E3: Nintendo Press Conference Recap

I would have to say after watching the Nintendo E3 press conference I came away with more questions than answers. It was a little befuddling to see Nintendo spend so much time on casual games after last year's E3 press conference where they spent an tremendous amount of time trying to win back the hardcore gamers. Nintendo did mention that you will be able to use two gamepad controllers with one Wii U, which is something that the system desperately needed to survive. However, there was no official demos of this feature, so we will have to wait until later to get our first look at two Wii U gamepad controllers working with the same system. The press conference started off with a great demo of Pikman 3 for the Wii U; where they introduced a new type of Pikmin the Rock Pikmin, which like they sound are rocks that can be thrown at objects to break them down. In addition, there will be "four new Pikmin leaders, but Olimar is not one of them because of some "secret". Here is the video: http://youtu.be/OIB5fflsQzM Next Nintendo went on to talk about the new Mario game New Super Mario Bros. U, the game will apparently launch around the same time as the Wii U. It was honetly the most beautiful Mario game I have ever seen. Then Nintendo announced a new Mario game for the 3DS, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and that it would be released on August 19. Here is the New Super Mario Bros. U Trailer: http://youtu.be/K4pJnV5OxPI Next Nintendo announced a Wii U partnership with the developer 5th Cell to bring Scribblenauts Unlimited to the Wii U. The game was was in HD so it looked great, but it also allows players to combine objects with each other. In addition, there will be same screen multiplayer for the game, but it is not known whether this will be a launch title or not. Scribblenauts Unlimited Trailer: http://youtu.be/ikuPLdV7JJo Nintendo and Warner Brothers then showed a glimpse of what could be a very fun game LEGO City Undercover, where you will use the Wii U controller to scan for clues and hunt criminals. The game actually looks like a lot of fun, and I can see some major potential in it, but it may not be for everyone. Here is the trailer: http://youtu.be/DC2enWzxsUM This is where the press conference started to go down hill a bit, Warner Brothers came on stage to show off the Wii U version of Batman: Arkham City which didn't seem to add much other than a new control setup and some new armor. Here is the demo: http://youtu.be/qdC9JgZUpT0 Next we got a list of third party titles that will be appearing on the Wii U at some point or another including "Mass Effect 3, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Aliens: Colonial Marines, and some new form of Ninja Gaiden 3." Here is the third party trailer: http://youtu.be/n7-4SY0WFak Then the conference started to go down hill even further by showing off the a new version of Wii Fit called you guessed it Wii Fit U. Then Nintendo showed off a game called Sing (working title) that is basically a karaoke game, you know everybody's favorite part of RockBand. The conference picked back up when Ubisoft came out to give us our first look at ZombieU. The game looks impressive, some of the features that were shown off were "realtime access to inventory, scanning the environment and zooming in for sniper rifle headshots." But the best part is the camera in the controller will allow you to zombify any person you take a picture of. Here is the ZombieU Trailer: http://youtu.be/VPDHMvk6gTw However, unfortunately the conference ended on a wimpier as they spent the vast majority of the rest of the conference focusing on a game called NintendoLand. The premise behind the game is that it will do for the Wii U what Wii Sports did for the Wii, the game will be released on launch day with the Wii U. The game is set to put a large group of Nintendo franchises under one roof in a Disneyland type setting. One of the main levels Nintendo showed off was the Luigi's Ghost Mansion, where one player plays as a ghost and the other players try to keep from getting caught by the ghost. Here is part of the demonstration: NintendoLand Lastly Nintendo went on to demo a new game outside of their E3 press conference called Project P-100 (working title) from Platinum Games. It was one of the best games Nintendo showed all day, why this wasn't part of the presentation is unknown. Here is the description of the game directly from the Nintendo E3 website: "Earth is under attack from an invasion of enormous aliens, and the only thing that can protect the planet is a group of unlikely, yet mighty, heroes with special abilities. Unfortunately, the aliens are too powerful for the heroes to fight individually. They must join forces and work together to defeat their common enemy. These uniquely different heroes can morph into powerful weapons to crush the invaders or turn into objects like a giant fist or bridge to interact with and traverse the environments." Features: Players must explore each stage to find helpless citizens and recruit them to join their army of heroes. The more heroes you gather, the greater your Special Morph Powers will be. Players can use the Wii U GamePad's touch screen to command heroes such as Bonzai Man, Vending Machine Man and even Toilet Bowl Man. Heroes can also morph into gelatin to guard themselves from enemy attacks. Players can also use the GamePad to explore areas unseen on the TV screen and solve puzzle elements. Platinum Games, known for hit titles like Bayonetta and MadWorld, has partnered with Nintendo to apply its unique talent to the development of one of the first games for Wii U. Here is the first official footage of the game: http://youtu.be/Mr4D4YZQ9uY All in all I would have to say it was a somewhat disappointing press conference, there were things I was hoping to learn about the Wii U and really none of my questions were answered. There was no real mention of internet connectivity and how they would be improving it over the Wii's system. Not to mention the focus on casual games was very disappointing because last years Nintendo E3 press conference was just the opposite. Finally, there was no Zelda or Super Smash Bros. game shown so I would go in under the assumption that neither of those franchises will be release titles for the Wii U. I would say that of the three console makers Sony had the best showing, with Nintendo coming in second, and Microsoft last. This has been one of the more disappointing E3's overall. It almost feels like both Sony and Microsoft are holding back for the next generation consoles which will likely be announced next year.