It's the end of the week that was, and what an E3 we had. Your humble writer, in his relatively short history of actually covering the event, has never had to tackle a Nintendo showing quite like it. Some are comparing the big N's E3 2015 unfavourably with other notably bad years, and after the general positivity of 2014 this year has been on the other end of the scale. Yet that's not the full picture as, for a spell, E3 actually went rather well for Nintendo - well, before the expo began, that is.
It's been a funny old week, then, one with some lovely highs - yes, really, cast your mind back a bit! - some horrible lows and quite a lot in-between. With that in mind we've pinpointed five key moments - or broader segments of the show - that highlight the general trends we saw with Nintendo's E3, and which could become definitive moments when we look back in the future.
Masahiro Sakurai Kicks Off The Week With a Super Smash Bros. DLC Bonanza
In internet time Sunday 14th June is an age ago, but it did see Nintendo kick off the week with a Special Video Presentation from Masahiro Sakurai on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. The reveals had largely been leaked beforehand - while firm evidence popped up in the 48 hours before the stream, the actual detail had been found in the game's code a good couple of months ago. Nevertheless, there was a thrill in seeing Ryu (plus a stage) and Roy make their entrance, along with the previously confirmed Lucas.
There were some surprises in the form of new confirmed and planned amiibo, along with a whole load of Mii character outfits and the free Miiverse stage on Wii U. The biggest surprise, though, was that much of the content announced arrived in a pile of DLC goodness right after the broadcast. If you wanted to you could splash the equivalent of just under $30 on all of the content for both systems, and such was the initial surge that the eShop temporarily had issues with high traffic.
There was huge buzz around this presentation, which has since prompted some to wonder whether its key reveals should have been saved for Nintendo's Digital Event. Perhaps, but let's not forget how thrilling it was to start the week with some trusty and reliable Smash Bros. hype.
Super Mario Maker Steals The Show at the Nintendo World Championships
We used that same turn of phrase in an editorial, as we do feel that Super Mario Maker really seized the moment in the Nintendo World Championships. It wasn't the only high point of the event, but it was a brilliantly chosen finale - that hour+ of the final round turned this writer from being a bit keen on this game, to wanting it badly right now.
This finale was so effective for multiple reasons - first of all, great credit should go to two finalists who were not only skilled gamers, but competed with a terrific spirit and sportsmanship. Then we had the four stages created by two members of the Nintendo Treehouse, each showing off a different visual template and being devious, delightful levels. Combine those two factors with just how far Super Mario Maker has come in development, and you have a winning formula.
It's evident that, as a level creation and sharing tool, Super Mario Maker could be truly exceptional. The stages we saw in the NWC event - which will be included in the shipped game - truly showed what it can do; stages were lengthy, designed with careful precision, while any complexity found in a full 2D Mario title can seemingly be recreated. In fact, such is the playful cross-generation design and the quirky new innovations - such as Stiletto Boots, Shell helmets and bizarre possibilities never seen in a Mario game - you can arguably go well beyond established Mario platforming.
We'd never known an hour of a live event to fly past so quickly - Super Mario Maker stole the show.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force Goes Viral In All The Wrong Ways
There have been plenty of post-mortems on Nintendo's Digital Event, and we'll be considering some angles in the coming days, but one moment seemed to stand out above all others. It took us by surprise, so much so that we simply had to write about it.
We're referring to the reaction to Metroid Prime: Federation Force, which went beyond normal disappointment and went further. As we highlighted in that aforementioned editorial, it delivered a perfect storm for maximum opprobrium - a short, confusing initial reveal trailer, as well as the spin-off use of a treasured brand that has been dormant for a number of years. The reaction was staggering, from the anger we saw in the live comments section on Nintendo Life as the stream was happening, to the game being targeted and having a 90% ratio of Dislikes on YouTube, to silly petitions demanding it be cancelled and going viral on Reddit. It even popped up in the 'wider internet', with non-gaming social sites having threads and posts dedicated to it.
Every game company hopes to 'go viral' during E3, but this became a problem for Nintendo that it simply had to try and ignore and allow to fade. The dust will settle, but the reaction to Metroid Prime: Federation Force will live long in the memory and go down in E3 history - in years to come it'll inevitably pop up in "Least Popular E3 Announcements" lists.
Still, we'll give the game a fair chance when it arrives in 2016.
Damage Control of Damage Control
In a slightly stranger part of Nintendo trying to 'manage' the message, we had damage control of damage control. It began with Satoru Iwata posting a tweet shortly after the Digital Event, saying "we take opinions of this year's Digital Event seriously and will work to better meet your expectations." Like many sentences it can be interpreted in many ways - as far as we are concerned the translator in question has an exceptional record - but was considered by many as an apology, of sorts. In our report we simply noted that Iwata-san had promised to work on meeting expectations as a reaction to the maelstrom of negativity online. Apology or not, it felt like an acknowledgement that there wasn't a great deal of celebration in the Nintendo community.
In truth, as it wasn't a blatant apology it seemed like a good message, but we were a bit baffled when Reggie Fils-Aime decided to attempt some unnecessary PR spin.
It was not an apology. It was not a statement about the content we're showing, essentially it was an 'I hear you' message.
Mr. Iwata is in Japan and what he's trying to do is help explain to consumers in Japan what's going on at E3. The correct translation of his message was: 'Thank you for your feedback. We hear you and we are committed to continuing to meet your expectations,' was essentially his message.
A minor tweak of a translation, but in our view a slightly petty riposte to suggestions that Iwata-san had acknowledged that not all were happy with the Digital Event. While we know that Fils-Aime's job is to spin positives and promote a particular message, at times he can be too blinkered and attempt mind-tricks on fans. His appearance on the Treehouse on Day 3 typified this, as he didn't even give a hint that Nintendo needed to win fans over in any way following the company's showing. He used practically the same terminology as in 2014, except last year he was right to talk about a "strong" - as in positive - reaction from fans.
A little forthright honesty in these matters from the Nintendo of America President, and less blinkered spin, would be welcome on occasions.
Nintendo Treehouse Finally Matures With Fatal Frame, and Deserves Overall Credit
The Nintendo Treehouse team was once again, for this writer's money, truly excellent in this show. Perhaps hamstrung by some negativity in the Nintendo community after the Digital Event and seemingly required to plug some games a little too much, the team nevertheless set about its many hours of live demonstrations with a good spirit and an eagerness to please. There have been criticisms that they're not always slick in terms of production values, for example, but there's an argument that we learn far more about games from these skilled localisation employees than we would from highly paid internet personalities or presenters.
One slightly disappointing aspect, however, was that the team seemed to shy away from some mature titles a little more than last year. In 2014 we had multiple Bayonetta 2 sessions and saw some Devil's Third, both mature games - this year the latter bizarrely made no appearance despite its upcoming release, and it was the last day before we saw Fatal Frame: The Black Haired Shrine Maiden, which looked intense and intriguing. Another niggle was that some eShop games could have been given more of a spotlight - FAST Racing NEO looked fantastic, but only had a 15 minute slot.
In general, though, the Treehouse team once again did itself great credit. It's easy to pick on the occasionally technical hiccup - the sudden "Damn" that was heard out of context before we saw a Xenoblade Chronicles X trailer will surely be immortalised as a meme - or the fact a number of the staff are programmers and localisation experts first and presenters second. Yet we'd soon bemoan it if phony, barely knowledgeable presenters or reps with only a fact-sheet of information to share took their place.
Here's to more Nintendo Treehouse sessions in E3 2016.
Those are five key moments and factors from E3, from our perspective. Share your views, as always, in the comments below.
Comments 84
Damn
Was so happy when the Treehouse finally gave some love to Fatal Frame. The game looks fantastic.
Now if Nintendo would only promote it. I have not seen it listed on any of their Release Calendar pictures or adverts.
Yes, the Treehouse was where it was at and much better at showing off the games than the digital event IMHO. Even for the games I'm not interested in personally, I could still see the appeal for others (with just that one exception).
People will talk about this until the cows come home but not showing any Devil's Third in the Digital Event was bizarre and baffling. They quietly announced the release date a week or so ago and no promotion at E3 at all.
The more I think about the nature of Nintendo's E3, the more I'm convinced that they deliberately sabotaged themselves in order to quietly move away from the 3DS and Wii U - they can set a clear path towards what they're aiming towards; NX and mobile games. All the talk of transformation is because they want to lay to rest what they're currently doing.
Well it's a theory
Maybe Devil's Third didn't come up because Nintendo don't think it's very good? I think it's looked very ropey in all the footage they've shown so far. People on here will class any upcoming game as something to look forward to, but it wouldn't look good if they push some awful game as one of their highlights of the year.
The Treehouse redeemed things very slightly for me, especially the footage of the game we keep referring to as SMT x FE, but my memory of this E3 is always going to be disappointment. Not anger, just disappointment.
I'm still convinced people don't recall their really horrible E3s. They must be repressed in a small corner of their mind. This E3 had some dissapointments, but it wasn't nearly as bad. Just one of the worst ones of recent memories, and in truth, that's not so bad.
I'm fairly sure that "Devil's Third" didn't show up because there will be a Nintendo direct just for it a few weeks prior to the game's release. With the lack of mature shooters (or mature anything really) on the system, I am really looking forward to it.
@Peach64 they're publishing it as an exclusive title. I would have thought they'd have worked in collaboration to get it looking good, what with severe lack of other third party titles.
@Peach64 Good theory on Devil's Third but it's a Wiiu game that's exclusive to the system. And that's funded by them,So i don't think they will not show it even if it's awful. it must be some other reason.
E3 was just fine for Nintendo this year. Not great, but fine. Looking forward to Mario Maker, Star Fox, Xenoblade, got to play the Zelda 3DS game at Best Buy which is fun with friends. Fatal Frame, Yokai Watch, Rodea is coming... there's plenty of game to play people.
I know I'm in the super small minority on this, but $30 worth of Smash DLC was very sad to see. Thanks for the for free Miiverse stage... but I'll be skipping the other stuff.
Damage control of damage control
I think that sums the whole week up very nicely. I really wish we could have gotten a translation from Bill Trinen. He might be the whitest man at Nintendo but he's a professional interpreter.
Reggie saying NX at the start of the show will probably be the only thing I remember years from now.
@Peach64 @ottospooky I've heard rumors (well, rumors of rumors) that its absence was due to Valhalla, not Nintendo. It does seem strange omission, however, regardless of who or why.
@Samuel-Flutter I've watched them all live since 2007 and it's got to be said that I think this one was their second-worse since then. Maybe expectations caused it a little bit but they definitely could have done a lot better.
@Peach64
They weren't above pushing that Animal Crossing Amiibo gunk, so I'm not sure being awful is a reason for them to ignore Devils Third
@ottospooky Last I checked, they still haven't announced the US date for Devil's Third, at least I can't find info on it anywhere. I expected it to at least be announced after E3, but still nothing.
I've been watching a lot of Nintendo treehouse slots on Nintendo.com (woah, that Audrey girl who thinks she's Princess Zelda is REALLY bossy), and it's fun to see the games without sitting through the waffle.
What bothers me is the lack of them, especially for 2016.
It was an ok E3, but I do say I was disappointed on the lack of giving devil's third any play time on treehouse, but impressed they actually did fatal frame, which I wasn't interested in, but after watching that, I really want! Nintendo needs to learn to show off the grown up games too, we're all not lil kids, just have are esrb rating logo at the button of the broadcast that way people know it's not appropriate for kids.
My low point was Animal Crossing Amiibo Trap. High in charm, low in actual game. I think I would rather have Animal Crossing short films. Actually...I WANT ANIMAL CROSSING SHORT FILMS! Guest starring Pingu!
@brianvgplayer just had a look through YouTube quickly for English language trailers. There really is nothing recent, just E3 2014 videos and a long trailer in Japanese. It feels like the partnership may have turned sour between Nintendo and Valhalla for some reason. It feels like it might be released without fanfare and sort of left to rot.
How crazy is it that Nintendo went from blowing us away on Sunday to letting us down in a way they hadn't in years on Tuesday?
In hindsight, I'm a little upset with myself for not really tuning in to the Treehouse. Sure, the Event was disappointing, but the games themselves look fun. The event dampened my enthusiasm for the games, though, and as a result I skipped the Treehouse, which I really enjoyed last year.
The NWC is the highlight for me, especially the Super Mario Maker finale. Many surprises in the level, accompanied by talented player is the best way to show what Super Mario Maker is about. The show could turn bad if the final player wasn't good, but it turned out well with all levels cleared. Definitely amazing.
The Digital Events isn't bad, it's entertaining but didn't please their fans. Treehouse segment is cool, but watching the whole thing is impossible. I catched some segment later and it's pretty good I must say. I particularly enjoyed the SMT x FE (whatever the actual title is), Fatal Frame and yes, Metroid Prime: Federation Force.
Smash bros direct is pretty good too, but I'm done with the game so I don't really care, and it was killed by leaks in the last 2 days.
Finally, Reggie damage control is too arrogant. I liked Iwata and other Nintendo executive's lower profile better. I wanted to like Reggie, but his statement often just put me off, not only this time but many other times too.
Overall that's my impression of the whole E3. Nintendo start strong, goes downhill with the DE, but Treehouse segment recover it a bit. Now, just waiting for game releases and there's plenty to look forward.
Let's hope for a better E3 next year!
At the very end of the Direct, was I the only person expecting a big Mario reveal? Right up until the very end I was expecting something massive but after the overly long Show reel of people doing Mario esque stuff I was readying myself for the BIG 'And one more thing' moment and there wasn't one! The Direct ended on a sour note, and therein lies one of the biggest reason everyone's now proclaiming it as a pile of dung!
Lowest of all low points: Animal Crossing Amiibo Crap. Bring us the real game to Wii U!!
Yeah Fatal Frame !!!!
@TwilightAngel I thought there was some Devils Third presentation prior to the World Championships... but yeah, it's really weird. Bottom line, this Digital Event felt incomplete.
@ottospooky : I don't know if the partnership went sour, but the creator did show off video of the game last week, and he looks nuts! I'm guessing he told Nintendo he'll do a Direct himself with no Iwata or any Nintendo employees involved. Or he beat down Iwata before telling him this.
@Peach64 you may be right about Devils third. It's a Amazon exclusive in Japan and that Implys nitendo h has very little faith in it.
@gage_wolf Getting rid of Reggie will cause more harm than good. He's a PR guy, he's just doing his job. Iwata is CEO of NoA.
If they had never made a mention of star fox Las year, this E3 would have been remembered as epic.
Afditonally, the reason there was no zelda U is obviously because next year will be the 30th anniversary. Remember the 25th anniversary skyward sword in 2011? Yeah, clearly that's what they're doing here
@ottospooky - The ending was certainly weak.
At E3 2014 Sony had a horrible show. (Almost as bad as Nintendo this year) It opened w/ some great Uncharted 4 footage and slowly went downhill from there. Then it went downhill really fast and crashed and burned somewhere before the ending. I'm not sure if anybody made it to the ending.
So guess what game Sony closed w/ this year?
Nintendo needs a better focus group.
Start w/ Mario maker, we all know about that one. Show the lame stuff in the middle. Close w/ the new Star fox footage. It's not that hard.
Yeah, it sure will be something I won't forget...
I'm not sure why Nintendolife is doing its best to spin this all into positive news, as they just hammered Reggie for doing, or maybe its beleaguered optimism but there's really nothing that can be said to change many of our individual views on this year's E3. There is only 1 game that I will be purchasing being the Triforce Heroes. I can truthfully vouch that NOTHING announced this year is of any interest to me.
Games that we've known about such as Mario Maker, Star Fox, Whooly World, etc are still on my radar but unless there are some mystery surprises between now and June 2016 which is probably not the case as game development is a lengthy process - Nintendo's out of my money.
Thanks Tom, for your great write ups throughout that helped make sense of this year's E3 and keep the wheels on the wagon :]
Seems odd to even mention the first two things since they actually occurred before and outside of E3.
I think the biggest problem is that for Nintendo E3 is not as important as to others. We are lucky to have Nintendo Digital Event like every month. We didn't see Devil Third, but we will shortly before premiere. Same goes for Zelda WiiU, I bet they are prepering big, 1-hour long Nintendo Direct all about Zelda.
What I want to say. We shouldn't rate Digital Event by the same scale as Sony or Microsoft. Because next month, or in two months from now, we will have another "digital event". Moreover, Nintendo showed as games, not logos (FFVII).
Although, I must admit, it was sad to not see Zelda, but hey, we will, soon.
Man, I can't wait for next week. I need to give the E3 disappointment a rest already, but it's hard when every other article in the site mentions it.
I forget who I was arguing with in the Treehouse feed yesterday about the NX being a home console. You asked for an article, so here you go: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/06/18/nintendos-reggie-fils-aime-talks-amiibo-and-the-skylanders-deal/
Note Reggie's second to last response when he says, "We’ve also said publicly that we are already hard at work on our next home console..."
You're welcome
Apart from devils third they could have shown some of rodea it may not be the best game but I don't see what was to lose by at least trying to promote it.a few more indie games would have been good since FAST and steamworld heist went down well.they had a perfect opportunity to show off 9player runbow mp or even terraria with gamepad inventory since it supposedly due soon.
@Quorthon Well, technically, conferences by Microsoft and Sony also took place before E3, which only oficially opened on Tuesday.
Which is to say: the World Championships and Smash Direct were obviously designed as part of the "E3 hype week", so I see no reason why they shouldn't count.
@Dr_Corndog I felt the same, I was quite down, puzzled after the end of the Digital Event, and I just couldn't bring myself to watch the Treehouse Live straight away. I enjoyed the NWC final so much and I got myself all hyped up that I just felt deflated after the DE. Ended up being my loss, because when I did tune in to Treehouse it was really enjoyable. Roll on the next Direct!
Ever since Reggie failed hard at Smash Bros, it's been downhill for him - tarnished in the eyes of fans, and exhibiting a frustrated temper....
I still relatively enjoyed E3 this year, but I wasn't excited. Only a handful of games actually have me pumped up a lot (Mario and Luigi, Fire Emblem, and honestly SMT X FE), and some look good (Star Fox and Tri Force Heroes), but then the rest were like 'meh titles. Though amiibo Festival was the worst.
But yeah, they kicked off strongly with Smash and the NWC, so if they do the same format, albeit with an actual conference for NX's unveiling, I'm already super excited for E3 2016!
The most symbolic thing about this was Miyamoto talking about the shrine. After enduring that awesome-but-painfully-long Muppet intro, when I saw we were already twenty minutes into the Digital Event I thought "man, this feels like filler - this is not Nintendo's year, is it."... and man, did it suck to be right.
@Shiryu that's a good reason to ensure that it does show up at the biggest conference for gamers (when all the worlds gamers are focused on you). Who will watch the Nintendo direct? Nintendo fans. Everyone would have seen this game at E3
@Thatguywhoeats Haha, yes! Made a vid about that and everything. Best moment of E3!
Again, I think that the Treehouse Event SHOULD be Nintendo's Digital Event presentation. It would give them 3 whole days to show off as many games as possible.
@wisdomsprince I agree it is odd, but I remain confident that it will turn out to be one hell of a game.
It started with excitement: Nintendo world championship, free indie demos, etc.
Then shock: That's all they've been working on? Where are rest of the games?
Then Anger: Feeling cheated for buying a Wii u with no game support, and getting a backtracked apology.
Then mixed emotions: I guess i like a few of the games offered, but this really is it? Shouldn't they be making better games?
Acceptance of Disappointment: This is it. I will probably get a few games. I guess i can spend the remaining money I save on a new console.
NOTE: Indie demos were fun, and Fast Racing Neo looks awesome (nice small suprise).
I see the Smash Bros. DLC as something really bad. Not only did Sakurai lie about the game being complete, they are charging a ridiculous amount for them.
After the great MK8 DLC I didn't expect this kind of behaviour.
@Spectra_Twilight I'll give you six simple reasons.
1. Nintendo didn't show any new games that are worth mentioning.
2. Nintendo didn't show Zelda, Metroid or any other triple A franchise.
3. Nintendo showed Starfox, but graphically and gameplaywise it was really underwhelming.
4. Nintendo announced mediocre spinoffs of the games fans were hoping for, instead of some actual good games.
5. Nintendo wasted tons of time talking about kniting amiibo and how they created a the first mario, instead of actually showing games - you know, the whole purposte of the E3.
6. Sony, Microsoft and Bethesda all showed at least 3 very hyped triple A blockbuster games like Uncharted 4, Halo 5, Fallout and Doom. Nintendo on the other hand showed mario tennis and a amiibo board game.
Conclusion: Nintendo got wrecked by the competition and insulted the fans by showing easy cash-grab spinoff games that take around two months to develop. Do you get it now?
@DarkCoolEdge Indeed. The prices of the mii costumes are ridiculous.
Well, Reggie wasn't wrong when he said there's been a "strong" reaction to what they showed off. He chose words very carefully. It was just strongly negative.
The Treehouse gang was surely the best thing for Nintendo at E3 again!
The Treehouse stream is a stroke of genius which should be cultivated and continued in subsequent years.
@Toadthefox I wanted to a post something about how I don't really care if 2008 was worse because I'm living in 2015 and my Wii U was just given last rites but... you kinda covered everything.
On a brighter note: I went looking for Super Metroid 3D on my 3DS today because all this talk about Metroid and guess what... doesn't exist. SALT MEET WOUND!!
Another thing that sucked about the Direct was that they didn't even mention club Nintendo closing down, and the new replacement we were supposed to get for it.
The lack of a proper Animal Crossing game was really bad. Happy Home Designer and the party game seem to be things that would be extras in a full game, as if they canned a full release for... some reason. Other than that, it was OK. I'm really happy we are finally getting a multiplayer Legend of Zelda game with online play! That is something that will be loads of fun!
I'm just going to say it: I'm looking forward to Nintendo's upcoming games. All of them. (Well, except the Animal Crossing amiibo game.) Video games are a pastime, and it's dumb getting all bent out of shape over a pastime.
It was a showing of old men showing off games for old men. Time to bugger the lot off imo. Reggie, Miyamoto, Iwata, & Aonuma (who takes freaking forever to deliver average Zelda titles:/ I haven't played an epic Zelda game in 9 years!)
Compared to the Splatoon team, who brought a new IP to Nintendo with more life & energy to it than anything Nintendo has done in years.
And they did it in a very short amount of time. Its time for a big change dammit
Nintendo better give Devils Third and Fast Racing Neo the proper marketing.
@ottospooky
That's a legitimate question that I'm genuinely curious to find the answer to.
What exactly WAS Reggie referring to with all that "transformation" talk? He sure seemed to repeat it quite a bit. It's like they're trying to prepare us for something. What, I don't know.
Maybe the NX is going to be a bigger change then we are anticipating.
I don't know, but one thing I do know is this fanbase is a major buzz kill. I see all these fun games I want to play and all I hear is complaining. It's killing my hype.
I'm really looking forward to Fast Racing Neo. I hope everyone that was craving an F-Zero game supports this title. Shin'en is an excellent developer that always delivers the goods.
@Ichiban
You know I could be wrong here, but I don't think games fall into an age category, with the exception of games targeted at children of course. But even children can play intellectually challenging and entertaining games just like adults. I don't buy into it. I don't buy into the idea that certainly games are for "old men".
What I buy into is that games are for anyone who likes fun games, but young people are so ignorant nowadays they formulate narrow preconceptions about what constitutes a fun game and aren't willing to try anything other than what's trendy and popular. Likewise, many older gamers are so stubbornly set in their ways they're not willing to try newer games.
All games are for all people. Tear the walls down, because fun games are for anyone.
@JaxonH you should know not to read too far into my insanity by now!
@Ichiban
I know I know, All this negativity is been really getting to me lately I guess.
C'mon ninty, you couldnt even mention Devil's Third? I believe one of the bigger or mentioned often complaints about nintendo is the lack of more 'mature' games. Another criticism Ive read alot is the lack of online games. Devils Third cpuld help kill both birds with one stone. Not even mentioning the game, couples with lack of online or even multiplayer on Starfox is absolutely baffling. Do you want to go out of buisness? Its like you see the bridge ahead of you has collapsed and you just keep going. I have to say I'm bailing out before we hit the cliff.
Admittedly I didn't watch anything from the Treehouse as I was too bitter about the Direct, but I'm really surprised to hear Devil's Third wasn't shown at all there. It really feels like Nintendo is trotting that game out to die, given that they're the publisher. Perhaps they feel the quality isn't what they expected from Valhalla so close to release.
@Spectra_Twilight Yeah I don't get it. I'm pretty sure Nintendo stepped back from E3 years ago; Nintendo Direct is where I expect big reveals - NOT E3. But I guess people have short memories. And getting outraged because a wee trailer isn't exactly what you hoped from a new franchise entry...what is that?
So there has been no devils third info or videos. No wonder I can't find anything online!
They're shuttering things up already it seems.
Nintendo may have directs, but they really should have had more big announcements at E3 since E3 can reach a much larger audience than just Nintendo fans. Overall, I wish Nintendo spent more time on new AAA games. Instead, we mostly got games we already knew about, and spin-off games. I'm starting to look forward to Zelda Triforce Heroes now, but I didn't like it the first time I saw it.
I think there's some good games coming out, even though they're not going to be big system sellers, but the variety is lacking. Wii U has very few sports games and with only Mario and Sonic at the Rio Olympics and Mario Tennis being announced, there's nothing else. Other than that, they mentioned shooters, horror, more party and more platform games, a few action and a few RPG...no simulation (very few on Wii U), a few racers (also very few on Wii U) and very little in action adventure titles...before anyone starts hurting me on this, be warned that I did state that there are a lot of good games coming out, and I'll be buying a lot for my Wii U and 3DS.
The only thing that bothers me, is the lack of titles on the Wii U. Is there a new Metroid, Animal Crossing, Mario Adventure, Paper Mario game being made for the NX for it on day one...time will tell on this, but I hope that next year, they advertise the heck out of the NX and showcase some fantastic games with new franchises, and...if they want 3rd party support back...advertise a bunch of 3rd party games for it too.
All in all, I thought the E3 show was not that bad...they've had many worse ones in the past, and there are a lot of games coming out this year...it just looks small because of no 3rd party titles, but if you put all of their exclusives up against Microsoft and Sony's exclusives, the lists would probably be about the same.
Super Mario Maker is the best thing Nintendo has coming. Cant wait to play it!
If they had put all of the DLC announcements (in a short presentation) within the Digital Event, it would have been better received. At least initially. You have to give them credit for choosing not to inflate an otherwise low-key presentation with Smash Bros content and announce it all before E3 began. It should also be noted they announced Earthbound Beginnings completely out of the blue before the NWC when they could have held it back for the Digital Event.
I have to say though a lot of the new spin-offs they announced (Metroid, Zelda, AC) feel like the sort of thing they could put on mobile rather than 3DS. I hope they're rather deeper than that though. Overall, although the main bulk of the event was underwhelming, it was still a good (not amazing) E3 for Nintendo. I saw enough to be excited about, if not totally blown away by.
@JaxonH Here, I'll give you a little positivity by saying that I'm looking forward to all of the games shown. Heck even Animal Crossing amiibo Party has my interest, since (correct me if I'm wrong) it will be free to download. I just hope the cards can be used in some way. I can understand everyone's disappointment, but I was completely shocked to read the reactions, after watching the whole digital event in full screen.
But I totally get where you're coming from. I didn't expect the Nintendo community to react this badly. All the negativity surrounding the event has ne a little bummed too.
At first I wasnt too happy with the digital event reveals but then I started thinking of how Nintendo holds its e3 presentation now. Instead of one stage presentation where everything is shown off they spread it across 3-4 days. The digital event was just one piece of the puzzle that could've been done better.
The Treehouse stuff was great to watch and it actually changed my opinion about the things not fully shown in the digital event. Federation force, starfox zero, fatal frame, and super mario maker looked like pure fun.
I was away on vacation all of E3 with nothing but horrible Nintendo headlines to go by. What I've seen since I've returned is an E3 where Nintendo didnt really have anything great to show so it was ehh at best. Not nearly as bad as the interwebs would have you believe.....just nothing to get overly hyped or excited about.
StarFox doesn't look like a gamecube game...Metroid Prime spinoff on 3DS isn't the end of the world and Retro seems to be working on something that is 2 years away and maybe an NX launch title.....whatever that ends up being.
I've got plenty to look forward too, I just knew about it before E3. Now I wait and see what the next Directs bring and enjoy Splatoon, FE Sacred Stones, EB Beginnings and hopefully a last round of MK8 DLC. Once fall gets here I will have more then enough games to keep me playing till next E3 where who knows what we will learn.
The Smash Bros video was generally great and I don't think anyone could really have any complaints about that. There was lots of content, some of it really cool, and it was all well put together. I actually came out of that video a LOT more content than I did the main Direct that's for sure, and I'm not even a big Smash Bros fan.
The World Championship was ok/good—nothing mind blowing, especially since there weren't any big game reveals (which would have been cool seeing as it was E3 and all) and the final game was one we'd all seen before and known about for over a year—but at the same time it really did make Super Mario Maker shine. I just think it could have been really special if Nintendo actually had some major new unannounced game to reveal as the final game in the competition; like a new 3D Mario or something. It could have captured that magic seen at the end of The Wizard, which is the level of wow I kinda think a lot of people were secretly hoping for—I know I was wishing for something like that. Overall though it was certainly fun enough, despite being a little clunky and feeling a bit small scale at times, and I hope Nintendo has a World Championship again next year too. Just really push the boat out next time.
The Direct started on a high with those hilarious "Nuppets" but everything just went downhill from there imo. All we got was a bunch of largely underwhelming games that maybe had big franchise names attached to them but most really didn't deliver on the potential and legacy of those names. In some cases we just got blatant half-*ssed, quickly thrown together, spin-off crap, imo, which was just a slap in the face to a lot of loyal fans waiting for new entries in whatever franchise, as far as I'm concerned. All the Nuppets, dev talks and people playing Mario tunes, or whatever, is fine BUT ONLY IF it's backed up by a bunch of truly great game reveals/showings that genuinely leave people excited and satisfied once the video is done.
The Treehouse stuff was solid as usual but this year it felt like it was having to do a lot of work with less material. So those guys did their jobs admirably but Nintendo I think needs to supply them with with more games and stuff to actually cover next time. I mean just imagine if those guys had all the stuff from Microsoft's conference to talk about... Christ; they could have spent the whole 3 days showing off the various games in the Rare Replay 30th anniversary pack alone.
Nintendo's overall E3 was actually ok, largely because of the stuff that surrounded the main Direct, but it was still very disappointing in terms of the games it showed and especially any of the new games, which is ultimately the one thing it really needs to get right. It's nice that Nintendo has all this extra stuff surrounding its Nintendo Direct video but it has to understand that it really needs to totally nail this one element above all else, imo, with a great showing of lots of truly great games. At the end of the day, I didn't walk away feeling excited or satisfied from Nintendo's showing this E3, largely because of that thoroughly underwhelming/disappointing Direct presentation, and I think that's where Nintendo really dropped the ball ultimately.
@rjejr
Good point
I still don't get why some marketing dude from Pizza Hut is so popular. He isn't a Nintendo fan and he isn't a gamer, why act like he's Nintendo's pope.
@arrmixer - Thanks.
The Nintendo direct made it seem like the Wii U is in its 6th year not its 3rd,Saying the NX will be talked about next year was also a mistake as it will likely put off new people buying a WiiU,Would you buy a console that could be obsolete in 12-18 months.I know they have not said the NX is a console but they also have not denied it.
@Royalblues I think it is no question the game will be good. It's just that it is not accompanying a Metroid main entry that got people riled up. E3 brings expectations of grandiose and Star Fox alone is not at that level. Metroid is a 1st tier franchise and Nintendo lacked first tier main entries. Thus people feel like E3 was either ok to horrible.
It's a good thing I skipped e3 altogether for nba finals. I had that feeling that I was going to be disappointed if I see what nintendo had in store for us.
@The__Goomba Agreed on the NX...it's kind of like nintendo is even giving up on the Wii U, which is not a good sign...I can see many unhappy fans trading in their Wii U's and waiting for the NX to come, but I hope I'm wrong in this, but I also don't see many people investing in the Wii U either. I really hope nintendo starts listening more to other people...more than just their core fans, but also learn and see what other people like and play on the PS4 and XONE, so they can get some of those gamers for the NX...nintendo basically needs to step outside of their world and look around. I love nintendo, but it's time that they start working instead of playing around with their money...especially if they want to stay alive.
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