Have I mentioned that some people are waaaaay talented and have waaaaaay too much time on there hands?

Well I’m not one of those people but if I was I’d like to think I’d be making awesome youtube videos like this:

Remember the beastly looking giant dude from the NES Double Dragon games that really sucked and would kick your hiney repeatedly causing you to give up all hope of ever beating the game?

No?

His name was Abobo?  He had a giant head, was twice as tall as everyone else, would clap the bejoobies out of your head and never wear a shirt so he could show off his impressive physique to all the ladies.

Ringing any bells?

You know, this guy:

Well somebody has created the greatest thing ever and it stars Abobo of all people.  No really its the greatest thing ever, check it out:

Now ready to have your mind blown?

ITS A REAL GAME!!!! or at least it almost is as its still in development check out http://abobosbigadventure.com/ for more info…

Seriously this is the type of thing I should be doing with my life, using my random video game knowledge to create super fan service mash up games…but I’m lazy so I’ll just leave it up to someone else to do it…

Video Game Releases for November 2011

November 1st (and yes I know these are already out)

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

I’m fairly confident I don’t need to say anything about this right?  The hit sequel to 2009′s Uncharted 2, this one promises more of the same things that made the second one so great and based on reviews (92.15% on GameRankings) I’m guessing this one will be a big hit to…er…as well.

Golden Eye Reloaded

Should probably be called GoldenEye Re-Reloaded since this is actually a remake of a remake, or in this case last years Wii-Bomb remake of the N64 original.  This time its headed to PS3 and XBOX with a prettier coat of paint but I’m not sure I’d expect anything more from the gameplay.

NCIS

In the tradition of the multitude of CSI games that have gone before Ubisoft has picked up the license for TV’s top show and turned it into a game.  You know its a good sign when they tell us on the front of the case that its “Based on the TV Series”.  Whew, I thought it was based on some other NCIS project staring Mark Harmon.  Anywho I always liked the CSI shovelware point and click games so this should be fun enough but your mileage will vary based on how enjoyable you find the property in question.

November 4th

Sonic Generations

If early reviews can be believed this is the first Sonic game worth playing since the Dreamcast.  The idea here is that today’s sucky 3d platforming Sonic travels through time and meets up with his awesome 20 year old Sega Genesis-y self.  Levels from 20 years worth of Sonic games ensue and while there are some hickups along the way Sonic fans may finally be able to sleep at night knowing they have a game to live up to the name again.

November 8th

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

I need to say even less about this than I did about Uncharted 3.  I’m willing to bet this is the best selling game of the year.  Yeah not a real bold prediction I know.

The Black Eyed Peas Experience

Boy its unfortunate that Modern Warfare 3 has to come out on the same day as this juggernaut.  Its really going to hurt MW3′s first day sales I’m sure.  Talk about your counter programming.  I had no idea this game even existed till I reviewed this months release list.  Judging from the name I’m guessing its a BEP version of the Michael Jackson Experience dance game that came out to mediocre reviews.  So imagine that with a fresh coat of Peas on it and there you go.

November 11th

The Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim

On 11-11-11 the next chapter in the epic Elders Scroll saga will be upon us.  Skyrim promises more of everything that made Oblivion such a great game and if you need me to explain why that is, well this game probably isn’t for you.  I’m going out on a limb and saying that Skyrim will offer the most gameplay of any game this year, and I can say that with the confidence of a fully played Oblivion behind me.  It took me years to explore every inch of that game.

What will be interesting to see is the improvements in graphics and gameplay as Oblivion was one of the earlier games release for XBOX.  We’ll get an opportunity to see just how far developers have come with the system.

And hey, the collectors edition comes with a freakin dragon statue.  How many games can say that?

November 13th

Super Mario 3D Land

Some odd release dates this month for sure.  I’m sure the 13th can’t come fast enough for Nintendo as SM3DL has to been seen as the savior of the 3DS this holiday season.  One of the first major first party releases to not be a glossy N64 remake Super Mario 3D Land promises a hybrid of class Mario platforming from the days of SMB3 with the dimension spanning movement of Super Mario Galaxy all presented in a glossy 3D package.  I’m sure this will give us plenty of Mario platform goodness either way.

November 15th

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Hey it may very well be the last Harry Potter game after all…

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

So AC fans, help me out with something.  It seems like new Assassins Creed games are coming out as fast as Madden iterations these days.  Are “Brotherhood” and “Revelations” full on sequels to Assassins Creed or not?

Saints Row: The Third

The third installment of the love child of Grand Theft Auto and all the little things that make Junior High boys giggle in the night, Saints Row, is back for its third open world offensive adventure.  There are some that claim that as the GTA series has achieved success and acclaim that its moved away from the tongue in cheek humor and that hole has been filled by the Saints Row series.  I’ll leave that up to the gamer to decide but this one is definitely not for the kiddies or the faint at heart.

Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3

(Meeting at Capcom)

Let’s see its time to develop some new DLC for our hit game Marvel VS Capcom 3, anyone got any ideas?

How about new costumes?

DONE!

How about new characters?

DONE!

How about we add that, cancel the DLC and sell it as a new version of the game for $40?

DONE!

November 20th

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

The next Zelda installment, complete with full on , 1 to 1, Wii-mote Plus waggle sword ability, is coming to the Wii this month and as the only major first party release for the system you can bet your britches that Nintendo is hoping for a home run.  They rarely disappoint with the big boys.

November 22

WWE 12

After 6 years Smackdown VS RAW is no more, now there is only WWE with the year by it I guess to confuse us into thinking its a legitimate sports game or something.  That said wrestling games are always enjoyable and this one features a revamped grapple system and a new graphics engine.  Will it be any good?  Time will tell.

Panda’s rolling in money?

Check out the next World of Warcraft expansion…

If you care I’m sure you already know but if you don’t, Mists of Pandaria will be the next expansion as discussed (and mispelled) by yours truly on this site back in August. Now that its official what can we expect?

• All new playable race, the Pandaren (well duh!) which can be horde or alliance depending on what the player chooses at level 10.  This was an idea I had many moons ago about how to revamp the game following Lich King, let every player regardless of race decide who they wanted to align themselves with since in the muddled story it seemed like horde and alliance were working together.
• All new class, Monk (who will be a cloth/leather wearing DPS/Healing/Tank)
• Challenge Modes
• Pet Battle Systems (Pokemen style?)
• Raised level cap to 90
• A new talent system
• Scenarios (which if I understood correctly are something along the lines of PVE battlegrounds.

And of course the myriad of new zones, dungeons and raids if your into that sort of thing.

5th verse, same as the first?  We shall see.

I’d like to start a new handy feature on Droppin where we highlight some of the upcoming DVD and video game release dates of interest to us, mainly so Showtime has somewhere to look and see what new games are coming out and I can keep a list of the new releases I want to play.

Video Game Releases for October 2011:

OCTOBER 4th (That’s today what are you waiting for?)

Dark Souls

The follow up to Demon Souls, Dark Souls is a “brutal and demanding third person action-RPG set in a world full of disturbing things that are trying to kill you”.  Think 50-60 hours of God of War type action with a tilt to armor/weapon collecting and dying in every violent way possible.  Definitely one for the kiddies in your life!  I’m including it not because I’m buying it but because its currently hovering around 91% on Gamerankings.com and it seems to be a big release if thats what your into.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time

Typical Spider-Man action game, this one features the player jumping back and forth through time playing as the classic Spidey and Spider-Man 2099…

NBA 2k12

The latest installment of the greatest, and only, NBA game in town features solid game play, a great My Player feature, legends galore and from what I’m told a virtual bonanza of in game shoes.  Sounds like a must buy for any NBA fan since this might be the only basketball you get this year.

RAGE

The latest ID FPS doesn’t look to stray too far from its roots.

OCTOBER 11

Forza Motorsport 4

The heir to the GT racing throne, is this the year Forza makes us all say Gran Turismo who?

OCTOBER 18

Rocksmith

A music game in a world where we no longer have room for plasticky instruments, Rocksmith promises something more…to actually teach us how to play the guitar and from what I’ve heard it works and is fun too.

Batman: Arkham City

The follow up to the outstandingly fun Arkham Asylum, this time play as Catwoman and Robin in addition to the bat.

OCTOBER 24

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land

The oft mentioned and oft thought cancelled follow up to Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards will be finally be making its way to the US after a 6 year development.  I’m sure last year’s surprise hit Kirby’s Epic Yarn had something to do with that.  I’m listing this one only cause my son is obsessed with Kirby at the moment.

Battlefield 3

I don’t actually have to say anything here do I?  EA takes a swipe at the Call of Duty crown.  Can they deliver?

OCTOBER 31

Sims 3 Pets

If you’re still actually playing the Sims 3, well you can finally complete your family with the Pets expansion pack later this month featuring dogs, cats and horses (horses?!?!) OH MY!

Rumors have hit the interwebz today that Nintendo is planning to release a $10 add on peripheral for the 3ds later this year that will somehow add a second analog stick to the machine.  Rumors from inside the big N state that the plan all along was for two sticks but the 3ds was rushed to market to beat the Vita…whoops I think they had plenty of time.

Anywho to back this rumor up Nintendo has apparently been approaching third party developers about creating games using two sticks.  Thats not the big news though.  The big shocker, or maybe not so shocking since its Nintendo, is that the big N is planning to release a new version of the 3ds in 2012 that will feature said second stick and a rebranding to move away from focusing on the 3d nature of the system.  Apparently Nintendo thinks the reason why mom and dad aren’t buying the 3ds for their little jimmy’s and jill’s is because the reports of eye strain and the 3d functionality messing with our little tikes eyesight.

Anywho I did a quick, ever so professional, mockup of said new system using MS Paint, forgive me I didn’t have anything better on this laptop:

So is their any truth to the rumors?  Well it would explain why Nintendo decided to drastically drop the price point on the existing version…run those out at basement prices for the holiday season and then come March 2012 they can release a new and improved version for $200 and try over again.  Lets just say they have done this sort of thing before.  The only real speculation is what they change the name to…3ds lite?  DS3?  or ugg…DS U?

NERD ALERT (If you aren’t interested in MMORPG’s, World of Warctaft, Blizzard, etc… feel free to skip this post.)

So apparently yesterday some brave soul stumbled upon a new trademark filed by Blizzard, makers of all things Warcraftian.  This trademark was filed for “computer game software” and the international codes used in the trademark only appear on Blizzards trademarks for other Online games so it stands to reason that this new trademark may in fact be the name for Blizzards next WoW expansion.

So what is it?

“MISTS OF PANDAREN”….

For those not aware, the Pandaren are a race of overly cute, Asian-ish panda people that appeared in one of the Warcraft III expansions if I’m not mistaken and have hat bits of story hidden in the Warcaft lore over the years.  Blizzard has always seemingly had had tongue firmly embedded in cheek when bringing up the Pandaren (the Pandaren Xpress art was a personal favorite, Google it) and has used them as part of elaborate jokes in the past so on first blush it would seem that this has got to be a ruse (a lark in the courtyard of the king if you will).

But what if its real?

As a former player (and I stress former its hard to see a scenario where I want to go back to WoW at this stage of my life, Cataclysm broke my spirit) it feels awfully strange to go down this road if its real because the Pandaren have always seemingly fit outside of the realm of WoW even if they do have some sparse lore to back them up (aw who am I kidding, if they can force aliens in and give us talking cows why not Pandas?).  Then again, fans have been clamoring for the Pandaren for years now and in the face of declining subscriptions for the first time in the games history maybe a nod towards the direction of your diehard fanbase is the way to go.  Heaven knows its hard enough to pull in new users when faced with an overwhelming three expansion packs and 5+ years of history and game.  Even at its user friendliest times one can’t help but feel that you’ll never catch up.

Personally for me Cataclysm just showed me that new races are just a new coat of paint on an old house, one that weathers away once you get past the new starting zones.  New classes are what really delivers long term game play for me so I hope if this is real that its more then just another cute face.

No matter which side of the Pandaren fence you fall on, it seems odd that Blizzard would be stupid enough to give everything away via mistake on a simple trademark application right?  Again it feels like this is either an elaborate ruse, or a trademark for another product.

Whats that?  You’re busy and you didn’t have hours upon end to sit on the internet and stream e3 press conferences this year?  Well don’t worry.  IGN has thankfully managed to put together a video that sums up all that is wrong with e3 press conferences…and its truly cringe inducing.

Hey wait a sec, no nintendo footage? Guess they didn’t have anything bad at e3 according to IGN…

Its Deeper and Wider…

Sorry for the delay in getting the Nintendo Presser reviews up.  Life seemingly got in the way this week of allowing me time post my thoughts on Nintendo’s conference but I did watch it Tuesday and take notes so my thoughts here were as I was digesting it in real time, not my thoughts now that I’ve had a chance to digest two days later.

So expectations from Nintendo going in, well its the Wii successor of course and to see if any of our predictions regarding the system might come to life.  I also predict we will see alot of core titles for the 3DS as Nintendo tries to safe the system with strong software.  I assume there has also got to be some core Wii titles announced for this holiday season or the system might be dying a quick death.  On with the show.

- Nintendo gets a late start to the show but to be fair Sony started even later and nobody seemed to be giving them crap.  Guess more people were anxious for Nintendo’s conference.  Gee wonder why.

We kick things off a look back at the last 25 years of Zelda accompanied by full orchestra.  It seems odd to say this because Zelda has so many fanboys but I don’t think the Zelda franchise gets the full respect it deserves in the video game world.  Its nice to see Nintendo going all out for the anniversary.  Dang I think I just got chills during the montage, how many games can you say that about?

- I am going to give that a minus though, it was really cool but is your e3 press conference the best place to pay homage to Zelda?  I dunno maybe it is.

+Miyamoto is here of course.  The man doesn’t age.  Yes I’m giving Miyamoto a plus just for walking on stage.  If it wasn’t for him how many of us would be playing video games today?  Where would the entire industry be?

- Again more Zelda music as Miyamoto (and his overtalking translator who translates before Miyamoto can finish speaking) lead the orchestra.  It does make you appreciate how powerful and classic the Zelda music is but again, its e3.  Good stuff, just not for your big press conference.

-/+ Finally we move into some games by announcing that they will celebrate the 25th Anniversary by releasing a new Zelda game for every system.  Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening will be available for the new e-shop today (make that the 7th) for 3DS.  Next weekend the eagerly anticipated Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3d ships for the 3DS.  I know the game was previously announced but was it known that was the ship date?  The graphics have been revamped and make you appreciate the power under the hood of the 3DS just a little more.  Also have a Master quest included for those of you who have played through that game 1000 times.  This September Legend of Zelda: Four Swords will be released as a free download.  Nice!  Free is always good.  And then to wrap it up Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be released this holiday for Wii.  That gets a big applause as I think everyone was concerned they would hold it back and release it as a launch title for the new system instead ala Twilight Princess.  Miyamoto sighs on stage and comments “Its finally done!”  Nice.  They will also be releasing (they didn’t say “selling”, hmm…) a gold, Zelda branded Wii-Mote Plus.  Miyamoto assures us that this is the fullest, most satisfying Zelda game of any in the series.  Even coming from him that just feels like lip service though.  They are also preparing to music CD’s which will somehow be given out in conjunction with the release of two of the games.

Miyamoto welcomes several of the legendary Nintendo developers on the stage.  You know its nice to see a company embracing some of the Japanese flavor in gaming.  It feels like these days video games is all shooters and westernized action Rpgs.  Sony and Microsoft felt like they have entirely abandoned Japanese game development in their pressers short of the quick Street Fighter x Tekken blip for PSVita.

Next up Iwata is here…come on vitality sensor!!!

Hype for the new system begins.  Wii and DS have erased the boundaries that define gamers which is actually more then just psycho-babble for once.  They do feel though that the systems have boundaries in what they offer basically admitting they have failed the hardcore gamers (which I have noticed has been shortened to “core” lately).  He believes as an industry they have failed to deliver a platform that is equally satisfying for all players…yet.  That is the goal for the new platform.  In his words, its “deeper and wider”…uh okay.  Guess the new name is the Nintendo DW!  Crowd is totally silent here, cameras and fingertips at the ready to unleash upon the interwebs at the very moment the name is announced…but that will be coming later.  Iwata you big tease!

2011 is all about the 3DS.  Quick video clips of the core games.  Mario Kart 3DS, Star Fox 64 3DS, Mario 3DS, Kid Icarus, Luigi’s Mansion 2. Wow didn’t expect that last one.  Not sure anyone else did either.

+Reggie is here, and yes that gets a plus (although on a whole Reggie seemed a whole lot less Reggie this year).

He tells us that Nintendo has heard us loud and clear.  We want what we have always wanted but we want the buzz of the new.  Is it possible to deliver something for everyone?

+ Mario Kart 3DS - Interesting, in the video shown the camera looked really tight on the karts.  Wonder if thats to help with the 3D effect or it was just cropped for the presentation.  Whoa hang gliders!  At least they aren’t giving us the same Mario Kart game again.  Oh and underwater racing too, why not?  Looks like it functions just like land. Hey Kart customization too.  Thats kind of nice but I suspect its more visual then having any impact on your kart in the race.  Mario Kart will be out this holiday season.

+ Star Fox 64 3d - Wow thanks for that name.  I’m not as big a fan of Star Fox as some may be so I’m not overly enamored by this idea.  But what I do like is the idea of turning and tilting your 3DS or using traditional buttons to play.  This game may be the best possible implementation of motion control given the 3D nature.  Its also using the camera in a nifty way to constantly be capturing/transmitting your face and your friends faces in multiplayer so you can see their reactions when you shoot them down.  Will be out in September.

+ Super Mario 3d - Reggie tells us that if software sells hardware, then no game has sold more hardware then Mario.  Game looks impressive, alot like Mario Galaxy game play wise but stages appear to be a little more traditional in design, not so outer-spacey.  The music does seem a bit off from the traditional Mario fare, almost like its out of key or something.  Oh and don’t forget the return of the legen…wait for it…dary Tanooki Suit.  Will be out before the end of the year.

- Kid Icarus Uprising - Last year when they showed us that Kid Icarus was returning I was excited.  Finally one of the favorite games of my youth was making a return.  I didn’t even care if it was an “on rails” shooter, I was just glad to see Pit back.  Now?  Well…um…Pits voice is going to be really hard to deal with if that trailer was any indication.  And now its a multiplayer fighting game too.  Featuring Land and Air combat, 3 on 3.  Come out later this year, I don’t know I just want a traditional Icarus game I guess…

- Luigi’s Mansion 2 - I know its never a good idea to doubt Nintendo.  They rarely screw up the major properties (unless you are having team ninja make a metroid game apparently) but I don’t think the world was exactly clamoring for a new Luigi’s Mansion with “more than one mansion!”.  Lets be honest, the only reason anyone (including me) bought the first one is because there was no Mario launch title for the Gamecube.  I don’t think the world needs the experience again.  I’m sure they will throw some nifty 3D gameplay in there though so maybe I’m off here.

All 5 titles will be on the show floor.  3DS video time.

+/- Resident Evil Mercenaries, Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, Ace Combat, Cave Story 3d, Resident Evil Revelations, Driver Renegage, Pac Man & Galaga Dimensions, Tetris, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid 3 - Hard to give a video reel a thumbs up or down when everything is shown quickly.

+ Time to talk about the e shop.  Will feature 3D videos, demos and a virtual console just for the 3DS featuring Game Boy games.  They are kicking it off with a free 3d version of the original Excitebike to kick it all off.  I love Excitebike, or at least my inner 8 year old does, and who can argue with free (for a limited time of course).

- Pokedex - for 3DS.  You get 16 pokemon and you collect additional from friends, spot pass and AR cards.  The Pokemon can then be used in AR pics and uploaded to the web to live out your Ash/Pikachu cosplay fantasies.  Its free too but I have to say the whole conference came to a grinding halt here as everyone was ready for the new system unveil and really didn’t want to hear about a non game even if it is free.

+ Free stuff, Nintendo announced alot of “free” giveways here which is always a plus but on the other hand, some of it is stuff I would never buy and maybe wouldn’t bother to download even if its free.

Its time.

Wii U

• First off the name is awful, just completely awful.  I know what they were going for and I know why its such a big deal to keep the Wii name now.  It holds a better brand in the market then nintendo at this point so its too much to throw away and start over.  But by calling it the Wii U, you are making all of the non-gamer owners of the Wii think that the new controller is just another addon to the wii, like the Balance Board, Steering Wheel, Zapper and vitality sensor…err scratch that last one.  I don’t see how Wii U conveys that this is a new stand alone system and heaven knows Nintendo didn’t clear that up during their conference.
• Its called the “U” because its tailor made for you.  And thats because “you” can only afford one of these controllers.
• Tablet controller as rumored, 6.2 inch touchscreen, two analog sticks, two cameras, gyroscope, accelerometer, mic, etc…
• The controller is definitely massive.
• Video shown doesn’t show much in the way of games, I’m guessing there isn’t much in the way of games at this point.
• The golf part of the video was a really unique idea and a way to bring motion gaming to life in your living room.
• If I’m reading this right, the controller only streams the picture of the game from the system, it can’t play independently from the system but can be played without a TV.  That could be the thing that helps them keep the price reasonable.  That and the single touch, resistive touchscreen (unfortunately).
• What is with the voices in that demo video?  “Cycling sounds awesome!!!”
• We do see both stylus and finger interactivity on the touchpad so at the very least it appears to function a little better then the DS style touchscreen.  I’m hoping that maybe by the time this hits the market next year that Nintendo has gone all the way to multi touch, capacitive tech but they do like their stylus.   Resistive just seems so cheap.
• Backwards compatible with everything on the Wii.  No mention of the Gamecube but it was confirmed after the show that it won’t play gamecube discs (hmm who predicted that?  oh yeah ME!)
• It also has rumble tech and rechargable batteries built in.  Basically all the wii-mote tech in the new Wii-Pad package.
• Its really interesting that they aren’t focusing on the console itself or even talking about it.  This presentation would almost lead you to believe that its just the controller.
• Smash Brothers will be coming for both Wii U (see how dumb the name is?  Do we abbreviate it as WU?) and 3DS.  Games will work together.
• They have put together 8 interactive experiences (not games) to show what the controller can do.  Available to demo on the show floor.
• They show a bird video.  To this point the graphics for everything shown had been really Wii-ish but this looks really good.  Should put aside the non HD fears but I do believe the controller is only 480p.
• New Super Mario Brothers Wii game is not a game but just a demo to show how you can play with the Wii U in combo with the wii-motes.  Interesting to note that all the multiplayer shows one Wii U controller with other standard Wii controllers.  I’m not wondering if the tech is powerful enough to seamlessly push the picture to more then one controller at a time?  There may be no plans to sell additional controllers.
• Shield Pose tech demo.  Move the controller to block arrows.  Will put you in the game world by allowing you to view it from any angle (move the controller and the picture changes to show where you are at.  Nice concept.  I can imagine the AR game possibilities in play for this (very similar to iPhone and iPad 2 but still).
• Chase Me demo.  Again shows one Wii-Pad and several Wii-motes.
• Space shooter game.
• Wait was that 8 demos or did I miss some?  Be on the lookout for Wii Play U that will include all these tech demos as one game when the Wii U launches (no that wasn’t an announcement, just a guess on my part.)
• Lego City Stories – Odd choice for the first official Wii U game announcement.  Its an open world lego game, basically Grand Theft Auto, without the theft and a whole lot more legos.  Could be cool.  Will be exclusive to Wii U and 3Ds
• They show us a video of a number of big developers talking up how cool the Wii U tech is.
• Watch your toes, Nintendo is droppin names Darksiders 2, Tekken, Batman Arkahm City, Assasins Creed, Ghost Recon Online, Dirt, Aliens Colonial Marines, Metro Last Light and Ninja Gaiden 3. Its been confirmed that none of these videos were the game running on Wii U because they haven’t been made yet but it appears that Nintendo is really going to push to have “core” games available on their system.
• CEO of EA comes out.  Personally I had enough of the guy at the EA presser but what can you do.  He tells us that EA has never been to E3 as a partner of Nintendo (but has for Microsoft and Sony).  EA is fully supporting the new platform…well duh…EA likes money and has never had problems porting their games to the Wii like some third parties.
• Madden, Battlefield 3, FIFA, Need for Speed, Harry Potter, Sims, Army of Two and possibly several others I missed in the montage.  They didn’t actually announce any games though, I think this was just an “EA Properties” highlight reel.

And just like that they wrap up the conference with no major news for Nintendo first party games for the Wii U.

Reggie exits and they throw up a splash screen showing the logos for a number of games not discussed.  I see The Rolling Western, Paper Mario, Super Fossil Fighters, Rhythm Heaven, Fortune Street, A couple of Kirby games, Animal Crossing and Mario Party 9 but its very possible I missed some others.

Summary:

Wow where to start?  I have serious mixed emotions here.  Overall I think Nintendo didn’t do the greatest job telling us anything concrete about their new system but I think there is a very good reason for that.  I don’t think its ready to be discussed.  I’m guessing we are going to get a second half/2012 release on the Wii U and that the reason they left so much out is because so much is still up in the air.  They wanted to get the buzz going so they threw the controller out there, that’s the money maker for this system but the meat and potatoes will be whats behind door number 2, the console itself.  At this point I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the console changes or the name changes.  e3 is all about buying yourself some hype and by unveiling the Wii U this year, instead of waiting until next years e3, they have basically bought themselves an extra year of hype for the Wii U.  I imagine over the next 12 months we will start seeing/hearing more about the console itself and the games that will be coming and then at e3 next year Nintendo can put on a full demo of the Wii U (if its still called that) and generate even more buzz.

The 3DS has a solid software lineup with the Mario games and has now given us holiday 2011 titles to move systems which I think they will, especially because I’m hearing the PSVita won’t be ready this year.

The Wii strangely seems forgotten here.  Third party games are drying up because they don’t sell and Nintendo seems more concerned with focusing on moving the 3DS now.  They still have a number of months to tell us about the holiday season and what will be available on the Wii outside of Zelda though, just feels like they have no interest in it.

Nintendo was almost guaranteed to come out of this e3 the winner because they had the shiniest toy to show off and they are going to get some slack for that.  The Wii U is definitely impressive no matter how muddy they made the waters with the nature of the announcement and Nintendo made their play to go after the core gamer and the causal gamer with one device.  I think they can but the software will be key.  Its not enough to tell us that the same games that the other systems have will come to the Wii U.  They’ve done that before and in alot of cases we just got crappy ports with waggle controls.  They have to deliver the same experiences or better then the other guys to capture the core gamer and keep the third party guys involved.  I think they will but the message at this e3 may not have been as good as it could have.  Overall there was alot to like but not much of it had to do with the actual games, so I give Nintendo a B.