We are just a couple of days removed from Nintendo’s E3 conference, the one day I year in gaming I look forward to the most. As always with Nintendo, there are polarising opinions from Nintendo Fan Boys and Non-Nintendo Fan Boys. This year however, it seems that even the Nintendo Fan Boys are claiming disappointment with what Nintendo had to offer. So, being a self professed Nintendo Fan Boy myself, I thought I’d put together this little blog post to share MY thoughts and opinions on what Nintendo had to offer at E3 2015.
Let’s start off with something positive. Like last year, Nintendo opted against a live stage conference like everyone else, and instead gave us a pre-recorded Nintendo Direct. And last like year, it was fun as hell! Muppet versions of Iwata, Reggie and Miyamoto brought a huge smile to my face. Nintendo are always about fun, and it’s things like this that prove it. They don’t need to have a big 1000″ Supermega 4K screen and a big fancy stage to attempt to “wow” people and gain applause. Instead they just HAVE FUN. And I love this approach. Though… if next year is indeed the reveal of the NX (and not simply “more information”, then I think a live stage event is the way to go. Console reveals should be in front of an audience of fans imo, but just showing off games? Why NOT make it just fun?
That brings us to the most important part of their conference; the games. What did they show us? Well, here’s a list:
Wii U
Star Fox Zero
Super Mario Maker
Yoshi’s Woolly World
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival
Skylanders SuperChargers
3DS
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
Hyrule Warriors Legends
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Fire Emblem Fates
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
And a few others too. So, looking at those games… this was NOT a bad conference. Look at what they showed us! New Star Fox, something people have been wanting for years. Xenoblade Chronicles X, a sequel to a highly sought after Wii game that gets tremendous praise even if it didn’t sell too well. Super Mario Maker, a game that just looks better the more we see of it. Yoshi’s Woolly World, one of the cutest yet super fun looking platformers in recent memory. And the 3DS? They get a new Zelda game. Their own port of Hyrule Warriors. A new METROID PRIME game. Fire Emblem. And a Mario RPG that mixed up the Paper Mario series with the Mario & Luigi games. That is an INCREDIBLE line up. There is NO denying that. At all. Even for non-Nintendo fans, they have to see that this was one hell of a line up. Just like I personally wasn’t a fan of the majority of games Sony showed, but I absolutely understand just how big and good their conference was.
But this is where the problems start to seep in. Yes, Nintendo showed off a ton of great games. Games we all saw LAST YEAR. Super Mario Maker? Announced LAST YEAR. Yoshi’s Woolly World? Last year. Xenoblade Chronicles X? Yup, last year. Star Fox Zero? Well, yeah we knew about it last year, but at least here we got some actual gameplay footage, so that’s kinda half and half. As for the rest, most of it was either leaked before hand, or actually announced on a Japanese Nintendo Direct the week before. So in 2015, at E3, Nintendo for the most part gave us nothing new. And THAT is why I am personally disappointed with the conference, and why I feel a lot of other people are too. Sony and Microsoft, while a lot of their games don’t appeal to me personally, gave the fans a great deal to be excited about for the FIRST TIME. Shenmue 3. Fallout 4 (already leaked I know). Backwards compatibility (sort of) for the Xbox One. Final Fantasy 7 HD Remake. A handful of great looking new IP’s. Nintendo just didn’t give us anything to really get excited about. I’ve already been excited about Yoshi and Super Mario Maker for a full year now.
That’s not all though. There is another reason why it seems a lot of people are disappointed, and I wanna take a moment to address that too. Rumours and Wish Lists. Every year in the week or so before E3, we get inundated with rumours of what games might be announced. And how many of them ACTUALLY end up being true? Very, very few. Yet every year tons of people get excited over rumoured games, and have the gall to complain and bitch and moan afterwards because they weren’t announced. No. You do not have any right or reason to do that. They (the game publishers/developers etc) never said they were making these games. There was NO REASON to expect them beyond the usual and obviously FAKE rumours that always float around this time of the year. It’s nobody’s fault but your own.
As for wish lists, that’s a little different. Everyone before E3 likes to at least dream about what games they would LIKE to see announced. I know I do. For the last few years, like a lot of you, I’ve been dreaming of Nintendo announcing Super Mario Galaxy 3 or Super Mario Sunshine 2, among other games. Of course, they’ve yet to come to fruition. Am I disappointed? A little, but not in the sense that I feel I should scream and shout and bitch and moan because they weren’t announced. Again, using my “dream” games as an example, Nintendo didn’t claim they would announce those games. They didn’t even hint that they were thinking of making them. So just because your dream game didn’t get announced out of the blue does NOT mean the conference was bad.
Phew, I think I’m done lol! To sum things up then, I DO NOT think that Nintendo had a bad E3 conference this year. They showcased a TON of great games. However, given that most of them had previously been announced and showcased, some as far back as E3 2014, it was definitely a DISAPPOINTING conference.