As we have come to expect from Nintendo, their E3 presentation focused largely on first-party titles and franchises. While a number of the announced games for the Wii U were previously announced, the 3DS got all of the big surprises and reveals. Nintendo’s handheld got some new entries in a number of Nintendo’s legendary franchises including The Legend of Zeldo, Mario, Metroid and Animal Crossing. While Nintendo might have been lacking the overall punch on console that Sony and Microsoft had, fans should still be happy with what they saw.
Poor Nintendo. They were the biggest name in gaming through the Nintendo 64 but just lost traction along the way. Sure, the Wii was a sales success but they lost third-party support along the way and that hasn’t changed with the underpowered Wii U. That being said, Nintendo was probably the top first-party developer and publisher last year and this year’s E3 presentation hopes to help them retain the title.
If you want to make a big wave in marketing your game at E3, you don’t take your game onto IGN or anyone else’s all-day E3 livestream or even make it a part of your media briefing. You take your in-development game to Conan O’Brien for a Clueless Gamer segment.
For his latest Clueless Gamer segment, Conan took at look at the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Now that you’ve caught up on reading about the latest offerings from the crew at Nintendo, how about we all watch the latest offerings from Nintendo. While we might have been complaining about a lack of system sellers on the Wii U thus far, it looks like the next 18 months of the Wii U’s life might just be worth picking up the console, especially when it comes down to the $300 price range from the $350 in Canada.
For the second straight year, Nintendo forewent the big press event and instead kicked off the first official day of E3 with a special Nintendo Direct video conference. While it might scream of a company bleeding cash, it may not have been a bad idea this year. With neither Sony nor Microsoft setting the world on fire with their media briefings, the door was open for the white brand to make a big impression.
Not only did they have a big opportunity, they took it and got people excited about Nintendo for the first time in a few years.
We knew that Nintendo has been in rough shape since the launch of their current-gen Wii U console was a catastrophic flop. Between not having any killer apps on launch to an apparent massive marketing problem getting the message out that the Wii U is a new console and not a controller, the last year-and-a-half hasn’t been pretty for the granddaddy of game companies.
Yesterday’s quarterly earnings call showed how bad the situation is for Nintendo. The company announced a big loss for the fiscal year, noted poor Wii U sales for the first nine months of the fiscal year and lowered expectations for 3DS sales for the year.
Just in time for the start of a new console generation, the Chinese government has rescinded a 14-year-old ban on the sale of video game consoles in the country. The temporary ban will allow Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to sell their consoles in China for the first time since 2000.
I don’t want to sound like I’m slagging off Nintendo but this news should really worry some people back in Japan. In its first weekend on the market in the UK, the PlayStation 4 is already the top-selling next-gen console having beaten both the Xbox One and Wii U.
For the last year, the Wii U has been struggling for respect as a console. People have been waiting for the console to get games or at least a must-buy killer app. It may have taken a year but it looks like Nintendo has finally come through thanks to the latest game in their iconic Super Mario franchise.
The latest game in the Super Mario series is getting massive praise from the critics and appears to be the killer app that the Wii U desperately needs. While it may not be quite as great as Super Mario 64 or Galaxy, it’s certainly much better than New Super Mario Bros. U. Maybe that one would have been a system seller if they took the original SMB trilogy and updated it to modern graphics and gameplay tricks.
Alright, here’s the review roundup you guys were looking for this week. I know you weren’t that interested in Greater Toronto Area V or whatever that other game is called. This week saw the North American release of The Wonderful 101, another Wii U exclusive that Nintendo hopes will convince people that there actually are games available for the Wii U. I won’t call it a system seller because those Mario Kart and Smash Bros. games in the pipeline will move consoles while a new IP isn’t likely to do that unless it’s a GOTY candidate.
Well, I guess that is unless you’re at Gaming Age who have deemed this a killer app for the Wii U. They’re one of three outlets to give the game a perfect score. Not all praise is that high. The scores bottom out at 55% and go all the way up to 100%. Reviewers agree that they like the charm and fun of the game but there are bugs and control issues that hold the game back.
et geekera 