Nintendo E3 2012 Recap
Nintendo started the press conference in an awkward way. Instead of showing the overview of the things Nintendo is going to announce, they jumped straight into one of the games, starting with Nintendo’s Pikmin.
The game demo starts with a video of Miyamoto’s house (in a behind the scene view) with Miyamaoto in his dressing room being followed by Pikmin. It then shows Miyamoto getting his jacket and then goes out of the house, following by Miyamoto coming on the stage. When calling for his translators, the Pikmins are popping all over the screen in an augmented reality view.
Miyamoto started the announcement with the talks about the Wii U and that it cannot be dependent on the television. They explain why they decided on a dedicated screen and the start of the Wii U. He then shows a black controller of the Wii U with a screen on the controller. They say that the “independent screen changes the importance of gaming machines, which have always relied on a screen.”
Miyamoto first used the Pikmin game to demonstrate the power of the Wii U’s hardware, announcing the next version of Pikmin, Pikmin 3. Compared to the previous version of Pikmin, Pikmin 3 has a more polished graphics. The demo shows the Pikmin running around water and knocking down trees. They say that the Pikmin will find materials to build bridge and pick objests that simulates like real ants. In the new version of Pikmin, a new character is shown, Rock Pikmin, which it can break hard objects, and allowing you to aim at specific targets using the Remote Plus. While the new game takes advantage of the new hardware, most of the game still uses the standard Wii controller, and the Wii U gamepad shows the map of the game. Miyamoto says that players can also re-watch their gameplay recordings to show how well they have done.
Miyamoto then shows the interaction of the screen allowing the touchscreen dragging motion to drag across the map, and also says that the game can be only played on the screen (eliminating the need for the use of the television). Miyamoto then concludes the announcement of Pikmin when he pulled out a plush Pikmin toy.
After Miyamoto announces the new Pikmin game, Reggie Fils-Aime comes on stage. After saying that the Wii U can revolutionize the home entertainment market. They go on announcing that Netflix will be on the Wii U, but also Hulu, youtube, and Amazon Video. After plugging the hell out of their social sites and websites for E3, they show off the Wii U gamepad, saying the new ways of multiplayer and the different gameplay types. Reggie announces that the Wii U can support two of the gamepads at once with the addition to the Wii controllers. The gamepad has two triggers on the back, a L and R button on the top, motion support, accelerometer, built-in camera, stereo sound on the device, and a headphone and mic jack. He shows how the stylus can be used with the gamepad.
Reggie also announces MiiVerse and says that it is a place where everyone congregates virtually, with the ability to share messages, see recent activities, scores, and expressions. They also say that since it is browser dependent, it can later on be controlled through almost any device with a browser, though not immediately at launch.
Reggie continues to announce the new Super Mario Brothers game, Super Mario Brothers U. The game will allow players to communicate and chat about the high scores in the game. Like previous game, the new version incorporates most of the old features, but allow Mario to swim and mushroom hopping with the racoon suit; using Yoshi as a balloon; and place blocks along the way with the “Boost Mode”.
After talking about the new Mario game, Nintendo moved to Batman Arkham City! with Martin Tremblay and Reid Schneider from Werner Brothers to talk about the game. They say that the Batman Arkham franchise is one of the most important pillars of Warner Brothers. They later went on to demo the armored version of Batman and Catwomen, and Also allowing batman to gather kinetic energy with the suit. They also said that Wii U will be the only console to have the BAT mode activation (the ability to power up Batman). They also show the new remote-controlled baterand, allowing the player to fly around the game with the Wii gamepad.
Nintendo also announces game like Scriibblenauts, Nintendo also said that big name titles like THQ’s Darksiders II, EA’s Mass Effect 3 III, Namco Bandai’s Tekken Tag Tournament (and showing a mushroom power up in the game), Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, Trine 2 Director’s Cut, Aliens Colonial Marines will be on the Wii U. Seems like Nintendo is getting into the real gamer market now.
Nintendo moves on to the announcement of the new version of the Wii Fit, Wii Fit U. With the use of the gamepad, the device will be an addition to the enhancement of the game, sharing data between gamepads with the IR sensor, and exercise and watch normal television. The video shows actors doing the dorkiest things when using the game/device.
Nintendo moves on to show off Sing, showing that the gamepad displaying lyrics and dancing at the same time (to create a party vibe).
Moving to the 3DS, Nintendo announces a new Super Mario Bros. 2, saying that Mario is all about the gold. With everything in the game is gold. It will come out in the US on August 19, 2012.
Following to new Super Mario game for the 3DS, a new game called Paper Mario Sticker Star! was announced, a game in which all the Paper Mario is changed to stickers, with different power up with stickers. Nintendo says that the game will come out in the holiday months.
While Mario gets all of the fame, Luigi is getting another game, saying “the little brother is back, and he’s more spooked than ever.” (well another silly game with Luigi?). Though Nintendo said about the game, they are just teasing it for tomorrow additional press conference.
Following Nintendo’s own game, Nintendo announces 3rd party titles, including Castlevania: Lords of Shadows, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. One of the games they demoed was the new Lego Game, Lego City Undercover for the Wii U. Nintendo proceeds with a demo video on the game, featuring a kid playing actual Lego(hmm, like their old commercials [which makes you think, what happened to that kid]) moving from actual Lego to the video game. The video has many things, and things that can possibly be rated T if it was more like real people, including breaking into banks, mining, kung-fu fighting, money stealing clown, and nads kicking.
Nintendo moves to demoing Just Dance 4 with dace crews on the stage (really, more dancing crews). Nintendo then announces a FPS game called Zombi U that is manly motion controlled. The game allows the gamepad as an inventory selector, X-Ray vision, sniper scope, and hacking unlock mechanism. The demo then shows a video of the game.
Nintendo then fully announces NintendoLand, a gathering area to interact with other players. The Miis can go into the theme park and participate in 12 different attractions (5 available right now) of mini games.
After showing the online community, Nintendo ends with the announcement that the Wii U will be available “this holiday” 2012.
Looks like Nintendo is getting to the serious gaming market in a way. Though they do not have any new device, they got more hard-core gaming.
