Talking Point: Reviewing Nintendo's E3 Press Conference

Cool article. E3 has made me extremely excited about Wii U

I just realized... where was Animal Crossing 3DS? I have had the Animal Crossing fever lately and was fully expecting to hear a rough release date for it... well, E3 isn't over, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Yeah I'm hoping the 3DS conference tomorrow is going to be awesome. I was really disappointed that 3DS only got a few minutes of showtime.

I still don't know what Retro are doing!!! =( It was a disappointing conference for me. Not a bad one, no no no no! Just disappointing. I don't want to her that they have a new hardcore approach and then sit through 20 mins of Sing, and Wii fit and crap like that. Only the shareholders wanted to see that I think

Spot on with most of these comments. How they put it together was terrible. Come on, Nintendo, you've been doing E3's for years and years. I didn't get Nintendo Land at all, even though they talked about it for 15 minutes. 10 minutes of which, was one minigame.

Retro finished a game just a year and a half ago. Was not expecting them to show up. Probably next year. But the conference was sorely lacking in announcing one major Nintendo franchise at the end. Come on, even a CG trailer would've done, for a game that wouldn't have been out for another year.

Anyway, when you think about how basically all the titles they showed are launch games (or launch window), it's pretty impressive. About 6 must-buys for me.

Maybe Zelda 3DS will get announced.

Clearly a 7 out of... WAIT A SEC

Scratch that: 11 out of 10

yeah, the ZombieU gameplay looked very impressive. Seems they really got that new controller.

@warioswoods do you know if they're going to sell those?

@warioswoods: A GIF already?

Now that I watch it from my Spike recording, it's better than I thought... by the way, is this site keeping up with the round table conference tonight??

When's the conference? I just saw it mentioned at the end of Nintendo's PC, and nowhere else.

@MagicLink95 I think it's at 9 pm Eastern Time anyway...just not sure how to keep up with it

@Joshers744 Corbie is attending the roundtable and might post things afterwards (or during it if he's allowed on Twitter!) but as it's on at 2am UK time our news team will be fast asleep. We'll of course bring you the news first thing in the morning though

There will be no live stream of the roundtable tonight (US time), but news will leak out through twitter and the like. Shortly afterwards we can expect a summarised video of it.

Well, at least you guys aren't bashing the crap out of it like a lot of people have. I thought it was a decent presentation.

im my opinion, i was kind of sad, i mean the parts that i was happy was when they announced new super mario bros U and when they said the game pad supports up to 2 tablets. The sad part was when they didnt talk about the release or how much it is. Couldn't they kind of extend the whole conference? i mean like they were kind of rushing through it, maybe it could have been 2 hours.... And where was IWATA!?!?! I also wanted to hear about the progress of the SSB games and more about the internet browser and the online for games

EDIT

are there any conferences left that might mention the wiiU? And time please.... And i keep hearing that there are like 7 other titles that werent announced, is that right? i just want some mario kart PLEASE!

The conference was rushed so I found it disappointing while I did like Pikmin 3, Lego, ZombiU, and NSMB U we only got a quick look and the games weren't able to fully sink in. Basically it was show as many games as we can before the time runs out. Also some segments were a waste of time (like Just Dance since they showed it at Ubisoft's press conference yesterday) I would have given it a 6/10.

@James. Thanks for the info! Knew I could count on you all some how

They focused on launch games, not on future titles. I'm sure will hear of new games in the months ahead.

@warioswoods Lol! Yes, best Miyamoto scene ever!

I was disappointed. To be honest, the big winner of this years E3 was Ubisoft (forgetting the horrible eSports segment). Nintendo is second now but I expected a lot more. More big name games and more innovative use of the new controller. Looks rather silly and not adding much. Nintendo still came in second place though. I'm watching Sony's PC now. What the hell are they thinking with the Playbook. That goes on forever and doesn't seem to work right. But there are some good games and Zombi U looks even more awesome then I hoped.

Hey anyone know if there are any other conferenes about WiiU (especially the release date and price)? im just very excited but i only saved like $100.... thats why i need to know how much it is and when its coming out.... At this rate i could get the WiiU by the start of October, only if the WiiU is $300, if its like $350 then it would probably be another month to save. I hsave about 48$ a month btw.... Then i want to get another game pad and a game or two.... I really need to start saving LOL, seriously i need to know how much this is gonna be.

i was slightly disappointed by nintendo's showing. even by showing mario and pikmin, i thought this would've been a good opportunity to show or talk a little bit more about zelda, metroid, smash bros or any of their other I.Ps. even if those games haven't been released or won't be released for the next couple of months.

it is marginally better than microsoft's E3 though, and even ubisoft, of whom i'm not a huge fan of, i thought their presentation for the wii U was interesting.

looking forward to wednesday's 3DS showing.

@warioswoods Thank you for being a supporter!

Personally, I loved the conference. Scribblenauts, Pikmin, Wii Fit U Guards to ward off attack., and Nintendo Land all look great! I bet that tonight is when we will hear about a potential starfox game, if not then tommorow.

Was I the only one who spotted a kid icarus attraction at Nintendo land? (Pit's wings were on a signpost next to Samus's helmet)

Now I can't seem to stop worrying about if a starfox attraction will make the cut. "Fox and Krystal's Arwing adventure", maybe? Oh, and a earthbound attraction will probably be nice, too.

The only things I cared about throughout that entire conference was Reggie's body being ready, Zombie Reggie, NSMBU (decent looking) and NSMB2 (should be a Wario game dammit, greed is Wario's thing). Definite 4/10.

I'm still mad that they didn't tell us what Retro's doing.

I was honestly only disappointed in how long they talked about Nintendo land and nsmb2 looks whatever

Woah, comments are automatic now?

I think the best way to describe it was solid, but lacking the surprise factor that make these presentations memorable. Not every conference Nintendo has will be the best. They also said that hey learned from the 3DS launch failure, so I'm sure we will hear more about new games very soon. It seemed today was about showing off a few awesome looking games, but mostly showing everyone that Nintendo can still be Nintendo while catching up in the HD and Network areas of gaming.

Also, the weakest part must have been the ending. Easy way to tell? People's impressions are getting better as the day goes on, the final impression just kind of hurt their initial view of the presentation as a whole.

On the show itself, I found it drawn-out and disappointing.

On the other hand though, even though Wii U isn't something that is fitting of my personal taste preferences, I'm glad to see that Nintendo has decided to stick with their casual successes that's proved so financially beneficial for them. Younger gamers need a company that provides constant games for them, and my little ones will definitely grow up on Nintendo's systems.

@ReleaseTheBears

It was funny when Reggie said that because i was watching the conference on a TV and my sister was watching for a minute and she was like WTF is THIS!?!? i was like uhhhh idk

I was fine with the idea behind the press conference, but I'd have liked a couple more big name games, be they first party or third. But who knows? Maybe ZombiU will be epic?

Still REALLY surprised Mass Effect 3 wasn't even mentioned at the show itself, despite the controversy.

I do think, however, that Nintendo still has some surprises they have not yet revealed.

I currently have enough $$$ for wii u assuming its less then $300 and it has a couple worth while titles plus I have to get a system that'll play wii games since my wii no longer plays disks and I have yet to pick up Kirby Return to DL, SS, Rhythm Heaven Feaver, and Mario Party 9 because of this

It was poorly paced, reiterated too much information from the Sunday presentation, left too many questions unanswered, lacked any brand-new original core game announcements from either third-party or first-party, had several games bumped off for casual stuff, and completely failed to make me want a Wii U.

I expected better, sorry.

I agree with Tom Whitehead, in saying that the way the presentation was put together was all wrong. Nintendo Land and all the other casual things should've come first, with things like Pikmin 3 and NSMBU at the end to leave off on a good note.

That said, the conference was decent, and I still feel some excitement for Wii U, just not enough to save up for one on Launch Day. I was really hoping to see some sort of big reveal also, and that's a little disappointing.

My only other pet peeve about this whole conference was NSMBU. I think it would've been better had it been named New Super Mario World. I'm just tired of the "Game Title Wii" and what's sure to follow, "Game Title U" gimmicks. Even ZombiU's title bothers me. I mean, you really couldn't come up with something better than that? Ugh.

New announcements and introductions are always a good thing. Wish there was more about the 3DS, though. I guess there's no 3DS XL? Bring on the goods!

They spent way too long demonstrating that Luigi's Mansion-based minigame with the ghost. I got the gist of it from the first few moments.

Hearing about the new Zelda game brought me chills.

I don't know why I feel slightly disappointed.. I was blown away by how awesome pikmin looked, and I even like the idea of nintendo land quite a lot. plus, there are multiple third party games I'd love to get my hands on, but it just felt like there was one more big first party game missing! I was expecting something from retro studios, and actually hoping to see a debut trailer for a new groundbreaking 3d mario game, one with a concept as jawdropping as galaxy. I'm still very excited for the system and there's plenty to look forward to, but aside from pikmin, nothing has really enchanted me. Also, both NSMB games still look too generic to me, Haven't seen a lot of fresh new level design.

hmm i don't know what to say about nintendo's press conference. but here i go, it started off good. but then they gave you a lil video montage of games that will come to the wii u. i saw mass effect 3 and some other games that i would have liked them to give more attention to. they showed some ubisoft games, but nothing we haven't seen before, and they showed us mario. thats all fine but i wanted to see something new, fresh, balls to the wall. but im sure they have more to show in the time wii u lands. also only a couple mins for 3ds, thats no good, they needed to show that off in a big way. luigi mansion looks cool, and so does the other 3ds games shown and im sure we will see more at the 3ds hour tomorrow. but i give the whole presentation a 6/10

@WiiU1 Nintendo announced a month back or so that they won't be talking about release date and price yet. Well, release date is holiday 2012.

also where was zelda, metroid, star fox, super smash bros., donkey kong. maybe im spoiled but i wanted to see more. just not ubisoft and mario, and oh yea arkam...

7/10? and the comments...this is a totally different planet to the responses i've been reading to Nintendo's showing. and that's just the Nintendo fans i'm talking about. 4/10 would be a stretch, this was a huge dissapointment and while it's not exactly the end of Nintendo or this console, it's a very unconvincing start.

they've had over a year to get stuff together. lack of 1st party product and at best below average third party support. mainly ports of old games that will not sell or sell the system.

in fact MS, Sony and Nintendo all gave terrible presentations. a horrible E3 for console gaming.

i agree with hanks all 3 presentations weren't that good. i would have to say that nintendo's was a lil bit better but not by a big stretch. i guess they are no real leaps and bounds out there as yet. i've heard one developer say that with each new console its always the same product put out yr after yr. they isn't no real innovation. i wanted to see something explosive, but i didn't. the biggest applause from the crowd was for pikmin, and when the mushroom came into play in tekken.

I wasn't that impressed with it, to be honest. I've just finished watching the recording, and found myself skipping through more than one section.

It wasn't terrible, but Pikmin and ZombiU were the only things that really got me excited.

@tealovertoma

aw man, well they should announce the release date and price for the WiiU because i need to know how much i need to save first....

The more I think about the conference, the more annoyed I get by it. When I attempt to be unbiased, I feel it was a rather Okay conference. But combined with my personal expectations and hopes, I hate how their was no "Drop"; there's this build-up that never actually goes anywhere. I kept waiting for the game that was to steal the stage, but their was none. That just really angers me, especially when the rest of the conference ranged from "Just Good" to average.

EDIT: Actually, I think what angered me more is that the conference started out quite good, and then dropped in quality but never actually picked itself back up. Hopefully the 3DS conference tomorrow will make up for it enough to sooth my anger.

Big difference between Sony's/MS' and Nintendo's conference: Virtually everything the former showed was for 2013. Everything Nintendo showed was for the Wii U launch (window).

Not saying it as an excuse, Nintendo should've teased a major IP for 2013 and then everyone would've been hyped. Well, not everyone, there are those that wanted to see a specific franchise, and they'll always complain when they don't get it (or proclaim it's the greatest E3 ever when they do).

All the time they wasted on ubisoft games (that we already saw on the ubisoft conference), on the unneccesary long nintendo land presentation and on wii u aspects we already knew from the nintendo direct, they could have used it on showing the 3ds games.

I thought the presentation was awful, I nearly cried when it was over.
But I think when the dust settles Nintendo wins E3. Crazy, I know, but if you take the best of the presentation - Pikmin 3 - and the Nintendo Direct segment - Skype and the Facebook/Twitter like stuff - and the post Nintendo Channel talk w/ the Animal Crossing and Donkey Kong levels from NintendoLand - and then add in Game and Wario, Project P100, and you can transfer VC from Wii to WiiU. Well, I'm back on the bandwagon. The presentation still sucked though. Just imagine how could it have been, open w/ NintnedoLAnd, close w/ that Miyamoto gif. That's all they had to do to make it great.

Yup, key to a good conference: big opener, big closer. That's why people seem to be of the opinion that Sony won, despite not announcing a single new game. (Not dissing Beyond and Last Of Us).

What a terrible, terrible conference! No big announcements, most titles we already knew about. Mario U looks nice, but we've seen those games many times before. Way too much time spent on 3rd party or games that are too weak and no one wants to see (Just Dance 4, WiiFit U etc.). Where are the big guns??? I am totally disappointed, I waited a whole year for this... The scripting and pacing was just soo bad and boring. Does anybody in the industry still know how to EXCITE in a presentation? I miss the days when E3 presentations got lots of hurrahs and cheers from the audience. And seriously Nintendo, is that what you call focusing more on core? I left with the feeling this is not much more than Wii 2, with the same kinda games we already know. Very bad move. You really needed to show, and I mean 1st party, that you want us back (us so called "hardcore", I prefer to say "core"). Meh, meh, meh, I'm not convinced. Kinda sad actually. The only good big points for me are Pikmin 2 and the Nintendo Direct conference. Pikmin shouda been presented at the end. But instead we're left with Nintendoland... Not saying it couldnt be fun, but how unclimatic!

I kinda thought it was rushed, so they didn't have enough time to explain and show the things people were expecting. It felt like to me, they wanted to make it clear that they made this console that can appeal to casual and the hardcore gamer. then you can also dance, sing, and exercise on this new console. They're trying to do at least one or two games showing each genre and there's something for everybody. It wasn't bad or great It was just there. No other company did better or worse then they did.

I think the worst indictment is that the loudest the crowd got was when Reggie referred to the whole "my body is ready"

I think Miyamoto should have been the one to arrange the presentation (and present it, even if it would be in Japanese). I feel personality-wise he is probably one of the best developers. He'd probably have been a better pick for amping the audience up.

I think it was a great E3. Not INSANE like some other year's, but just a nice solid E3. I do think it felt rushed, but honestly, they had a ton of things they had to cover, so I understand. Pikmin 3 was the highlight for me, the game was beautiful and Miyamoto's presence makes everything ten times better. E3 isn't over though, Nintendo's still announcing new things for 3DS tomorrow, and Wii U will be through out the week. We shouldn't judge it just based on today's conference, they're spacing it out over the entire week. I'm pretty excited for what might be announced over the next few days!

The conference started out great with Miyamoto doing the Pikmin 3 reveal and then Super Mario Bros. U but after the brief display of 3DS games it went completely downhill. This presentation was supposed to be all about the Wii U and it's games. There were supposed to be big games, a diverse variety of first party and third party titles to convince gamers that the Wii U would bring back the core audience but I did not see that. What I saw was predictable and safe. Doesn't Nintendo realize that gamers don't care about casual games? Yes, I understand that they need to cater to the casual demographic but this E3 conference was supposed to be about us gamers. To convince us that the Wii U offers something better than the competition. I don't care about dance and fitness games. I wanted to see Zelda, Star Fox, Metroid, F-Zero, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Pokemon, Smash Bros, etc. I know not all those franchises can make it out for the debut of a new console but at least bring some of these heavy-hitters out to get people salivating for your new console Nintendo. I was hoping for a surprise, something big like an Eternal Darkness 2 or a new game from Retro Studios but instead we get a mini-game collection in Nintendo Land. Then the third party support we see is mostly just ports of games that are already out and games from Ubisoft that we already saw in yesterday's conference. Where was the big third party support? I thought that Nintendo learned their lesson from the 3DS launch but this lackluster presentation proved to me that they did not. I really want to see Nintendo succeed but I don't believe that this was the way to do it. Nintendo can do better than this. I give this E3 conference a 5/10.

@MagicLink95 Same here.

Wow this conference was boring, 2/5.

But on the bright side, real-time comment updating is awesome.

It wasn't terrible, but definitely not groundbreaking.

Oh, and does anyone know if the black Wii U is confirmed for launch??? I havent heard anything about and i personally would rather have a black Wii U if the only other option is white.

You guys positive reactions actually made me feel a lot better about this and yes james, i shall keep faith.

@ShadJV Tomorrow will be 3DS day.

@Emaan1 Agreed. People are already screwing up nintendo's facebook by complaining about the conference in general. It's not even close to ending! There are more games set to be revealed, and with a roundtable going out now, surprises can still be revealed. (Remember when Starfox 64 3D was revealed at said roundtable at 2010?)

(On a small related note, remember to send a swapnote about it when you can do so.)

Here are my ratings for E3 since 2006:

E3 2006: 7/10
E3 2007: 9/10
E3 2008: 3/10
E3 2009: 5/10
E3 2010: 9/10
E3 2011: 10/10
E3 2012: 9/10

Is it bad that I'm more excited for the 3DS software showing than I was for E3?

Disappointed by the lack of what Retro or Monolift Soft is working on. Hopefully at least one of them will be revealed sooner rather than later. Overall a 7/10 for me.

It was extremely disappointing for me. Nintendo Land looks pretty bad so far, and that was their big reveal. Nintendo Direct was way better than this. I can only hope the slightly awkward Sales & Marketing guy shows some good 3DS games and gives more info on Animal Crossing.

Does it crack anyone else up that marketing for companies always presents this picture of perfect families? Maybe in this day and age, families are Cleaver-esque in the sense that members would rather (and sometimes do) chop each other to pieces than spend time together, as in depicted in these Nintendo promos.

I agree with everything WolfRamHeart said in comment #65.

I'm really interested in Lego Grand Theft Auto. How would that work out? I hope the violence stays, that'd be hilarious. Oh and the new Zelda 3DS game!!! I can't wait for that to come out.

I'm not disappointed with Nintendo's showings at all, except for the lack of Animal Crossing 3D. Let's not complain though, there's nothing wrong with the 'Nintendo promos'. Sony took a huge spotlight for me honestly, the announcement and gameplay/trailer for The Last of Us was absolutely fantastic. Just cause were Nintendo fans doesn't mean we have to diss other company's (also doesn't mean the company's should be rivals either).

This E3 was excellent. It's gonna be a great year for the video game industry!

I think the more important question is how much does it matter? Nintendo is carefully doling out information here. The Nintendo direct thing on Sunday was very calculated. There are key things Nintendo needs to educate the public about and it's taking it a day at a time so things aren't overlooked. This is a company reacting to the confusion over whether Wii U was a controller or a console last year.

Also, I know people are upset about the conference not catering to gamers, but the conference is a hot point for general media attention. Gaming reporters in that audience are getting to play this stuff hands-on and their opinions will be formed from that more than the quality of the presentation. In fact, Nintendo knows it can reach us gamers through simple press releases and online videos. We don't miss that stuff.

Also, Nintendoland is the gamers version of Wii Sports. It's all themed with our favorite characters and utilizes a lot of competitive play that doesn't rely on sports familiarity. on top of that it's a way to introduce more casual gamers to the characters and games we like. Plus the asymmetric play is going to make gaming sessions addictive as you'll want to get your turn at the Gamepad.

Honestly, I was a little let down because we didn't see any Metroid. Keep in mind that E3 is a trade show, and there is a reason it is not open to the general public. Most of the games that were displayed were almost all best sellers, and it felt like the conference was being directed more towards their stockholders.

But that being said, I think Ninty hasn't even fully revealed their full roster. Game & Wario wasn't even revealed until AFTER the conference. Retro is definitely working on something (Metroid, I hope). We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

The worst part that I'm trying to scrub off my mind is when the game "Sing" came up. WTF. Particularly of the song played.

I. Hate. that. Song. So much!

As soon as the lyrics popped on the screen, my mind was "...Nintendo.. No.. Please don't do it.. Nintendo! Don't!!!" D:

I try so hard to avoid that song and the LAST place I wanted to hear it was at their press conference.

I can't believe they spent that long showing the ghost game in Nintendo Land... that was just embarrasing, they can do better than that...

Disappointed is an understatement. I seriously asked out loud if that conference was a joke.

It's not a matter of who won E3 either, because all the other conferences were disappointing too.

This is precisely what has frustrated me about Nintendo for the past 5 years. They're a fantastic company that has produced some of my all-time favorite games. I know they are capable of greatness, but then I see this. The Wii had so much potential, and although I absolutely loved games like Mario Galaxy, Skyward Sword, and Smash Bros., just about everything else disappointed me.

Look, Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros. will undoubtedly be "good" games. But let's be honest - Nintendo is capable of much more than good! And that's what gets me! It's like they're content to shovel mini games on us. I don't want diversions or distractions, (and Wii was chock full of them), I want experiences. Mario Galaxy was an experience.

Not to say that Microsoft or Sony did much better, (read: They didn't) but I don't care about them. I'm disappointed because Nintendo did not show its best. And if this is what we can expect at launch for Wii U, I'm expecting a repeat of the 3DS.

I too give the conference a 7/10. It would have been nice if Nintendo did reveal some big gun surprises, but for the least part, they did reveal more info for New Super Mario Bros 2, NSMBU, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Lego City Undercover, and even revealed Nintendo Land (a title that can be changed to something better like "Mii-usement Park" or something...), the titles that captured my appeal. What also captured me was Rayman Legends, though it was shown yesterday.

Maybe in the next conference, Nintendo can do better. Reveal us more info for NSMB2, PMSS, and Animal Crossing 3DS, Nintendo.

I say a 5/10. For every good thing that was talked about, there was an offsetting bad thing. And at the end of the day, nothing screamed, "You have to buy the Wii U to play this game."

And I'm sorry, but I want my games - No Star Fox, No Monster Hunter, No Zelda, No Pokemon, No crazy new IP reveal and where is my R.O.B. 2.0?!?!?!?!

@TheDreamingHawk E3 2012: 9/10

I'm afraid I disagree.

I wish you all would stop complaining and just relax. They have a lot of information to tell us and only an hour to tell it in so of course it's going to look rushed. E3 isn't over yet. Yeah it could have been better but I, for one, am excited about the WiiU and the third party titles that are coming out for the system, like Batman Arkham City Armored Edition, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Mass Effect 3 and Lego City game.

In my opinion,Nintendo should have made more games of highly anticipated IPs (like Zelda and Star Fox) and the finish the conference with those games, slamming each game down to surprise the audience and build up more hype for the Wii U.

I was thinking, what if part of the team for the next smash bros. is Retro? That would explain why we didn't see their game, and it's not to crazy, it's about the right timing.

Worst Nintendo E3 conference ever imo.

I'm so disappointed and dejected right now you probably can't even comprehend how much.

If this is the future of Nintendo I seriously don't think I want to be part of it.

@Kirk

You have successively summed up how I feel.

I finally found a way to make the conference look good - watch the Mets lose in 12, after leading in 8, 10 and 12.

Last thought for the night - all Nintendo news after today has to be better, right?
Well unless they price it too high, or get too stingy on storage. Or Pikmin 3 misses the holidays. At least Reggie can't screw up the release date if he doesn't give a release date. peace ya'all

Cheer up you guys. The Wii U's E3 showing could have been better, but at least it wasn't PS Vita bad.

To be honest, theirs no way to please the fans in gaming. NOT just Nintendo, but Sony and Microsoft included. Almost everyone says this E3 was bad, the worst even, but I like it. I'm equal, patience fan of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

7/10

Worst conference ever? Were you guys there in '08?

It was OK, but they spent a lot of time explaining things that should be simple. Also, there are too many rehashes of Pac Man Vs. for me to get excited about just yet (as great as that game was). It reminds me of the Gamecube launch, when Nintendo held back on their big titles to create space for 3rd parties. Unfortunately, it didn't work out in the long run.

For the first time in a few years, I find myself generally disappointed in Nintendo's E3. Like numerous others here have already mentioned, there just seemed to be something missing from their lineup; that one game that absolutely proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Wii U would be worth owning. Reggie touted that they would be showing 29 (if I remember correctly) titles for Wii U, and most of those were only touched on briefly in the form of sizzle reels. But out of those 29 titles, I only personally found interest in two of them. One of those two titles is already available on other consoles (Batman) and the other quite frankly does little to showcase the system's capabilities, either graphically or control wise (NSMBU). Don't get me wrong, Mario looks great, but it doesn't look like anything the Wii couldn't have handled. Pikmin also looked good, but just isn't for me.

But ironically, it wasn't what was or wasn't shown that disappointed me the most; it was how it was (or wasn't) shown. For the last two years Nintendo's E3 conferences have felt like celebrations of everything Nintendo. Whether it was the epic orchestral opening of last year's E3 or the fantastic reveal of Donkey Kong Country Returns from two years ago, Nintendo's shows had a certain pizazz that made them special. Even the screens at last year's show became fascinating as they transformed from Mario's racetrack to Luigi's mansion. Perhaps it is irrelevant, but it kind of saddens me that the closest Nintendo got to bringing that kind of charm and wonder to this year's show was this:

I still am a huge Nintendo fan, and I will defiantly get a Wii U when I can, but I can't help but feel that Nintendo could have done so much more with today. Hopefully the 3DS show tomorrow will bring something more to the table. Sorry about the novel.

Nintendo gets a 7/10, but they still win E3. Microsoft's presentation blew, Playstation's suffered technical difficulties and only two major games.

Nintendo had over 20 games to announce, but you wouldn't have known it due to a bad presentation structure. First thing is first, they should have immediately said "Wii U will come in black and white at launch, will feature clickable analog sticks, you can use two controllers, and you will be able to transfer your VC content." boom. Second, less time should have been devoted on fitness, sing, and nintendo land. But I don't really care about that, they should have ended big instead of starting big. Honestly, I don't think they needed the extra nintendo direct live feed, they could have fit all that into this conference. Plus all the other conferences were nearly 1.5 hours, yet nintendo's ended in only one. It seemed like they were filling time, when there was honestly no need to because they have tons of awesome games to feature. Great work on listening to the fans and making positive changes to the system, sloppy execution of the presentation however. Shoulda saved either Pikman or Mario for the end. Still the absolute best of E3, this year was just a weak year all around.

Also....the biggest response came to ZombiU. People were excited about the possibility of a exclusive mature core game at launch. Nintendo needs more exclusives like this, it looks great. The Rayman Legends demonstration should have been done at nintendo's conference too.

Serves you all right for watching a gaming conference.

So here are my two cents about the presentation:

Was it disappointing? Yeah, it was. But was it terrible? No, not exactly. I feel it was definitely rushed, and it's unfortunate that they started off strong and ended weak, but there were at least a few games I got excited about. Pikmin 3's big reveal was certainly good, and so was NSMBU, even if the latter offered little of what was new. And there were a few shining moments where I had to laugh, specifically with Miyamoto grabbing the Pikmin plushy out of his jacket pocket and Reggie referencing the "My body is ready" meme. Plus, Arkham City, LEGO City Undercover, and Trine 2 all look pretty solid on the new system. And despite the drawn-out Nintendo Land reveal, I'm actually somewhat looking forward to that one as well.

But that's where I felt that the presentation fell weak; they didn't provide us with enough essential info. They didn't tell us when the Wii U would be released or for how much. They didn't tell us whether, like Wii Sports, Nintendo Land would be packaged with the console or not. They didn't even bother hitting us with a surprise announcement, like they have in years' past. And what was up with those Sing and Just Dance 4 demos? I seriously facepalmed when I saw the trailer for Sing. Like, who would actually dance along as a group while their friend was singing "Call Me Maybe"? -__- UNAMUSED.

But I suppose, for all it's worth, this year's presentation wasn't bad. It just didn't have the same excitement and energy that the presentations from previous years had. And despite its many shortcomings, I'm still very excited for the launch of the Wii U. 6/10

WolfRamHeart is spot on. Exactly my thoughts.

Nintendo has won 2012's E3, but their presentation did faulter...it faultered when it ended after NintendoLand...they needed to show 2-3 more games (third-party) building up the audience again, then bam! MEGATON finish with a teaser or reveal of another first-party game...that can only be done by a handful of Nintendo IP, so it would have had to have been something like StarFox, Metroid, 3D Mario, Zelda, Retro Studios, maybe F-Zero, or else a new IP/Miyamoto IP. Finishing with a better bang then NintendoLands, albeit fun, fireworks.

A third-party reveal could have worked too, like a new FF Crystal Chronicles or even FF Versus 13 as a show stopper. Better yet, a new Hironobu Sakaguchi Mistwalker title. Or perhaps showing that Bungie and ReSpawn's new IPs will appear on WiiU too. Beyond Good & Evil 2 reveal would have done it.

Anyway, Nintendo won E3. MS was poor, and Sony's was very, very poor. Shoot, stab, swear. Swear, shoot, stab. Swear, swear, dance. BOOOrring!!!

Just as I expected:

The self-professed "biggest Nintendo fans ever" come out to complain about the new platform.

It happened with the Wii, it happened with the DS, it happene with the 3DS...

ZombiU looks too scary. While I'm probably never going get a Wii U, I'm just excited about 3DS news..

I'd say 4/10, However the content on board is a 6/10...possibly 7/10 depending on what the 3DS conference shows us. Thats what a bad presentation can do to you.

Basically they made a big mistake saving up stuff for other conferences or relegating to videos (Game and Wario, the Platinum Games thing) as this is the one everyone will watch. Also Nintendo Land was shown off worse than Wii Music. A lecture about the rules of the Luigis Ghost Mansion game had me bored to tears...then I see the bonus video of the DK game and am like, "would not this have been better to show?"

This years conference told me all I needed to know...That after two whole years of virtually no Wii support, they're launching a new system with nothing even on the horizon that gets me excited. Lots of third party games that have already been released on other systems. WiiFit, Mario and Pikmin just look like clones of their predecessors. ZombiU, Lego, and Nintendo Land look mildly interesting but hardly blew me away.The controller appears to just be a place to put the map or inventory, and I'm willing to bet that's how 9/10 third parties will utilize it when porting their games. Without the first party heavy hitters like Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, or a proper 3D Mario title, there is no reason to get one over the other systems. It's just another HD console with an awkard shaped controller.

I've been a die hard Nintendo fan right back to the SNES, but I really think they've lost it now. They've completely forsaken their core franchises and core fans. I'm not waiting for another Mario Kart or Animal Crossing or minigame collection. They just don't seem to put the same effort into their games anymore. It's all cheap and cheerful looking bull****, re-used graphics and re-used game engines. Epics like Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess are a thing of the past now. It's clear they just want to milk 2D Mario for all he's worth. Then maybe somewhere down the line they'll give us a new Smash Bros, only by then no one will remember Star Fox or Captain Falcon or Ness...

I hope Nintendo change one day and start making those awesome games again that gave them their reputation. But until then I won't be following them anymore. WiiU has nothing for me.

@JimLad "This years conference told me all I needed to know...
That after two whole years of virtually no Wii support, they're launching a new system with nothing even on the horizon that gets me excited" My sentiments exactly.

@Ducutzu: "The self-professed "biggest Nintendo fans ever" come out to complain about the new platform.
It happened with the Wii, it happened with the DS, it happene with the 3DS..."

You can't please everyone, so I'm sure that some people were disappointed with those platforms, but actually I was genuinely excited about all three of those platforms when they were initially revealed. I cannot say the same of Wii U. And it disappoints me to no end! I'm practically begging them to reinitiate me as a token Nintendo fanboy - but they keep going away from what makes them so great. I don't want another "game" based on Miis, I don't want another "game" based on fitness, I want something with some actual substance. Look, I realize that worked so well for them with the Wii, but it's a different world in 2012. The casual audience may not be willing to buy another home console, especially with all the "games" they could want on their smartphone (and don't get me started on that rubbish).

IGN put it best: The conference was good... but it felt like a missed opportunity. Sony and Microsoft's conference were equally (if not more so) as weak as Nintendo's, and had Nintendo trotted out some big guns, Wii U would be a surefire success.

I have a question was the footage they showed for zombieu actual game play or a tech demo designed to show how the game could play coz if it was game play wow!

Came back to see the comments. Still mostly negative. I sure hope they redeem themselves with the 3DS tonight. But I'm not holding my breath on that. They do have today to read the internet and see the bad reaction, and they can watch their stock fall today, so maybe that will force Nintendo's hand a bit.

Just so frustrating that after 2 years of next to nothing on the Wii, they didn't have more to showcase to launch the Wii U. Nothing was learned from 3DS.

Their best bet is the 2D Mario will sell millions like it did on Wii - but that is no guarantee.

The conference was bad. It left the impression that Nintendo don't have anything up their sleeves. Why should I be convinced of their new console, if they aren't? I'm really disappointed in my 3DS, and it looks like the Wii U might be the followup to the 3DS debacle, not the brilliant Wii.

They haven't given me one reason to buy a Wii U on launch day. After one year there will be better software, a 100 euro cheaper pricetag, better games, and probably a hardware update. The games i've seen so far don't appeal to me enough.

9/10. I honestly think they did a great job. Made me even MORE excited for Wii U, and I am also looking forward to the new Scribblenauts for both Wii U and 3DS.

I don't really feel any disappointment. After witnessing the failed reveal last year, my expectations for this thing were already low.
Now i know for sure i won't be getting one at, or even close to launch. I'll begin to care when/if Nintendo finally produce some games worth giving a damn about, which isn't anytime soon.

WHERE WAS ANIMAL CROSSING 3D?!?!?!
WHERE WAS ZELDA?!?!?!?!
WHY WAS THERE MORE NINTENDO LAND THAN 3DS?!?!?!?!
WHY WAS THERE MORE TIME FOR NINTENDO LAND'S LUIGI'S MANSION THAN LUIGI'S MANSION DARK MOON?!?!?!?!

The sad sad truth is, that Wii u will be nintendo's last home gaming machine, it will sell, but no where the numbers the wii did. The casual market already have wii and will see no reason to upgrade, and the core gamers will bypass it because they were burnt by the wii. Some of my best gaming moments have come from nintendo machines, but I'm going to pass on wii u. Lets hope the 3ds thing tonight show some new stuff, its already very popular but with some new games on the way 3ds could rocket. At least 3ds is not being ignored like vita. I honestly can see (and hope for)that in a couple of years nintendo will make there games for the other home machines, how great would mario be on 360/ps3 with proper online, and trophy/gamescore support, played with a proper joystick!

It would be win win, us gamers could play nintendo games on any machine, which means they sell more, make more money, which could be put back in to game dev.....which means better games......which any one can play which means more sold.....more money etc........

I know some nintendo fanboys will be up in arms, but its the only way forward.

The only really memorable thing for me was the Pikmin 3 reveal which put a smile on my face (seriously that gif XD) then the excitement petered off... It wasn't E3 2008 levels of terrible not by a long shot but it was underwhelming.

I think my lukewarm reception is partly due to the way they organised the conference. They could have used some more of that time to announce/show some teasers of games that would be available in the future AFTER launch. The launch lineup looks alright but is there going to be a drought afterwards like what happened with 3DS? I still need to wait longer before I can be convinced about Wii U.

On a happier note, that 5 minute 3DS teaser in the middle of the conference sure gets me excited for tomorrow ironically!

@BudrSbastig

i would be all for that. mario on ps3 would be amazing!!

@hailsanta yeah a great game is still a great game no matter what machine you play it on (well maybe not rayman origins 3ds)

My basic reaction to the conference is that Nintendo had a good product to show off, but did so in the worst way. The company has traditionally used a bombardment of software previews with thier system unveilings, but to see only a scant few 1st party titles was disappointing. Focusing soley on launch titles is a mistake because buying new hardware is an investment, and we need to know that more is on the way. I'm sure Nintendo has tons of games in developement for the console, but not everyone has the faith I do.
Also, other than Ubisoft, 3rd party offerings seemed to be mostly games that are already available on other consoles. I was dissapointed to see that other than Assasins Creed III, there weren't any other holiday 2012 releases being brought to the system. This is not a good sign.
The one highlight of this whole fiasco is that after 2 generations, we will finally be playing a proper Mario game with our new console at launch. That alone won't sway everyone though, so Nintendo has quite an uphill battle ahead of them.

The best part overall was the beginning of the presentation with Miyamoto and Pikmin 3. Nintendoland was boring, news about Super Mario Bros. 2 for 3ds was boring (especially since all you do is grab gold coins) which I will gladly pass on buying, and a few other highlights of games coming up. No big free running 3d Mario game or Zelda was a huge disappointment. And, is the Wii U really that more powerful than the current Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 as they had predicted? Its not looking to be that way, unless you add on some extra memory.

My hopes are on Zelda on 3ds...(a NEW zelda that is)

Nintendo's conference was the best at E3.

Problem is, that's not saying much.

We've got a weak first party lineup (SiNG? Really?) and the titles they focused on from 3rd parties had already been done to death. Some of the more interesting titles were shoved into sizzle reels or onto their website post-show.

And where were the megatons? Where was the detailing of their online strategy? Where was the detailing of their new eShop?

Where were the third parties? Capcom, Konami and more?

In short, it's no surprise their stock dropped. This was not a good E3. Nothing like 2010. Not a single bomb dropped...

@warioswoods Agreed, we love miyamoto! He's hilarious and his energy is invective even across screens. Why don't they just have him come on stage the whole time and rock like he does? Even with a translator his was the best performance.

7/10? You're being too nice, just like the audience in the Nintendo conference. I'd give it a 4/10, they didn't show anything new, especially when the release date is so close.

Nintendo's conference wasn't there best BUT they had to give ALOT of information out in a very lil time. Actually, so far I watched the Nintendo Direct pre-show, the e3 press conference, and the flow-up video iwata had on the nintendo channel on wii, and I have to say they did a great job showing what they needed.

Lil' disappointed that there no full fledge F-Zero, but that what happens when ppl get over-hyped. Personally, I'm sold on getting Wii U

@JimLad - "They've completely forsaken their core franchises and core fans. I'm not waiting for another Mario Kart or Animal Crossing or minigame collection. They just don't seem to put the same effort into their games anymore. It's all cheap and cheerful looking bull****, re-used graphics and re-used game engines."

Congratulations! This is the dumbest thing I've read all day. In case you've been living under a rock, Nintendo have ALWAYS been "cheap and cheerful"; that's kinda their MO...sorry you don't like it.

Completely forsaken their core franchises and fans? Why, because they didn't show Starfox or F-Zero? Newsflash bub, Miyamoto has already been talking about a new F-Zero game for Wii U. Besides, games like Wii Fit and Just Dance have every right to exist; Nintendo games are for everyone, not just the 'core'.

Also, since when has Nintendo ever faltered in their output? Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 ae some of the most critically acclaimed games of all time - so is Skyward. Sword. Oh, and more recently, there's been Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus; as well as ORIGINAL creations such as Pullblox, Rolling Western and Freakyforms. Yeah, the company's REALLY on a downward slide...

@BudrSbastig - "The sad sad truth is, that Wii u will be nintendo's last home gaming machine"

No, wait, THIS is the dumbest thing I've read all day. The Wii U will be Nintendo's last console.

Like the GameCube was.
And the DS.
Ad the Wii.
And the 3DS.

Sorry to burst your bubble kid, but Nintendo is comfortable financially - they're not going anywhere.

Sony, on the other hand...

thanks guys for making me feel a little better about e3

You know when Reggie was talking about Fitness and Music games really coming to spotlight recently? And he started talking about the music genre, right after Wii Fit U was revealed?
I was scared he was announcing Wii Music U, I was shuddering.
And then SiNG was revealed instead. Doesn't look very good, but MUCH BETTER THAN WII MUSIC!
Also, Wii Fit U is a funny name.
Wii Fit U Into Smaller Clothes Sizes... heheheh. Bad puns are punny.

To be honest, i didn't really like this presentation. The only part i like was when Miyamoto introduced Pikmin 3. That was funny! XD I didn't like it cuz it was all about the Wii U. What's the point of watching all those games and stuff for Wii U if you're gonna have to wait a while until you play them?

The Wii U presentation was alright, could've been better, but not the worst.I'm looking forward to Pikmin 3, Tekken TT2, and Ninja Giaden 3. 6/10

The 3DS conference was great! 8/10
Castlevania Mirror of fate, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, NSMB2, and Paper Mario were awesome!
Overall: 7.5/10 for me this year!

Can't wait to buy this extreme machine.

It wasn't a bad conference, it was actually pretty decent. It just didn't have that extra little thing that made it fantastic. The Wii U looks amazing and I will be picking it up at launch, definitely. if it comes bundled with Nintendo Land, which I think it will since it showcases what the machine is capable of, that would be even better.

The 3DS conference was better though most of the games shown were already known games.

The U in WiiU stands for Ubisoft. Nintendo should be kissing their backsides they're seemingly more commited to WiiU than Nintendo.
Nintendo have totally let me down. Couldn't give a rats about Nintendoland, we might have to wait 4 months for Pikmin from launch, and the new Mario game is nothing short of generic, it will be the 4th game with the exact same look, I'm bored, I was to see the games use more classic styles ala SMW and SMB3. And worse, this is all Nintendo offered. Not happy. I definatly am skipping the launch.

This conference makes me feel like Nintendo's glory days are in the past. I don't think we'll revisit the halcyon days of old apart from a shake-up at the top. I'm not sure the current Nintendo exec really "gets" the current era of tech/gaming. And I think they might be running out of fresh ideas (e.g., see the current over-reliance on Mario)--but hey, it hasn't been bad for a nearly 3-decade run.

Hope N can recover. I've been a fan since the NES and, in many ways, to me Nintendo is gaming.

I'm just really disappointed there was nothing on Animal Crossing, that was the one thing I truly wanted. Oh boy new games! Wait what about the old promises?

I am not a console gamer, I don't really care about the Wii or Wii U. I understand its their new shiny since the Wii utterly failed to match in the market with the Xbox and PS so they need to focus on that a lot, but don't leave the 3DS in the corner. The 3DS is still a pretty new system, so its sheer overshadowing was a little disappointing.

This isn't to say there aren't definitely games to look forward to. I'm not going to toss my system out a window. I am however pretty likely to cancel my Animal Crossing preorder and use the money I had down since last year (would have earned some interest by now!) on another game. I don't know how else to get the message to Nintendo that this isn't acceptable.

I just hope for the Wii U's sake their launch title promises are a lot more truthful than the 3DS's.

@Kitsune_Rei The Wii didn't NOT utterly fail! Cant stand it when people comes on here and say crap like that about Nintendo. They sold the most console out of this generation. And they had a decent catalog of games.

It turned out merely to be an expansion of 2011 whilst missing one or two things from that conference (shield pose, dirt, battle mii). Started off well with hardware and Pikmin 3 then gradually petered out and became slightly amateurish. Still very excited by all the games that are coming, but could've been so much better. Why not talkor have something for NFC ffs? Imagine the posibilities and revenue. P100 was an open goal missed as well - talk about it more!

7/10 - still a good score

@LEGEND_MARIOID Yea, i thought they would have at least touch on the NFC since they added that because E3 last year it didn't have it!

Nintendo is going to do what they want on their own time. Expect a few more Nintendo Direct videos before October showing off stuff.... Price, additional games, release date...

And even though it was not shown at E3, I still believe that the Wii U will have a Wii Sports U pack-in (and not Nintendo Land). We've seen the videos for it (the baseball game where you can use the Wii U gamepad to catch the ball)... From a business standpoint it would be the smart thing to do.

@Kitsune_Rei The Wii failed against the PS3 and 360?

Worldwide sales:
Wii - 95.9 million
Xbox 360 - 67 million
PS3 - 64.8

Yep... The Wii failed...

I'll give it a 7/10 as well. It wasn't terrible, at all, but it went from hamazing with the Pikmin opening, to meh with the long winded talks on too many third-party games to a jumbled mess with only small looks at the 3DS games. Then it ended with Nintendo Land, which looks like a good game, but was presented absolutely horridly. The biggest downfall, I think, is that it presented so little new news. I should have watched Nintendo Direct instead. D:

i just want to get the black wii u

Just the presence of Miyamoto and the wonderful ovation he received were highlight enough. There are still some months before the Wii U is released; and still two+ years before Sony and Microsoft release their next machines, so the Wii U has a great headstart. Let´s all relax and wait for events to develop. Remember how everyone and their mother was absolutely sure Nintendo would go bankrupt because of the 3DS? And that was not even a year ago! And now 3DS outsells the Vita 13 to 1!!!
I trust Nintendo. Things could´ve been better handled on e3, that´s true. But Sony and Microsoft didn´t do infinitely better, either.

The Nintendo press confrince was a huge disappointment! I already knew that they were making the Wii U, This year wasn't like last year, E3 2011 however blew my mind! but this year, I expected it to blow my mind. I'm sorry.