I’m most interested to see what Nintendo are going to show at E3. The 3DS has been a powerhouse for more than a few years now and it feels like they’re almost out of games to announce for the system. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start hinting at their next portable handheld or at least some sort of iteration of the 3DS.
I’m really excited to see what they show for the Wii U. It’s seen a minor surge with Mario Kart and I’m sure it’ll get another boost with the release of Super Smash Bros. I think that Nintendo will announce at least three or four first-party Wii U games and keep the surge of good games coming. I think we’ll more than likely see a new Metroid game, Zelda is a certainty and Starfox would certainly get fans going crazy. Our industry is all about building momentum and Nintendo have been in the game long enough to know that they can turn things around.
Speaking of Super Smash Bros., I have no doubt that we’ll see the last few character announcements as well as a release date. I think there will be at least one huge shock in terms of a character announcement that will really warm the hearts of Nintendo fans around the world.
We’ll obviously see more of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but I’d be terribly surprised if we didn’t see a Pokemon on Wii U in a big way. Whether it be a brand new Pokemon Snap game or Pokemon Stadium game, or something completely new altogether. It’s the one thing that is eluding the Wii U at the moment.
I’m super excited to see what they show with this Nintendo NFC. It’s proven to be a huge success with both Disney Infinity and Skylanders and I feel that it’s exactly what Nintendo need at the moment to reinstate their title as the ultimate family console. Most gamers started their journey with a Nintendo game so it’s time to remind those gamers of that joy.
It’s an exciting time to be a Nintendo fan. They get a lot of hate but they’re aware that they have nothing to lose with the Wii U and that’s when Nintendo are at their most creative. They’ve gone out of their comfort zone more in the last six months than in their entire existence.
I love Nintendo’s approach to E3. I do miss the antics and the theatricality of a traditional media briefing, but Nintendo’s approach last year was perfectly calculated because it cut out all the chaff and didn’t bore us. They had an opportunity to edit all the boring parts of a media briefing out and focus their presentation to focus on just one thing – games. Hopefully, this year, they’ll really be bringing their A-game to the table. The Wii U is at a critical period where announcements could help and their latest game has done fantastically for them with Mario Kart 8.
I’d expect us to see games we already know about, obviously, like Smash Bros. for both 3DS and Wii U as well as the long-awaited reveal of a brand new Zelda game. Hyrule Warriors will probably be detailed even more, in fact, I’d wager we’d get proper and solid release dates for this as well as Smash Bros. I’d also predict a bit of disappointment in that a new Zelda game won’t be releasing until next year sometime and that, much like Microsoft with Halo, Hyrule Warriors will be a title to “tide us over” until 2015 when the bigger game hits. There’s also a few third-party titles I’d like to see properly detailed and dated – including Monolithsoft’s “X”, as well as Bayonetta 2.
I’d say it’s pretty likely Nintendo will finally lift the curtain off what they’ve been working on with near field communication technology too – including what games these Skylandersesque figurines will support, or perhaps even a separate project altogether designed solely for them. Nintendo have insisted their approach to this market will be different to Disney Infinity and Skylanders, so I’m keen to see what they will do with them.
But I really want Metroid. I really, really want a new Metroid. Star Fox is a hard game to market, so I doubt it’s going to be getting any mileage soon. But Metroid. It’s been too long and the sour taste Other M left has long since been washed away.
Nintendo has undergone some unfair punishment as of late. Sales were diminishing for the Wii U, while the 3DS holds them afloat, third-party developers have all but forgotten them, and the ones who haven’t tend to release their game well after the other consoles have already put them on the sales racks.
Nintendo needs to show some faith in their dedicated followers and try to gain a few more fans of the company with the strong franchises that made them the dominant force they once were.
There’s no doubt that a HD Zelda will be formally announced. I expect a mid-2015 release to be the plan, but that’s just a stab in the dark. I would wager a further reveal on some specifics of Hyrule Warriors, perhaps even a release date if we are lucky, but probably just ending in another character reveal. Sales numbers of the recently released Mario Kart 8 will show a strong rebound to Nintendo’s latest trends. A couple new 3DS games wouldn’t go astray (praying for a Majora’s Mask remake) and in closing a Wii U release date for Super Smash Bros. U with a console bundle being announced for release.
Mario Kart 8 not only breathed a bit of life into a long-running series, it breathed life into a console that had been waning. After more than a year of mere promise that things would be soon coming, the weight of expectation would have been heavy. Fortunately, Mario Kart 8 sent the console’s sales through the roof. Reported as being up six hundred percent, I can almost say that the Wii U isn’t doing too bad compared to its younger siblings.
Unfortunately, I’m not a racer kind of guy and I’m sure there’s a lot out there like me. So what are Nintendo doing to appeal to us?
It’s about time that Nintendo puts all its cards on the table, because there’s, at this stage, one thing that’ll see me out picking up a Wii U. And that’s The Legend of Zelda. We already know it exists, so that’s one plus. Be it titled Shards of Nightmare or simply Zelda U, it’s about time for Nintendo to show it off and let us know when it’s coming.
Do that, Nintendo, and I’ll commit to your system. Plus, the sequel to Bayonetta does help in swaying me.
I’ve bought a handful of DS consoles in my time, always resorting to selling them. I don’t what it is about me, I just can never hang onto those things. I get bored. But an announcement that might see me pick up my third 3DS is a remake of Majora’s Mask. I consider it the single best game the series has produced and to see it get a spruce up would be neat.
