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E3 Bingo Cards: Revisited

James.C's Correct Answers

by James Charlton - August 27, 2012, 12:54 am EDT

Getting clear answers from Nintendo is never easy, but that didn't stop me from getting some points!

My original predictions

My list of predictions was a mixture of safe bets and hopeful wishes. Unfortunately pretty much all my hopeful ones were crushed under Reggie's giant fist, as Nintendo Land was the only new 1st party game to be announced. Anyway, let's move on to what I got right or almost right. I hope you are all generous with the point-giving!

3. Chase Mii is preinstalled app.
Chase Mii looks like it turned into a minigame in Nintendo Land, which is highly likely (but not confirmed) to be a preinstalled app or an included disk with Wii U.

5. Gamer Card included with every Wii U, syncs by NFC.
Not quite, but the Wii Fit U's new peripheral, the Fit Meter, could have some hidden features. It does have an LCD screen with a picture of your Mii on it, and measures more than just steps. OK I know this is pushing it, but it was annoying that a similar device was announced but not for the purpose I thought. Half a point?

6. Wii Fitness app available day 1 from the eShop, works with Wii Balance Board.
No arguments here? Reggie said all the games shown at the conference were launch window, and they showed Wii Fit U. Couple with the fact 1st party games will be downloadable, I think this was spot on.

10. New Classic Controller U shown, includes rumble and rechargeable battery.
Score! It will charge over USB and we're assuming it has rumble because even the GamePad does.

17. Facebook and Twitter system level integration with Wii U OS.
You could say that Miiverse is a Nintendo branded version of both of these services, you can send messages to your gamer friends, see what they're doing, add pictures to your comments, gather in similar interest groups etc. How was I to know Nintendo would make their own Twitter? But I'm glad they did; I don't want to spam my family with Nintendo related messages. This is awesome. Half a point please?

18. Video chat is a separate app and can't be used in-game, for no reason whatsoever.
The video Nintendo showed in the Nintendo Direct featured a video chat. It looked quick and easy, but it involves pausing the game and going to another app, so I think I'm right here. Hopefully it works like the 3DS internet browser where you don't have to quit the game to use it. I just hope 3rd parties allow in-game video chat, like after every round of an online game to talk smack.

19. New Super Mario Bros Mii is launch title, but not a pack-in. Features mini games that use tablet controller.
It wasn't announced whether it will or won't, but I think everyone would agree Nintendo Land is a more safe bet for a pack-in, so I think I'm right here. As for the mini-games, the boost mode is pretty much that, but they could do more, like they did for NSMB on DS.

21. Netflix support from day one.
Boom, announced during the first part of the conference.

22. NFC can be used for smaller payments. (i.e less than $20).
 During the Wii U roundtable, Eguchi responded to a question about NFC uses with: "Better leave that as a surprise for now. Use your imagination. Perhaps it will enable easier purchases in the eShop." Ba da boom. I'll take that point to the bank.

24. Universal remote support out the box.
Not only that, but it will have it natively built into the GamePad's memory, meaning you don't even need to have the Wii U turned on. Genius move by Nintendo!

(9 out of 24 points, or 8 if you're strict!)

Wrong Answer Analysis
No Metroid Prime for Wii U, not even a tease or a brief mention. This was probably my biggest disappointment, as I thought it would have been the Retro game to sell the core gamers on at launch. I was pretty much wrong on all parts there! My fingers will remain permanently crossed until this is announced.

Black Ops 2 was just revealed to be in development for Wii U, but I don't get a point because it (bizarrely) wasn't talked about at all at E3. Personally I think that would have made a better 3rd party demo than Batman. Another conspicuously absent game from Nintendo's E3 conference was Aliens: Colonial Marines, despite the Wii U version being constantly touted as the best by Gearbox. I had a feeling that Resident Evil 6 wouldn't be talked about on Wii U, but I was hoping for at least a "we have nothing to announce yet, but stay tuned" from Capcom. Let's hope once the game comes out in October they get cracking on the Wii U version with some hot new features.

Smash Bros. was also completely ignored, so I'm guessing they haven't even decided on a name or a logo yet. This is a bit worrying, as fans had those mocked up 24 hours after last year's conference! Get a move on Sakurai, I want this game before 2015!

My Starfox and F-Zero predictions were dead wrong. Although almost every Nintendo franchise seems to be making its way into Nintendo Land, hopefully this isn't considered enough to keep the core gamers happy, and we get proper future entries for these franchises. In the meantime F-Zero slot racing will have to do, I guess. Speaking of Nintendo Land, even though Pacman Versus wasn't announced, the Luigi's Mansion minigame sure was similar! I'm still holding out for a $5-10 eShop version...it'd be so good.

Probably one of my biggest surprises was the non-mention of NFC stuff. In the conference Nintendo highlighted the new NFC sensor on the GamePad, then proceeded to ignore what that actually means! 

I can only imagine they have loads of Nintendo Directs planned between now and November. I'm personally hoping for at least one a month, with each one unveiling more features, NFC toys and cards, and (hopefully) announcing more 3rd party games.

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Talkback

oohhboyHong Hang Ho, Staff AlumnusAugust 27, 2012

Not even close.

famicomplicatedJames Charlton, Associate Editor (Japan)August 27, 2012

Quote from: oohhboy

Not even close.

You'll see! *shakes fist*

All our dreams will come true / all our dreams will be shattered again - on Sept 13th!

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