This weekend brought us the VGX awards, which we live-blogged for you. It's safe to say that we're contemplating our options in terms of an editorial over the event as a whole, as it perhaps wasn't a show that represented video games in its best light. Opinions on that will naturally vary.
It was a show that had interest for Nintendo fans, however, with Nintendo making an appearance to provide a live demo of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, revealing the playable Cranky Kong and an Americas release date. It was also an appearance where Fils-Aime resisted efforts by co-host Geoff Keighley for more reveals, and some may feel that Nintendo underwhelmed in revealing a character that was leaked online a number of days ago. Fils-Aime also spoke positively about the Wii U and hinted at encouraging sales for Super Mario 3D World.
You can now check the Nintendo segment out at your luxury below, avoiding the rest of the VGX awards in the process. An added benefit is that the image quality is far better than when the event was streamed live, so it's well worth a watch.
[video removed]
[source gametrailers.com]
Comments 79
Love the caption of this article. So true!
No thanks I'd rather forget it ever happened
@2Sang Why? Because from the way I see, they need to confirm Cranky Kong's existence and move along.
Y'know, it's not the fact that Cranky being the only 'new' thing being announced that made this show suck for Nintendo fans, it's that they completely blew this out of proportion and made it sound like a world-class announcement and then only show an old ape being playable in a game we already knew about. Of course people are going to expect more. So please, Reggie, don't announce your appearance like that ever again if the only thing you're going to announce is something like this.
@Azooooz It could have been shown 30 seconds during a nintendo direct. It would have been better to show Smash or MK8, at least those 2 games will sell systems.
When he said "My body is always ready for you" I died hahaha
Thanks for the video TW.
Reggie is still Pres. and CEO? I thought he got demoted earlier this year?
One thing I didn't see mentioned in the other thread - Reggie said DK was going to get them thru the 1st quarter, and then he said "Kart" and "Smash" were coming the rest of the year, so I guess we shouldn't expect either of those games until summer or later. That's a bummer ;-(
I think i twas good Reggie got in the Times and Forbes aricles about the system adn SM3DW being the things to get thi sholiday. Nice plug Reggie, show syour paying attention.
Probaly th eworst thing about this was that they advertised it as an "announcment" rahter than just that Regii ewould be on. Peopel still would havebene disappinted btu maybe not as much.
I knew it was going to be Cranky Kong, posted it the other day.
"I was thinking Wii Music U as well, but it's probably Cranky Kong in DK. Nothing to get excited about.
More days than not it feels like Nintendo has no idea what it is doing w/ the Wii U. Which would at least explain their lack of advertising it, they don't how."
BTW - saw a 2/3DS commercial during Dragons "on Demand" yesterday. Not a Wii U commercial but it's better than nothing
I suspect Cranky isn't the fourth character they originally planned and that said character will be an unlockable fifth character, like Rosalina in 3D World.
I guess Retro saw DuckTales gameplay, said "Hey, it would be cool if Cranky could do this.", included him in the release plan instead of making him DLC or something (most likely because some levels had to be completely redesigned to accomodate his gameplay.), made a phone call to Kyoto to ask for a new deadline, Nintendo greenlighted it, and that is the reason why we can't have Kongs on Ice in time for Christmas.
Just pure conjecture thought. I could be completely wrong.
I always thought the fourth character would be Kiddy. Cranky was always talking about how fast he could have beaten the game. Now I get to see him put his money where his mouth is.
I wish there was a chance to see only the gameplay footage because the full ten minute live "world exclusive reveal" was just cringe worthy, embarrassing and painful to watch to be honest.
@Stubborn_Monkey
Yeah I think you're REALLY just grasping at straws there man.
That show was horrible. Plus this was not even a good "reveal".
...Yeah I can't watch it...stupid media player is screwing up. :/ (it just constantly plays the first few seconds of the video.)
Total respect for Reggie and his answers, Geoff was just trying to diggin' for more and expecting Reggie to leak some info... It actually kinda work. Note when Geoff asked "We're gonna se some Metroid?" and Reggie was like "Of co--, well who's to say that?" Either way, I'm pretty excited for DKCTF, looks fantastic and this show was a total failure in every aspect. I'm still mad that I wasted 3 hours of my weekend watching this, my first and last time for sure.
@Yosher Except Nintendo wasn't the one to blow it way out of proportion. It was GameTrailers, Geoff Keighley and the internet that did that
@rjejr: Reggie never got demoted. He was COO (Chief Operations Officer) and is in charge of making sure everything in the American branch goes smoothly. There was an executive above him (the "CEO") but he got moved to Kyoto and Iwata took over. From what I gather, the "CEO" of NoA reports to Japan and represents the American branch
I was shocked how rude the hosts where to Reggie. Seriously, I dont know where everyone else works, but when was the last time you had a meeting or facetime with the President of your company? They basically invited the President of a top global companies who gave them the time of day. Reggie agreed and even brought along a developer (who they didn't even introduce, basically ignored him) to talk about an upcoming game, just as planned...and the host in other words said, that's all you have to say? I don't care about that....wow. I'm sure Reggie's salary is multiple times mine and those hosts combined. Those guys probably have never had one on one time with the President of their own company (spike) let alone Nintendo. I have to call them morons because they don't even understand the level of their audacity. That's horrible PR for Spike as well. I know Reggie won't do this, but If I were him, i'd make a formal complaint to the President of Spike. His time is worth way to much to meet with someone like that. Donkey Kong may not be for them, but Nintendo offers those games for people who like to play them. I still can't believe the attitudes they gave him. Reggie sure has patients. I'm not even a high level Exec at my company but if an Intern or new hire gave me that kind of attitude, they'd get such an earful, they'd probably quit the next day.
don't get me wrong, i really enjoy Donkey kong games and it's game series but this was a Really, Really, REALLY, Bad VGX award show from spike. not sure, If I well watch it again or not.the only things that i like was Gearbox's Borderlands Episodic Game & Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze
So, don't tell me nobody got the obvious references to a new Metroid game from Retro Studios soon to be announced? Nobody? Just me? Come on, people, use your ears.
I couldn't stand the 30 minutes that I saw, the way they ran the show was so disorganized like every other VGA. However their induction of Zelda into the video game Hall of Fame was well done. Other than that the show is a brain killer.
@2Sang
Why is everyone so concerned about "selling systems"? Are we gamers or are we now investors? Why do so many people care so much, saying Nintendo shouldn't have shown this game to the VGX audience because it won't help sell systems?
These are the kind of games Nintendo makes. They shouldn't hide that fact, and go show the ONE uber-graphics realistic game they can dig up being developed for Wii U just because that's the audience, they should do exactly what they did: stand tall and proud, and say this is what we've got. This game personifies what the Wii U is all about. Don't like it? Go play Call of Duty then. But for those that ARE interested, here's what you can look forward to.
That's my take on it anyways.
@Yosher they didn't blow it out of proportion, everyone else did. All nintendo said was that they were going to reveal info on a previously announced game, they didn't hype it up beyond that. It was the internet that started throwing these crazy ideas that they would somehow show the next zelda or metroid, despite there being no evidence of it.
@Csaw
So true. Any time Nintendo announces a teaser, or even the most minute of reveals, everyone starts squawking about how the next Metroid will be announced, or the next Zelda, even when Nintendo specifically states, "We will be providing more info on a previously announced title". Happens every time, without fail. Then everyone rants about the disappointment.
For me, this was more than I was expecting. I thought it'd just be a new trailer for DKC, so the confirmation of Cranky Kong was a pleasant surprise. I've been waiting for this game since the early 90's. As a kid, I always wondered how great it would be to play DKC in 20 years, with amazing graphics and new controllers and all that. Well, that time has finally come. DKC Returns was great, but THIS is the game I was imagining. I think people forget just how seriously fun these games are. They may not LOOK like much in a video, but to play them is bliss.
Reggie, when you decide to wear a Metroid pin, you're going to be asked for a new Metroid game.
No, Thanks. This was a silly way to screw your console, show them that E rated, cartoony games is all Nintendo makes. Embarrasing.
The whole show sucked.
What was that? No seriously I saw the video trailer and the DKC content looked nice but what the heck type of awards show was that. Looked like a couple of guys in a college dorm room who had never been on tv before.
@Yosher agreed 100%.
Nintendo trolled the VGX and rightfully so. The whole thing was so boring and blatantly unprofessional. I'm glad they didn't drop their pearls before swine.
@JaxonH I Agreed, I thought Nintendo did a find job at VGX. but, I Hope Nintendo Did more then just Donkey Kong TP. but then again, there always Nintendo Direct to watch (witch is more better then at VGX)
@billychaos
Sorry but what a load of utter tosh.
Reggie appeared on the VGX award show to supposedly present this worldwide premiere exclusive reveal, the first time the company has done this in ten years the show has been on (so the media hype and fan expectation for this was obviously very high), and he showed off some footage of a forth playable character in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze!!!
It was part of the presenters jobs to grill him on this kind of stuff, which in this case was thoroughly deserved and justified, and they did.
If Reggie didn't want to get any flack he should have had something much bigger and better to reveal than a new character in a game we've all seen plenty of at this point and that most people are no longer particularly "hyped" for (other than overly enthusiastic Nintendo FANS). Christ, when Nintendo reveals a brand new character for Smash Bros U, a game most people are far more hyped for and excited to see more of, it simply puts it up on the official site and sends it out to some gaming websites. That's all this Cranky Kong reveal was worthy of too. It was basically a pretty pathetic and desperate showing from Nintendo imo.
Every single other company basically had a much better reveal than Nintendo and yet it was Nintendo, of all the companies, that desperately needed/needs to make some kind of big and meaningful positive impact at this point in time.
Using it's world exclusive VGX appearance to reveal Cranky Kong as the forth playable in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze!!!
That's like Nintendo making a major deal/noise, ALERT THE PRESS!!!, about the fact that Peach is a forth playable character in Super Mario 3D World and hosting a world exclusive press event or Nintendo Direct just to reveal that single bit of "MEGATON" news to the salivating and itching gaming masses!!!
There is a „good“ Spike in video game industry out there.
Japanese video game developer and publisher (now Spike Chunsoft) – known for Jawa: Mammoth to Himitsu no Ishi, Fire Pro Wrestling, 999 …
@N64ever Yeah that's basically what the whole awards show was at least what I saw. It was so unbearable I stopped watching in disgust about an hour in.
I know I'm off topic, but after a all year I am really happy to own a WiiU. There's a lot available right now with amazing quality, I tried a PS4 yesterday...The WiiU is far better.
Play pikmin3, wonderfull 101, 3d world,smbu, smlu,mh3,lego city, raymond legends...and guess what assassin's creed IV, call of dutty ghosts and batman origins look amazing. The wiiu stands really good along the so called next gen consoles.
Based on my experience, the best machine for gaming (in tech) is the PC, but the only company that really inovates the industry is nintendo. I play on a high end PC and nintendo consoles, the ps4 and xbox1 for me are mid/low pc's nothing new there.
Off topic but expressing my opinion.
@N64ever
My Reaction of this for. Three. HOURS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx6h9QJlJFY
@Kirk This is not true. Yesterday I read an article before the awards aired that stated that the game would be a "previously announced game". It appears that a lot of the expectations of a new game was the hype created by gaming sites, not Nintendo. Unfortunately, the damage was done.
http://nintendoeverything.com/nintendos-vgx-reveal-is-for-a-previously-announced-wii-u-title/
@billychaos
Who cares.
It was the first time in the ten year history of the VGA/X that Nintendo has appeared live on the show to reveal a worldwide exclusive, that in itself suggests something of some pretty big importance or significance (intentional or not), and it showed off the forth playable character in DKC:TF like it was some kind of "megaton" revelation or something.
I even knew that this was basically all Nintendo was going to do, it was just so obvious, and STILL it was a major disappointment.
This was a perfect opportunity for Nintendo to do something special, at a time where it REALLY needs to do something meaningful to stand out from the currently news hogging competition, but it was sh*t down the drain.
It was a pathetic showing from Nintendo and sums up perfectly just how much of a desperate hole the Wii U is in right now that it actually thinks this was enough for such an occasion.
No one but truly desperate Wii U FANS could consider this reveal a success or anywhere near satisfying as far as I'm concerned.
oh dear when they was making fun of 3D worlds sales i bet reggie wanted the ground to swallow him up.
i felt so sorry for the guy :- what a shame
Anyone else notice that Reggie almost said "Of course," when asked about whether we'll be seeing a new Metroid?
@Kirk hehe, "such an occasion" indeed. Worth noting that this "awards show" didn't even give out all of its awards during said show. The "big announcements" other than Cranky Kong included a port of Tomb Raider and a robot in Titanfall. Also remember at E3 this year Activision spent most of their time hyping up Dogs in CoD.....
So please don't pretend that Nintendo has somehow committed a crime against humanity here. It was a crappy show and what they showed was on par with what every other dev thought the show warranted. They didn't hype it up and what they showed was, IMO as a long time Nintendo fan, pretty cool. It's freaking Ducktales controls in DKC, if you don't think that's cool there's something wrong with you.
The only good thing that came from VGX was this GIF...
You know what would have excited me like there's no tomorrow? If we could actually hear a sort of "Stickerbrush Symphony Returns" during that bramble stage.
@JaxonH because if a first-party game fails selling system (ie. Pikmin 3), said system has a bleak future. yes not all game should be system-sellers but when we want a company or console get better, we want software to do that job. Will this game do this job? I dunno. I hope so. but DKCR as good its sales where didn't moved lots of systems...
With that said, the presentation of cranky in DKCTF was probably the best and more enjoyable part of this awful, awful show. i have never seen one in my life and Nintendo or not, i wont watch it anymore. It's absurd industry propaganda that makes a joke of gaming and catters to the rotten "hardcore" message-board-dwellers audience.
and @Yosher, the morale of the story is NEVER LISTEN TO THE INTERNET PEOPLE. They blew stuff oiut of their proportions and spill venom after it. Nintendo announced more info about an upcoming game and everybody for some strange and illogical reason said it was zelda. They delivered what they promised. Nothing more and nothing less. Would have been better? maybe but this hate is just getting stupid, specially coming from Nintendo "fans" that are more Industry fans than Nintendo's.
@Zelda_28
Yeah. Gif is awesome.
I'm glad that Cranky is a playable character, but I believe there is a time and place for everything, and that was not the time nor the place to announce a playable character for tropical freeze. If they really wanted to announce a playable character at an award show it should've been from a major game like Smash Bros or Mario Kart, not Donkey Kong.
Yikes this is quite the "major" announcement. Reggie going "what more do you want" after wearing a Metroid pin is not exactly a nice thing to do on a hardcore gamers award show. Cranky Kong isn't exactly a household name either.
the vgx guys are ovsly kucco in the head... my first and last vgx too.
Wow....the guys from Spike are very rude. I can't believe they talked to them that way.
@Kirk: You mean the "World Premier Exclusive EXTREME" that everyone but Nintendo promised? I disagree with your posts. You ignore the fact that everyone BUT Nintendo hyped the crap out of this announcement, and Nintendo should not have announced more just because everyone hyped it so much. Nintendo did not do anything wrong in this occasion; everyone else, especially Geoff Keighley, was in the wrong.
@JaxonH Thank you! I couldn't have put it better. Nintendo does what Nintendo does. It would be absurd to pretend to be a different company for this particular audience. We are not in the videogame marketing business and I can guarantee Nintendo knows a lot more about it than anyone here (myself included).
We can enjoy the games. We don't have to worry about the fate of the company. It's in much better hands than ours, thank heaven!
VGX is such a useless awards show.
Also this was a quite a pointless reveal, it should've been shown in a Nintendo Direct. More in theme of VGX a better reveal would've been for example Platinum's Bayonetta 2 since the whole awards show is all about dudebros.
But it wasn't a big mistake, since nobody care's about Spike's show.
Neat. Can't wait to play DKC:TF. The game looks outstanding
I also have to say that I disagree that this should have been shown in a independent Nintendo Direct. I feel the exact opposite. It's better to announce it here than waste it on a Nintendo Direct. Save the big announcements for Nintendo Direct's or Game Expo's, not an award show.
@Kolzig
To be fair, from the definition I have been given; Dudebros don't care about games like Bayonetta. Only games like COD and other first person shooters. So I don't think that would have helped.
Reggie's pretty quick on his feet with a lot of these questions.
I feel strongly that we just saw a staged Metroid reveal.
When asked about the pin, Reggie appears to be reading his response off of a teleprompter. Reggie and the Retro guy can both be seen looking at their prompter, while the obnoxious dude can be seen looking at his. Each pair having one directly across from them.
At the end of the clip, all three are clearly ignoring their prompters, and looking at one another as they speak, leading me to believe that the 'scripted' parts were finished. Earlier in the clip, Reggie accuses the interviewer of going off prompter. And numerous comments were made about the prompters throughout the show. They were definitely using them. Reggie's near blurting out of 'of course' was a freudian slip brought on by the interviewer's off the script prodding.
Reggie wears a Metroid pin to honor Retro, and not a bunch of bananas or something more in the spirit of the game they are currently trying to sell? I don't think so, and it's very unlike him. And this 'impromptu' discussion of the pin pops up?
No, I think Nintendo is having a bit of fun with us, while promoting their newest release. Metroid was the big reveal.
What Nintendo did was pure genius. They got everyone to forget about all other games and company's and get everyone soley talking about Nintendo and DKCTF. Now that is some great marketing.
@JaxonH
Best post I've seen since using this site. This is exactly how I feel. Nintendo is never going to appeal to this market. Selling a Wii U on the back of one game only to have no more come out for the system that people are happy with will create even more negative PR and subsequently future problems.
It's funny how people think a system/ first game needs to sell a certain amount to be considered a success. Figures in the gaming industry are so skewed out of proportion that the fact is no-one knows the break even point, how much profit is being made per unit or how many sales a game needs to make before its a 'success'.
As gamers when did we become more obsessed about sales figures than the actual games we play? Let Nintendo worry about that stuff. They've been doing it for years.
"Our console is failing. Third party support is vanishing. Our consumer branding is confusing. So here's a new Donkey Kong level!" - Nintendo
@jordanmarsden "I am so mad because I expected something different than what was announced so now I'm complaining about it online" - Jordansmarsden
@Fazermint I never said I was mad... I love Nintendo and couldn't care less whether they're selling systems as long as I'm personally enjoying the games they're making.
The fact is that there is a lot of doom and gloom surrounding Nintendo's Wii U system at the moment (rightly or wrongly), and they had an opportunity to address some of the issues but didn't take it.
@SirGreatNose
This.
Of course the whole thing was staged. It's a show. Everyone is just playing a role.
If Nintendo had boycotted the show would people still say they had missed an opportunity to address their problems? Why are people acting like these awards are such a big deal? They're not! Hence the reason we got a few minor announcements and nothing else.
Let's see what TGS, E3 and PAX have in store. These are the shows people care about/ put stock in. Although you could argue even they aren't really relevant anymore.
@DarkwingLz
You are plain wrong because the very fact that Nintendo decided to send Reggie in person to VGX to reveal this "world exclusive" reveal live at the awards, the first time Nintendo has done any such thing in the ten years the VGAs have been running, already created the impression that it was far more of a big deal than it actually was (even though I personally already said it was most likely just going to be more Donkey Kong footage).
Nintendo created a large level of manufactured hype, by intention or not (I say it knew exactly what it was doing), and it absolutely failed to live up to and deliver on it.
That is the simple fact here.
@skywake
Not a crime against humanity but a huge blunder, wasted opportunity and an insult to it's fans and just gamers in general imo. Except the most stubbornly loyal and blinkered FANS like you who have probably actually convinced yourself Nintendo had a great reveal.
They did hype it up, by virtue of the very way they went about revealing it, making it this big live exclusive "world premiere" reveal at the VGX awards, and they flopped spectacularly. If you can't see that then that's simply because you probably don't want to. Or maybe I'm actually giving you way too much credit.
I don't get what the big deal is, yeah we would of liked a more epic reveal but Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze looks dope as hell. Seriously even though it's a 2D platformer I think people will come to understand it's true beauty when they actually play it. Can't wait for Feb. 21 to get here!
I was joking with my friend that Cranky would work like Scrooge McDuck. Then... hahahaha.
This is the most waited game for me next year. It's a new DKC, it's done by Retro Studios and David Wise is responsible for the music. Nothing can go wrong now.
I didn't watch the show, but I'm a touch upset that the reveal was one character in Donkey Kong. You all know what I wanted to see.
I suppose if I have the cash, I'll pick this game up.
Still think anything from Bayonetta, X, or Zelda would have been better. Those were previously announced titles and even something small about those games like side quests for Zelda or non-DLC costumes in Bayonetta would have sent the gaming world into a tizzy.
In retrospect.... the Nintendo segment was by far the least embarrassing segment of the VGX awards. Now: Never return to that horrid place, Nintendo. Never. Return.
@Kirk A blunder hmm? http://www.gamnesia.com/news/cranky-kong-was-the-only-vgx-announcement-trending-on-twitter
What would Nintendo have gained from announcing something big? They already announced Bayonetta 2 and there was a huge backlash to that. This audience has already written off Nintendo and one game will not change that.
@DarkwingLz
Yeah, it trended for all the wrong reasons I'm going to presume.
Although I guess they say no publicity is bad publicity...
"Reveal" Reaction.
Crankey kong doing ducktales wow what a highlight pfft.
this could be nintendos last home console i have a feeling they will just stick with handheld's after the wiiu.
@jordanmarsden Actually dude, that's exactly my point of view - I don't need Nintendo to beat Sony or Microsoft as long as they keep making the games I like. This is why I get tired of the doom & gloom (besides it being inherently annoying). Wasn't so transparent in your comment that you had the same view. Nintendo surely missed a great opportunity, but that was obvious from their initial announcement.
@DarkwingLz "You ignore the fact that everyone BUT Nintendo hyped the crap out of this announcement"
Nintendo's American Twitter account had 3 freaking tweets about this damn thing leading up to it! The hype was clearly generated by Nintendo themselves.
@Kirk I hear ya man, loud and clear. Spot on in all of your posts here.
@Genesaur he could have just as well said of course not.
@gatorboi352
I agree with your point too about the Twitter posts.
"It was also an appearance where Fils-Aime resisted efforts by co-host Geoff Keighley for more reveals, and some may feel that Nintendo underwhelmed in revealing a character that was leaked online a number of days ago"
Was the author of the article referring to Reggie Fils-Aime? If so, why was his first name left out of the article?
reggie what are u doing get ur head out of the clouds and into gear before u sink to far u have missed a great opportunity now u got sony and xbox rubbing there hands with pure green paper wake up time for u to think right
@luigifan2000 Sure, but somehow, I doubt it.
This was....so awkward to watch, cringe-worthy, really. Those questions....so damn awkward. I bet Reggie couldn't wait for this to be over.
Hey, the guy from Retro seems nice.
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