Nintendo made a startling decision this year; They would not be holding a major press conference at E3 2013.
This struck many gamers, especially Nintendo-lovers, straight in the gut. "How could they even think about ditching E3? Their home system is in trouble! They should be coming out with guns blazing and bombs dropping!" - That - more than likely, was the thought of the many who shook their heads in dismay at this striking announcement.
So; the question came up. What exactly would Nintendo be doing this year at E3? How would they save their ill home console?
Simple - A Nintendo Direct. Did it work?
Yes and no.
Today ~ Nintendo did make some pretty good announcements. But what was the problem? A lot of it were things we already knew about. Some things they had made mention of in previous time, but didn't show off ~ like: "Super Mario 3D World", "Bayonetta 2", "Super Smash Bros. 4", "Zelda: Wind Waker HD" and "Mario Kart 8".
We knew about those titles - but didn't have any real gameplay footage of them. Today, we got new screenshots and new footage. All of that isnice. We also saw new footage of previously revealed titles, such as: "X", "The Wonderful 101", and "Pikmin 3".
All of this isgood stuff. But what about NEW announcements? "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze", "Wii Party U" and . . . Oh, wait. That's it.
What happened to the games Nintendo? Where is the new F-Zero, Starfox, Metroid, Kirby or even a completely new-IP? This was supposed to be your chance to take Wii U to the grand stand and give people a reason to NEED this system by the end of this year. To add insult to injury - most of the key titles that were shown-off today aren't even coming this year. B2, MK8, X and Smash 4 won't be coming until next year.
The Wii U needs hit games NOW - not a YEAR from now. Nintendo, in case you didn't notice - you have two new systems coming from your rivals that just went for pre-order and currently, they're both topping pre-order sales charts. To top that off, despite not even being on physical shelves yet, these systems are swimming in a tsunami of new titles. Ubisoft has left Wii U out in the cold aside from Rayman Legends, AC4: Black Flag, Just Dance 2014, and Watch Dogs. Activision is a no-show. EA...Well, EA is just being up-tight, immature EA.
Nintendo - You need to make up for that. You promised major third-party support this generation. All of the third-party titles you showed off today were titles everyone knew about. Nothing much new. Why?
. . . So at this point reader, I think you're pretty much certain that I found this Nintendo Direct to be disappointing. Yes, yes I did. It wasn't as major as say, the January Wii U Direct. There was nothing incredibly amazing to see. Updates on already known-titles and barely anything new from both first and (especially) third-party.
All one can do now is hope that this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are more Nintendo Directs that will span throughout the rest of E3, so possibly, this won't be the only major one we'll have. If it is... Well, the Wii U won't be doomed - but it will be in colder water than before.
Nintendo E3 2013 Direct Score:
6.5/10
"Nice ~ But SHOULD Have Been Better"
Sadly this was a terrible conference and should of gone with a major stage conference instead.