe that a fourth title in the franchise would be announced at the conference. Skate 3 servers were recently switched back on, while sources from multiple forum communities insisted that a Skate trademark had been filed earlier this year by Electronic Arts.

While no new title within the Skate franchise was announced, footage from Session – a 90’s and 2000’s-era skateboarding simulation game – was shown by developer Crea-ture Studios, which looks very similar to Skate in terms of its overall style.

Crea-ture Studios has a lot to live up to in order to meet, or even beat expectations, but the studio seems excited and more than capable of doing so. At the very least, hopefully Session will be enough to keep skateboarding genre fans happy.

Nintendo 64 Classic Edition

https://www.thegamer.com/nintendo-64-classic-edition-possible/

There has been a pattern over the past two years with Nintendo’s release of Classic Edition consoles. It all started in 2016, with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition, followed by the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition in 2017. Fans were no doubt anticipating the announcement of a Nintendo 64 Classic Edition at this year’s E3, but the announcement never came.

That’s not to say fans should give up hope. Last year’s announcement of the SNES Classic Edition came roughly a week after the E3 event, rather than being announced at the conference itself. Hopefully, the same trend will continue and we will soon see N64 Classic Editions flying off the shelves in the same manner as its predecessors.