Roundtable: Expectations of Nintendo’s E3

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.

I’ll admit it, I bit the bullet and bought a Wii U. And you know what? I don’t regret it one bit. The console is fantastic and I’m begging for some more exclusives to really justify the purchase. To be completely blunt, the Wii U is the only ‘next-gen’ console that has really managed to back up its claims. Everything the Wii U has promised, it has delivered. Despite assertions of its impending death, I think the Wii U has a lot of potential. Hardware doesn’t mean anything, the Wii U has a lot going for it and has delivered entertainment and a real next-gen experience, in my opinion. As a primarily PC player, the potential of the Wii U is very valuable for me.

What do I hope to see? Well a new Zelda, maybe Star Fox, Donkey Kong, hell, a new Metroid would be absolutely bloody fantastic. None of these will happen of course, but one can dream.

Honestly, new iterations or sequels of the aforementioned titles would not only boost Wii U sales, but reaffirm Nintendo’s status as king of games, something that has been lost amidst the ridiculing from gamers.

What I would love to see this E3 are demos of Super Smash Bros. on both the Wii U and the 3DS. A fantastic co-release on both devices is a smart move, and there are a lot of people who will double dip and buy it on both platforms. I’d like if there is some sort of cross-integration between the two as well.

Other than that, some gameplay on the new Fatal Frame would be great to see. Implementing the GamePad as the camera in the widely-acclaimed horror series is nothing short of genius, and I’m dying to get my hands on an old school, terrifying Japanese style horror game.

Bayonetta 2 was the tipping point that convinced me to get the Wii U, and I’m dying to play it. I’ve spent close to two hundred hours on the first game and I have faith that PlatinumGames can deliver again. More footage at this point would be overkill, but another showing of it at E3 wouldn’t be surprising. Expect great things.

Nintendo are running a two very different races. On the one hand, the 3DS is going as strong as ever and clearly leading this generation in terms of sales and sheer popularity. Their home offering, the Wii U, has not had the same success.

After a low key event last year, it is now Nintendo’s time to really come out all guns blazing and help maintain the small amount of momentum that the Wii U currently has. We might have just seen the turning point with Mario Kart 8 getting its release, but this momentum really must now be built to ensure the continued success of the console. Nintendo have a history of playing by their own rules, sometimes for success, with their image, and sometimes it’s a detriment as their ability to get games out isn’t stellar. It will interesting to see if Nintendo decide to become a little more mainstream this year.

I want Nintendo to really focus on the Wii U and make it their priority. That is not to say that they need to abandon the 3DS, but they need to give their attention where it is needed.

It would be great if Nintendo announce that they have negotiated new deals with third-party developers to develop some exclusive titles for the Wii U. We have already seen Nintendo allow the Zelda licence to be used by Tecmo Koei to develop Hyrule Warriors. This could be a viable option for Nintendo to ensure they can get the volume of games needed on the Wii U, while retaining some quality control.

I want to see some classic announcements, such a Zelda U and Star Fox, however it is time for Nintendo to start using their creative muscle and show some new Nintendo IPs. I also want to see some solid release dates. Whether or not you are interested in Bayonetta 2 is not I think a lot of people are tired of not knowing when some key games are going to hit the shelves.

I don’t want to see Nintendo fall into their old ways. It is now 2014 and we need to see a company that is more open and willing to look at what their competitors are doing better and implement some new ideas. I don’t want to see a Nintendo that has a superiority complex. Nintendo have needed to eat a lot of humble pie this past eighteen months. I don’t want them to think that giving a five second trailer to a game with no release date is going to cut it.

I’m in a bit of a weird place with Nintendo right now. I love them to death, I hold many of their IP near and dear to my heart. On the other hand, some of their comments and outdated polices make it hard to keep supporting them.

That being said, Nintendo does have a lot in the works that I’m excited about. The 3DS is still doing well, and Mario Kart 8 has shown maybe there is still some hope for the Wii U. There are also few titles that have gone dark since they were announced namely, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, Yarn Yoshi, and Monolithsoft’s “X”. These are three titles that have little to nothing shown or known about them. So I hope we finally get some release dates on these titles, or in the very least a new trailer to hold for another year.

Bayonetta 2, Hyrule Warriors, Sonic Boom and the Wii U iteration of The Legend of Zelda will make an appearance this year. The last thing I can see happening, is another push for Virtual Console for Wii U; this is based on Japan just getting their first DS Virtual Console game, in the form of Brain Age. So I can see Nintendo deciding to release an announcement of a launch line-up of Virtual Console DS games, and personally I want to see another push on the GBA and SNES front. The problem is that, there is obviously a difference between what I want from the Wii U and what I can predict. For me, that line becomes blurred with the Wii U.

I honestly don’t have the faintest clue what Nintendo has in store.

Maybe it’s time to bust out Metroid again, F-Zero would be nice, and I would love to see another Punch-Out. While Punch-Out is the most unlikely of the Bunch, the only way I can justify these is that Nintendo’s well-being has been a topic of much speculation of the past few months. I imagine Nintendo would want to put that unease to rest. We’re also in the second year of the console’s lifespan and this will be the console’s fourth presence at an E3.

We have had high points and low points of the system. It’s time to show us what you have planned for the Wii U’s future, Nintendo.