E3 2015: Nintendo

Well that happened.


As a proud Wii U owner and a Nintendo fan for life, if we're being perfectly honest here, I was pretty disappointed with Nintendo's E3 Press Event this year. It just didn't have the same power or life as last year, or even the same humor. There were a metric ton of new announcements, but most of them were for franchises that not many people cared for, and even the highly demanded titles were not what anyone was expecting. Could they all still be good games? Of course, but it feels like Nintendo took everyone's thoughts and considerations, then gave us what they thought we wanted, but not exactly. It's difficult to explain.

First off, Star Fox Zero was finally showed off, and it was pretty good. I've never played a Star Fox game in my life, nor will I, but I can respect this game. It looks polished, fun, and has a lot of time and effort put into it. This is probably going to be Nintendo's big push for the Holiday season, so let's also talk about the rest of their holiday launch lineup while we're at it. Xenoblade Chronicles X has a release date of December 4th, which is making my holidays look even better now, plus Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is also coming out this year, as is Yo-Kai Watch, both of whom are from franchises I have mixed feelings towards. Yoshi's Woolly World has a release date of October 16, and there was even a new multiplayer Zelda announced called Triforce Heroes, which is giving off a lot of 4 Swords vibes to me.

Super Mario Maker had a ton of information shown, but I can't really get motivated or excited about the game. I mean, it looks fun and very inventive, but I'm not exactly the creating kind of guy. I would rather play a game then spend hours to make a small level. I'm sure others would make terrific levels, and the game looks like it has a sheer insane amount of content and support, but I would rather play the content then make the content. If you're looking forward to it, more power to you. If not, then it's a cool idea that people will love.

My biggest gripe with the whole press conference was that they announced games that we wanted, but the results were not at all what we expected. We wanted a new Paper Mario game, but instead we got Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam, a crossover between Nintendo's two Mario RPG franchises. It looks fun, but I wanted a whole new Paper Mario game and not a weak crossover. Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem was shown, and while I loved every second of it, a lot of people were despondent with the game and are calling it a bizarre mix between the two franchises that doesn't satisfy anyone. Hell, the overall joke of the game is that it's more of an idol sim that an RPG. Even a new Metroid was announced! Metroid! But instead of it being a bonafide Metroid game, it's Metroid Prime: Federation Force, which looks like a 4 player co-op 3DS game set in the Metroid universe. All of these are cool, but they're like the bizarro expectations. We got them, but at what cost?

I feel like this press conference, in terms on content, was right in the middle ground between Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo announced content for both 2015 and 2016, which is greatly appreciated. I will say that they have probably the best release schedule of the three major console developers, but the games in question are highly questionable. Nothing here was legitimately big. There was no grand spectacle at this E3 for Nintendo. It just seemed like a Digital Direct with a bit more content to it. That's fine and all, but when you're following off of Sony announcing Final Fantasy VII HD, you need to bring your A game. Nintendo, sadly, did not.