E3 2012: Day 2 All About Nintendo
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Nintendo had the whole day to themselves, did they bring the heat or were we left scratching our heads?
Sadly, things did not pan out that way. Nintendo is clearly ahead of the pack in the next-generation console race but that doesn't mean gamers are just going to concede their money easily. Nintendo needed to impress but didn’t. This year’s E3 should have seen Nintendo announce titles that would launch with its new console but we did not get any first-party titles, no Metroid, no Star Fox, no Zelda, or even an adventure Mario title. Instead we saw Pikmin 3 (a game that many were looking forward to - but is not a "console seller"), Scribblenauts Unlimited, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Wii Fit U. Color me negative, but none of those games are going to make me run out and throw money at Nintendo.
Luckily Ubisoft swooped in to save Nintendo's ass with some magnificent launch titles: Assassin's Creed III, Rayman Legends, and ZombiU. While we know quite a bit now about Assassin’s Creed III, we didn't know much about ZombiU but now that we have seen more, it is a title I'm really looking forward to. It's a first person survival-horror shooter that requires you to just stay alive. It's bringing unique gameplay that utilizes the Wii U's Game Pad.
After the impromptu Nintendo Direct conference the night before E3 kicked off (Sunday evening) where Satoru Iwata showed off what exactly the Wii U was capable of doing, Nintendo's E3 press conference featured only software. Warner Bros. and Nintendo seem to have a pretty good partnership and that showed with Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition which will contain exclusive gameplay content for the Wii U version. It will have unique gameplay interaction between the Game Pad and the game and features a Batman suit that becomes more powerful as you build up its meter. Also shown off during Warner Bros. showcase for the console was LEGO City Undercover which looked fantastic. It's an open world game where you'll play as a police officer in Lego City and you'll be tasked with seeking out crime as it is happening and to put a stop to it. The demo that was shown showed all types of gameplay, and unique usage of the Game Pad. It's a title that I'm looking forward to seeing more of.