E3 2021NewsSaturday, 12th June 2021 by Mike

In Tweets: Ubisoft announces new Mario + Rabbids and, um, other things?

E3 2021 just got off to a start that was… not exactly underwhelming, I guess, but merely whelming.

Big congratulations on the #E32021 Portal, you guys. Rip-roaring success. 🥳 #UbisoftForward

In true E3 fashion, everything that could go wrong so far, has gone wrong. The official E3 Portal went down a good half hour before the pre-show was even due to start (I eventually managed to log in just as the Ubisoft Forward stream was ending). Then the first 25 minutes of the “pre-show” were just an animated countdown clock. And Ubisoft’s own “pre-show” was really just a bunch of random B-roll footage stitched together.

Things got… marginally better once Ubisoft’s presentation got underway.

This looks like “Bland Prey”. #R6Extraction #UbisoftForward #E32021

I at least appreciate that they’ve narrated this, instead of doing cringey scripted “voice chat” between the “players”. #R6Extraction #UbisoftForward #E32021

They opened with Rainbow Six Extraction which, whilst definitely not our “thing”, looked… OK? Like, we can totally see the appeal of it. The setting really reminded me of Talos I from Prey, but less atmospheric and interesting.

I super appreciate that they’re showing #Rocksmith+ running on a variety of devices. Like, my late-60s dad could probably run it on his crappy PC — I shall be pitching the idea to him later — and not have to buy (or learn to use) a console. #UbisoftForward #E32021

Next came Rocksmith+, a sequel of sorts to 2011′s Rocksmith — itself a sort of “IRL Guitar Hero”, which allowed players to hone their strumming skills by plugging their own, real guitars into their consoles.

This year’s offering looks simpler, in a good way. Sign-ups for the PC closed beta are already open, and you can pre-register for an upcoming Android version. There’s no bundled USB-to-XLR cable this time around: the game listens to you play through your device’s microphone. Easy!

Also it’s a subscription service now, because everything is a subscription service now.

I’m a big fan of this “we’re still updating our old games” package, and would like it to become a Thing™️ please. #UbisoftForward #E32021

Ubisoft also showed off a raft of updates and new content for its already-released games, including Watch Dogs: Legion, Rainbow Six Siege, Trackmania, For Honor, Brawlhalla, The Crew 2, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Which is to be commended. 👏

I want a #RabbidLuma plushie and I don’t care who knows it. #MarioRabbids #UbisoftForward #E32021

And then, for the second time, we were caught off guard by a Mario + Rabbids announcement. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is coming to Nintendo Switch next year, and includes Rabbid-ised versions of Rosalina and her Lumas from Super Mario Galaxy.

There’s… not a lot to say about it yet, other than that it’s “more Mario + Rabbids”, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. It looks super cute. Colour us excited.

Mind you, because this is E3, where nothing ever works how it’s supposed to, Ubisoft’s “Find out more at mariorabbids.com” tease currently leads here:

*sigh*

Join us Sunday at 6pm UK time for our thoughts on Microsoft and Bethesda’s first joint showcase.

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We’re not on Twitter any more, but we managed to dredge these old Tweets up from the depths of the internet.