Okay, Big N, what you got? No doubt there’s some pressure on Mario and company to bring the pain to the Nokia Theater, especially with the painful memory of the company’s meager showing last year and Microsoft’s humongous motion-control gauntlet throwdown in the form of Natal.
So can the Mushroom Kingdom deliver? And more importantly, what awesome skiing stories does Cammie Dunaway have in store for us
Dave: Well, two Mario games is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Those announcements alone should get the Nintendo faithful’s ear to perk up. That four-player side-scroller looks like it might be fun and there certainly isn’t anything wrong with the old school. And a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy is a big deal (I’ll leave it to resident Mario adorer Erich to opine further on the merits of the plumber and his return to space; by the way, how about a crossover title with Super Mario Galaxy and Dead Space: Extraction?).
There were some nice shout-outs–finally–to the hardcore crowdm specifcally with that COP game for the DSi, the previously announced Resident Evil, Dead Space and The Conduit games. The big news has got to be the Metroid game, which certainly brings with it hardcore credibility from Team Ninja.
That’s not bad stuff, though the dearth of Wii Zelda news has to sting for console owners. And the Wii MotionPluis stuff, I have to say, looks dated when compated with Natal, early tech or not.
But what the @#$% was that Wii Vitality Sensor thing? Seriously, someone help me out. Is it for my grandfather to test insulin levels?
It’s no secret that the Wii does zero to float my boat but I don’t think this conference hurt them (save for that Vitality Sensor). Two Mario games and Team Ninja-produced Metroid games is rock-solid.
Erich: If Nintendo had ended the conference with the Wii Vitality thing, I’d have a tough time not officially calling them the Howard Hughes of gaming—even with New Super Mario Bros. coming to the Wii this year. Thankfully, they let that little finger-clamping glimpse into the future (which, will more than likely be cool to someone and probably sell a gajillion units when it comes out) slide by and ended the conference with a huge surprise. I’m not even a big Metroid guy and I’ll probably end up buying Other M (here’s hoping that’s not the final title) on day one.
Like Microsoft yesterday, Nintendo had a surprisingly balanced press conference. They announced a lot of cool games, showed enough of Wii Motion Plus to make me kind of excited for it (at least it’s more real tech at the moment than Natal), and acknowledged that hardcore gamers are itching for something to play on their systems.
No doubt the haters are burning up the GAF forums complaining about Nintendo’s focus on the casual market and that Style Savvy game, but knowing that by year’s end I’ll be playing a new Mario Bros. game and a Mario RPG, and will eventually get a sequel to Mario Galaxy, by far the best game on the Wii? That’s pretty cool. Besides, if you want to complain about casual, note that while we’re two for two on console Facebook announcements, Nintendo spent a fraction of the time Microsoft did talking about it. Sorry, got a little fanboyish there… Stay tuned for our big Nintendo/Sony wrap-up podcast, hitting the site Thursday morning!
Dave: But twice the time talking about a peripheral that takes your pulse! I kid. Anyway, that Metroid game really does look three tons of sexy.
Steve: About the most praise i could give to Nintendo this year is this: I’m actually interested in SOME of what you’re doing. That’s a 100 percent increase from last year. Super Mario Bros for Wii! I’ll take one! Team Ninja doing Metroid??? WTFHLOLBBQ!!!!???? Shit yes! Motion Control plus, the tagline should be, “Motion Control PLUS! Now you’re Wii will work as originally advertised!” The casual stuff looked like crapola i will continue to ignore, but there were GAMES! That is a good thing! My Wii heart monitor tells me my heart was racing when they announced Golden Sun DS, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Bearers looks kind of neat.
So, good job Nintendo, you pretty much appealed to the Wii fanbase while also giving the “gamer” contingency a few bones to chew on. B+
By Dave JohnsonTags: conference, e3, nintendo, Wii
Great conference, I cannot wait to get my hands on the New Super Mario Brothers Wii, and the Wii Sports Resort looked pretty cool, but I am more blown away by the Metroid: Other M than anything else. Metroid is my favorite video game franchise and I cannot wait to get this!
A MUCH better showing than last year’s slap in the face to long time consumers! HUUUUUGE improvement, like Samoan huge. Good announcements, outside of the Wii Vitality nonsense there was no real pandering or whoring out of franchises (thank god there was no Mario Karty), and a new side-scrolling Mario adventure is reason for the entire industry to smile big and bright.