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There is always something magical about a Nintendo press conference at E3. Is it the respectable Reggie and Miyamoto? The instantly recognizable legacies of names like Mario and Zelda? Or is it that Nintendo pushes games and fun above all other aspects? I can’t quite pinpoint it, but I do know that whenever Nintendo presents they hold an almost Apple-like grip on the gaming press; we stop and listen for the big N, no matter what our fanboy affiliations may be.
This year Nintendo seemed to do what Sony and Microsoft didn’t: build upon mega-reveal after mega-reveal of games and hardware that we wanted/didn’t expect to see to the point of near religious-like convulsion. Nintendo essentially said “You can have your technological breakthroughs, we’ll make blockbuster games that people want to play. Oh, we also have technological breakthroughs.”
…And Dammit, People Like Me
In a sort of self-affirmation, Reggie Fils-Aime opened the press event by speaking to the recent negative press Nintendo has received for the Wii’s sales drops, amount of play time, and “fad” status, noting that this past December the Wii posted record sales for a home console. Nintendo this year will focus on tech, but also on games that everyone will want to play.
A Legend Reborn
The new Legend of Zelda game was at the top of many gamers’ wishlists for E3 this year, and Nintendo chose to kick off its conference with the game. The WiiMotion Plus-enhanced entry is the first truly “Wii” Zelda game, after Twilight Princess was criticized for being a waggle-enhanced (albeit great) port of an originally Gamecube game.
Apart from some technical difficulties on the stage during Miyamoto’s demo, the crowd was floored by the enhancements. Miyamoto-san noted that the well-executed swordfighting from WiiSports Resort was the inspiration for the game, with slashing and strikes being true one-to-one motions. The demo included Link walking through a field to a door with a giant impenetrable eyeball on it. To pass, Link must rotate his sword in the air to cause the eye to track it, which leads to the eye becoming dizzy and unlocking the door. A novel design feature that could only be done with the WiiMotion Plus.
The only (and major) disappointment: to allow for the completion of the final dungeons and game elements, the game will not be released until 2011.
2010 is Side-Scrolling
The resurgence of classically-infused side-scrolling games in 2009 continues into 2010, as Nintendo is focusing on the genre to bring some of its biggest classic names to the Wii. Each time a new game was revealed, the crowd sound of booming yelps of joy could be heard throughout the crowd of attendees.
Metroid: The Other M, announced last year, will fuse 2D and 3D action elements like never before in the series. The game, which focuses on Samus Aran’s back story, releases August 31st.
Kirby Epic Yarn, which may be the greatest double entendre for video game yet, stars the once fluffy blob in a game designed around knitted thread, denim, and cloth. Kirby can pull enemies towards him with a new whip weapon, unzip the world and travel “behind” the background (creating a neat visual lump), and scrunch together the world’s elements. It releases this Fall.
Donkey Kong Country Returns is the next project from Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios. The game works much the same way that the original DKC games worked on the SNES: classing platforming and exploration. The addition of layers in the game, a la Little Big Planet, allows Donkey Kong to travel between foreground and background to solve puzzles and avoid traps. The is Nintendo’s “big game” for the 2010 Holiday season.
Though these games all looked great and received incredible crowd feedback, they don’t seem to be the huge “blockbuster” level games that we’ve come to expect from Nintendo for an important Holiday release. Without Zelda this year, can the retro-based Donkey Kong and Kirby maintain Nintendo against the Kinect/Move onslaught?
Bridge Games
Nintendo, unlike Sony and Microsoft, did not place too much focus on casual games in their presentation. Instead, key “bridge” games were shown: the Mii-infused WiiParty (think Mario Party with Miis), Just Dance 2, and Mario Sports Mix (a collection of team-based sports games… with Mario). It’s unknown exactly how “bridge” these games actually are, but if history tells us anything then they’ll probably sell extremely well.
Big Names, Big Games
Gameplay footage was shown for Epic Mickey, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and Dragon Quest IX, with Warren Spector presenting and showing a playthrough of gorgeously-designed Mickey. The games joined a reveal of the Goldeneye “remake” that fans have been asking for, which for all intents and purposes didn’t seem to visually be up to par with anything this generation. Goldeneye appeared to be stuck in time somewhere between N64 and PS2 in terms of fidelity.
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