When Nintendos E3 presentation began I followed a similar procedure; Pikmin 3 reveal!? Thats promising! and now 23 games!? thats almost excessive! ...oh, previously released 3rd party games, back to slouching! I could not help but analyse the purpose of showing Batman: Arkham City after stating how little time they had of showing all these games. Actually, lets condense that, I could not help but analyse the purpose of showing Batman: Arkham City. The needless additions of being able to touch tap the Wii U to set off charges and unleash B.A.T. mode for power boost just shout gimmick. Nintendo may have been proud in announcing partnership with Ubisoft and EA, and it had been an assuming message to industry followers that core gamers are now within their spotlight. But in the end Nintendos first party games have always been their strongest, qualitative line-up, so wouldnt it be smart to showcase the Wii Us interactive advantages on those games? And ZombiU is only arguably original. Though Id like to be pleasantly surprised that the zombie survival genre with the Wii U is breathing new life into the series... breathing new life, oh dear.
But thats not to say we didnt experience any first party games. Of course the already mentioned Pikmin 3, this looked genuinely impressive and started the show off with a bang. Pikmin 3s multiple character mechanics had been made for the Wii U gamepad, and it looked enjoyable and accessible to build bridges, attack armoured caterpillars, destroy walls, and all the other destructing and constructing things you can do with the pikmin, via tapping or flicking the screen. It made the Wii U predominant and mandatory, whereas this hadnt been completely convincing with the third party titles. And then there was of course New Super Mario Bros. I dont think Super Mario can ever get dull, it has been accepted, and I like to feel very much welcomed, for the past 20 years so I cant see it dying out soon. However, seeing it being revealed at an E3 conference causes more of an expected nod of approval than an edge of your chair gasp. And to have Super Mario Brothers on Wii U is only really excelling in that you can play it via the gamepad instead of the possibly already engaged TV. The other rare suitably beneficial title had been Scribblenauts, the very popular Nintendo DS word combination game, so a game that has been built with touch screen in mind. But there has to be something more obviously, an incentive to purchase this otherwise very casual, short burst game on a slightly less portable device. Multiplayer! What that is exactly is uncertain, but it needs to be a focus for drawing in real interest. Read on for the final part...