I can't say I was expecting too much from Nintendo's E3 press conference this year after last year's disaster that sent fans into a frothing rage. Nintendo and I have had a rather tenuous relationship, meaning that while I like the steps they're taking with successfully bringing in a new audience, they seem to be missing the promise of appealing to everyone. This year, they thankfully made steps towards amending that, along with putting on a rather entertaining conference. Though I'll admit that anything looks good after suffering through Ubisoft's disaster -- which, by the way, has had its footage compiled together on their website for you masochistic viewing pleasure!
As for Nintendo, I'm not saying their press conference was perfect. Far from it, actually. Just about everyone's conference had quite a bit of the tween stuff that almost no one in attendance cared about, but it was made more unbearable by both presenters...taking...their...time...annun...ci...ating...their...words...care...fully. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to drown out some of the best stuff they had at the show.
They started off demoing that above: New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I was holding out hope that they'd do a sequel to the first one, being Nintendo and all, but here it is. And on the Wii, too! And it looks...uh, almost like the DS game. Well, huh.
But that's not entirely a bad thing, because it's not like this is a game that had to be a polygon pusher, given Nintendo's understandable philosophy; the very philosophy that gave birth to the Wii. And the game itself does look quite fun from the various videos from media outlets. But the main appeal of the game this time looks to be the multiplayer, which allows up to four players to venture through Mario's world cooperatively. It also has a bunch of new features that are either new (like power-ups) or are clever little nods to previous games (Yoshi! Koopa Kids!). It hits comes out during the holiday season, so here's hoping you have a Wii by then if you don't already.
Actually, there were two Mario games at the conference yesterday. I'm actually quite shocked by the existence of Super Mario Galaxy 2, knowing Nintendo. It's not like Super Mario 64 and Sunshine got sequels on their respective systems after all. It looks like Nintendo is changing it's philosophy on sequels quite a bit (see The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for more evidence), but time will tell whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.
The real shocker at the Nintendo conference was Metroid: Other M, which is a story driven and very action-style Metroid game developed by Team Ninja. Yes, Ninja Gaiden's Team Ninja. From the trailer, I have to say it looks quite impressive. The interesting thing about it is that it looks like the very antithesis of the Metroid Prime games, in that it's basically what fans wanted from a next-gen Metroid game in the first place. Not to say the Metroid Prime games were bad at all, but the fan reaction to them when Nintendo first revealed them was rather vitriolic. And, wouldn't you know it, there's a similar reaction from some fans with this trailer. "Ninja Gaiden? In mah Metroid? AASFDSKGAGHKAHGAGAK."
Actually that comment does have a few merits, but not in a way that it lends credence to the more...demented denizens of the internet. Looking closely at the trailer, Samus moves and jumps a lot like Ryu Hayabusa. That's not a bad thing; in fact, it's actually rather fitting. I never realized how similarly Ryu moved in the 3D games to Samus in the 2D iterations. Considering that, I think Team Ninja is a pretty good fit for this game.
I'm pretty shocked that Nintendo actually impressed me this year. I don't own a Wii, but I'll definitely consider one with some quality first and third party titles on the horizon. Here's hoping Nintendo doesn't do anything mystifying in the future, though I don't have much hope that they won't.
As for Nintendo, I'm not saying their press conference was perfect. Far from it, actually. Just about everyone's conference had quite a bit of the tween stuff that almost no one in attendance cared about, but it was made more unbearable by both presenters...taking...their...time...annun...ci...ating...their...words...care...fully. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to drown out some of the best stuff they had at the show.
They started off demoing that above: New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I was holding out hope that they'd do a sequel to the first one, being Nintendo and all, but here it is. And on the Wii, too! And it looks...uh, almost like the DS game. Well, huh.But that's not entirely a bad thing, because it's not like this is a game that had to be a polygon pusher, given Nintendo's understandable philosophy; the very philosophy that gave birth to the Wii. And the game itself does look quite fun from the various videos from media outlets. But the main appeal of the game this time looks to be the multiplayer, which allows up to four players to venture through Mario's world cooperatively. It also has a bunch of new features that are either new (like power-ups) or are clever little nods to previous games (Yoshi! Koopa Kids!). It hits comes out during the holiday season, so here's hoping you have a Wii by then if you don't already.
Actually, there were two Mario games at the conference yesterday. I'm actually quite shocked by the existence of Super Mario Galaxy 2, knowing Nintendo. It's not like Super Mario 64 and Sunshine got sequels on their respective systems after all. It looks like Nintendo is changing it's philosophy on sequels quite a bit (see The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for more evidence), but time will tell whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.The real shocker at the Nintendo conference was Metroid: Other M, which is a story driven and very action-style Metroid game developed by Team Ninja. Yes, Ninja Gaiden's Team Ninja. From the trailer, I have to say it looks quite impressive. The interesting thing about it is that it looks like the very antithesis of the Metroid Prime games, in that it's basically what fans wanted from a next-gen Metroid game in the first place. Not to say the Metroid Prime games were bad at all, but the fan reaction to them when Nintendo first revealed them was rather vitriolic. And, wouldn't you know it, there's a similar reaction from some fans with this trailer. "Ninja Gaiden? In mah Metroid? AASFDSKGAGHKAHGAGAK."Actually that comment does have a few merits, but not in a way that it lends credence to the more...demented denizens of the internet. Looking closely at the trailer, Samus moves and jumps a lot like Ryu Hayabusa. That's not a bad thing; in fact, it's actually rather fitting. I never realized how similarly Ryu moved in the 3D games to Samus in the 2D iterations. Considering that, I think Team Ninja is a pretty good fit for this game.
I'm pretty shocked that Nintendo actually impressed me this year. I don't own a Wii, but I'll definitely consider one with some quality first and third party titles on the horizon. Here's hoping Nintendo doesn't do anything mystifying in the future, though I don't have much hope that they won't.
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