Nintendo always surprises me. I feel like Nintendo is in a group of its own, they don’t really compete like Microsoft and Playstation do. Yes, some people say they don’t even equal to that of Playstation or Microsoft, but I beg to differ. There are just some things that Nintendo does that are on a different plane than the other two consoles. Here’s a quick wrap up of the Nintendo conference.
Wii U. I mean honestly that’s all that people wanted to see this year at E3, after the rumors started of Nintendo bringing a new console. Yes, of course people want the games too but its a new console! The new console slated to release in 2012. This console is something totally new and different. I want to say the Wii U is the result of a Dreamcast, a DS and a Wii had a wild night and that’s how the console was born. The concept and idea of playing while someone else watches TV is not something new. Playstation did it with their PSP and PS3, however the nice thing is that its not two separate peripherals, in the sense that I don’t have to buy a bunch of those Wii U controllers as I think you can only have one per console. (That’s just a guess, I can be wrong). All the games that were shown on the Wii U, were only prototypes but still seem very promising. Even the IBM chip that is in the Wii U seems very impressive, it’s said to be the same chip that they use in the Watson computer. You know that computer that kills people in Jeopardy. But who knows, because the specs that were actually given by Nintendo don’t give the exact chipset, so who knows which chip it is that they are using. Yes, the chip is from Watson, so say the rumors, but which chip is it, not the one that’s always thinking it could be the one that just makes lights blink for all we know!
Their lineup of games shown were not as impressive as I thought, but then the press site had much more, like Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, Kirby, and Smash Brothers to name a few. Some highlighted games that I can’t wait for are Animal Crossing, Paper Mario and Luigi’s Mansion 2. I had some serious obsessions with all those games when they were on Gamecube and Wii. They seem like very promising games, although no release dates on those yet. However, the game trailers that were shown for the more “adult games” (Darksiders 2, Battlefield, etc.) leave me feeling like they weren’t actual gameplay footage for the Wii U. I think the only caveat about the Wii U is that we don’t know what a real game will look like, nor does anyone else. And when I say real game, I mean something more than just Mario Mii, which is just a different version of Super Mario Brothers Wii.
Nintendo also made sure to point out that Zelda is now a 25 year old series. Man Zelda, you getting old, but you age well. I can only hope for that when I get older! The new Zelda is slated to release this Holiday 2011, which doesn’t surprise me, since they spoke about it last year and we didn’t get a date. At least this year we get a date, and I’m sure that all the Zelda fanboys/girls are going nuts and running to pre-order the game now.
Overall Nintendo did what they do best, which is not impress or wow too much. Nintendo shows just enough to get people talking and wanting more. And I’m sure that there is going to be more to come the rest of E3 from Nintendo, and I’m sure its not going to disappoint!
