Ah, rumors: can’t live with them, can’t happily go into E3 week stress-free without them. If you’ve searched as deep as the home page of your favorite social networks, surely you’ve seen one of many E3 rumors that have been spreading across timelines like the T-virus across Raccoon City. Some of these are absurd enough to warrant infinite Luigi death stares, but for the ones that do have a bit of reason behind them, we’ve compiled them here to get everyone ready for what may be revealed during the madness that’s to ensue during next week’s festivities.

So if you don’t want E3 to potentially be ruined for you, by all means, stop reading and return unspoiled to your comfortable cave of untempered E3 hype. But if you’re curious to know some of the things people have been speculating about, I invite you to take this magic carpet ride with me through the marvelous land of rumors, leaks, and bitter false hopes.
Mario Maker coming to the 3DS

The latest from the rumor mill is this leaked picture that was snapped during E3 load-in at the LA convention center. As you can clearly see, it looks like Nintendo will be shedding the details on a title called Mario Maker for the 3DS. If this does hold true, at least we can sleep knowing that we’ll be able to do the opposite of Flappy Bird and legally use Super Mario assets to make a game.
God Of War 4

Sony Santa Monica cancelled a sci-fi game they were working on earlier this year, presumably to work on the next installment of the God Of War series. To add a little icing to the cake, a recent tweet (pictured above) from the studio used an LA earthquake to tease the Gods being “excited for E3.” It’s unlikely the studio has been quietly resting on the PlayStation first-party franchise that features one of the most recognizable faces in gaming today. That’d be like Microsoft going quiet with the Halo series. See? This is totally happening.
GTA HD Remake

Rockstar showing up to E3 is about as likely as Allen Iverson showing up to b-ball practice, but that hasn’t deterred the rumors of a remastered version of Grand Theft Auto V hitting the PS4 and Xbox One from reverberating around the net. It isn’t like we haven’t seen a slew of other games receive remasters already, and Rockstar did say they planned on releasing a PS4/Xbox One game sometime this fiscal year. If you hear a mention of this game during one of the main press conferences, don’t be surprised.
Unannounced Third-Party Xbox One Exclusive

According to an unnamed source from within the Microsoft camp, Xbox will be revealing a third-party exclusive title during their media briefing on Monday. There’s not really much else to bring to the forefront on this rumor, but with the heavy amount of unannounced third-party titles set to be revealed during E3, I’d say that this is not only very believable, but would be an efficient move for the folks at Team Green as they strike against their rivals over at Sony and Nintendo.
Project Beast

Demon’s Souls fans are already salivating over leaked footage that surfaced on the web last week by way of From Software. Is the Souls series making its first appearance on next-gen consoles? All signs point to “yes,” but there is an even better question to be asked: will the game be as hard as it’s Demon’s Souls predecessor? I (and the shattered corpses of controllers past) don’t even want to think about it.
Nintendo to announce NFC figurine-based game

The Wii U’s NFC capabilities are brutally underutilized, so when Nintendo made it official that more details on a figurine-based title were coming during E3, the world let out a collective shriek of inexplicable joy. Could the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game have NFC functionality? Or what if Nintendo found some way to implement the Skylanders/Disney Infinity business model into a Pokémon title for the Wii U and 3DS? Oh boy, they’d not only make a shit-ton in sales revenue, but that would pretty much solidify the console’s spot as a viable and very much alive platform moving forward. Shut the nay sayers up, again, Nintendo!
Halo 2: Anniversary Edition and Halo: The Master Chief Collection

While Halo 5: Guardians is 100% official and confirmed, fans are hoping that two other possible Halo titles get publicly acknowledged by their Xbox One overlords. Halo 2: Anniversary Edition is said to be a remastered version of the classic title, with Halo 5 beta access being offered along with it. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is said to be a bundle that includes remastered versions of Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4. Obviously, these both being true and two separate standalone SKUs seems highly unlikely, but The Master Chief Collection including the Anniversary Edition could easily what 343 Industries has been cooking up all along.
Dance Central 4

A lot of the talk surrounding the removal of the Kinect 2.0 from the Xbox One bundle fired up tons of conversations about the games that require the camera peripheral. Dance Central was one of those games, and it being mentioned by Microsoft’s Yusuf Medhi led many to believe that another installment of the game is heading to the platform in the near future. Thank goodness. I really had a hankering for some next-gen ass-shaking in my living room.
Mass Effect 4

We learned on November 7th of last year (N7 day) that BioWare is already hard at work on the next Mass Effect game. It isn’t far-fetched to assume we’ll hear the first details about the game at some point on Monday, but the question is when and where? Could Mass Effect be that third-party exclusive that’s coming to the Xbox One? The original Mass Effect was a timed-exclusive on the 360 and EA isn’t a stranger to selling timed-exclusivity to Microsoft (see Titanfall). Or perhaps the game will remain a multi-platform title and we’ll get all the juicy Mass Effect details at EA’s press conference. Either way, the wonderful world of Mass Effect could easily make an appearance in Los Angeles sometime during the week.
Fallout 4

Last year, rumors of Fallout 4 being shown during the VGX awards spread like wildfire during the holiday season, but unfortunately, it never happened. Then, the internet was megaton face-melted when leaked casting documents proved the existence of the game, supposedly taking place in Boston. Is there a chance that Bethesda will finally give the world an official announcement on the next Fallout installment, or will they show up at E3 with The Evil Within and Battlecry as the only two titles at their booth? You tell me which sounds more believable.
The Last Guardian

Many will call this faith or optimism, but it’s merely wishful thinking. There have been absolutely no leads pointing to a subsequent announcement of The Last Guardian during E3. But it’s been so goddamn long, and I think we’ve reached that point where you just can’t talk about E3 press day without at least mentioning the long awaited game. Any day, Team Ico, geez!

Let the E3 hype train keep on a-chuggin’! Though this list may seem extensive, developers and publishers have actually done an excellent job keeping their secrets under wraps this year; more so than in years past, which is a testament to how explosive this year’s E3 is shaping up to be. Excited, much? You should be!

Do you think any of these E3 rumors will hold true? What rumors, outlandish or plausible, have you heard out in the chaotic winds of the gaming world? Let us know down in the comments below. And if you want to talk E3 or anything else gaming related, I’m only one tweet away at @Malik4play.