TEG's Blog: E3, The Wii U and Much More!

By MachoFantastico May 28, 2012 5 Comments

E3 is upon us! Well okay not quite yet but it's pretty darn soon folks. E3 as always felt like some sort of gaming holiday to me, where we gamers can worship all that is holy in this great hobby of ours. It's not perfect, far from it in fact but it's an event that holds a special place in our shrivelled cold hearts. Where we can squeal in joy at some random game announcements we weren't expecting or shuffle in our chairs uncomfortably as some child actors try a little to hard to make the Kinect seem awesome, a difficult task indeed. But even when we expect a less then classic E3, I still find myself excited by what we might see and discover.  

E3 2012, NINTENDO'S TO LOSE?

It's essential that Nintendo 'win' this years E3 event, and it's difficult to see them not doing so with little real substance expected from both Microsoft and Sony. The big N will be showing off their latest and greatest console, the Wii U to the wider world hopefully in a more fleshed out manner. After a less then stunning reveal last year, Nintendo have found themselves a little on the back foot with the Wii U and will surely be hoping to make a big splash in Los Angeles. Like many gamers, I was left a little baffled by the Wii U when Nintendo first showed the successor to the mightily successful Wii. One of my greatest hopes for this years event is that Nintendo had the sense to change the name of the Wii U to something less... crappy. As a passionate gamer the name Wii doesn't particularly bring up great gaming memories, in fact it reminds me of the dust which covered my Wii for the many many months I never started it up. I really should clean my consoles a little more. 
 

Of course names don't matter, what does matter is the console itself and all the juicy components inside. The general consensus is that the Wii U will be slightly more powerful then what the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 offer right now. I'm happy with that, while I expect both Sony and Microsoft to make the bigger leaps forward hardware wise when they reveal their latest consoles next year, the idea of playing Nintendo games in beautiful high definition is one that will win many a gamer over. Arguably the bigger concern thrown at the Wii U is the tablet, which acts as the consoles main controller. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of the controller/tablet with it's clumsy look. But like they say, you should never judge a book by it's cover and having not held the tablet myself I can't say for sure how I'll feel about it. Now some recent reports state that Nintendo have made a few design changes to the controller so we'll have to wait and see how it turns out.  
 
But what about the games? Well while I'm eager to see more of the Nintendo Wii U at E3, for many gamers out there it'll be the games that should reveal most. What can we expect Nintendo to show at their press conference on June the 5th. Will we see some form of the Legend of Zelda demo turned into a game? what about Pikmin 3? And most importantly of all, what third-party titles can we expect Nintendo to show of to it's 

eager audience. Third party games were desperately absent from the Wii, so much so that Nintendo have targeted third party developers for the Wii U. But will we see more then just simple port jobs from current Xbox 360 and PS3 games? 
 
It's a big E3 for Nintendo, possibly one of the toughest to as they look to win over less then thrilled (and arguably more cautious) gamers who felt burnt by the Wii. There's no doubt that it's theirs to lose with both Microsoft and Sony waiting at least another year before revealing what they have in store for gamers. Microsoft are proof of the advantages of releasing a console before their competition, and Nintendo certainly have the chance to do the same with the Wii U. But it's all to possible to, that Nintendo might (and forgive me for this!) shoot their load a little to soon. Can Nintendo finally do online right? Can we expect more then just port jobs from third-party developers and will we finally see a new F-Zero game? The only guarantee we can be certain of, is that that they'll probably be a new Mario game (Duh!).
 
 

AND A FEW OTHER THINGS!

Dragon's Dogma!! It should be arriving today and I'm eager to find out for myself how Capcom's attempt to get a little of that Skyrim cash turned out. Despite it's obvious flaws, there's something about Dragon's Dogma that intrigues me a great deal. It's possible it's entirely down to the combat, after all I'll admit I can't bring myself to finish Skyrim because I simply hate the combat in that game and no amount of world detail will stop me from lashing out in frustration as my character clumsily swings his sword in Bethesda's latest entry in the much loved RPG franchise. Still, I hope to maybe write up a little post on my impressions of Dragon's Dogma when I've played a good amount of it.  
 
I continue to play some Diablo 3, though I will admit I haven't had the desperate urge to do so like many of you. It's certainly a fantastic game, but one that's felt a little flat so far. I'm told the higher difficulty levels are where the game really comes alive, but at the same time I'm not sure I want to experience the rather dull story sections again. It's fun, and seeing skeleton bones shatter into a million pieces thanks to my giant barbarian axe is oh so satisfying but I'll have to wait and see how I feel about Diablo 3 when I finally push myself to finish it. Speaking of which SaitenMar#2459  is my battletag and I'll probably be playing some multiplayer at the higher difficulty levels. EU servers I might add. You more then welcome to add me.
 
Thanks for reading folks! :) 
TrueEnglishGent.   

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