Nintendo Should Have Shown They Have More Than Cranky Kong Up Their Sleeve

Hardcore Gamer: So the VGX’s came and went and while it seems that not everyone was particularly thrilled with all aspects of the show, many eyes were on Reggie Fils-Aime and just what he was going to show. Much of the speculation proved to be correct when Mr. Fils-Aime, flanked by Vance from Retro Studios, made the announcement that Cranky Kong would be a playable character in Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze and that the game would launch on February 22, 2014 along with showing gameplay of good ol Donkey Kong and Cranky in action.

[admiralvic]

They really should have. I had hope they would at least confirm he is also in Smash and then end it with a huge character being revealed. Sadly, that was not the case.

Nintendo needs to wake up and realize that they can't survive off their games forever and sooner or later they need to actually push something new. This was the time to show off Bayonetta, X, or Super Smash Bros (I realize this contradicts my point, but this would have hit harder), not rely on another 2D Mario or Donkey Kong Country to get support. You can only go "But it has Mario, Donkey Kong and Link!" so many times and they're reaching the end of that rope.

[ZodTheRipper]

Agree, Nintendo has become very strange in the last 3-5 years. I'm sure these 2D platformers are the easiest to develop but they are also the games that excite the least people. This type of game is exactly the stuff I'm absolutely not interested in. Where is Star Fox, Zelda, F Zero, Metroid? I don't understand them, really.

[-Foxtrot]

What bugs me with Donkey Kong is that it looks like New Super Mario Bros U or Rayman Legends in terms of gameplay.

I mean wouldn't of people rather of had a 3D Donkey Kong game....has that even been done recently?

[SpiralTear]

As great as a new F-Zero or Star Fox game sound right now, I've been pleasantly surprised with how much imagination has been injected into the 2D side-scrolling platformer these days. Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Rayman Origins were great examples that something so venerable and simple can have more personality and creativity than even the most mainstream of series.

[Kennytaur]

Apparently, Foxtrot hasn't played Donkey Kong. It's one of THE sidescrolling platformer series, and always has been since the SNES. But I do get the point and agree, a sequel to Donkey Kong 64 would be truly something. Retro should be put to work on Prime 4 though and let someone else handle Primate duty.

[Concertoine]

@foxtrot
Have you actually played the DKC on wii? It's pretty much everything good about 2D platformers... unlike NSMB. I'm not even a fan of 2D platformers but DKCR is one of the best i've played. I appreciate a sequel though wouldn't have minded metroid first.
I think they stuck with this design because it's pretty much timeless and the only 3D DK game has not aged well. It lacks identity and is collect-a-thon overload. it has it's fans but the country series was and is held in higher regard with good reason.

[donman1]

Agree. I would like some news on Starfox, Metroid (the real deal version and not some spinoff 2D version) and Zelda. Nintendo just keep on shooting themselves in the foot.

[miyamoto]

"Nintendo Should Have Shown They Have More Than Cranky Kong Up Their Sleeve"-that is if they have stuff "ready".

Like many events and opportunities have passed for Nintendo that lead to Wii U's launch and 1 year after launch they really have nothing to show.

[UltimateMaster]

I'm smelling desperation coming from Nintendo.

They should really show us more new games that aren't just Mario. New Ips and bring back some of their great games franchises.

[Alex_Boro]

So true, if we have another mario every year it's going to be so repetitive.

[UltimateMaster]

Welcome to Call of Duty.
Where the Wii U gets the same game every year even multiplats.

[deno]

We know all those games are coming out.

[ChaosKnight]

After Donkey, Cranky Kong is perhaps the most beloved character in the series. This will attract older players to the game and increase the sales substantially. It was the right move at the right time.

[Bigkurz85]

you are so right. people who weren't previously interested in a Wii U will hear about Cranky Kong and think, "Ok, NOW i'm ready to throw down $300+."

uh huh

[Bobby Kotex]

There's nothing on the Nintendo platform that attracts 'older' players except the small cult of nintendo fanboys.

[SpiralTear]

Please stop using that completely fallible argument that Nintendo doesn't have any good "mature" games on their systems.

[diepdiep]

Retro Studios chose to continue Donkey Kong because they WANT to. If they were "forced" to make other games like Metroid, chances are the games won't be very good because the team won't be motivated.

[IcicleTrepan]

I was really hoping they were going to say something about Metroid, with the way they were making a big deal of the Samus pin.

[DarkBlood]

^this , i can't stress that enough and people wanted retro to make a metriod game instead are also asking for a shiity product to happen upon release which is the last thing i want to see happen.

Lets just wait and see what happens after we waited awhile so it can't hurt to wait longer for it. If not they can ingore the company not living up to thier desires.

[Dunban67]

I seriously doubt Retro chose to make DK- That was decided by Iwata I am sure- If you believe what Iwata or Reggie tell us then you need to look at their track record re being accountable/telling the truth

[diepdiep]

http://operationrainfall.co...

Retro, themselves, felt they have "more ideas" for the DK franchise.

[-Foxtrot]

Yeah...plus it's easier for them since they can most likely use Donkey Kongs assets from the last game on Wii

It's kind of like having a template to start off with instead of starting from scratch which they would of had to do with Metroid.

[Dunban67]

I doubt Retro is gong to come out and say they would have much preferred to make the next Metroid but Nintendo Corp said "hell no-Metroid is going to cost too much and take too long- you already have the template for another 2D DK game so make it or else."

[The 10th Rider]

Honestly, why do people keep saying they don't want to make DKCTP. They said they want to make it. The fact that they could reuse old assets may have been a plus, but I highly doubt that was the deciding factor. The way I see it, they looked at DKCR and decided that they wanted to make another so that they could perfect an already great game.

[Thepcz]

its obvious. people keep saying that retro had more ideas for a dk game, but having just completed work on dk country returns, i doubt they wanted to go straight onto working on yet another dk game. NO. they would have wanted something new and fresh.... say, metroid!

its quite obvious that nintendo FORCED them to make the game as it would be simple to produce and therefore in the shops fast. also, cheap.

whereas metroid would be a mammoth task that would take at least 3 years. nintendo havent got that time, or the money needed to make the epic metroid we all want.

so, please dont excuse nintendo or retro for not giving us the games we want, and instead force-feeding us a game we simply didnt want.

[kirbyu]

I'm surprised people expected them to make a new Metroid game. After making all three Prime games, I'd think they'd be tired of it.

[just-joe]

I'd rather them show something when it's ready, than when it's not and seeing as the VGX was pretty crummy all around, let's just move on.

[ELpork]

...Sooo, the Wii U has games right?... ooorrr am I missing something?

Because if this is what you got Nintendo, I'm going to be very disappointed.

[LOL_WUT]

What's funny is that some people are actually saying nintendo trolled the VGX by having shown cranky kong but that's just an excuse by the fanboys as we all know Nintendo could've easily shown off something better. It was a missed opportunity instead of trending on twitter for having the best game shown at the VGX they are being laughed at for having the worst showing ever. ;)

Even something Smash related would've better ;)

[KonsoruMasuta]

VGX was horrible all around. I didn't see much of anything exciting from anybody.

Why are we only focusing on Nintendo? Their showing was just one turd in a pile of many.

[clouds5]

Because hating on nintendo is the flavor of the month.

[live2play]

Foxtrot
I agree nintendo COULD have shown something more exciting
But people seem to think in theor little ignorant minds that its means nintendo has nothing to show.

Whats regularly the case is nintendo has ALOT to hide and keep close to the chest

[RPG_Lover]

What they did was perfectly fine.

The show was dog shit. At least they showed there most current wii u game

[iplay1up2]

I wish this had been a 3D platformer. I know the game will be great, but I want to explore, unlock, and discover in an open world. There have been enough 2D games the past few years.

Also, X would have been a MUCH better Idea to show, instead of this game at a show like VGX. Smash Bros, would have been good too, BUT I feel X would have been the best choice.

Maybe Nintendo should let fans make their choices for them, because they seem to make bad ones. In other words Nintendo fans could do a better job showing and marketing the Wii U than they are.

[Mallavol_pilot]

Of course they have more games up their sleeves. But rather than announcing new games on that lousy show they showed the new character for Donkey Kong game. It's almost sure Nintendo has a new Zelda and Metroid game for the WiiU in developement. But now they are focusing on games they already announced like Donkey Kong, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8 and Yarn Yoshi (a little known of this game).

[SpiralTear]

They will probably announce games like that on a Nintendo Direct. That's more their style anyway.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

As much as I, too, wish that they had shown more info on something like Smash or X, I can see why they didn't.

Consider how small the show was, and how poorly it went.
Why use a big announcement at a small showing when you could save it to add to a pile of other big future announcements down the road to increase the wow power of said announcements during a much more watched show?

Like their next big Direct, or E3, whichever comes first?

With the Wii U in the straits it's in right now install-base-wise, the bigger the bang of their next super-big showing is, the better.

Showing off all-new details on SMTXFE, Monolith Soft's X, Smash, Mario Kart, Bayonetta 2, and possibly even revealing the next Metroid, Star Fox, or Miyamoto's next adult-gamer-oriented IP, all in one show?
THAT, would be a slam-bang way of sending hype levels through the roof!

If one of those trump cards was used too far away from the release of said games, it would give the hype too much time to die off, so in the end, waiting for bigger shows to release bigger news might be the smartest thing to do.

[diepdiep]

Quite frankly, I think Nintendo lucked out. Suppose they had decided to showcase a bunch of upcoming games, they would likely be ignored since everyone is too busy expressing how much they hated VGX. Like you said, the VGX had a small audience; therefore, Nintendo would've wasted their big announcements and have nothing new to show in their next Direct or E3 with way more viewers.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

True enough, which is why I said I can see why they didn't show anything bigger.

It doesn't change the fact that I would have liked to see info on X or Smash more than Cranky, but their move makes sense.

[admiralvic]

You do realize that you're presenting a catch 22 right?

Was VGX crap because it was an awful show or was it an awful show because nothing was shown?

It isn't fair to say the viewership is small either, since The Last of Us and The Phantom Pain were both showcased last year and the year before last. I think some people forget that the VGA's were, up to this year, viewed as something you watch to get awesome reveals.

So, while the VGA's were awful, they were awful because none of the elements came together. All the reveals were weak, production values were low, etc. However, had Nintendo done something big, then they would have completely dominated the news and "won" VGX.

[The 10th Rider]

I don't think they were planning on having a huge presence there, it was just Geof's and Nintendo's fans over-hyping it.

Honestly, if they hold a Nintendo Direct this January like they did last January it's going to attract WAY more attention and really help move Wii U's post-holiday sales.

[Jagsrock]

This wasn't about making a super secret reveal it was more about just marketing a upcoming game.

[JackieCruise69]

I think they should have at least added in a Smash bros character reveal to ease the slight sting. I was upset that Cranky Kong was the only thing shown, but really, the whole show was utter crap. a bore-fest, I regret sitting through it honestly.
So in a way, I'm now fine with this. It wasn't that big of a show in the first place, so why reveal anything huge anyway? I mean, I guess they could have shown something more surprising and stole the show, but they didn't. No harm either way though, I suppose.

And plus, I could kinda see why they did this, why show off a huge game like Zelda U or Smash and have that steal everyone's attention away from DKTF? They want DK to sell and if everyone is so busy talking about Zelda U, Smash, whatever- DK would be forgotten by some potential buyers.

[InTheLab]

I'm glad they showed what they showed but not because another DKC game is appealing. I just don't want anyone supporting Dorito Pope and that pig of a site GT grabbing any exclusive content during their bulls*** awards show.

Also, Nintendo fans clearly loved that demo and want nothing more than more of the same games they've been playing for 30 years. It's not like they're gonna buy Bayonetta or Watchdogs or anything like that. They'll be lined up for another Smash Bros and the inevitable disappointing super cartoony Zelda with some new gimmick.

[Exodecai]

Still waiting for them to one day announce a Wario and Waluigi game... I imagine it being a mix of Wario land and the Mario and Luigi RPG games... and the result just seems like a lot of fun

[ThaBlackBaron]

What the Hell? Why are these Phonies acting lie Nintendo didn't already show alot of games already this year that are releasing in 2014?

[swice]

Whatever. This just means I have to wait longer to buy a Wii U, which by that time, will have more bundles and possibly a lower price.

I don't think Wii U will fail. Instead of exploding with sales at the beginning, the explosion will happen later

[CaptainN]

Why wait...the quicker the install base grows, the more games that will come...if everyone thinks like this and waits, it only makes things worse! Get it for the holidays and get the new Super Mario 3D World. Its a great game no matter what type of games your normally into!

[swice]

I wish I could afford to buy whatever I wanted whenever I wanted

[CaptainN]

And thats what the upcoming holidays are for !!!Ask for a Wii-U!!

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

I took Cranky Kong was kind of a joke-on all of the haters.

Nintendo will do its own thing, in its own time. (Always has been this way, always will be).

Nintendo is proud of their Review scores- and they should be-

But
I acknowledge that they need to be careful because sometimes the BEST games don't get played. Like some N64 titles...

[RFornillos4]

metroid pin on Reggie's jacket, says he wants to have a new metroid game, but does not confirm anything... Retro rep not saying whether they have a 2nd team working on another project... Reggie and retro rep smiling obviously keeping something...

something tells me, nintendo's holding on to their bombshell announcements for future Directs... probably realized VGX is not worth announcing anything... leaving a lot of people cranky (couldn't help it)

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

Retro said that the next Retro Metroid Project would probably expand the Universe and be more like the "Metroid Prime: Hunters" DS game.

Which would mean that the next game will have FPS at its Core.

I like the traditional exploration parts of Metroid-
BUT
I see nothing wrong with Retro ramping-up the FPS for a Spin-off title or for 1 series.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

http://n4g.com/news/1358864...

[RFornillos4]

so we're basically just short of an official confirmation for Retro doing the next Metroid...

that'd be more awesome than awesome!