E3 2012: Thoughts and Feelings – Nintendo

So, we finish the festivities with the people who, arguably, made home console gaming a big thing, revolutionising the world of gaming and bringing the people of the 1980s and 1990s such joy. Then the mid 2000s came and the Wii came out, causing the Nintendo name to lose out on the AAA titles that the Xbox 360 and PS3 held. Oh, how they became the laughing stocks of the gaming community (Haha, get it?! STOCKS! Because their stocks are so low! No? Only me? Oh...).

Well, anyway, they had their conference.

Predictions

Yeah, I haven’t done predictions for any of the others, but I thought that the Nintendo line up is usually so limited that we may as well make a game: can I guess how many of each franchise they will show? This was done prior to the presentation, so I promise I’m not cheating.

Mario: 3

Zelda: 1

Metroid: 0

Kirby: 0

Donkey Kong: 0

Mother 3 Finally Getting A European Release: Please be 1!

So yeah, I basically think all they care about is Mario. That’s all they ever seem to announce at E3...

Wii U

This was, of course, brought up a fair bit. They spent a fair bit of time talking about this, even though they utilised a pre-E3 press release to tell us what it was all about and what the controller is like. They spent 10 minutes talking about it on stage, taking up a sixth of their stage time. Great work there, guys.

Basically, it allows you to play the games on TV and/or the gamepad, also utilising the gamepad as an additional screen (like for mini maps and the likes). Oh, and the Wii U can support TWO gamepads. Great step backwards, guys.

Pikmin 3

I’ve never played Pikmin and can’t really comment on it too much, but from what I’ve seen of previous games Pikmin 3 looks like more of the same. They seems proud of the ability to precisely aim where you lob Pikmin using a Wii controller, but you can also play using a Wii U gamepad. The Wii U gamepad also seems to have a map on it which allows for keeping track of you Pikmin. Also, there seem to be four playable characters. Is this the end for Captain Olimar (they made it sound like it was). If you like Pikmin then you’ll like this, I guess.

New Super Mario Bros. U

It looks like Super Mario Bros. 3. It’s uncanny. Just slap New Super Mario Bros. Wii graphics on it and here you go. This seems to come from the ethos of making a game “like the old Mario games, but better” (they seriously said that). So much for innovation, I guess. It’s just nothing new or exciting, just another Mario game.

Batman: Arkham City – Armored Edition

This one interests me. It looks like your classic Arkham City gameplay but with some added bells and whistles. Now you can use the Wii U gamepad to look around in detective vision when inspecting a crime scene, which looked cool, and setting off specific explosives using the touch screen was interesting. Sadly, controlling a remote control batarang with the gamepad just looked silly.

On top of this a new feature has been added in which Batman’s armour will have a current running through it as he fights, building up until you unleash it, making your attacks stronger. This seems pretty useless as Batman is pretty powerful already, able to dispatch of enemies with easy. More power just seems a bit overkill, really.

Overall, though, I was quite impressed with what was shown with Arkham City. They used the technology well and tried to add to the experience.

Scribblenauts Unlimited

I liked Scribblenauts and Super Scribblenauts looked interesting. However, I couldn’t see what more they could add. I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. Now, with Scribblenauts Unlimited you can actually make new things to bring into the world. Want a dog with wheels? Then you can make the “Auto Mutt” they showed in the trailer. It looks pretty cool. However, I can see this being abused to hell to overcome whatever obstacle is in your way without using real things, which was the fun of Scribblenauts.

Also, there’s a bigger story mode and a big focus on exploration. I quite like the look of this and would like to see what they have done when it comes out.

3rd Party Releases for the Wii U

They announced a few titles, but won’t focus on them. I’m surprised to see a few of these, and I’m interested in how the console handles these games. They are: Darksiders II, Mass Effect 3, Trine 2: Director’s Cut, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Tank! Tank! Tank! (Like Nintendo’s stocks? Oh, I am hilarious!), Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge.

Wii Fit U

It’s the Wii Fit. That’s it. The trailer made it seem like some kind of sex toy. Does this mean We Dare U is coming out?

SiNG

You lost me at “Call Me Maybe”. Fuck that song.

But seriously, it’s just karaoke. Hurray?

"It's-a all about ME!"

New Super Mario Bros. 2

Did you like New Super Mario Bros. Wiibut thought the game didn’t have enough gold coins? Well, here’s the game for you. Apparently it has a lot of coins in it, allowing you to gain a stupid amount of 1ups and completely defeating the fun of getting lots of gold coins. WAY TO GO!

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

It looks like Paper Mario. I’ve seen Paper Mario before. And it’s just more Mario stuff. Nothing different. I hope the next game is something new. Some new sort of IP. Please?

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon

Well, it isn’t Mario itself, but it is his brother. Looks like more Luigi’s Mansion, though.

Have they really run out of ideas and instead just remade games over and over again? Oh, who am I kidding?! Nintendo’s entire marketing strategy is to feed on the nostalgia of its devoted fans it views as money bags on legs.

3rd Party Releases for the 3DS

Some more titles here, just thrown out there with little coverage, mostly because Nintendo doesn’t straight up own them, but rather allows them to be on their platforms. We have: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate (clunky name...), Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Scribblenauts Unlimited (as discussed earlier) and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Lego City: Undercover

Oh, hello. You interest me. An open world crime fighting Lego game with parkour elements? Is this Lego Batman 2: DC Heroes. No, it is Lego City: Undercover! (Lego Batman 2 looks awesome, by the way).

I really like the look of this game and hope it is cross platform (UPDATE: It's not, sadly). It seems funny and has some interesting gameplay elements, such as scanning buildings to look for criminals. It hopefully has a good story to help it along. Definitely one to keep your eye on.

No Flo Rida this time, though

Just Dance 4

Well, seeing as Ubisoft showed none of this at their conference, maybe we can see some unique gameplay here? Well, yes, actually. Now you can mess with your friends using the Wii U gamepad, causing them to dance inappropriate dance moves to “Moves Like Jagger”, another awful song. Yeah, this just doesn’t seem right to me, but the people dancing look so happy they might have been on every drug known to man. Or they had plastic surgery. Who knows?

ZombiU

Hey, Ubisoft showed off more of this as well. Did they just hate their own conference? Of course they did!

It seems like proper zombie stuff: one bite and you are dead. But the Wii U gamepad brings some interesting elements, such as using it as a scanner, inventory, sniping and hacking. You can even make yourself look like a crappy zombie. Gimmicky, but I can see it being a fun experience, maybe even scary!

Nintendo Land

Here is where they left off: with PS Home! It’s a theme park with Nintendo themed attractions. Like PS Home. We have multiplayer focussed ones, like Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest, Animal Crossing: Sweet Day and Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, as well as singleplayer Donkey Kong’s Crash Courseand Takamura’s Ninja Castle. Some of these looked or sounded interesting, but nothing to get excited over. It’s nice to see a more multiplayer focus from Nintendo, as they seemed to ditch that with the Wii, so I guess that’s me recommending it. I think.

Prediction Results

So, I think I got the 3 Mario titles, but if we count the new Luigi’s Mansion then I’m out by one. And if we include the Nintendo Land games then I’m out by two, but I did get the one Zelda title. Sadly, no Mother 3. I think I’m grasping at straws there, but damn it that game looked good all those years ago!

Ending Thoughts

It’s just more Mario. Nintendo being Nintendo. Some of the stuff they’ve done with the hardware seems good, but only with the 3rd party games. A lot better than the Wii, but maybe this is just because there seems to be a possible focus on the hardcore gamers finally. For the most part I didn’t like this presentation as it was bogged down in just advancing the previously established Nintendo brands with no new IPs bar one or two (I think. I’m tired.)