By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
MTZehvor on 07 July 2013
Edit Thread
JWeinCom said:
MTZehvor said:
JWeinCom said:
MTZehvor said:
KHlover said:
MTZehvor said:
I'd announce more than one new game at the first E3 after the system releases.

I counted more than one...

Really? What was there that we didn't know about beforehand? We already knew there was a 3D Mario, we already knew that an RPG was coming from Monolith, we knew of a new Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Retro's Project, Pokemon X&Y, Wind Waker HD, and Bayo 2. WF 101, Pikmin 3, Yarn Yoshi, and Wind Waker HD had already been shown. The only thing at their E3 that we didn't know would be there ahead of time was the new Yoshi's Island game.

You can, of course, argue that we didn't know what some of these titles were beforehand, and I'll grant you that. We didn't know all the basics of X, or whether Retro was making Donkey Kong or Metroid, and I guess if that's what your definition of "announce" is, then that's fine. My point is that everyone knew (to some extent) of every single game that Nintendo was working on ahead of time before E3 (besides the new Yoshi's Island). If you're trying to generate excitement for a console, especially one where the biggest knock on it has been a lack of software, you should probably try for more than that.


So... games don't count if they weren't announced specifically at E3?  Is their objective to build a lineup of games, or surprise people at one show in June?

Preferably both. The Wii U had so little in the way of "big, surprise" announcements before E3 that it was important to throw some surprises out there at E3 in order to compete with all the hype surrounding other next gen consoles being announced. 

The Wii U's upcoming lineup was considered rather sparse before E3, and that's not a perception that the Wii U can thrive with. Something new and surprising would have been an excellent way to build hype and set the Wii U up to compete this fall. Even if the game doesn't get announced for, say, two more years, there's certainly a point to announce it as it adds one more reason for a potential customer to buy the Wii U (they can buy that game somewhere down the road).


This seems a bit contradictory.  On the one hand, you're saying they should announce things further in advance, and on the other you're criticizing them for announcing games like Smash early so they weren't surprising when E3 came around. 

At any rate, I think the Wii U lineup is fairly strong over the rest of the year.  Pikmin 3, Mario 3D World, DKCR, Wii Fit, Wii Party, Sonic Lost World, and so on.  Pretty much all the biggest franchises from the Wii.

I'm not being contradictory at all. In fact, I fully support Nintendo announcing Smash Bros when they did. My point here is that Smash Bros. isn't a surprise, or what I would qualify as a "surprising" game.

Let me pose a question to you. If I asked you what franchises you would absolutely be willing to guarantee on the next Nintendo console within its first three years on the market, what would you put on that list? For me, it would be Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, and Mario Kart. Arguably all four of the Wii U's biggest announced games at this point are from those four franchises. Games that I would have reasonable expectations to be on the system would be Metroid, Donkey Kong, and Kirby. Again, the big, mysterious title from Retro that we all were wondering about happened to be Donkey Kong. 

(For what it's worth, despite throwing Metroid in there, I think a Retro return to Metroid would have served as a moderate surprise, particularly if they went in a new direction in the series, such as perhaps a 2D title or an attempt to fix everyone's image of 3rd Person Metroid. Same goes if Retro had done something like a sequel to DK 64)

Anyway, before I get any further with this, let me clear something up so that thirty different people don't attempt to tear my head off. I love all of the games mentioned so far. Donkey Kong Country Returns is probably in my Top 5 games of the seventh generation, I'm a huge Smasher, and while I'm probably not anywhere near as big a fan of those series as I am Zelda, Mario, and Mario Kart, I still enjoy all of those games as well. They key here is making the Wii U more appealing; read as: Making the Wii U appeal to more people.

The problem here is that the vast, vast majority of the people who will buy the Wii U for these games are almost certainly already going to. The people who aren't so convinced by Nintendo's regular franchises? They don't have a reason to buy it, yet. If I was Nintendo, I would attempt to either create something new and surprising of my own, or attempt to bring in more deals with third party publishers like Platinum for games like Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2. Those types of games have potential to bring in new customers and make the Wii U appeal to a larger audience than it already does.