Editorial: Nintendo's E3 Showing is Refreshingly Fun

[TerribleAssassin]

Oh and let's not forget Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Yarn Yoshi and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. If you seriously think those two games are the same as most other Nintendo published titles, then god help you.

Sequel, Sequel, Yoshi's Island with Kirby Epic Yarn's visual aesthetic and Super Mario 3 meets Fez. Yeah I can really see how Nintendo are unpredictable with their fresh, innovative ideas.

Put this together with the Gen 3 Pokemon games scamming people out of money being rereleased, the new Zelda having mechs and lasers because that's definitely what Zelda has been missing, a lack of support outside of 1st and 2nd party devs and Nintendo's sales suicide with it's refusal to allow Wii U content on YouTube when the system first launch and it becomes apparent that Nintendo are desperate to fight irrelevancy in market shares and are trying any old shit to win people back.

This is coming from someone who likes Nintendo games, but everything post Super Mario Galaxy slowly makes it more apparent that they're relying too much on the nostalgia buck and it's come and bit them in the arse.

 

[sXeth]

I'd call Devil's Third a horrible misstep. Not cause it breaks the Nintendo mold or anything, but it looks like they just picked it up on the cheap at THQ's clearance sale to be edgy or something. For Nintendo doing its own thing, it looks like just a horrible mesh of random action games and "'tude" that would be obnoxious even in the 90s when that was the rage.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

refreshingly fun....

another zelda remake - check
level editor that even calculators 15 years ago had and PCs had BETTER one for a decade - check
another super smash bros - check
nothing but sequels - check

so, nothing refreshing or fun after all

Unlike Microsoft and Sony, who follow similar patterns year after year, Nintendo does whatever it wants.

Yes, Nintendo does what it wants - does the same thing every year. and peopel still call it new.

y'know what

i know how sony and microsoft court investors, and i guess that's how they stay afloat, but

maybe i want to play, some freaking games???

instead of increasing shareholder value

well, then you should look at SONY, who announced the most new games at this E3.

"Hay gaiz, I'm ignoring everything written in the thread and everything Nintendo showed! Nintendo does always the same thing and nothing new! Sony is da rulez!"

Maybe you should read a bit before posting? You totally ignored 5 new IP's, one of which is by many considered one of the most creative games in recent gaming history.
Also It's not a Zelda remake. It's a new entry in the series.
Smash comes out once a console generation and there are only 3 games in total since 1999. 15 years.
Lets look at Sony... oh look, 3 Uncharted games in a single console generation. B-but it's Nintendo who does always the same thing.

 

[Kahani]

-Splatoon is an entirely new IP.
-Hyrule Warriors is a Dynasty warriors crossover, and a zelda crossover game is super freaking rare.
-Devil's Third, a new IP that was previously a THQ game, but is now being published by Nintendo
-Project Guard, an entirely new IP being developed by Miyamoto
-Project Giant Robot, yet another entirely new IP being developed by Nintendo.

That's 4 new IPs and one crossover game. Definitely not the same old games in bright colours.

Oh and let's not forget Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Yarn Yoshi and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. If you seriously think those two games are the same as most other Nintendo published titles, then god help you.

I'm counting 9 new and fresh games.

Maybe the article should have actually mentioned them then? Games actually mentioned in the article - Smash Bros, Zelda, Zelda, Mario, Mario, Bayonetta. Two sequels, and four extensions to two of the oldest franchises around. One of said sequels being dedicated to copying characters out of all their other games. Maybe there really were all kinds of fun and refreshing things announced, but if that's so this article failed miserably at actually telling us anything about them.

Sony and MS had a couple of interesting games, but way too much filler and CGI trailers. How are people still getting excited over CGI trailers?

They're selling computer games. What exactly do you expect them to show if not computer generated trailers?

 

[MetalDooley]

Nintendo's not predictable?

They're publishing the same old games in bright colours.

Only took one post for someone to bring up the old "Nintendo releases the same games all the time" nonsense.Congratulations that's got to be a new record.It usually takes 3 or 4 posts

They're selling computer games. What exactly do you expect them to show if not computer generated trailers?

Oh I don't know how about actual gameplay footage as opposed to CG cinematics.That's what people are interested in after all

 

[mister R]

I think you quoted the wrong guy XD

oh whoops xD

 

[Strazdas]

Half of the comments on this forum are painful to look at. Seriously, could you people complain anymore? I'm guessing that none of you have ever looked at something and said "that looks like it will be fun", "I'm enjoying this" or "I really liked that".

I mean dear god, you people are the definition of depressing.

oh no, somone does not like nintendo games, he must be depresing and cynical and we must shame him!

 

[mister R]

is this what the escapist forums are always like??

just people arguing with each other and being all doom and gloom over everything???

come on guys it's nintendo!!

cheer up a bit!!

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Maybe the article should have actually mentioned them then? Games actually mentioned in the article - Smash Bros, Zelda, Zelda, Mario, Mario, Bayonetta.

Maybe people shouldn't jump on the hate bandwagon on Nintendo since it's a very well known fact that the Escapist is biased against Nintendo and most articles should be taken with a fist full of salt? Or informing yourself is also an option. Turning on the live stream on twitch that is on the whole day and chances are you will see one of the new IP's.

Sony and MS had a couple of interesting games, but way too much filler and CGI trailers. How are people still getting excited over CGI trailers?

They're selling computer games. What exactly do you expect them to show if not computer generated trailers?

I might be old fashioned and out of touch with what's in today, but back in my days we wanted to see gameplay from the games rather than a scripted cinematic trailer which doesn't show even a second of the gameplay from the game.
But what do I know. I'm too old for this.

 

[MrBaskerville]

Oh and let's not forget Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Yarn Yoshi and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. If you seriously think those two games are the same as most other Nintendo published titles, then god help you.

Sequel, Sequel, Yoshi's Island with Kirby Epic Yarn's visual aesthetic and Super Mario 3 meets Fez. Yeah I can really see how Nintendo are unpredictable with their fresh, innovative ideas.

Put this together with the Gen 3 Pokemon games scamming people out of money being rereleased, the new Zelda having mechs and lasers because that's definitely what Zelda has been missing, a lack of support outside of 1st and 2nd party devs and Nintendo's sales suicide with it's refusal to allow Wii U content on YouTube when the system first launch and it becomes apparent that Nintendo are desperate to fight irrelevancy in market shares and are trying any old shit to win people back.

This is coming from someone who likes Nintendo games, but everything post Super Mario Galaxy slowly makes it more apparent that they're relying too much on the nostalgia buck and it's come and bit them in the arse.

Actually they do have some third party support, i looked into it yesterday and found about 120 indietitles that are scheduled for release on WiiU this year. Some of them will probably be delayed and stuff, but there's still a lot of really neat stuff coming, some of it exclusive and some of it multiplatform. They just chose to focus on their own releases instead, which might also be why they waited with the Devil's Third announcment til after the show.

Personally i think it all looks very promising, combined with the games we got last year, like Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3 and Mario 3D among others, i think it looks like a very interesting console. Especially as a supplement to to either ps4 or XboxOne. It defineately offers something different than it competetitors and i see more reason to own a ps4 + Wiiu than i do to own a ps4 + XboxOne (As they basically offer the same thing). But then again, i'm a gameplay guy, people who look for stories, shooters and rpgs are probably not going to be very pleased with Nintendos offerings.

 

[Casual Shinji]

After having seen the Nintendo stream, they definitely won on the presentation front. It was funny and goofy, and had zero "awkward business man" moments. Though this really is a first, since before they had the exact same dry conferences as everybody else. Still, kudos on the presentation.

But interms of games, only the new Zelda got me excited. Apart from that 70% of the stream was Mario being Mario in Mario games. Now this is obviously me not being invested at all in most of these games, but it just baffles me how so many people can go apeshit over a couple new characters in Smash and act like Nintendo reigns supreme because of it.

Again, Nintendo did a fantastic job at presenting their games, but ultimately they were just the same old IPs, the same old characters. Not that I expected them to try their hand at a big new IP.

 

[Dragonbums]

Oh OH! I see what happened. Yeah, no, see you got 'refreshingly fun' mixed up with 'dull, predictable and boring. Again.'
Same thing happened to me once when I had a cold. Told everyone it was refreshingly fun.

All serious, a new Zelda, a new Mario kart and more gimmicks than you can shake a Wii-mote at and you call it refreshing? As in reassuringly fresh, meaning new or clean?
Nintendo couldn't be a dirtier, smellier, fouler, rotting corpse if it tried, which is refreshing because they obviously aren't!

The only major IP Nintendo even remotely announced was a new Zelda game. And that was like a 45 second trailer.

All the other games they announced was Bayonetta 2, Splitoon (new IP and with very good early responses), two very early builds of new IP's Nintendo is working on, a bunch of creative offshots of the main franchises, and a fuck ton more I can't remember.

The only Mario thing in that whole conference was Mario Maker. That's literally it. Everything was new for the most part.

 

[Dragonbums]

Pokemon games are now a scam?

I'm not even sure how people jump to these conclusions. As one whose played Pokemon since Firered, Gamefreak never hides what the games entails in the slightest. I am fully aware that I'm basically buying the same game with different characters and plots, but honestly I don't fucking care because I love playing as the new Pokemon and that's literally all that matters to me. That and getting heavily involved in the metagame which is half the reason why the series has such longevity per game.

Also time and time again people who have clearly never played the game keep bringing up the whole "two versions" argument. Claiming that they are forcing you to buy two of the same game to get 10 exclusives. I always love telling them how full of shit they are. I have Pokemon X. It took me less than 2 weeks after beating the game to get the other version exclusives. Especially when you can just hop on the internet and trade away.


It's like saying CoD is a scam. Quit bullshitting. Save that word for actual scams. They are a Nintendo cashcow, but not once have they tried to pull the wool over anyone's eyes.

 

[Cybylt]

That would be SONY. not that im defending them or anything. its simple factual that they amounced the most games.

Yes, hyracule warriors is the zelda remake. oh and yeah they also have a sequel. like the billion zelda games wasnt enough.
Mario maker is mistitled. you can only make individual levels in it. a superior program, that allws you to actually make mario games using assets of all mario titles is FREE, released a decade ago. so they are essentialy releasing a inferior program, 10 years too late and asking money for it. not something im going to praise even if some people like it.
Baynetta 2 isnt a sequel? it even has 2 in the name for Jims sake!
and kirby os your new IP?
Or Mario party 10.

Oh, and yes i do complain about countless COD and BF games too. And Yearly 60 dollar sport game DLCs are even worse than that.

you got a point with gameplay i admit.

They did?
That's a serious question too. I remember an hour and a half of boring PR speak from guys in suits, Bloodborne, Metal Gear (longer trailer leaked before E3 even began) Mortal Kombat and... uhh... HD-er remakes of two last gen games. All but two are multiplat. Honestly I'm confused as to why Ubi and EA had showings when Microsoft and Sony showed all their games for them. And it's the Year of Vita right guys? ...guys?

New IP from nintendo on the other hand:
Splatoon
Code Name: STEAM
Fantasy Life
Affordable Space Adventures

I'm told there's two more but I don't know the titles.

Existing franchise representation:
Mario Maker
Captain Toad
Bayonetta 2
Theatrhythm Curtain Call
Yoshi's Woolly World
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Legend of Zelda WiiU
Super Smash Bros
Hyrule Warriors
Star Fox
Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition
Mario Party 10
Persona Q
Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate



Each of which had more gameplay shown than the entire Sony or Microsoft showings combined. Except for Zelda WiiU, but according to interviews that was run on the in game engine instead of being pre-rendered bullshit.

There's a lot of existing IP representation but it's mostly in spinoffs with wholly different gameplay than the main entries. When Microsoft unveils a Halo we know exactly what it's going to be, when Sony unveils an Uncharted we know exactly what it's going to be, when Nintendo unveils a Mario title there are currently four or more different styles of game it could be. So why are they given the most shit for using their icons?

Best I can figure, the reason is...

 

[olshriek]

Ok maybe someone could explain this one to me, Microsoft had a COD and a long portion devoted to not just more Halo but anniversary release on the one of halo.

Yet people keep going on about how Nintendo's stuck in the past.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Oh OH! I see what happened. Yeah, no, see you got 'refreshingly fun' mixed up with 'dull, predictable and boring. Again.'
Same thing happened to me once when I had a cold. Told everyone it was refreshingly fun.

All serious, a new Zelda, a new Mario kart and more gimmicks than you can shake a Wii-mote at and you call it refreshing? As in reassuringly fresh, meaning new or clean?
Nintendo couldn't be a dirtier, smellier, fouler, rotting corpse if it tried, which is refreshing because they obviously aren't!

This post couldn't be any more cynical if it tried.

See what you call cynical I call pattern recognition. This is why people have such problems with Nintendo and its fans; they keep mixing words up. Not their fault, but this really is a perspective problem. What you see as fun and new, just about everyone else sees as dry and tired.
Not everyone, true. Some people even now are debating who that guy in the Zelda trailer was after Nintendo said it wasn't necessarily Link. My problem is this: even if its NOT Link, if its some completely random guy, its still a Zelda game. He's still going to get a fairy bow, a hookshot and a series of bottles. He's still going to fight monsters in various themed temples/dungeons and unlock sages or sage like items or sage like powers.
Call me a cynic, but to that's simply seeing the Nintendo pattern.

 

[DrOswald]

refreshingly fun....

another zelda remake - check
level editor that even calculators 15 years ago had and PCs had BETTER one for a decade - check
another super smash bros - check
nothing but sequels - check

so, nothing refreshing or fun after all

Nintendo has shown almost twice as many new titles as sequels this year. About half of those are spin offs. So we have a roughly 1-1-1 ratio of sequels, spin offs, and new IP's. 1/3 of Nintendo projects are changing the way old IP's are used and 1/3 are completely new IP's.

 

[KazeAizen]

Oh OH! I see what happened. Yeah, no, see you got 'refreshingly fun' mixed up with 'dull, predictable and boring. Again.'
Same thing happened to me once when I had a cold. Told everyone it was refreshingly fun.

All serious, a new Zelda, a new Mario kart and more gimmicks than you can shake a Wii-mote at and you call it refreshing? As in reassuringly fresh, meaning new or clean?
Nintendo couldn't be a dirtier, smellier, fouler, rotting corpse if it tried, which is refreshing because they obviously aren't!

This post couldn't be any more cynical if it tried.

See what you call cynical I call pattern recognition. This is why people have such problems with Nintendo and its fans; they keep mixing words up. Not their fault, but this really is a perspective problem. What you see as fun and new, just about everyone else sees as dry and tired.
Not everyone, true. Some people even now are debating who that guy in the Zelda trailer was after Nintendo said it wasn't necessarily Link. My problem is this: even if its NOT Link, if its some completely random guy, its still a Zelda game. He's still going to get a fairy bow, a hookshot and a series of bottles. He's still going to fight monsters in various themed temples/dungeons and unlock sages or sage like items or sage like powers.
Call me a cynic, but to that's simply seeing the Nintendo pattern.

I still call it cynical. We still need them. If we don't have Nintendo a vast vast vast majority of the AAA titles released would be devoid of joy, color, and reek of excessiveness.

 

[Morbira]

Speaking as someone who very much greatly wishes Nintendo would abandon the hardware market, who also has felt the sting of purchasing a Wii early in its life-cycle and was greatly let down by the library that never was, AND someone who was all about watching Nintendo die from a constant lack of true originality (rather than "innovating for innovation's sake"), I am now currently researching how to get a WiiU. Say what you will, but they're damn good at making a case this time around. I'm actually a little excited to see what Nintendo is doing for the first time since the last generation.

 

[DrOswald]

Speaking as someone who very much greatly wishes Nintendo would abandon the hardware market, who also has felt the sting of purchasing a Wii early in its life-cycle and was greatly let down by the library that never was, AND someone who was all about watching Nintendo die from a constant lack of true originality (rather than "innovating for innovation's sake"), I am now currently researching how to get a WiiU. Say what you will, but they're damn good at making a case this time around. I'm actually a little excited to see what Nintendo is doing for the first time since the last generation.

I own a Wii U and I highly recommend it. It is the only gaming system I use often besides my PC.

Important information you may have missed since you are not yet a Wii U owner: If you get a copy of Mario Kart Wii U and register it on club Nintendo by July 31 you get a free Wii U game (you get to choose from a small list, the list varies depending on where you live.) So if you are interested in Mario Kart I would recommend getting the Mario Kart bundle.