E3 2012: Day 2 All About Nintendo

Feature

Nintendo had the whole day to themselves, did they bring the heat or were we left scratching our heads?

June 5th, 2012 by Mark Barley

Nintendo ended the press conference on a mixed note, showcasing their mini-game filled title NintendoLand. The game will supposedly be launched alongside the console (quite possibly included with the console much like Wii Sports was) and will feature 12 unique mini-games starring some of Nintendo's biggest and most well known characters. One of the mini-games took place in Luigi's Mansion and was a Pac-Man-ish type game where one player (with the Game Pad) plays as a ghost and is tasked with hunting down four other players (playing with the Wiimotes). It's a nice mini-game to play with friends but Nintendo spent a terrible amount of time showing off NintendoLand, which can be equated to showing off Wii Fit U for any amount of time. No one cares.

That's the thing though, Nintendo doesn't care what consumers, or more specifically - gamers, think. They sold millions of Wii's so why would they change their approach with the Wii U? While the hardcore gamers were disappointed with Nintendo's 2012 presser, the company may have been saving their best for next year. 2013's E3 will be the first showcase for the Wii U post launch, so it's feasible to think that we are going to see Nintendo's hardcore titles at next year's show. Think about it, Microsoft and Sony will most likely be showing off their next-generation hardware around that time so to save face and keep up with the pack Nintendo will have to bring their heavy hitters; the Metroids, Zeldas, and Star Fox's of the gaming world. So that's ok with me. If getting Pikmin and Nintendo shovelware out of the way this year means we get multiple AAA titles next year, so be it.