Mario_Fart

My game of E3:

Yarny

Thanks for this piece. It helped me defuse.... until I opened the eShop on 3DS this morning and saw the prices they want for Link Between Worlds and Mario Tennis Open in the "sale". My mistake.

@MoonKnight7 Agreed. After enjoying such a long lifespan with PS3 and having owned a Wii U for just 7 months I'll be more reticent about investing in NX (whatever it is).

"it needs to be acknowledged, understood and - in most cases if not the most extreme examples - respected."

This right here. The frustration this year is so palpable because one of our big complaints about Nintendo (as much as we love them) is that we perceive them to be tone deaf on several issues that are important to us as loyal consumers, whether it's region locking, the eShop, Metroid, whatever. Their PR skills are often questionable. Let's hope they really try and understand what this outburst means and act on it, and TELL us they're acting on it beyond half-apologies that are then redacted anyway.

Reggie has said that Iwata was misquoted, didn't apologise and that new Nintendo games are often met with confusion and then people gradually get excited. All I know is that during through the presentation I started wondering when would be a good time to buy a PS4. I don't remember that happening before.

Well that was depressing. I haven't watched any Treehouse this year either which pretty much sums up my interest.

@Yorumi I totally agree. I'm not even sure how much this is about Metroid when you boil it down. I think it's frustration at Nintendo for their non-responsiveness in general, region locking and other issues. The petition may be misguided and puerile but the community really lost it last night. It's down to Nintendo to parse what that means and how to win us back - they can't take us for granted in this marketplace.

Forget the petition - that's a (grim) sideshow. The real problem is the near unanimous disappointment to the presentation as a whole.

Sure, it's the internet, and a lot of comments were crazy but any company worth its salt has to read between the lines here. Yesterday's outpouring of bile was pretty extraordinary but it spoke volumes. It's not even about Federation itself per se, which is probably fun. It's the fact that diehard fans felt betrayed that the platform they have invested in and passionately defended is seemingly being wrapped up before its time... and without a beloved single-player experience we think could have justified our HD purchase. Just look at how much the other CEOs bleated on about listening to fans; it's important to stay competitive.

Can you imagine PS3 or PS4 just skipping Uncharted for a generation? Would Microsoft ignore Halo or Forza on Xbox One just... because? Customers would go nuts. Nintendo, for all their glorious idiosyncrasies, seem to have pushed the loyalty of its customers too far this time. One can only hope they listen but, judging by the outpouring I saw last night, it feels like many will approach NX or any future Nintendo platform with more caution than we're used to. It's really sad, yes, but no company nowadays can expect brand loyalty to be lifelong.

Now we're in a strange limbo. Do we buy more games for Wii U or wait, wait to buy them on the eShop when NX happens (whatever it is) or just put the money into a PS4 or Xbox One instead? That's partly where this anger is coming from.

Entitled? Maybe. But it was more than that and Nintendo will ignore it at their peril.

@kyuubikid213 Right?! I think Nintendo lost a lot of good will amongst the faithful yesterday. It'll be interesting to watch how they try and earn that back. Of course they might not be listening or caring, as is their wont.

It's a shame Alan didn't let the Nintendo rep know what he really felt. Looks like they could really do with some honest feedback on this one.

@BXXL I hear you. I'm going to feel royally ripped off if they drop Wii U already. I've poured at least £600 into it at this point and only had it 7 months and I don't think it needs better graphics. 3rd parties would disagree I guess but I don't really buy Nintendo machines to play CoD so...

2 or 3 there I'm interested in but hopefully indies will make up for that.

@FlaygletheBagel Don't apologise, it's good to vent. You can add their region locking practices to that list though.

@PokeTune Really?! I've only had a Wii U for 7 months. Sigh.

My memory is horrible but I'm pretty sure Iwata has used this line before about working harder to listen to fans. Either way it kinda rings hollow at this point.

Maybe this wasn't the worst show ever but it feels particularly frustrating because they've already announced the next console, so Wii U owners feel burnt.

European sale is rubbish, like lemon in a paper cut after today's "news".

@Fandabidozi Same, see you on Hoth!

@kyuubikid213 I would love to agree with you but the fact is that Nintendo had to follow Microsoft and Sony at E3 and still seem relevant. As you can tell from the feedback online, they failed to excite their own fans, let alone anyone else. Where does that leave Wii U? Maybe they do have some unannounced games up their sleeve for the console but they had all eyes on them today and they blew it. I'll feel better tomorrow after a good night's sleep (dreaming about Star Wars Battlefront probably. Jeez, look at Star Fox compared to Battlefront and weep).

@Onion851 Great, I'll go buy a puppet and entertain myself with that '-)

@Henmii I know, right? Apparently Iwata has been on Twitter to respond to the negative feedback, saying the company "will work to better meet your expectations." Dude, how much time do you need?

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/06/16/e3-2015-iwata-wants-you-to-know-nintendo-takes-your-opinions-seriously?utm_source=IGN%20hub%20page&utm_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=17&utm_campaign=Blogroll

@BLPs Yeah, was that Ubisoft? At least they made a joke about it. The men in suits were nauseating in their effusiveness. But after today, man, I wish Nintendo would at least SAY they're listening.

@SnuggleMon We're still here because, I assume, we love Nintendo and are emotionally and financially invested in their platforms. All we ask is that they make good on that investment and today's presentation felt like Nintendo is ready to move on from Wii U already which is a bit of a slap in the face. Sadly, I agree with a comment above; today only made me think twice about buying into NX.

I'll keep the Wii U and download games on sale - and it'll join my Dreamcast as a beautiful child.

I love Nintendo for doing things their own way (great puppets!) but they really need to start listening to their fans. Look at the other CEOs at E3 saying (rather nauseatingly) "we listen to you and thanks for your feedback, etc, etc" but at least Phil Spector has kept Xbox in the game by actually listening. It feels like Nintendo don't listen. e.g. The 'hardcore' want a new HD Metroid and your platform is failing. Do the math! Fine, concentrate on releases for this year but you have to build some buzz and on that front this was a massive missed opportunity. Sony's show was a lot of distant promises but they built some buzz. I got halfway through this presentation and started thinking about PS4. That's not a good sign.

@TheHumbleFellow Well, if it had truly wowed then it would have shut everyone up. I think it's safe to say it isn't going to persuade anyone to get a Wii U over another console.

Interesting how Miyamoto said at the very start of the Treehouse that the Direct concentrated on 2015 and early 2016 only, but it was hard to shake the feeling that Wii U is being wound down. The Muppets brought the only smile to my face.

YUM

Now I want to buy Shantae or Affordable at full price and support the developer AND the Wii U, so job done.

In response to some of the comments above, I just noticed today that I've bought way more 3rd party titles on this Nintendo platform than any of my old ones going back to SNES, but maybe that's just me. However, some dude above made a good point about balking at paying over a certain threshold for download titles. I'm always aware that I only have only 10GB left on my HD and if the machine breaks the game is lost... so I tend to limit my spending to cheaper games. Maybe if they address that with NX...?

Maybe this is what happened to OutRun 3D in Australia...? At this point I'll take any reason. Any.

If you're going to build a Scalextric-inspired track, why not go all out and put in loops and banking like Hot Wheels or Total Control Racing? Other than that, looks pretty good.

I'm a loooong-time casual gamer. I love buying eShop games on 3DS and Wii U because I can try classic games like Earthbound that I missed at the time as well as interesting indie games that are cheap enough that I'll give them a shot.

While I do support Nintendo in not wanting to devalue their software, the reality is that I'll stall over paying £17.99 ($30) for Sin & Punishment 2 when I can buy something like Vanquish for my PS3 for £4 (and on disc too, so it's not gone forever if my machine dies). Fair or not, that's the competition for my money these days. There are lots of good deals on eShop if you're prepared to wait but I still think Nintendo could bring more people into the fold (and it's a great fold) if they were more realistic or had better promotions. I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think VC is priced to lure the casual gamer so much as the fanatic, and this is a family-friendly machine on which young kids should be able to explore old titles and their parents agree to their impulse to do so.

As Thomas argues in the article above, it would cater for the non-diehards who want to try a bit of this and a bit of that, keep them coming back to the system more often, and generally evangelise about Nintendo. Either way, I hope they don't drop VC; it's a great way to explore their library, games you never owned, and gaming history itself.

"Exclusive". That is all.

@WiiLovePeace Thanks v much for that - much appreciated

WHOA! £17.99?! Totally would have jumped at 8.99.

UPDATE: Just checked on eShop. 25% off until May 7 (£13.49)

@WiiLovePeace Hey, how does it play with a gamepad? I'm watching this thinking, "er... this looks like it could be annoying to control with twin sticks." Love to hear what you think.

@Starwolf_UK @ShanaUnite - Cheers for that!

Never played a Kirby game. Q: Are any of these unmissable Kirbys?

LOVE the run cycle! He seems to quit it when he slows down. I would pay a dollar just to run around like that. Throw in some fun Jake moves = sold. Just a dolllar mind.

Still no sign of OutRun in the Australian store. Why, God, WHY?!!!

Thanks @JohnGrey

Question: If the games I downloaded are linked to the console, what if I save them all to an external HD instead?

@Kaze_Memaryu Fair point. I think Iwata is right about valuing content too. It's a tough balance to get right - between being perceived to be comparatively expensive and encouraging to buy more by throwing us more bones.

@EvisceratorX "running more sales, offering cross platform functionality, and maybe lowering prices of older games" - AMEN!
I don't mind the eShop - particularly on 3DS - but agree with all this. The reason I want a Steam Machine in the future is the lure of Steam Sales, bundles etc. I love picking up older gems cheap as chips. Not that there aren't some decent Ninty deals (Super Mario World / Earthbound for £5.50 ain't bad) but Wii games for £18.99?

The mention of 3DS ending saddens me. I hope the next handheld is 3D.

Dear God, please send Vanquish 2 on Wii U. Thanks.

@FLUX_CAPACITOR Then my opinion shouldn't offend you at all since, as I've repeatedly pointed out, this is a loyalty program that is supposed to reward you for spending extra money on their software. So I'm not demanding anything for free as you keep insisting. I'm merely stating my opinion that in my territory I don't feel like Nintendo offer as good deals as their competitors - which I also own. That's my opinion. I'm glad you get to enjoy deals on software for your coins - I would also like that. That too much to ask in 2015? According to you, yes. Fine.

@FLUX_CAPACITOR Yes, I explained how they call it a loyalty rewards program but the rewards are not worth the extra money I put in to get me over a threshold of coins. So in that sense they left me disappointed - so shoot me. As a consumer I can call a crap "deal" a crap deal. I didn't pay nothing. I paid into a rewards program.

If you're based in North America then maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about. Lucky you. But from where I'm sitting their digital offerings aren't as good value in general, their rewards programs have been a confusing mess and these region-specific offerings are a bitter pill. Sorry if that offends you somehow.

@FLUX_CAPACITOR Well I take your point and I agree that gamers' sense of entitlement is wrong so I was trying to figure out why I get so bummed out by Nintendo lately (and me and Ninty go back to the 80s). I just get a feeling that they offer worse value for money compared to the competition and that frustrates me because I want them to do well. Sure, they don't owe me anything in return for decades of loyalty but then don't dress it up like a loyalty rewards program, and don't region-lock most of the world out of these offers when you finally do offer something exciting. We all read the same news online - whether we're in Australia or Europe or the US - they don't seem to get that. So when we see this news for America and we can't take part it's frustrating - over and over. I ploughed money into more games to get me over a points threshold and, yeah, it amounted to some paper. I didn't have an option to trade in for games. I didn't see anything in my territory saying I'd have something better to look forward to in Feb. I'm not expecting anything for nothing but I bought a load of games and got nothing for my loyalty and then I hear that a different territory is getting the good stuff. I hope they figure this out in whatever scheme comes next or they fix their region-locking because it's hard not to feel worse off when my expensive wrapping paper arrives for loyalty I was encouraged my them to invest in.

Because of Nintendo's region-locking I have a 3DS with an Australian account and a Wii U with a UK account. Does anyone know if I can roll them both into my Club Nintendo account?

@Quorthon I just remember them saying Club Nintendo was ending so buy up some games to get your coins to a certain level by a certain date. In hindsight I should have waited to cash them - I guess my problem is that it's so confusing. I got something like 2100 points and all that got me was wrapping paper, no mention of games. That was the "reward" I got for spending something like 500 pounds on Nintendo. Feel ripped off.

@Robo-Knight Amen. It's been a confusing mess with awful deals. And I can't link my 3DS to my Club Nintendo account because I got it back in Australia and my Wii U is European. I think. I dunno. Confusing. Hating Nintendo today.