Nintendo's E3 2014

Good old Reggie

I don't write as much as I should any more but E3 is always a time for big discussion. Or in this case me just saying what I thought about it this year.

After looking back at the final announcements I'd say I'm semi-happy about the outcome of this year's E3 for Nintendo. But it didn't start out that way. After watching the digital event I had to admit I felt let down. Annoyed even.

Nintendo are in trouble- even as a big fan I won't lie about that fact. Nobody can get behind the idea of the Wii U, the 3DS is hardly the success the DS was and there are a limited number of fan-favourite franchises on the horizon. The key to fixing these problems I thought would be simple. Just make the games that people have long talked about and have said 'how cool would it be if Nintendo made...'.

Sad lol :(

An example of such games are-

Pokemon Snap 2 - Everybody wants this. Everybody. There is no greater use of the Wii U gamepad and if there's one thing we all know it's that Pokemon sells!

A new 2D Metroid- Metroid Dread was at one point happening and everyone was stoked for it.

A futuristic Zelda - Bring some new life to the Zelda franchise.

Mario Galaxy 3, F Zero in HD, franchise crossovers - just things that would get people talking.


The Digital Event did none of this. It wasn't a train wreck but my god was it underwhelming.

Going through it step by step.

I thought it had a strong start. The Robot Chicken shorts showed that Nintendo aren't afraid to poke fun at themselves and know that it's time for a change of pace and direction. 'There are no new Mario games this year' peaks interest. No Mario this year? What direction will they go in?! What franchises will we see?

A Yoshi game, the mini-game from Mario 3D World and errr... Mario Maker. No Mario then.

The choice of Smash Bros characters to reveal was a little odd as well. I thought the Miis were okay to start the show slowly but then to finish the event with a Lady Palutena reveal was absurd. 'OMG PALUTENA WILL BE IN THE NEW SMASH BROS!?' tweeted no one.

Twas a hell of an anime though

I personally go into E3 every year anticipating the big reveals so I was disappointed how much time was spent on games we already knew existed. The news that Midna is playable in Hyrule Warriors was fantastic but I wasn't bothered about hearing all that info on Yoshi, X or Bayonetta 2. New trailers and gameplay was nice to see but I wanted new games!

Amiibo had to be there, I understand this. But as a 23 year old man it'd didn't interest me too much. What self respecting 23 year old still plays with toys? Apart from Lego. Lego is different.

And now to the most positive aspect of the digital event- New Zelda. It looked stunning but I was kind of hoping for something more...epic. Look at the reveal trailer for Twilight Princess for example. I'm sure a trailer like that will come soon but it was just a little disappointing to see only 20 seconds of moving footage after the initial excitement of 'holy shit new Zelda!'

This might not be Link, scandal

Splatoon looked cool but had far too much importance put on it. Like if Dillon's Rolling Western had a 10 minute feature a few years ago.

And that was kind of it for the digital event. That was all a bit mehNEW STAR FOX! Coming to Wii U! Pac Man is in Smash Bros! Surprise!

Why was no importance put on this info? Pac Man is a huge reveal, I'd say as big as Mega Man. Even now, fan's who watched the digital event are still unaware of the announcement that came after.

The best newcomer imo

And no Star Fox footage at all? They got away with showing the bare minimum of Zelda, I'd be okay with seeing the same for Star Fox.

There are good years and bad years for Nintendo at E3 and I sadly feel this year's was on the latter end of the scale. We still have one or two things to look forward to in the coming year though with Smash Bros and Hyrule Warriors coming soon.

Until next year Nintendo. And all the Directs in between.