
Because we've also asked DS fans, we thought we'd pose the same question here: how would you rate the Wii's E3?
Despite the angry tidal wave of criticism over what many (but not all) saw as a disappointing Nintendo keynote, the more recent announcement of a third Pikmin game seems to have tempered the outcry a little. Not that there was a shortage of announcements in the first place -- WiiSpeak, Wii Sports Resort, Animal Crossing: City Folk, MotionPlus, Wii Music, and online, WiiSpeak-enabled multiplayer in The Conduit were all entirely new to us.
Fill us in on the bits of E3 you liked, the bits you hated, the surprises, and the no-shows.













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-18-2008 @ 8:21AM
Dylan said...
The one, and only, thing I liked about Nintendo E3 was Animal Crossing City Folk. Everything else was a huge bummer, espically not more deets on Zelda. It took Nintendo only one year after the release of Wind Waker to release a trailer of Twilight Priness, and two more years to acctually release the game. Two years after Twilight Princess, we don't have anything. Not one, single thing besides a "We're working on it". They couldn't have peiced together *somthing* for E3, the biggest video game expo of the year?
But I suppose I liked the annoucment of Wii Speak and Wii MotionPlus, espically the latter. I would love for that to acctually be Link's sword or a lightsaber. That would be as real as it gets I don't really know enough about Wii Music to be excited about it. All it looks like to be is pressing buttons on the WiiMote to make music. No concept or anything, just playing music, and that could get really old really fast. I would get extremmley bored of the thing I was supposed to to in a VIDEO GAME was to just make sounds. Playing random notes on drums in real life wouldn't be fun, what makes Nintendo think it would be fun in a video game? But mabey theres somthing I'm missing. But so far, I don't think I'm going to buy it. As for no shows? Other than Zelda, there was really nothing else I was hoping for. I was really excited for that. We hadn't heard anything about my favorite franchise for nearly two years and it seemed very likley that Nintendo would bring somthing up about it at E3, so I was really, really disappointed to only hear we're working on it. It does seem like Nintendo is paying more attention to the casual crowd. And I'm the kinda person that would spend all night playing Halo, and the kinda person who would play Animal Crossing the second I wake up to the second I fall asleep, and even *I* was sad about this years E3.
So the only thing I'm looking forward to is ACCF and Wii MotionPlus, and possibly WiiSpeak if my friend (the only one of my friend that I know plays Animal Crossing) will buy it. That would be wicked fun if we could go into each others villages and talk. But other than that, I'm felling really left out.
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7-18-2008 @ 8:49AM
Jon said...
Overall, I think Nintendo's presentation was satisfactory in that it provided as little details as possible as to what they were going to release in the future but just enough to keep the fans satisfied.
I am interested in how the MotionPlus will be implemented in future games, especially since the Wii's existence I have always wanted to wield the Wii remote like a sword or lightsaber and have yet to do that fully. WiiSpeak may be a good thing but I really want to know whether or not background sounds will clutter online gaming because that would be extremely annoying. Pikmin and Animal Crossing are also good for the system now.
What has upset me is the fact that Nintendo definitely seems like they aren't balancing hardcore gaming and casual gaming. How many casual or new gamers checked out E3 this week? For this event, Nintendo should have expanded on the details of Pikmin, Animal Crossing, and the new Mario and Zelda titles instead of relying on the WiiMusic, which I believe was the focal point of Nintendo's presentation. WiiMusic seems like a good innovation, but it seems that it doesn't have longevity. Obviously I have no idea what the game is actually like, all I know are the details from E3 but if all you are doing is pressing buttons and moving around, that will tire out easily. Gaming is supposed to present challenges and if that game has none, then it will fail.
I was truly hoping for more to be presented to satisfy the hardcore crowd. I love the fact that Reggie was "baffled" that people were disappointed in their Wii E3. I even think he retaliated and said "What about Animal Crossing and GTA DS?". Wow Reggie, those TWO games will definitely satisfy our gaming needs for this next year.
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7-18-2008 @ 9:10AM
samfish said...
It was pretty crappy over all. Microsoft's conference and the ensuing meltdowns were the high point for me (I enjoyed the Nintendo meltdowns too, until they became incredibly annoying after about a day, though).
The only conferences I was really interested in didn't yield any info. Nintendo's crappy conference needs no words, Capcom's was worthless, since they just talked about an inevitably shitty Lost Planet movie and We never learned what Shinji Mikami is up to at Platinum from Sega.
Lame.
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7-18-2008 @ 9:12AM
adolson said...
Wii Music was new to you? Where were you during E3 2006? It's really not far evolved since then..
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7-18-2008 @ 9:29AM
holmes said...
i'd rate it a 1 out of 10. very disappointing. i know that rumors are rumors and nintendo should not have to live up to them. but still, there was not one single moment during this E3 conference where i said "wow, i'm glad i own a wii."
wii music is a joke to me.
animal crossing is cute, but i'm not interested
i'm sick of the raving rabbids
i have no interest in shaun white snowboarding
i'm fairly interested in call of duty, but i want to know more about wi-fi play.
there was no moment that blew me away. there was no game intro'd that made me say "crap, i have to preorder that NOW."
that's a big problem for nintendo. where's the momentum?
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7-18-2008 @ 9:36AM
SegaPleaseMakePanzerDragoonWii! said...
The Wii is the first Nintendo system I've owned since NES, and the first one I've played since SNES. So I have some questions for you experts: What is a Pikmin (and why should I care)? Also, what's the deal with this Animal Crossing stuff (and again, why should I care)? It looks like it's geared towards very young children, right? What's the deal? Explanations, please.
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7-18-2008 @ 9:36AM
il_duce620 said...
I was definitely disappointed in this year's E3 presentation, so far as Nintendo goes. WiiSpeak is a great step in the right direction, but I guess I would rather see the option of a headset or this ambient microphone contraption they came up with... On the plus side, I think it'll be useful in games like "Mario Kart" when my wife and I are playing with another couple and _both_ of us want to talk, thus meaning that I don't need to get two headsets...
I was, however, pleased with the games shown at E3 for Nintendo. Seeing support from "Fatal Frame," "Mega Man 9," "Wario Land," "CoD5" and, especially, "The Conduit," makes me glad that third-parties (and first-parties, in the case of "Wario") are putting some serious effort into the Wii. I only hope sales of these games reflect that!
Overall, I think it's a fine line Nintendo is walking. They realize that "Wii Sports" is the reason a lot of people bought their system, and to sell more games to those people, they need to make announcements that reflect their commitment to expanding that market. "Wii Music" and "Wii Sports Resort" are games that will well just as well as "Wii Fit," so to _them_, it pays to make sure they're the centerpiece of their show...
...that said, it doesn't play much fan-service to the dedicated folks that have bought Nintendo systems for years, that want more of their classic characters returning, or that _really_ want that 1:1 lightsaber game that still isn't coming...
I guess I'm saying that, while I understand why Nintendo ran their presentation like they did, especially with other vendors at E3 to show off their games for them, I'm still disappointed that they didn't show off some other titles to help keep the "hardcore" kids satisfied.
Oh yeah. ...and where the heck is my storage solution?!?!?! Seriously!!! I was counting on that!!!!! Grrrrrr...
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7-18-2008 @ 10:10AM
Rowdehaj said...
It was horriffic, I was secretly hoping for a new Star Fox, some other core-oriented titles, and the storage issue resolved. No deal :C
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7-18-2008 @ 2:18PM
Gun Barrier (Gamer Tag) said...
look on the bright side. With that new motionplus adapter, we could have a better starfox, and maybe they shelved H.A.M.M.E.R. and picked it bak up to use that adapter!
7-18-2008 @ 10:14AM
Richard said...
Big disappointment. Don't care about Animal Crossing or Music (which is so lame even a year's extra development couldn't fix it). Motion has promise, but if third parties don't pick it up because of the cost, then nothing will happen. Plus, it brings the cost of a full two-player system up another 40 bucks or so. They really should give the Motion away since the remote should have done this stuff from the beginning.
I'm in my 50s and like Guitar Hero, No More Heroes, and Rayman. Rayman II was a big disappointment so this new one better get good reviews or I won't get it. There is still no killer app for the Fit.
I was also hoping for an update for the DS. It's time for iPhone-like motion controls. But disappointed there too.
No new channels?
Really an aweful performance overall from Nintendo. Now I'm trying to decide between a PS3 and XBox, the Wii may gather dust for a while until third party developers do something with the Motion control that is interesting.
Nintendo has gone TOO far in the ultra-casual, too-cute game direction. The Wii has become the "white bread" of gaming systems.
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7-18-2008 @ 11:12AM
benmully said...
Animal Crossing barely passed as a core game for Nintendo. The 3rd party stuff they announced doesn't count. It was an increbilbly poor showing all round for core/casual.
As far as I know for the rest of 2009 this is the 1st party junk we have coming on Wii: Animal Crossing, Mario Sluggers, Wario Shake It, Wii Music.
No exactly the most exciting line up for the next 6 months!!
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7-18-2008 @ 11:45AM
Mr.Taco said...
Being completely unfamiliar with all that is Animal Crossing (except for the Brawl stage...), I might be interested in it, if I knew more about it.
It appears to have a gameplay that is not unlike "The Sims"?
I might be interested...might be.
No Zelda? Bummer. I would've liked to have heard more about the "Spore" port...that'd would've been nice.
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7-18-2008 @ 12:10PM
Shaq-Fu said...
Pretty much like MySims with traditional Sims gameplay. But, if you leave the game alone for an extended period of time, people might move away, weeds will grow, and a national disaster will strike the coastline
7-18-2008 @ 11:54AM
Shaq-Fu said...
Wait, is this for Nintendo's press conference, or the Wii in general? Nintendo gets 6.5/10, not good, but not god awful. Overall, the Wii would get a 7.5/10, satisfactory. The PSP had the best, with Resistance, Patapon, and the new bundle.
Animal Crossing will quickly eat up my months like the pokemon games before it. I guess Shaun White snowboarding didn't look as bad as I thought. Raving Rabbids needs to just go away. call of Duty actually looked pretty good. Every game that was Wii ____ came with a peripheral, nothing has been announced for Wii Music. Could it come with a HDD? Some stupid Baton attachment? Maybe
In general, the Wii's saving grace was definitely the Conduit. My only question is why didn't THQ have a conference? Did I miss it? Did they show Deadly Creatures or de Blob? I'd give those 2 and NHL 2K9 my sleeper picks. Ubisoft needs to pack up and leave. Really, you couldn't confirm that HAWX is going to the Wii? Not even discuss the Wii BiA game? No Wii PoP or Assassins? No. Instead they introduced games such as Petz: Oh God Just let this Franchise Die Already and EnerG.
So overall, Wii gets 7.5/10, PSP gets 9/10, 360 gets 7.5/10, DS gets an 8/10, and the PS3 gets a 7/10
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7-18-2008 @ 12:21PM
Cyantre said...
Penny Arcade summed-up Nintendo's keynote this year quite nicely.
"We are rich as fuck. Here's a bunch of shit you don't care about."
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7-18-2008 @ 12:59PM
Hamster said...
It was horrible, like a dagger to the heart. I saw a Nintendo I no longer recognise; one that is willing to sell out itself, the games industry and all of its fans for casual mediocrity. One that cares more about making easy money than art, honour and integrity. That's not the Nintendo I've loved for the 23 years of my life. The company that prized unrivalled quality above everything. Making lots of money and making amazing games and consoles aren't mutually exclusive Nintendo? You had massive success with the NES and the SNES without constantly dumbing-down and appealing to the lowest common denominator. You're clearly still making the most amazing games around like Mario Galaxy, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Smash Bros Brawl, etc. games that achieve both fantastic sales and acclaim, despite the fact that you'd constantly prefer to show off some casual gimmicky garbage like throwing a frisbee at a dog or pretending to play with a fricking hula-hoop. I'm just glad Wii Toilet Training and Wii Knitting weren't announced, though I suppose they're going to be next year's megatons....
Be careful Nintendo, the casuals will get off the bandwagon as quickly as they got on, there's only so many times you can trick people into buying crap, even the morons of your current target audience. It's the gamers and the fans that have always been here and always will, that even stood by you during the days of the N64 and the GC when it was the casuals who left you high and dry for Sony.
It was only two years ago in 2006 that you had such an amazing E3 and satisfied both hardcore and casual gamers perfectly. All gamers were on your side. we willed you to succeed and gave you so much good-will. This E3 was proof that you've betrayed that good-will.
Whoever that Cammie Dunnaway is, I hope we never have to endure the excrutiating witch ever again. "I'm a mom" "I'm a mom" "my kids love me" Shut up! I doubt your kids love you so much now that you're the most hated person in the games industry! What the hell has happened to Reggie? Is he now all about "sucking ass and being lame"? Miyamoto, you're the world's greatest living genius, why are you wasting your time with casual Wii Fit/Wii Music blandness? Iwata, you're boring me to death.
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7-18-2008 @ 1:29PM
Robert27 said...
Hated it so much, everything they showed was just the confirmation of what we already knew.
I mean, I love Nintendo and all, but since Brawl, I think there hasn´t been any other "amazing" title, and with all that FF XIII 4 Xbox and RE:5 i´m really considering buyin an Xbox.
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7-18-2008 @ 1:41PM
TheOverlord#2 can has Animals Crossing? said...
Nintendo's Press Conference- 2/5
1st Party Games- 3/5
3rd Party games- 4/5
Nintendo's Conference was so crappy and filled to the brim with games I couldn't care less about, except for a few that i'll get to in a second.
Nintendo's 1st Party offerings are kind of okay, but out of the few games, I can't wait for Animal Crossing: City Folk, and I care about Wii Sports Resort, but it isn't something i'm getting all hyped about because it isn't Zelda or anything, and Wii Music....four words: Guitar Hero World Tour.
3rd Party games: This is what i'm really looking for. The Conduit has voice-chat, 16-player multiplayer, a big single-player campaign, AWESOME graphics, and so much more...what more could you want? Then there's Mega Man 9 which looks great and very challenging(which if it is, more than one WiiMote will be going through my TV)(http://www.virtualnes.com, click M then look for Mega Man, there's the first six if anyone wants to play for free), which are two games(there's more but it'd take a while to look), but two games that will be great.
(Note: Only saying stuff that was primarily at E3, I want Wario Land: Shake It! but there was basically no info at E3)
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7-18-2008 @ 1:53PM
Chyld989 (MKWii: 5241-2307-2882) said...
On a scale from 1 to 10 I'd rate it a 2...MAYBE a 3.
There was very little that I cared about, and even some of the stuff I am interested in could still go horribly wrong.
Wii MotionPlus + Wii Sports Resort
This should be really cool. Depending on how many games Resort has it could still kinda suck, but as long as the addon does what it's supposed to, and as long as the sword fighting is good, and as long as other games make good use of this, I'm going to be all about this thing.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
I'm REALLY nervous about this game. On one hand, it could be absolutely fantastic. The only GTA game I've played lately that I didn't like was San Andreas, and that was only because of all that stupid eating/working out/etc. crap.
However, even if the game itself is well done, the controls could still fuck things up. If they make us control the character with the stylus I won't even think about buying it. Controling movement with the stylus is a horrible way of doing things, and ruins what could otherwise be a decent game (I'm looking at you, Phantom Hourglass).
WiiSpeak
Well, at least they're finally making a microphone, right? I'm still nervous about the fact that it's not a headset though. Every microphone like this that I've ever used has sucked majorly, and most were more expensive than this will be, so I'm nervous. Also, it seems like a strange choice based on the fact that, being an open mic., it will be more likely to pick up the sound coming from the speakers. I'm definitely reserving judgement on this one until I can see it in action (or at least read more reviews about it). I'm hoping it's gonna be good though.
Well...those are the only 3 things I cared about. Wii Music? No thanks. Animal Crossing? Fuck no, I don't like horribly shitty games. Even the fact that they "announced" Pikmin 3...I like Pikmin, but the fact that they couldn't even show a small trailer leads me to believe it's at least a year or two away yet, so I'm not going to bother getting excited yet.
Overall, a very lame showing from Nintendo.
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7-18-2008 @ 2:42PM
Soiden said...
I think it wasn't a bad E3, I just think like Miyamoto-sama said, Nintendo used E3 to announce more 'casual' elements than 'hardcore'. At the end, a game is a game, and the way you play it shouldn't care much. I liked this E3, AC, Pikmin, WiiSpeak, a new WiiSports, a better Motion ofr the Wii!!! I mean, WiiMotionPlus is a megaton, if you think about it.
I just missed some main franchise announcement: Mario, Zelda, Metroid...
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7-18-2008 @ 3:23PM
EDW said...
i'd give it around..ehhh, a 2/10. animal crossing, as interesting as it was on the GC, is not by any means a hardcore video game, and it seems to have barely changed since its original outing. loved the original, but i tired of it, and i won't pick up city folks for the Wii. the announcement of Wii Sports Resort with 1:1 control had me excited enough to wet myself for, oh, about a minute. then Nintendo's intensely irritating Cammy had to ruin the excitement by demoing some worthless looking puppy fetch game. this dissapointment was followed by a crappy looking jetskiing game that would probably run just fine without and 1:1 control anyway and an admittedly interesting fencing game. (one of the two points i gave nintendo goes to the fencing minigame in WSR.) when Nintendo was about to announce Wii Music, they really played it up with smoke, lights, and music. i thought surely they'd unveil a new Metroid, Zelda, or Mario related game, with all of this fanfare. but no, it's a "music" game that doesn't require a shred of skill to play. after the press conference, Miyamoto casually mentioned that Pikmin 3 is in development (my second point goes to the announcement of Pikmin 3.) overall, Nintendo had might as well not even attend the next E3 if they're planning on continuing this trend.
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7-18-2008 @ 5:16PM
boxmyth said...
Animal Crossing was great to see, and Shaun White's snowboarding game could hopefully be awesome, but EVERYTHING else of Ninty's made me a sad panda.
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7-19-2008 @ 9:16PM
justin b. said...
Was I the only one hoping to see something about Metroid? I'm pretty scared about its fate right now...Retro is done with it and Nintendo hasn't made any information about it whatsoever. I was hoping they might show a new Metroid DS title that I could wet myself over, but...nope. In fact, I was pretty sanitary for the whole conference, cuz it blew. Nice to know that they were already working on a new Mario title. Believe it or not, that wasn't a given. Mario titles are like once a generation. I wasn't expecting anything else, except maybe NSMB2. Zelda was obvious. Pikmin was surprising, but I'm not that into it. Don't care too much about Animal Crossing, don't give two shits about Wii Music or Resort.
In fact, that press conference, combined with the already bad line-up Wii for Wii for the next year, caused me to buy the pro 360 on Thursday. I had been debating it for a little while, but that pushed me over the edge. Oblivion-ing it up right now.
Sorry, Nintendo...I just don't have the patience anymore. I can't deal with this foolishness. It's time to start playing smart.
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7-19-2008 @ 9:18PM
justin b. said...
But...I did think about nintendo's idea of only catering to the casual at E3...so...maybe at TGS Nintendo will bust out the big guns...?
Wait, does Nintendo even attend TGS anymore? I think they're douchebags and choose not to go it...
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