Well, it seems that we may now have possible confirmation of a remastering of Skyrim on current gen consoles. Retailer Base.com have listed 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The Definitive Edition' for PS4 and Xbox One with a release date of November 23, 2016.

Considering this is a "Definitive Edition", it would be safe to assume that the three pieces of DLC released for Skyrim will be included. Seeing as Fallout 4 recently got mod support on consoles, it is also possible that the same will be implemented for the Definitive Edition of Skyrim. This has yet to be confirmed though.

We still have yet to see an official confirmation of this remasterings existence, but E3 is just around the corner. And with Bethesda holding another conference, we may get its official reveal there.

It's also worth noting that, most recently, games such as BioShock: The Collection and Batman Return to Arkham were also rumored and then leaked by a retailer listing them too early. The same could have just as easily applied to Skyrim.

For more news and E3 coverage, stay with us.

At least six games were teased in the trailer for the system being Skyrim Remastered, an untitled NBA game, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a currently unnamed Mario title, and what appear to be enhanced ports of Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon. Only time will tell if the remastered games are truly remasterings or are just proof of concept for the system's hardware. Additionally, a rather impressive list of developers (written below) have also signed on for supporting the Switch long term.

• 505 Games
• Activision
• Arc System Works
• Atlus
• AudioKinetic
• Autodesk
• Bandai Namco
• Bethesda
• Capcom
• Codemasters
• CRI Middleware
• DeNA
• Electronic Arts
• Epic Games
• Firelight Technologies
• FromSoftware
• FrozenByte
• GameTrust
• Grasshopper Manufacture
• Gungho Online Entertainment
• Hamster Corporation
• Havok
• Inti Creates
• Koei Tecmo
• Konami Digital Entertainment
• Level-5
• Marvelous
• Maximum Games
• Nippon Ichi Software
• Parity Bit
• Platinum Games
• Rad Game Tools
• RecoChoku
• SEGA Games
• Silicon Studio Corporations
• Spike Chunsoft Co
• Square Enix
• Star Breeze Studios
• Take-Two Interactive Software
• Telltale Games
• THQ Nordic
• Tokyo RPG Factory
• TT Games
• UBbisoft
• Ubitus
• Unity Technologies
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Web Technology Corp

I personally can't say if Nintendo knows what they're doing this time around, but the concept of the Switch is certainly promising and quite unique. I just hope that it has a decent battery life. The Nintendo Switch will launch in March of 2017 and I assure you I'll definitely be one of its early adopters, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

So what happened to this alleged "middle market?" Well there's a couple of factors that contributed to its inevitable decline. The biggest, and most noteworthy, is the increasingly high cost of developing a video game. There was once a time where you could create a best selling hit with your lunch money. Now, with the advent of photo realistic graphics and the need for marketing, video games are incredibly expensive to develop and market. Games like Destiny and Grand Theft Auto V set records with their astronomical development and marketing budgets. The middle market started experiencing a noticeable decline in around 2009. In 2009, we were well into the PS3 and Xbox 360's lifespan, and that's around the time that video games were becoming "mainstream." What, mainly, appealed to mainstream gamers at that time was graphical fidelity and how many advertisements they saw for said game. If your middle market game couldn't appeal to either of those two things, mainstream gamers wouldn't give you the time of day.

Partially one of the other reasons why the middle market of games is fading away is because of big name reviewers publicly crucifying them. Instead of comparing a middle market game with small budget to a similar middle market game with a small budget, they would compare a middle market game with a small budget to a hyped up AAA game with 20x that budget. Causing gamers to pan said middle market game because it isn't the next Skyrim or Witcher 3, and thus allowing that middle market developer to close their doors because they couldn't turn a profit. "BUT SIMON!" I hear you cry, "you've compared middle market games to AAA games before." The difference? I've only ever compared the strengths of a middle market game to the weaknesses of a AAA game. Which is the only way a review should compare a middle market game to a AAA game. This isn't a two way street. It is absolutely unfair to compare the strengths of a game with a multi-million dollar budget to the weaknesses of a small budget title that's lucky enough to even get onto Steam or consoles.

Now that isn't to say that every middle market game is immediately good just because it's middle market. The same rules of review still apply, but don't go into a game like Bound by Flame and expect Skyrim. Bound by Flame is still a fantastic game, an underrated gem of sorts, but it doesn't have the same scope or graphical fidelity of Skyrim. So it makes up for it with meaningful characters and a deep, tactically based combat system which seamlessly blends with traditional hack and slash gameplay. Along with better writing, RPG elements, armor and weapon customization, enemy variation, and overall combat, but that's an article for another time.

Why is the middle market so important? Because most of the biggest AAA developers today were the middle market developers of yesteryear. Bethesda before Morrowind, Rockstar before Grand Theft Auto 3, and CD Projekt Red before The Witcher 2 were all once unheard of nobodies before they finally made their first breakout hit. Now they're some of the biggest names in the video game industry. Whether or not the quality of each game has dwindled since becoming big name developers is up for debate. The point is everybody started somewhere. No developer just started out as AAA from the get go. Well, nowadays, that's not necessarily true. AAA publishers have really started seeing the potential of indie games. Without naming names, big name publishers will take an indie developer they see potential in under their wing. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, they've unknowingly created another grey area. Now that indie team has a blank check written to them by a big name publisher as well as the added benefit of said publisher's marketing team. So are they still an indie studio or a new AAA developer? The indie team may still be the same size, but they have the money and marketing of a AAA developer now.

Let's get back on track. Furthermore, the middle market is where you will find the most original games for sale. Indie games are trying to be the next Minecraft without changing much, and AAA games are trying to be the next Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed without changing much. That's because they know those types of games sell and the name of the game is to make money, right? Well yes and no. Of course you have to turn a profit to continue developing games, and money is nice, but is it worth it to sell your soul and originality just to make a quick buck? Ask EA or Ubisoft. Middle market games have found a happy middle ground in this predicament. While it's hard to be completely original when almost every idea has been done to death, middle market developers are at least trying to be original. Not just changing the names of characters or places and tacking on useless mechanics in a vain attempt at "originality." Middle market developers know they can't match the same level of graphical fidelity or scope of story that AAA developers shoot for, so they instead make up for it in other ways such as writing quality or gameplay.

With a title like "The Fall of the Middle Market," you'd think I was implying that the middle market is dead and gone, but that's not true. Even though it's still an endangered species, the middle market is still around. Some of my favorite developers, which are also noteworthy middle market developers, are Spiders and Frogwares. Spiders for their underrated gems such as Mars: War Logs, Bound by Flame, and The Technomancer. And Frogwares for their amazing Sherlock Holmes series of games. Besides both being middle market developers, they have another thing in common. They both have, at one point been under the same publisher: Focus Home Interactive. Focus specializes almost entirely in the middle market, and just browsing through their published games will open you to a world of games you may not have heard of, but will quickly become some of your favorites. Focus Home Interactive aren't the only ones publishing middle market masterpieces. Browse around Steam, or whichever service you prefer, and you'll probably find a world you've been missing out on for years.

Even though the video is much shorter than what Nintendo has done for E3 in the past, there was a LOT of new stuff shown off with only a few teasers that didn't actually have any gameplay. But as always I'll recap what I can, and as a bonus I'll even recap some of the news that Nintendo showed off in their live streams after the Spotlight video ended. So let's get started.

• After the preview for the video had ended, there was a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for the Switch which showed off a small bit of some actual gameplay and more story elements. A definitive release date wasn't yet confirmed but it has a planned release for the holidays at the end of the year.
• Next a brand new Kirby game was shown off for the Switch and it appears to run on the same engine as the past three main series games. It appears that the game is already pretty far in development as gameplay footage of Kirby recruiting enemies as helpers and fusing abilities together in the trailer. It has a projected release of 2018.
• A brand new core series Pokemon game was revealed to be in development for the Switch. No other info about it was announced at this time.
• In an amazing surprise reveal, it was confirmed that Metroid Prime 4 is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch. However it was also confirmed that Retro Studios will not be working on this entry in the series meaning the game that they're currently working on for Nintendo is still unknown at this point in time.
• A brand new Yoshi game is in the works for the Switch and it was confirmed that it is being developed with Unreal Engine 4 of all things. It has a similar look and feel to the previous Yoshi game, Yoshi's Woolly World, but it has this new gameplay feature where you can flip the environment backwards when you ground pound and even throw eggs at enemies in the foreground and background. This game is also set for a 2018 release.
• Gameplay and story footage was shown off for Fire Emblem Warriors. A full voice cast will also accompany the game giving an official English VA for the character Marth. It was also shown that it will not feature characters from the entire series, but rather just the games Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Fates. It is slated to launch this Autumn.
• Content for first DLC pack for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild called The Master Trials was shown off preceded by the announcement for amiibo support in the Switch port of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The first DLC pack will go live at the end of June. In addition to this, a preview of the second DLC pack for Zelda was teased and the official name for the story that it will tell was revealed to be called The Champions' Ballad. DLC pack 2 will launch some time this holiday season. 4 new Breath of the Wild amiibo based on the 4 champions Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa were also announced for the game. No official release date the amiibo was announced at the time of the conference.
• Ubisoft revealed new info for their brand new crossover game for the Switch, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle which features Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi stopping an invading force of rabbids with the help of 4 "friendly" rabbids that are dressed like them. The gameplay footage shown off is a turn-based strategy game with heavy emphasis on cover-based shooting; much like X-Com. It will launch August 29 of this year.
• Psyonix revealed that their hit game Rocket League is coming to the Nintendo Switch with special Nintendo themed content exclusive to the Switch version. In addition, they confirmed that the game would have cross-platform multiplayer with the XBox One and PC versions of the game when playing online. Its slated for a holiday release.
• And finally, new features were shown off for Super Mario Odyssey. In the new gameplay footage, at least 2 new worlds were shown off (one being monochrome and one being prehistoric); Mario was seen to have the ability to ride certain vehicles and turn 8-bit to move around wall paintings; and through the use of Cappy, the spirit that is occupying his hat for this adventure, Mario can possess a plethora of different objects and enemies to help him on his quest to save Princess Peach. Also, after the Spotlight presentation, it was confirmed that the game would have Co-Op play where player 2 plays as Cappy. It will be released on the 27th of October this year.
• Now after the Spotlight was over, a few more things were announced. One of them being that we're getting not one, but two new Metroid games. The second one they announced was Metroid: Samus Returns for the 3DS and is being developed by MercurySteam. According to Yoshio Sakamoto, the game is said to be a reimagining of Metroid II on the original Game Boy. The remake will be adding many new features such as melee countering and amiibo support, and will use the original game as a base (I guess now we know why AM2R got hit with a cease and desist so soon after it was finished). It will be released on September 15th. New Metroid series amiibo were also confirmed to be in development for the game in the form of Samus in her Metroid II boxart pose, and a metroid with a soft, squishy outer membrane. These new amiibo will launch alongside the game.
• Separate from the E3 streams, Nintendo announced that a remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was being made for the 3DS with updated graphics and new content in the form of a strategic battle mode where you take control of Bowser's minions. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions will launch on October 6th of this year.
• A rather unusual new IP called Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido was revealed for the Nintendo 3DS and is being developed by Indieszero of NES Remix and Retro Game Challenge fame. Judging by the gameplay shown, it appears to mix the concept of match-3 puzzle games with real-time combat in a frantic style of game where you need to eat as much sushi as possible, collect the plates that the sushi was sitting on, and then use the plates as ammo to knock out your opponent. No release date was confirmed, but it will be released some time in 2018.
• More amiibo were confirmed to be in development. Mario, Peach and Bowser in wedding garb were shown off as well as a Goomba and Koopa Troopa for the Mario series set. In addition to those, Chrom and Tiki from Fire Emblem Awakening were also shown off in amiibo form. The new Mario, Peach and Bowser amiibo will launch alongside Super Mario Odyssey and the Goomba and Koopa Troopa will be released at the same time as Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions. No date has yet to be confirmed for the Chrom and Tiki amiibo but I would imagine that they would be released around the same time as Fire Emblem Warriors.
• More of Miitopia was shown off in detail. Movement in dungeons appear to be mostly automatic with occasional input from the player and combat is turn-based with the option for auto-battling. Amiibo support was also confirmed and would be used to gain Nintendo themed equipment. As for the miis in the game, all of them come from the system's internal memory or you can import them from Tomodachi Life. Miitopia will launch July 28th of this year.
• A bit more info for the 3DS game Ever Oasis was revealed. It will give the player the ability to customize their own oasis paradise and go dungeon crawling for more loot and experience. The overall combat appears to be similar in design to the Mana series of games which makes sense considering it was conceived by the same creator. The game will launch incredibly soon on June 23rd and a demo of the game is now available to download from the 3DS eShop.
• And last but not least, the first DLC character was shown off for ARMS in the form of the one of the game's previous champions, Max Brass. It was shown that he has skills that mirror the abilities of both Spring Man and Master Mummy. The new character, along with a spectator mode, will be patched into the game later this month.

Well that's all the info I can muster up for now. I can certainly say that if you are a Nintendo fan like me, then their announcements this year probably made you a very happy camper. Metroid Prime 4 and Metroid: Samus Returns were certainly a welcome surprise for those that were disappointed by Metroid Prime: Federation Force, but only time will tell if they are in good hands. So until then, I'll be seeing you.