Topic: Post-E3 anticipation levels.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Pikmin 3

I love Pikmin. Having never played the original or it's sequel on the Gamecube I was delighted when both games were updated with new controls and released on Wii in 2009, and since then the prospect of a Pikmin 3 has excited me greatly. With so much anticipation, all Nintendo had to do was show me the game, and to be honest that's pretty much all they did. Sure, they didn't show any real world brands or products (one of my favourite aspects of the originals) or any new environments, but by hinting at a more involved multiplayer and showing a pretty cool centipede boss it was enough to stoke my interest even further.
 
New Super Mario Bros. 2
 

 
I'm far from the biggest NSMB fan, but even I was willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt. My main hope (as distinct from expectation) had been that Nintendo would introduce a novel new twist. Something which would bring genuine change to the series as the Galaxy games and 3D Land had done. At this point of course it's difficult to say whether or not the focus on collecting coins will bring any genuine changes to the series, but based on what was shown at the conference I'm not encouraged.
 
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
 

 
I can't say that Luigi's Mansion 2 had any huge surprises at E3 this year, but enough was shown to leave me with the impression that this game will be a good showcase of what the 3DS can do. The lighting looked fantastic, the environments seemed atmospheric in a lighthearted sort of way, and the Luigi's reactions to...well...pretty much everything were hilarious. I'm excited to see more.
 
Paper Mario: Sticker Star
 

 
Paper Mario has been a series which I seem to praise and criticise in equal measure. I fell in love with the N64 original, with it's art style, it's writing and it's systems. The Thousand Year Door was a step forward in many regards, featuring a more complex battle system and an even crisper visual style. I did think, however, that it was a little too slow at times and it's story and dialogue too wrought (albiet usually funny). Following that trend, I wasn't really a fan of Super Paper Mario, which was packed to bursting with tedious sections which went on far too long and superfluous dialogue. The announcement at E3 that you will no longer level up by defeating enemies, but instead by using stickers, is slightly worrying. I don't know enough at this point, however, to tell whether or not the game will follow in the footsteps of SPM and move even further away from the RPG mechanics that made the first two games so great. So for that reason I am neither less nor more excited. I would describe my expectations as cautiously optimistic.
 
These are just a few of my adjusted expectations coming out of E3. Which games have you become less or more excited about?
 

[Lithium]

basically my hype for everything just fell off a cliff, except for pikmin since i had no hype to begin with. Project m-100 from platinum looks good too.

[Ian Sane]

I had low expectations to begin with so I'm about equal on everything.  I'm still disappointed becaues I hoped for better.  I was expecting Nintendo to show something with a little more visual pizzazz.  This is their first HD console but they aren't really pushing that.  There wasn't anything like last years's Zelda video.  Pikmin 3 looks really nice but not to the point that I'm blown away.  It pretty much looks like I figured it would.

I actually am more impressed with NSMB U since the visuals have greatly improved since last year.  Still lacks anything truly interesting though.  Watching Pikmin 3 videos makes me want that game BAD, but I can't buy the Wii U just on that.  If this was following the Gamecube I would buy the Wii U just for Pikmin 3 but I got burned with the Wii so now I lack the same trust in Nintendo.  Unless the games gets creamed in reviews I will get Pikmin 3 someday.  But that might mean getting a Wii U for cheap years and years from now.  I can't take the plunge with Nintendo on the basis of even a handful of games.  I have to see if the Wii U is just more of the Wii or if it will be an exceptable improvement.

[Chozo Ghost]

My expectations were low, but I was still disappointed, because even my low expectations were not met. Where the hell were the games?! I thought 3rd party support was going to be a huge leap forward from the Wii, but what was revealed was pretty much the same level of support that we've seen for the Wii's launch back in 2006. Ubisoft was the only 3rd party which came through and offered the level of support that should be given, but I believe that was also the case back in 2006 with their Raving Rabbids and Red Steel and so on. So I got the impression that nothing has really changed.

I was also disappointed they are making the appearance of the Wii U identical to that of the Wii. I wished they would change the name, but I didn't expect them to do that so I wasn't disappointed... but I did expect they would shake up the appearance of the console a bit to... you know, make it stand out from the Wii. But no, they seem to be intentionally trying to make it as confusingly similar as possible.

[LOZman]

There is too much pessimism here!    I was disappointed with the press conference itself, but that has not really affected my anticipation of the Wii U. I am still sure that I am buying the system day one, mostly for Pikmin, but also for future games. I trust Nintendo enough to believe they will provide us with enough first-party titles to keep me playing.


My excitement for the 3DS is also really high. Luigi's Mansion looks fantastic, and I know that I can't pass up a Mario game. Thanks to Reggie, I will also get Fire Emblem to keep me busy. I am a little down about Animal Crossing though...

[Caterkiller]

No, Wii U's 3rd party support is nothing like Wii's. Who knows how long this will last, but Wii U has the real versions, and in several cases with sharper graphics! Nintendo showed 2 of their own non-mini game focused titles and gave the rest of the spot light to rd parties. That is all anyone ever talks about here, here it is! Am I like the only one who can not wait to play the best version of Aliens, Assassin's Creed, etc?

Wii had Soul Calibur legends, Dead Space, Railsident Evil, Madden, and in most cases no version of games at all. I'm not going to debate the few gems that were around like Tatsunoko VS Capcom.

Now with Wii U there is no compromised version of anything, everything is as it should be along with a brand new 3rd party game.

Maybe when GTAV and RE6 are announced it will shut some of you up for 30 seconds, only to complain again when you realize they aren't Wii U exclusive.

[bustin98]

I for one cannot wait for WiiU Babiez. Changing diapers on the gamepad, thats innovation! And it'll be exclusive!

If GTA and every other title is on or at higher parity compared to the other consoles then I won't complain.

[Chozo Ghost]

Now with Wii U there is no compromised version of anything,

But remember, these are PS360 ports. Back in 2006/2007 when the Wii launched there were last gen ports of things like RE4 which were not compromised versions in any way. Eventually the last gen consoles die off and new ones take over, so after a year or two the Wii ran out of PS2 ports because PS2 development ceased and moved on to the PS360. From that point on ward the Wii either got compromised ports, or nothing at all.

That's what I'm worried about with the Wii U. Assassin's Cred, Mass Effect 3, Arkham City, and so on may be superior to the PS360 just like the Wii version of RE4 was superior to the GC/PS2 version. That's to be expected... but what about a couple years from now when the PS420 hits? What will the Wii U ports be like then? Will they be compromised? If the PS420 is a full generation ahead, then they most certainly will be.

The fact the Wii U version of these games smokes their PS360 counterparts isn't impressive. The Wii U is supposed to be a full generation ahead, so this is to be expected as a given. The real test is how the Wii U ports will stack up to their 8th generation counterparts. Will they be on par, or will they be compromised? That's the true question right there. If they are compromised then its just going to be the situation with the Wii all over again. Many 3rd parties may decide to not support the Wii U at all if they would have to compromise their games in order to shoehorn them in.

[Drizzt]

I don't know why everyone is hating on the Nintendo conference. Was it great? No but it was cool and smoked the Microsoft and Sony conferences. It also explained the new console well enough. As for the lack of games which seems to be the general cause of concern among gamers I find this complaint rather petty. The wii barely had any AAA third party support. Even if the Wii U is getting ports of several month old games at least it's a start and they aren't just straight ports either they're implementing new control options and in some cases bonus material. Assassins creed 3 as a launch title is amazing for Nintendo. I believe that Nintendo really is trying to court the hard core, the Wii U pro controller and m rated titles add credence to this. It's ridiculous for people to expect a new console Zelda already when skyward was released less than a year ago. New Super Mario Bros. U looked great and the graphics were much improved from last year. Nintendoland doesn't look bad, if it shows of what the wii u can do I'm all for it. I can relate to a desire for more mainstream epic nintendo games from franchises we hold near and dear or maybe from a new IP but I am confident they will come in time. System launches usually aren't great remember the ps3: 599 U.S dollars, Ridge Racer, giant enemy crabs. Nintendo hasn't shown anything that bad yet and that's why I can't comprehend the pessimism. I'm buying a Wii U at launch It looks amazing and I don't think I'll be disappointed.

[oohhboy]

I hated the Nintendo Conference because it was really poorly run, not because of the games themselves. The Sing and dance portion was short enough, but unfortunately not embarrassing enough to be funny, but the absurd amount of time focused on NintendoLand and Batman had seriously unbalanced the whole thing. They had other games to show, but they all disappeared into a sizzle reel. They had something absolutely bonkers like Project P-100 that is nothing else like any of the other games on show and it got 5 seconds. They spent so much time mini-gaming, when they had something really new and different, they didn't show it. They could have spare a couple minutes on it. there were two really good things they did, the Miyamoto(Can't go wrong with this) segment and the really short time they spent on Amazon video and auxiliary services.

Batman is great, I know, I played it, it's GOTY material, can we move on and no, it isn't called a Gatterang. ZombiU was new and should had gotten a better demonstration. Imagine the memes they could have extracted out of Reggie falling on his ass and shitting his pants as he screams like a girl.

The 3DS showcase was mostly a waste of time, but that was better run than the main conference despite the missteps from the hosts like Reggie forgetting about the "3" in "3DS". they gave everything a more even fair shake. It did give us a funny post E3 video regarding the Nonspecific Action Figure. They demoed new gameplay mechanics in Paper Mario, showed me Golden Showers wasn't the game for me. What is lacked was any real surprises. if they just dropped hints at other things happening around the place like Fire Emblem is coming but we have no date, it would have made the showcase worthwhile. Hell having a quick Q&A with 3 questions would have made it worth something.

All in all, things was just badly run. The same goes for MS and Sony. Out of the big 3, Nintendo is the "Best" out of the losers. MS wasted everyone's time with smartglass and non-gaming garbage. Sony pissed around, abandoned Vita and had a book that didn't work. If you must declear a winner, I supose it would be Ubisoft since they brought the most new and applicable things to the table with ZombiU and Watchdog.

[bustin98]

I don't know why everyone is hating on the Nintendo conference. Was it great? No but it was cool and smoked the Microsoft and Sony conferences.

It wasn't cool, but it did smoke the other two.

It also explained the new console well enough.

Great! Tell me about the internal storage. Tell me about the online system, do we have both friend codes and gamertags, just gamertags, just friend codes? Do the online capabilities come with a subscription cost? Does it support blue tooth headsets? What version of USB is it? Will it support upcoming middleware from Epic and Crytek?

There are plenty of rumors to answer some of those questions but nothing directly from Nintendo.

As for the lack of games which seems to be the general cause of concern among gamers I find this complaint rather petty. The wii barely had any AAA third party support.

This is a new generation. Let's look forward, not back.

Even if the Wii U is getting ports of several month old games at least it's a start and they aren't just straight ports either they're implementing new control options and in some cases bonus material. Assassins creed 3 as a launch title is amazing for Nintendo.

The fact that the ports are several months old beg the question of why are there ports of old titles and not ports of new titles. Yes, AC3 is a new title, but if developers truly believed in the system, they would have sunk some serious investment in it, not some quick cash ins with modifications to the control systems. Ubisoft gets a nod, but we all know that Ubi may pull a Red Steel. Despite selling over a million copies, Ubi used Wii cash to finance AAA titles for the other systems.

I believe that Nintendo really is trying to court the hard core, the Wii U pro controller and m rated titles add credence to this.

Nintendo doesn't understand how to talk to the advanced users. The gamers take for granted that a traditional controller and rated M titles are available. What they want to know the tech that makes it work and that their investment is going to pay off.

It's ridiculous for people to expect a new console Zelda already when skyward was released less than a year ago. New Super Mario Bros. U looked great and the graphics were much improved from last year. Nintendoland doesn't look bad, if it shows of what the wii u can do I'm all for it.

No one expects a new Zelda. They know its coming and the demo attests to it. Nintendoland is minimalist, and the flashing lights and bright colors seem designed to hold the attention of spastic 8 year olds who can't sit still for 5 minutes. I can go for mini-games. I love Wii Sports. I love the Sports Champions for Move (at least the disc golf part). But what was demoed during the conference just lacked design appeal.

I can relate to a desire for more mainstream epic nintendo games from franchises we hold near and dear or maybe from a new IP but I am confident they will come in time.

YES! And that's what we want to hear! From NINTENDO, not rumor mills, nor murmurs we whisper to ourselves in our sleep.

System launches usually aren't great remember the ps3: 599 U.S dollars, Ridge Racer, giant enemy crabs. Nintendo hasn't shown anything that bad yet and that's why I can't comprehend the pessimism. I'm buying a Wii U at launch It looks amazing and I don't think I'll be disappointed.

The pessimism comes from being burned. Not necessarily from Nintendo, but from broken promises of 3rd parties. And then there is the potential. I felt confident that the Wii had potential. But when things started puttering out, when good 3rd party software wasn't selling on the Wii, or when they dumped glitch ridden titles on the system, you have to wonder what happened to that potential. And what of the potential of the Wii U? Not the apparent features of the gamepad, but the lasting power to hold the attention of those who make the games. And will buyers of the Wii U reward those publishers, or just buy Just Dance and nothing else?

I don't want to be down, and I'm sure the Wii U can do some great stuff. But Nintendo has to step up and put their cards on the table. They need to recognize the short comings of the previous generation and come out with solutions to answer those weaknesses with the new hardware.

[Kairon]

I think a lot of us on the internet would've been more impressed had Nintendo run their conference in a different way, even if they kept the same games. For example, I wonder what it would've been like if their first party game progression would've been Nintendo Land, then Super Mario U, then Wii Fit U, then Pikmin 3.

[Oblivion]

bustin, I've personally seen people clamor for a new Zelda on websites like Kotaku on G4. Drizzt is right in his criticism of that complaint.