Monday, June 16, 2014

E3 Press Conference: Nintendo

Continuing my inane analysis of the E3 press conferences, we're on to Nintendo now. I apologize in advance because I am, and always will be, a bit of a fanboy for Nintendo.

Once again, the rules are that I will give them a point if I would play the game that they showcase. At the end I'll accumulate the amount of games that I'll play vs. the number of games that they had shown during the conference. Okay? Okay. LET'S GO!

Super Smash Bros. - Nintendo


Super Smash Bros. has been announced well before E3, and in fact I think that it was announced last E3. Nintendo's press conference opened up with a strange fight between Saturo Iwata and Reggie Fils-Amie. This is not an announcement for a new game, but rather an addition to a game. It's a cool addition. I really like the idea of it. Plus, the Mii fighters have customizable movesets for players to choose from. That's pretty cool, but rules are rules.
Would I play this game? Yes, but it's not a game so no points.

Amiibo



This is not the video that was played during Nintendo's press conference. All that was explained of the Amiibo figures is that they can be used with select games, specifically Smash Bros. This video should have been played during the conference, or at least something more informative than what they showed. People have been equating these figures to the Skylanders or Disney Infinity figures. For good reason too, as they have a lot of similarities. However, these Amiibo figures can be used with multiple games, as opposed to just one. What was shown at the conference was that these figures can be used to train with, and be summoned into a battle. That first part is what interests me most, because it can be my own personal training partner in Super Smash Bros., which I will be putting a lot of hours into. It was shown that the figures can level up to 50, which is exponentially greater than the highest difficulty setting of level 9. Once again, this is not a new game that was announced. I'll probably buy a few of these when I get around to buying a Wii U, but it's still not a video game.
Would I play this game? I can't, because they're figures and they don't look like they move very much.

Yoshi's Wooly World - Feel Good


LOOK HOW CUTE THIS IS! LOOK AT THE WAY HIS NOSE SQUISHES WHEN HE PUSHES THE BIG RED CHAIN CHOMP BALL! But in all seriousness, this game looks adorable. This game will be made by the same team that made Kirby's Epic Yarn. That company did a good job with that game, and it looks like they'll do a good job with this one. I look forward to playing this game because it just looks fun.
Would I play this game?  Yes. Finally a new game that's announced.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - Nintendo


Continuing with the whole "cute thing, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Captain Toad was a character that was introduced in Super Mario Galaxy. I always wondered what he did, and how he helped out Mario. Here's the thing that's interesting about this game, not only is this a Mario game that is not about Mario, but also you can't jump. I'm not entirely sure how that'll work, but the game seems to be comprised of micro-levels which seem to be the perfect size for this pint-sized adventurer. The game looks like a lot of fun, and you'll have to rely on wit as opposed to skill and reflexes. Hopefully there will be a way to turn off his voice.
Would I play this game? Yes.



Zelda - Nintendo


This is a new Zelda game that looks to take it back to the old days where players could go anywhere they wanted to and have a legitimate adventure, rather than being told a story. Much like A Link Between Worlds, players will be able to go to whichever temple / dungeon they come across. Folks will be calling this a rippoff of Elderscrolls, but the fact is the original Zelda game for the NES back in 1987 did it first. Plain as that. This new Zelda game looks pretty boss, and the graphical styling is very interesting to look at.
Would I play this game? Yes. Very much so.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire


This is much more than a simple 3DHD remake. These games will include the mechanics from the recent Pokemon X and Y games, such as the Mega Evolutions. That's all well and good, but I've fallen off of the Pokemon bandwagon some time ago. I suppose that Pokemon fever is similar to the Chicken Pox, in that you only get it once in your life.
Would I play this game? No.

Bayonetta 2 - Platinum Games


I liked the first Bayonetta, even though I have yet to beat it. It's currently sitting in my backlog of games, among many, many other games that I should probably take the time to complete. Bayonetta 2 looks to be just as ridiculous and difficult as the first one. What I liked about the first game was the absurdity of it all. Bayonetta seems to be some kind of play on the over sexualization of female characters in video games, and it's to the point where it's comical. Maybe I just have a strange sense of humor. Anyhow, Bayonetta 2 comes with a redone version of the original game with special Nintendo themed costumes, that's awesome!
Would I play this game? Yes

Hyrule Warriors - Tecmo Koei


I've never played a Dynasty Warriors game, save for that one time when I was over at a friends house and he had Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. I like the idea of hacking and slashing through hordes of bad guys on my own, and this will take place in the Zelda universe, so that's really cool. I think that the most exciting thing about this game will be the fact that you can play as not Link. I'm looking forward to seeing all the different characters to choose from and how they play differently. I like the idea of this game. It may not be a traditional Zelda game, but it'll be cool to run around Hyrule and various locations and beat the ever loving snot out of a bunch of enemies.
Would I play this game? Yes

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse - Nintendo


Kirby Canvas Curse was a game that came out a long while ago for the Nintendo DS. The DS was never something that I invested much time into unless I was on a road trip or at the laundromat. However, this game will be for the home console, the Wii U. Everything looks all clay-mation and whatnot, and that looks cool. Kirby Canvas Curse was a clever game, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse looks to be just as clever. Following what I've always said about the Wii U, that the thing is just one big DS, the game looks to be putting that design principle to good use. I hope that most of the third party developers who made good games for the DS will start to see the Wii U in that same way. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, but I'm rather doubtful. The game still looks fun though.
Would I play this game? Yes.

Xenoblade Chronicles - Monolith


Meh.
Would I play this game? No.

Mario Maker - Nintendo


Custom Mario levels are nothing new. In fact, there are tons of Mario mods on the Internet, but they're not official and you can't play them with a Nintendo controller, which is the only way to play a Mario game. Now that Nintendo has an official, and easy to use by the looks of it, Mario level designer, you'll be able to share your levels with other members of the Nintendo community. I'm not really a game designer, I'm more of a writer when it comes to this sort of thing. However, Mario's running and jumping is about as basic as you can get when it comes to creating a game. Learning the arc and distance of Mario's jump and how the way things work in the Mushroom Kingdom could be an interesting experience, and a good lesson for all of you future game designers out there.
Would I play this game? Probably not.

Splatoon - Nintendo


They've done it. Only Nintendo could come up with a way to make an online multiplayer shooter that I would let my future children play. Splatoon is a game that visualizes the whole concept of the ground that you control in a military shooter. The idea is that your characters have paint guns that players use to cover the map in their team color. There are also advantages to covering the field in your team's paint, such as movement speed. Besides being a nonviolent shooter, players can transform into squids to zip through their territory. How cool is that? Also, I say nonviolent, but when you shoot up another player they explode into paint. It's violent in the same way that Mario is. Either way, it looks fun and I want to play it.
Would I play this game? Yes

That's about it. Those are the games that were announced during the Nintendo Press Conference / Digital event. After Splatoon there was another character announcement for Super Smash Bros. There was also a lot of other things that Nintendo did during E3, such as games that weren't announced during the Digital Event, as well as the Super Smash Bros. Invitational and the Treehouse. The Amiibo video was not featured in the Digital Event, and I believe that it should have been because there was a lot more explained about the Amiibo, which was super helpful. If you were to only go by what was in the Nintendo Digital event, you wouldn't get the whole picture of what Nintendo showcased at E3 this year. Nintendo seems to have a bad habit of lack of communication at these things, which is troubling and it doesn't help them at all. Also, post event Reggie Fils-Amie released a statement that they wouldn't be streaming anything because it's "Not fun". WHAT??!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Half of what Nintendo did this year for E3 was all about streaming. They streamed the Treehouse event, which showed off all of the games that were announced in action. They streamed a Smash Bros. Tournament which was super exciting. Don't tell me that isn't fun Reggie. If you don't think that kind of thing is fun, then you should probably step down from your position and let someone who understands what the people want. This also coincides with Nintendo's anti-let's player policies and various other things that is killing them slowly. Twitch is among the most popular websites in the world, don't tell me that people don't want to watch other people play games. Even if it isn't Nintendo official, they should still let people play and stream their games. That's free publicity! How can you pass that up, let alone shut it down? I don't understand what Nintendo is doing, but I still care about them. The world needs them, not just the video game industry.

Apologies for the rant, but it's all relevant. Anyhow, on with the final tally of games!

7/10

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