There press conference lacked surprise and a new IP that you would expect with new hardware.

They just dropped the ball halfway through. I kept waiting during the NintendoLand stuff for them to finish with a bang (the new game from Retro Studios or MonolithSoft or a new Excite- game or Wave Race or F-Zero to show off the system a little more).

It's not that what they showed was bad (mostly), it was that they chose not to show so many other things like Project P-100 by PlatinumGames which looks awesome and was premiered right after the conference was over on Spike for some weird reason. There's also a new WarioWare game that they ignored.

And I'm especially confused as to why they didn't show a proper ZombiU demo, the actual gameplay they showed on the Spike/GT thing was very very very cool! A DayZ-like zombie survival game at launch sounds pretty fantastic.

Pikmin 3 was awesome and even New Super Mario Bros. U was kinda cool with the slightly altered art style and all the Miiverse integration. And I cannot wait for Lego City Undercover and open world madness in Scribblenauts Unlimited!

Their horrible structuring and lack of final oomph or big 3rd party surprise just detracted from all the cool stuff they actually showed.

@Zleunamme said:

The photo of the guy sitting on the board. Is that suppose to be a way for parents teach their kids how to use the potty?

That is my usual face and position as well.

I watched for 10 minutes, got bored and went out. I loved my N64 and GC, but nothing shown today (from the rerun I half watched while playing Skyrim) got anywhere near the excitement of the game I was playing past the 250 hour mark.

@RudeCubes said:

I'll buy a Wii U because i'll be able to get those third party games AND NIntendo's games. I put off playing Arkham City because of that.

If you already have a 360 or PS3 you are clearly a crazy person. If you do there's zero reason for you to buy a WiiU since those multiplatform games will only have an edge for at best a couple of years, but more likely just a single year, until we see new consoles released by Microsoft and Sony. Not only that but given the proven demand on Sony & Microsoft consoles for those types of games developers are more likely to invest their resources into developing new games to the projected standards of those new consoles than to work hard on providing a special WiiU enhanced version of whatever current gen games remain in development...

All you'd be doing is buying into the next cycle early with hardware that will be subpar from the start and on a platform which is clearly lacking in modern social/multimedia/online services.

The WiiU MUST have a large lineup of amazing first party titles if it is to succeed, it's ironic given the problems that the Wii suffered but there's no other compelling reason to buy it given the timing of its release.

Major disappointment. I was hugely excited for the Wii and the potential it showed at this point in its hype cycle. But then the Wii did what the Wii did. And now it gathers dust for months at a time at best. Nintendo did nothing to make me feel like the Wii U won't go the same way.

I might get one when it drops in price to play the 5 awesome Nintendo first party games and couple cool third party games that have come out in the couple of years after its release. But otherwise is there going to be anything but hashed gimmicky remakes of games on other platforms that will soon look better and have better online capability on those platforms?

Oh, and minigame collections should forever be confined to .99 cent iPhone level. Not $40-60 video game level.

Bought a DS and got burned. Bought a Wii and got burned. I'll never buy Nintendo again until they redeem themselves. They've been shit since the SNES.

During Nintendoland I just stopped paying attention. Which sucks. I just want Nintendo's consoles to at least feature more awesome first party games, and that just didn't seem to happen today. I'm more curious what they'll be presenting with the 3DS at that follow up thing.

Alex, as a side note, I love the Random Thoughts sections in your articles. They've been great on the Year of the Cage, and they're awesome here.

I thought no one would buy a Wii when they announced it years ago, but all the married couples and fitness-conscious females proved me wrong. My fear with the Wii U is that the casual market is now into Facebook games and games on phones. If the "core" don't want it, and the casual market don't want it, Nintendo could be pretty screwed in 2013

Alex, you captured my thoughts exactly. Great article.

The third game in a triology as a launch game long after it was released. Why would anyone go and want to play it?

If Mass Effect 3 launched with a better ending on the Wii-U, they could have won E3!

Nintendo has to have another press conference later where they will get people excited for Wii U as well as release price and release date details, right? I just don't understand why they didn't have one game to get the audience going (beyond Pikmin which is nice, but no system-seller). Why not reveal something about games coming to Wii U in 2013 or 2014 even if the launch lineup is what it is? None of it makes any damn sense.

@GunslingerPanda said:

Nintendo highlight first party stuff: People complain.

Nintendo highlight third party stuff: People complain.

It's all about timing, third party stuff will not work when people are already heavily invested in other platforms at this point unless you are offering a truly "next gen" (god I hate that term) experience. This console is more like 360/PS3 1.25, possibly even less when you consider all the network features those other platforms have which Nintendo doesn't...

gravity cat is not amused.

This is just Nintendo being Nintendo now. I can't say I expected anything more at this point. Thanks for saving me an hour of my life from watching that press conference!

You are 100% correct. What a failure.

I love Nintendo, and so I really hope this turns out well, but I thought this a big letdown. The game lineup is weak, that's all there is to it. Some cool features, and a few games that I would definitely want to play, but after seeing the Last of Us demo, I don't see anything on here that compels me to buy the system. I was considering getting it at launch. Now, probably not.

who cares about project p-100 the platnium games wii u game. what about Reggie saying they should keep the video streaming entertainment system to a separate conference so they could focus on the games instead of things that aren't games....because its e3 and you talk about games at e3....eh what about that microsoft? Can't take your own medicine of dissing nintendo for being against the hardcore, when thats your whole schtick right now, kinect kinect kinect, and halo 4. Sorry but Halo isn't close to the savior of shooters it was when the first came out.

But the conference was just crap Alex, it left a bad taste in the mouth, no need to apologise for telling it like it is.

Wow... this fucking sucks. When it comes time for people to ask the question of who won, the answer will be "everyone lost". I do like the look of a lot of the games that were shown, but none of this really has to do with the Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo press conferences exclusively.

I was not impressed by anything they showed.

I've never played Pikmin, guess I might if it's good. Doubt I'd buy a system for it. There were a couple of 3DS games I might buy. That's about it. I've played more games on my 3DS that weren't 3DS titles, and I wasn't even an early adopter; it must suck to be them.

Like the other two console-manufacturer conferences, a few games were interesting with one or two surprises; nothing worth buying a system over though; unless anything breaks the mould in a way I wouldn't expect.

I haven't seen anything else yet, just the three big conferences. I hear Ubisoft had some good stuff (maybe the best), so I'll check that out, but all in all, it was a tepid affair. At least we've still got out games and futile hopes.

well i guess all these ports would be a welcome change to people who only ever get a Nintendo console

So negative. Did people expect a rock concert? This conference was about showing the potential of the Wii U with the various games that demonstrated this. It was also about showing how it can be used to connect people whether offline or online. This is what they wanted to accomplish and they suceeded. I was satisfied with this conference as it confinced me what the Wii U controller can do. I'm confident it it's abilities. Sorry that you guys feel so bummed about this conference. This conference was not exclusively focused on a few type of people.

this presser was seven layers of awful.  :(

@BiG_Weasel said:

Bought a DS and got burned. Bought a Wii and got burned. I'll never buy Nintendo again until they redeem themselves. They've been shit since the SNES.

I'm sorry it 's your own damn fault if you think you got burned on the DS.

I'm sold I saw plenty of potential and fun games. I'll be buying a Wii U as soon as I can. It's not like there aren't going to be first party games I'm not that worried we didn't see them today.

Most of their show I continued wanting more .... and never got to a point that made me really want a wii-u. Maybe over these next few days good news will be out to make me change.

Something inside me always wants to give Nintendo a chance, but then they display casual crap and act we like that's why we're watching this online live. Also, why should I care if you can play Arkham City when I've had 7 years to buy something that already can play all of those games. There are like 4 games I might want to play from them, but I don't think I'll buy anything Nintendo anytime soon.

Excellent work Alex. You succinctly summarized the event and resisted the urge to pile on a disappointing conference. I think you receive far too much negativity when you point out weaknesses, but you have proven in this piece that you can point out flaws without belaboring the point. Too often you have read these comments and gotten hammered, and I would like to change the trend by pointing out good work when I read it. Excellent idea to balance out the critiques with descriptions of the parts of the conference you enjoyed. Great job overall!

"Dad Chasers" sounds like a Tim and Eric skit waiting to happen. Pap-pap's popping up again, only on Nintendo. 
 
  

The conference had it's moments. i just love the people who hate on their partition of hardcore, casual and motion games.

Don't be that guy.

This is the first year in a decade that I didn't stay up all night to watch Nintendo's press conference. Looks like I didn't miss much. Oh well...NSMB U and Pikmin 3 are games I'd love to play, Nintendo hasn't launched a console with a Mario platformer since the N64. Still, a little light on the first party stuff. A way to focus on third party publisher's wares perhaps? I sure hope so.

Great writeup alex. Totally agree with all your points.

Eh, its still gonna sell like all nintendo stuff does.

I thought it was pretty great honestly. The only real duds were Sing, Arkham City and maybe the reveals of 3rd party software you can already play. The rest was filled with juicy information for the games I wanted to know about (Pikmin, Luigi, Paper) as well as surprisingly interesting showings for the games I didn't care about beforehand. (Either of the Mario games, Lego City Undercover)  
 
Additionally Wii Fit U surprised me in that I didn't realize how absurdly useful the capacity to play it while watching TV would be. Man, that's the perfect antidote to the fact Wii Fit is boring as fuck! I was also happy to hear that they were supporting two gamepads since the idea "maybe it only supports one?" was what everyone was saying last E3.

It seems like nintendo is setting the Wii U up to be there dreamcast, there only going to have a few months before all that everyone is talking about is orbis and drango

*fart noise*

The one thing that bothered me was that the port spearhead Arkham City Armored did not look nearly as good graphically as the 360 version. I thought the Wii U was supposed to be slightly more powerful than the 360?

I mean, really. It's kinda disappointing that consoles are already moving on to a new generation and Nintendo can't compete with even current standards. Hopefully I'm wrong and this is an exception and not a rule.

LEGO City Undercover looks totally awesome, actually. The Prince of Persia style platforming, the humor, the cop stuff - if it lets me declare random LEGO people to be guilty like in LA Noire, I'll be pumped. It genuinely just looks fun to hop into LEGO vehicles - they are toys after all; it's like having a toybox at your disposal. Which is why I'm sure Nintendo wanted this game exclusively on Nintendo consoles.

But Alex is right; why would I want a Wii U when I have other consoles? Heck, The 3DS should be able to replace the Gamepad - it has all the same inputs as the Gamepad except the second stick. It should be able to wirelessly connect to this console, act as the Gamepad, and you should be able to buy a SKU without the Gamepad for $100 cheaper or so. And all those third party games? You better believe I'll get Darksiders 2, Batman: Arkham City and Aliens on my PS3 (well, I already have Arkham City).

There's very little in the way of exclusive Wii U content that looks like a system seller. Even if New Super Mario Bros. U looks, of course, super fun. As well as Tank! Tank! Tank!, Project P-100, Rayman Legends and Pikmin 3. Fun, but it's not like Sony doesn't also have some very fun games coming to PS3.

Oh and fuck ZombiU. I'm so sick of zombie games.

I dunno, this is a solid line of launch titles. Arkham City, Darksiders, Tekken Tag, Pikmin, and fina-fucking-ly the Luigi's Mansion sequel I've been wanting since the Wii was launched. I wasn't too sure I'd buy any of the next-gen consoles, but if the Wii U continues to get the AAA games the Wii missed out on last time around, I'll have to buy it.

@BitterAlmond: Wasn't the Luigi game on the 3DS? That ghost thing was just a minigame.

@vinsanityv22: because Nintendo exclusives and hardware.

Let's be frank here. The PS3 and the 360 offer nearly identical gaming experiences, and it's yet to be seen if the "PS4" or the "720" will change that at all. In fact, it's entirely possible that these consoles are $600 upgrades to your console. Just like upgrading your computer, you need to upgrade your console to get the latest as far as graphical innovation is concerned.

So if you have two platforms with identical hardware, exception being the controller, the disk drive and the online network, and another console with all of the features of the previous two plus new hardware that you have the option for... why not? Don't be naive in thinking that there are many exclusives for each system. 360 has GoW and Halo. PS3 has more than the 360 (HR, MAG, MSG, FF)... but Nintendo has a fairly substantial library of games that are not just a game, but often an entire franchise. And owning Nintendo hardware grants you the option to play those. And maybe you don't like Donkey Kong, or Star Fox, or Mario, or Luigi, or Wario, or Yoshi, or Pikman, or Zelda, or LEGO, or any other of the Nintendo flagships... but you have the option.

And if the option doesn't matter to you, then you can buy what does. However, I'd like to point out that Nintendo has an excellent trackrecord when it comes to backwards compatibility. Sony... not so much. I'd be tempted to buy games off Nintendo hardware for that reason alone, considering my GTA: SA, Grand Turismo etc for the PS2 is useless since the hardware broke ages ago, and my PS3 won't do backwards compatibility. Yey.

Nintendo needs balance. For years people have been, for good reason, complaining about the lack of third party involvement with Nintendo. So for the Wii U they decided to say, "LOOK AT ALL OUR THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE." Great! But I think the important point was that people wanted third party presence on the next Nintendo system, but not at the expense at all the awesome things that Nintendo's first party stuff does. Basically, people want things to play between the 2-4 first party titles Nintendo puts out every year.

I mean let's be realistic, Mario 'U'niverse is coming, Zelda and the Flute of Pizza is on its way, and, maybe we'll see Star Fox and Metroid in this system's life. But I think if Nintendo wants strong early adoption, they need to go ahead and say it just to keep the anticipation burning for those games.

@MAGZine: Your entire argument is moot because the Wii U hardware isn't anywhere near close to what an upgraded 360 or PS3 would be... If it was it would be so unbelievably expensive that it would be DoA, not just for the guts of the console but also because you're buying a tablet as well.

While Nintendo may have a good track record with backwards compatibility (something the market has shown it clearly isn't concerned with) they have a truly atrocious track record with online play and media hub features, something people care very much about.

Thanks a lot Reggie ;_;

I was looking forward to this conference yesterday hoping that Nintendo would bring it. Me and my friend Grant were so disappointed, we thought that it was somehow worse than the Microsoft conference