Nintendo has continued what they started last year, doing away with the traditional on stage press conference in favor of their digital show, Nintendo Direct. What hasn’t changed over the years, however, is their strong showing of first party titles that has kept their console business alive all these years. E3 2014 is no different, but I was hoping to see more from the beloved company.
The show opened in Nintendo’s typical weird fashion, with president and CEO, Satoru Iwata fighting Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime. It was a setup for their Super Smash Brothers for Wii U and 3DS presentation. There wasn’t a large gameplay demo, that’s most likely saved for hands on for the show floor. One thing announced that could be cool is that players can use their Mii avatars in the game. Each Mii can be built into one of three varieties of characters: brawler, sword fighter, or gunner.From there, the Miis can be equipped with four special moves from a selection of 12. I hope that having custom characters can add a new layer over Smash Brothers, but it could take away from using the huge character set list these games typically have. The game is set to release for the 3DS first on Oct 3, 2014, a delay from its original summer release. The Wii U version is set for a Holiday 2014 release, most likely sometime in late November I’m guessing.
Nintendo also announced Amiibo, which is their answer to Skylanders. In the Smash Brothers demo, a Mario figurine was placed on top of the Wii U Game Pad, and showed up on screen in the game. It seemed like the Amiibo was only AI controlled, so I’m not sure what the use of these toys are outside of collecting them. They will be used across other games, but I’ll let you watch the embedded video so you can figure it out yourself.
A new Yoshi is coming, and it’s following in the footsteps of Kirby’s Epic Yarn. Yoshi’s Woolly World has the same art style of Epic Yarn, and it looks beautiful. At least visually it does. Gameplay is the 2D platformer we can expect from Nintendo, which is totally fine. Yoshi’s last outing, which was only a couple of months ago, didn’t get the warmest reception, so we’ll see how Woolly World does when it releases in 2015.
Toad will get his year soon, or at least his own game. Nintendo announced Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Wii U. I know nothing about Captain Toad, outside of his appearance in Super Mario 3D World. The game looks fun though, and I’m glad Toad finally gets his own Wii U game. Captain Toad is slated for Holiday 2014. It would be great if Nintendo can meet that 2014 release date, because many of the games announced in their digital press conference are slated for 2015.
A new Legend of Zelda game was said to be shown at last year’s E3. In fact, it was very close to being demoed, or at least teased, according to Shigeru Miyamoto. It was teased this year, but I was hoping for something more. Nintendo said all the right things, giving me hope for the new Zelda title. The game is said to be open world, with a new approach to the series’ formula of using items for solving problems and opening the world. The trailer didn’t reveal much, although the character shown looked more like Zelda fighting an enemy instead of Link. The new game is set for 2015, but hopefully we hear more soon.
Speaking of Zelda, Nintendo talked a little more about Hyrule Warriors. Hyrule Warriors is made by Omega Force and Team Ninja with Nintendo. It’s basically Zelda Dynasty Warriors. If you know anything about me, I love Dynasty Warriors, a series that’s always criticized for being redundant. I definitely don’t argue the repetitive nature of Dynasty Warriors, but I don’t care! I still love the series. I’m excited for Hyrule Warriors, but I admit, I would’ve preferred a longer presentation for the new Zelda Wii U game instead of the Hyrule Warriors bit. Hyrule Warriors is launching Sept. 26, 2014.
Nintendo announced a title that was leaked a over the weekend, but it was still exciting to see it. Mario Maker, which gives players a level designer for Super Mario. Players can create classic NES levels as well as new Wii U levels for Mario. There’s not a lot of details on this game yet, so we have to wait on this one.
Now onto the game I was most excited to learn about. Nintendo showed off a new I.P., Splatoon. Splatoon is a 4v4 online multiplayer came that features pain. Players have to cover the map in as much paint in the color of their team while preventing the opposite team from doing the same. Players can switch their character between human and squid, each character type having their properties that have pros and cons in game. The paint creates interesting gameplay opportunities, like giving players multiple ways to platform across the map or prevent enemy players from traversing the paint covered level. I can’t wait to hear more about this game before its 2015 release.
Some extra bullet point from the show:
- Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will release on Nov. 21, 2014 for the 3DS.
- Bayonetta has a new trailer, and is releasing in October.
- A new Kirby game is in the works and is slated for 2015. The game is titled Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.
- Monolith Soft showed a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is launching in 2015.
I enjoyed Nintendo’s digital show for the most part. I wanted more from Zelda though. Also, Nintendo decided to announce a few more things after the show. Including a new Star Fox, which I’m excited about but I would’ve loved to see it during their digital press conference.
