Opinion: E3 2012 – Nintendo’s Worst Conference Ever?

This year’s E3 conference was Nintendo’s big chance to show off the Wii U and convince gamers it’s the console you must own in 2012. So how did they fare then? They completely blew it, quite frankly. It takes talent to make Microsoft and Sony’s lacklustre conferences look positively inspired. In fact this was Nintendo’s worst showing for a long, long time.

Reggie Fils-Aime started on a tantalising note promising 23 new Wii U games, leaving us excited at the prospect of all the treats they may have had in store. A playful skit with Miyamoto leading into a demo of Pikmin 3 kicked things off nicely. The game looked promising and showed a good use for the Wii GamePad. Nothing less would have been expected of the company. Unfortunately from then on it pretty much was all downhill.

Reggie gleefully took to the stage and promised a new Mario game. Nintendo then confirmed New Super Mario Bros U, a game we already knew was coming from last year, but now renamed. The title is the very definition of playing it safe and it’s not the “real” Mario game we’re all waiting for.

Too much time was then dedicated to Batman Arkham City: Armoured Edition. A title any serious gamer played last year, only now it had some bells and whistles tacked on (Batman: Bells and Whistles Edition doesn’t have quite the same ring though does it). Nintendo were desperate to stress this version of would be different, but it’s not enough. No one is going to rush out and buy a slightly glorified port of old game.

This is the same problem facing the other announced games such as Mass Effect 3, Trine 2: Director’s Cut and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. Anyone who owns a PS3 or Xbox 360 will almost certainly own these titles if they were ever seriously interested in them.

Apart from the aforementioned games, the third-party support is worrying lacking. The biggest were Lego City: Undercover, Scribblenauts Unlimited and ZombiU. They all looked decent enough but they are hardly system sellers. In a baffling decision, Nintendo decided to excise Platinum Games’ exclusive new game P-100. Instead it was quietly revealed after the show and hidden on Nintendo’s website (much like first party title, Game and Wario).

For a console that is supposedly launching this “holiday” (a throwaway line from Reggie), Nintendo were incredibly vague on Wii U details. When exactly will it be out? How much does it cost? What’s underneath the hood? What games are launching with it? All these questions and more were never even addressed. Though some answers could be found on their website, but why the vagueness this late on?

Nintendo moved to the casual market. We were shown a tiresome demo of the sequel to Wii Fit, imaginatively titled Wii Fit U. Then there’s Sing, a karaoke party game that will have teenage girls excited at least. Later Reggie invited some dancers on the stage to demonstrate Just Dance 4. While Reggie was apparently enjoying the action, the rest of us were looking at our watches hoping Nintendo had at least one last trick up their sleeve.

So Nintendo decided to close out its conference with Nintendo Land. A genuine surprise, but ironically a game nobody asked for or even wanted after the muddled demo. Considering the amount of time they dedicated to this title it was incredibly confusing. They did a terrible job of explaining the concept. It all looked rather desperate, like Nintendo had cobbled together some ideas for mini-games using the new device and decided to shove them together in one package. Simply not good enough.

And then it was over. The big games never came and Nintendo disappointed and deflated any hype that was once there. Where was Retro Studios long promised project? Star Fox, Smash Bros., Zelda? Mario’s next proper epic title? Monolith Soft’s rumoured game, and perhaps the equally rumoured Eternal Darkness 2? Nintendo have a lot of work to do. Let’s hope they can turn things around in the months to come, otherwise they could be in trouble.

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