From The Other Side: Nintendo 2013

Editor’s Note: This should have gone up a lot sooner, but getting sick and other things caused it to be pushed back. –Ed.

Last up in this series is Nintendo. While it was not there with a gigantic press conference in front of a large crowd, Nintendo Direct acted as a suitable substitute. Clocking in as the shortest announcement segment of the Big Three, it was also the easiest to watch.

A Wild Satoru Iwata Appears!

Good to know your shareholder meeting is coming up later this month, I guess.

Pokémon X & Y

While Nintendo lost me with Pokemon Black and White 2, this game being in full 3D is actually the biggest change in the series’ history.

The new Fairy type is also intriguing, which makes me confident we’ll get a lot of rebalancing out of rosters in the near future. Can’t wait to try them out, especially since they’re retroactively changing quite a few existing Pokemon like Jigglypuff to be Fairy.

Pokemon-Amie seems like the first step the series has taken into giving me nintendogs integration. While not necessarily super interesting, it’s still cute and proved that they might be changing monster cries to reflect the TV shows.

All in all, this trailer sold me on buying the games for my 3DS.

Launching on October 12th, I’m definitely interested.

Super Mario 3D World

Much like last year, I have to reiterate that my liking of Mario isn’t exactly the greatest, with 3D Mario being my least liked bunch. This seems more of that, so I’m not really that interested. The Cat power up seems like an interesting addition, but seemed extremely overpowered.

I’m somewhat tickled by the four characters mirroring Super Mario Bros. 2‘s differences, but that’s not enough for me to get too excited.

Mario Kart 8

OK, so I’m looking ever out of place on this site. However, this is “From The Other Side,” and David’s own impressions are already known.

Since I’ve only ever liked the Mario Kart series on SNES and N64, I wasn’t tickled by this game at all. Sure it has upside down racing and all– like in F-Zero and WipEout— but it’s just not enough of a change.

Still, this game seems to be bringing back a lot of content from previous games, so it might be the most diverse entry yet. I might give it a rent on a rainy day.

Wii Party U

This game looks like cute fun, but I don’t have many uses for multiplayer party games anymore. The large amount of mini-games rivals Mario Party, so that’s a plus if I eventually need a good party game.

The game being delayed is a bit of a bummer, since it also means we won’t get more details for a while.

Wii Fit U

Wii Fit was the least useful fitness application I’ve ever bought for my family, so I don’t care that it’s delayed. There’s very little I could do with the original that could be expanded upon on Wii U: Wii Fit became a glorified digital scale once I broke my regular scale.

MiiVerse Update – Art Academy Integration

As a Miiverse reader, this is great! I love the drawings on Miiverse, and I am so glad Nintendo acknowledges this unexpected use of its drawing messages.

Third Party Offerings

In which we see a montage.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

I already said that I’m getting it for Sony’s console(s), so I don’t think I’ll be grabbing it on Wii U.

Batman: Arkham Origins

As stated at the Sony conference, I haven’t even caught up to Arkham City. This pretty much means I’ll be skipping it for now and will be grabbing it for a Sony console if I ever get around to getting this game.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

Cool, an exclusive portable version. Still not interested since I’m not caught up, but it looks good enough to grab on discount.

DEUS EX: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut

I didn’t really like Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It somehow felt off compared to my expectations, so I’m not interested in a Director’s Cut. Besides, the game is dirt cheap on consoles already and even cheaper on Steam. I’m sure this game will be just as cheap in just as short an amount of time.

Disney Infinity

I’d love to say this game matters to me, but it really doesn’t. I love Disney, I really do. However, Kingdom Hearts 3 being announced made my expectations of Disney games skyrocket. Disney Infinity doesn’t make the cut anymore.

Just Dance 2014

Nope. I always thought this game series was strange on a system without a camera tracking how well you’re matching movements on-screen. The continued lack of a real camera for Wii U continues my confusion on why it’s so popular.

Rayman Legends

The game that’s supposed to be out already. Made infamous for being the first Wii U exclusive to jump ship and come to every single platform under the sun, it still looks great. However, I fear for how the game will be affected by having it release on systems without the Game Pad.

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure

This tickled me greatly. A DC themed Scribblenauts is just screaming for an army of Jokers being created in free play mode, which I definitely will do.

So yes, I’m very interested in this game. If it gets an appropriate “story” mode, it’ll be quite a plus.

Disney’s Planes

See Disney Infinity above.

Shin Megami Tensei IV

I’ll be honest and say that I’m not the biggest SMT fan out there, but this being the first sequel to the series in forever has piqued my interest to the point of pre-ordering it already.

Skylanders SWAP Force

Not really interested in more Skylanders. I’m clearly not the target audience and shouldn’t be.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist

This… looks exactly like it did last year. I’m still not interested. In fact, why isn’t this game out on Xbox 360 and PS3 already?

Sonic Lost World

I’ll admit that I’m not a Sonic fan, either. However, the game seems to mirror Super Mario Galaxy, which could either go great or horribly wrong. Since Sonic depends on speed and precision, having a quickly rotating viewable area could be disastrous. Still, I’m hopeful this game will pleasantly break the Sonic Cycle fans have been known to fall into, but has been broken with recent franchise entries. If that’s the case, I might pick it up for both Wii U and 3DS.

WATCH_DOGS

You can really see the difference between other next generation consoles and the Wii U by watching the little bit of what was shown. Even then, this title might still be best played on PC anyway.

eShop Indies

Here we have Nintendo also stating support for indie gaming. That’s awesome and I’m very happy they’re doing so. With Sony and Nintendo vying for top spot in indie gaming on consoles, I can’t wait to see what kind of innovative games will be brought to us.

Ballpoint Universe

Looks like an adventure game with travel between foreground and background. Seems interesting, but I need more details.

Cloudberry Kingdom

Looks like a colorful platformer. I’m not too interested by the design and emphasis on bouncing, so this might be a pass.

Coaster Crazy Deluxe

I never really got roller coaster simulations, nor roller coaster building simulations. Not really interested.

DuckTales: Remastered

Oh yes! I’m definitely getting this game, though I haven’t decided on which platform yet. If there’s a demo, I’ll definitely try it out for the best fit.

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara

Since this only seems like an HD remaster of the original D&D brawlers, I’m not really impressed. With Dragon’s Crown coming out for Sony’s systems in the near future, I’m just not swayed by what looks like a lackluster effort. What’s more, if this is indeed an HD remaster of arcade games, they’ll definitely be skull crushingly hard and frustrating.

Mutant Mudds Deluxe

Great looking title, but seems slow for my tastes. The background and foreground jumping seems a bit confusing, but still interesting. I might demo it first.

Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty

So I guess that Oddworld remake announced at Sony’s conference isn’t exclusive. That’s fine, but I’ll need to play a demo to decide which platform gets my business.

Scream Kitty & His Buddy On Rails

This looks like a game with Mega Man X (PlayStation era) levels of graphical quality, but the premise seems strange and clunky. I’ll have to demo it first.

Shovel Knight

I helped back this game on Kickstarter and will be getting it on PC and 3DS, but if a Wii U version is coming out I might get it on that as well.

Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party

This looks… odd. The little bit shown didn’t catch my interest, either.

A World of Keflings

I’m not sure what to make of this title. Seems like you’re helping a bunch of tiny people? I don’t know, I’ll need a demo.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

This game looks gorgeous in HD. I might actually try it, since I missed out on its GameCube release. Then again, my dislike of 3D Zelda might take over, so I’m hoping the new Wii U controls will prevent that from happening.

The new Tingle Bottle feature seems cute, but not much of a product selling feature to me.

The Wonderful 101

This game seems different every single time I see it. I don’t even know what to think anymore, which makes me less than likely to buy this game at launch. I’ll need a demo and/or some insanely detailed trailers to get my interested again.

Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze

This looks great. I really like Donkey Kong Country Returns, and an HD title in this series is a definite buy for me. It’s just a shame that the dynamic camera wasn’t paired with the 3DS, because it looks like something that would be great to see happen in 3D.

Dixie Kong being in this game also makes me happy, since she’s one of the most interesting playable characters in the original games.

Bayonetta 2

I didn’t really care for Bayonetta when it first came out and this game looked like more of the same. Sure, she looks different, but I’m just not interested enough. Maybe I’ll buy it if the game drops in price relatively early.

X (Monolith Soft project)

This. Game. Looks. Amazing. This is a day one buy on premise alone. Gigantic mechs that transform and it’s made by Monolith Soft? Yes. All of the yes.

But in all honesty, some of the interface features seem to indicate that there will be co-op play and/or online play. If that’s the case, I’ll definitely need to know how it’s implemented before I jump on board fully. If it ends up being the central part of the game, I might actually skip it until I find a proper party to play with.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Aww, how cute! Animal Crossing‘s Villager is joining the gang! I’ve never really been a fan of Super Smash Bros., so I can’t really say much about this preview except that it looks great.

That intro trailer was great, too. The HD graphics make the game pop in ways I never expected.

However…

Hmm? Wait…

What?

WHAT?!

No way!

That’s right, Nintendo deemed it appropriate to add Mega Man to Super Smash Bros! Being a big Mega Man fan, this addition made me giddy in a way I haven’t been for years. In fact, this inclusion instantly sold me on a Wii U.

E3 Booth Preview

You know, I feel like the gaming press doesn’t want to give Nintendo any good press. The fact that Nintendo felt it needed to reiterate their presence at E3 is just sad.

Best Buy Nintendo E3 Experience

I actually went to one of these over the weekend. The demos shown were all great and seemed like nothing needed adjusting for each respective title, but that’s about all I can say about them. Since I missed out on seeing Donkey Kong Country, I feel a bit sad about not experiencing it.

Final Word

So here we are, the end of Nintendo Direct for E3 2013. While it lacked the crowd interaction and awkward demo setup times from it being a live show, it also had enough content to stand up with Microsoft and Sony. It was fairly puzzling to see Nintendo cancel their press conference, but it didn’t change the quality and quantity of announcements.

Now, while Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS sold me on a Wii U, the overall feel of the presentation was still fairly low-key. It didn’t completely shut me off and continuously bore me like Microsoft’s did, but it didn’t truly grab my interest until the very end. This doesn’t bode well for my continued support of the Wii U once Super Smash Bros. comes out. Short of Monolith Soft completing X and having it localized in time for early 2015, I’ll rarely be buying new Wii U games from Nintendo or otherwise in the foreseeable future.

There you have it, E3 “From The Other Side”. It’s clear that my preferences put Sony in front of the pack, but Nintendo definitely trounced Microsoft by doing exactly the same thing Sony did on a smaller scale: More of the same was far more interesting to me as a gamer than trying to “innovate” and poorly communicating what they were actually trying to do.

lanceheart