E3 Thoughts

Ye gods, Nintendo. Ye gods.

Maybe only Wii-centric owners can fully grasp the impact of their E3 conference this year, which I could accurately describe as earth-shattering. My roommate, he of the XBox clan, was rather meh about the whole affair, having lost interest of Nintendo's offerings circa Gamecube. I could not disagree more. Nintendo's return to form at E3 was, like manna from the heavens, sustenance, proof that Nintendo did, indeed, remember their more intense fans, and announe exactly what we were all waiting to hear.

I had know that some old-school games would soon be announced - We all knew about Zelda and Metroid, and I had heard rumors of Donkey Kong and Goldeneye. But as the conference kept going, more and more games kept getting added to the pile, which was quickly approaching a staggering size. around 10-12 games were announced, 8 of which garner my intense desire. Let's go through the key ones:

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: I like the art style - a combination of what worked in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Besides that, I was distincly underwhelmed by the Zelda presentation. A show of how the game works with the the new WiiMotion plus was, while amusing to watch as Miyamoto flailed about, wholly unnecessary. We expect Zelda to control well, and that should have been at the bottom of the list of "things that we must know" about Zelda. Recall the speculation-craze that Nintendo caused over a single image, and imagine the chaos that could have been caused if Nintendo had let more of the story slip out.  Perhaps this was their strategy - as important as it is, Nintendo could not have wanted Zelda to overshadow the rest of the show - but it still leaves one dissatisfied.  Not to mention the release date being pushed back to 2011 - annoying, but mitigated by the hoard of games that will be arriving instead.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn:  Nintendo announcing the sequel to Golden Sun was one of the key moments of last year's demonstration - and, like Metroid: Other M, we've hard nothing about it since then.  The fact that it would be set much later than its predecessors was expected, but the lack of other story details is distressing.  The subtitle, Dark Dawn, is good for some speculation, and the fact that there was the Golden Sun would turn against the world is interesting.  The graphics looks superb, especially for the DS.  This gives me even more reason to hurry up and finish Mario and Luigi, as well as Zelda: Spirit Tracks, so that I can focus my DS solely on this one.

Goldeneye 007: I have no idea what, exactly, to expect from this game, but the theme seems to be cautious optimism.  The trailer certainly hits the right points - an enhanced remake of the N64 classic, similar level designs and story, and of course, the tank.  Retelling the game with the Daniel Craig-style Bond isn't too worrisome, though I wasn't exactly a fan of the recent Quantum of Solace - my issue there is less with his interpretation of Bond and more the director's love of Shaky-Cam, a film style that I correspond with the third level of hell.  No, my concern is the developer - obviously, Rare is unavailable, and considering their recent output, this may be for the best - but I place no trust in Activison.  Admittedly, they are only publishing the title, and have hired Eurocom to develop the game - though again, that company's recent works are not exactly much comfort either.  Here's hoping that Goldeneye is too good for them to screw up.

Kirby's Epic Yarn: Let it be stated for the record that this was the moment that assured me that Nintendo still knows what they are doing, much as the Vitality Sensor (which was noticeably absent for this year's show) has shaken that faith.   The Kirby series is one of my favorites - its most recent release, Kirby Super Star Ultra (a remake of the obscenely underrated SNES game), has spent the better part of the last year dominating my DS, and is one of the best games I've played in a while.  Epic Yarn looks to be no different.  The yarn design had me worried at the start, but it looks great in motion.  The only real concern I have is that it looks like Kirby lacks his inhale-and-copy powers that have become iconic - it'll be interesting to see how he gets his abilities now.  An absolutely solid title.

Donkey Kong Country Returns:  Between this and Kirby, its should be obvious that Nintendo has fallen in love with the so-called 2.5D style, which they have every right to, as New Super Mario Bros. seems to be making enough money to buy them a small nation.  Another solid title - Retro Studios appears to be hitting all the right buttons with this return to norm for the series. 

Metroid: Other M:  See Zelda.  Another game that Nintendo had gamers psyched for, only to become exceptionally lax on details for quite some time.  The hidden theme of their E3 show was how under-wraps Nintendo managed to keep its lineup - We knew precious little about what was coming, and some games still have us guessing.  Metroid gets a bit of a pass because its release is only two months away, as opposed to Zelda's 6+, but it still stands that we don't know much about what Other M will be like.  The constant moving between first and third-person gameplay is troubling - we have no idea how this will handle.  Its impending release, apparently, is the only way we'll find out.

The 3DS:  I could care less about the 3D phenomenon, though so my opinions on this device are less its raw capabilities, as much as its apparent library.  Third-party support seems to be through the roof on this handheld, a list of companies that makes you wish the Wii could get this level of support.  Nintendo's own offerings lead the way, including the new Kid Icarus (a game which I never played on the NES, sadly), a 3D remake of Ocarina of Time, and a new Paper Mario (returning to its RPG roots).  Super Street Fighter IV certainly catches my interest, but the company to watch for my JRPG-loving self is Atlus, which apparently has both a Persona title (Most likely the first game, which was just remade for PSP) as well as a nondescript Shin Megami Tensei (A sorely needed remake of the original, perhaps?) and Devil Summoner game on the list.  We'll just have to see how it works - every report from the floor says it looks great (from what we can tell, the graphics might even overpower the Wii), but it's likely still a ways off.

The other events had nearly nothing that held my interest, aside from a demo of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, but I'm holding judgment on that until a more complete character list starts to float around.  Megaman Trigger would be nice, if only to remind us that Capcom is still aware of the Legends series, and could lead to a MML3 appearing soon.  Maybe the Tokyo Game Show will have more on that, coupled with a possible announcement of Persona 5, which has had rumors flying around like crazy.