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E3 2012: Nintendo Media Briefing – Our Reactions
Nintendo closed off the round of press conferences as normal, and as normal its one we probably had the highest hopes for. What did they do? Well lets be honest … they let us down, they were the only ones to have new hardware of the show, yet they show us the same old games. Considering they want to start getting the attention of the ‘core gamer’ once again they didn’t put too much effort into it. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with the hardware, it just looks like it’s going to fall to the third parties to sell it to us. They’ll need to be quick though, the Wii U currently has a very vague “This Holiday Season” release date.
Have a read of what we thought below, and take a listen to our final E3 after-show podcast, Nintendo fans beware; the GameJar team were unfortunatly slightly underwhelmed with what they saw.
Pikmin 3
Jenn: Opening with a video of Shigeru Miyamoto being ambushed by a hoard of Pikmin, which was quite cute, Nintendo then showed off their brand new Pikmin 3 game. Nothing much seems to have changed from the previous title, except there’s now a form of rock Pikmin, which you can aim at harder objects to break them. Strategy is apparently deeper, and you have up to four leaders to help you arrange your Pikmin and complete tasks.
If anyone could get me one of the plushy Pikmin that Miyamoto pulled out of his jacket pocket, please let me know. I would love you forever…
Super Mario Bros. U
Lee: Apparently the long term fans always ask the same question when Nintendo announce some hardware… that explains why we keep seeing the same games then. Ok, granted you can’t have a Nintendo console without Mario, but it would have been nice to see some innovation on the scale of Super Mario Galaxy; not a step back to what could have been just a 3DS game. Or what we had on the SNES.
Batman Arkham City – Armored Edition
Jenn: I’m not sure why anyone would want to re-play Batman: Arkham City on the Wii U, but additions will include a new B.A.T mode, which uses kinetic energy to charge up a meter, and when filled up Batman can deal more damage. Challenges in game will also include the use of the batarang and the Wii U pad sensor to tilt and direct the batarang to the target. Other uses include the touch screen to blow up explosion gel, and to use the inventory system..
Scribblenaughts – Unlimited
Ryan: A new HD Scribblenaughts game coming to WiiU and 3DS – the game features a new create mode that allows you to attach wheels and an engine to a dog in some twisted evil way. The game then allows you to share the monstrosity between friends. It looks pretty much like the other Scribblenaughts games… apart from the monster dog.
Wii U Line-up
Dark Siders 2
Mass Effect 3
Tank! Tank! Tank!
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Trine 2: Directors Cut
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razors Edge
Aliens Colonial Marines
Wii Fit U
Jenn: The Wii Fit board can now be incorporated with the Wii U Pad, to help you keep fit in a more extravagant way. You can now stand on the board and place the pad infront of you for an added sensor experience, or you can hold it out in front of you for different activities. New actions leave you ‘happier, livlier, and sweatier’… nice. According to the presentation, 43 million copies of Wii Fit and Wii Fit+ have been sold worldwide, and these new additions will improve the gaming platform. They also briefly touched on a new little pedometer, a ‘fit metre’, that looks very similar to a Tamagotchi, that you can sync with your Wii U Pad so the exercises away from your console still count.
New 3DS Titles
Lee: New Super Mario Bros. 2 is stated to be “2D Super Mario on the 3DS” – I’m not so sure Nintendo get the point. This game looks pretty much the same as their ‘brand new’ Super Mario Bros. U, except it’s had a gold injection.
Paper Mario 2 Sticker Star – all new Paper Mario world is plastered with stickers, which become your battle commands. If this launches with stickers in the box everyone will be chuffed.
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – travel through multiple mansions on quest based missions. Looks pretty much like the other Luigis Mansion games…
…I’m sorry Nintendo, you could have won me over with a Pokemon announcement.
Other titles yet to be fully discussed on the 3DS:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Lego City Undercover
Jenn: During the conference we were shown a game that was mentioned briefly at last year’s expo – Lego City Undercover. You play as mini-fig Chase McCain, an undercover detective solving crimes and driving vehicles around town. This sand-box game is currently exclusive to the Wii U and 3DS, but personally I hope it comes to other consoles too. It seems like it incorporates all the things we love from previous Lego games, and inserts it into the classic City theme. The trailer shown did look a bit like a Lego recreation of the video for Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, but then again any guy running on a rooftop in a shirt and tie will do that.
ZombiU
Ryan: During the Ubisoft conference they showed of their Wii U collaboration title, ZombiU. Nintendo added a bit more gameplay footage in their briefing. We also found out that the WiiU remote can be used in-game, with the second screen doubling up as a sonar, sniper scope and inventory. It’s still not quite selling the idea or the need for it but points for trying to innovate.
Nintendo Land
Lee: Nintendo spoke about a virtual theme park, developed as what seems to be a set of tech demos to show off the hardware; a collection of mini-games based on popular Nintendo cornerstones. What followed was a over-complicated gameplay demo of a Luigi’s Mansion mini game… honest to god I can’t tell you what this was trying to show us that’s unique to the Wii U. Personally I feel Ubisoft have done a better job of showing off the Wii U than Nintendo. I do know that we didn’t need a 10 minute lesson in whatever the hell it was though.
What can I say about this conference. I was left feeling demoralized. Like the will to live had been sucked from my very being via the black hole that is the wii U Gamepad.
Nintendo had a chance to wow me, I started watching with an open mind, my current Wii is only used by my daughter so I was hoping the Wii U could be something that, if I bought it, could be enjoyed by us both. Sadly this still doesnt seem to be the case. The only games that could have got me interested were skipped over so quickly, that I imagine they are a long way off completion. Telling us they have so much to talk about they cant possibly fit it all in, then to constantly drone on about all the information on the website and spend chunks of time with awkward, badly rehearsed ‘chats’ left me feeling that they had bugger all new to show people. Nintendo had a huge chance to restore faith and interest in the brand and the new platform. Realistically, they were the only ones with anything new to show. Coming last in a list of fairly dull conferences im still left amazed that they got it so wrong.
Have to agree with you Toby. I found it shocking. Nintendo were hoping to reach out to hardcore gamers. But Arkham city will be nearly a year old by the time the wiiU arrives and most people will have played it on xbox, pc or ps3 already. Games such as WiiFitU and Sing are everything which is wrong with Nintendo games at moment. Why would I want to sing Carly Ray Jepson songs with my mates in my house? I’d rather go to a karaoke bar. As for WiiFitU that looks boring as hell and looks like theres a good chance that the wiiU controller will be stepped on or dropped. The only game I liked the look of was ZombiU but don’t think it would be worth the price for that alone. Especially with resident evil 6 on its way. I was hoping for them to announce something major at the end to make me change my mind but it never came so will be sticking with my PS3 and PS Vita.