E3 2012 Nintendo Press Conference Round-up

To first address the elephant in the room here, I am a believer in the Wii U, Nintendo's upcoming video game console due to hit retail stores later this year. But the problem is, no one really knows what exactly the Wii U is yet, which makes my reasoning for standing up for Nintendo ever so harder.

I was hoping Nintendo would blow us away at E3 this year with the next generation console system, with the knowledge that the future on Nintendo is a winner, back on track.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Reggie Fils-Aime', boss of Nintendo of America, took the stage once again to explain what the system was. But I was once again left with my more questions than answers. We saw what the Wii could do six years ago with the shiny, new motion technology, but we haven't quite seen what it is that the Wii U can do, and that's the problem. The console has never really been acknowledged. 

Besides the five-minute video tour of the Wii U Gamepad we got at the beginning of the conference, Nintendo decided to focus more on the games side of things this year. Which in reality makes sense. the 3DS launched with a weak library of games which led to its quick and utter demise, forcing Nintendo to swiftly cut $70 off the price tag.

So when Reggie said, "today we will focus on gaming," no one in the audience complained.

The funny thing is, Nintendo bombed here as well. A good bulk of the games shown off at the conference were all games that many of us have already played, beaten, or at least own. Batman: Arkham City for example received a good deal of attention at the event, but why do I care? The game came out last year!

Focus on the future Nintendo, not the past. Playing catch-up should be the least of your worries right now. You need to progress, or go down trying!

Also on the bit of the old side, we saw an updated version on Wii Fit, only it is for the Wii U. The main difference here is that there are more games and exercises for us to choose from. What kind of turned be away from the game though was how Nintendo thought the idea of playing with the game on the Gamepad only while a friend or family member watches the nature channel right next to you seems a bit uncomfortable to me.

Freshening things up, we got a first look at the gorgeous Pikmin 3, which is confirmed to be a launch title now! The game looked like the same old Pikmin we came to know and love on the Gamecube, just with the newly added nifty features, maps, and Gamepad integration.

We also got to to see a little bit of New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Nintendo's very own amusement park, Nintendo Land. At this park, players will be able to play through five differently themed mini-games, my favorite being the Luigi's Mansion five player coop haunted house.

Four people must work together to hunt down and defeat the fifth man, of whom is a ghost, works with the Gamepad to try and cause the other four players to faint by sneaking up behind them.

The other hot topic of the conference was MiiVerse, the social networking platform for the Wii U. Players can IM each other when they want to, leave integrated tips and comments in games for their friends and even create their own Mii which can be seen by everyone on your friends list.

As cool as the concept of MiiVerse sounds, it wasn't enough to allow Nintendo a pass on not giving us a complete list of launch games, nor that we weren't given any details on how much the Wii U will cost when launch is just months away now.

As a whole, Nintendo's appearance at E3 felt like a swing and a miss. Exspecially since they almost entirely excluded the 3DS from the event for a separate showing on another night. Where is the love? And with details surrounded what makes the Wii U so revolutionary still shrouded in mystery, I'm left questioning the legitimacy of why I should be excited for the console. Why is it so special? Why should I buy it on launch day? What makes it unique? Why are there five hundred different controllers for the unit?

C'mon Nintendo…