A much more accurate description of the event, in my opinion, would be to say that it sucked. Or, rather, that it completely sucked.
The reason: The folks at Nintendo of America didn't show or even announce a single new 3DS game. Yes, you read that correctly--not a single new 3DS game, first-party or otherwise, was discussed during this so-called showcase.
Because I spent an hour of my time to watch it, though, I've decided to write a blog post about it. Be warned, though: I have almost nothing nice to say about Nintendo this time around.
* I hereby nominate Nate Bihldorff to lead all of Nintendo of America's press events, E3 and otherwise, from here on out--Bihldorff, for those of you who haven't played through games like Animal Crossing and Paper Mario and read their end credits, is a senior localization manager and producer at Nintendo Treehouse. He was brought on stage twice during the 3DS Software Showcase--once to chat about New Super Mario Bros. 2 (below) and once to chat about Paper Mario: Sticker Star--and both times he showed that he has more presence than his superiors, Reggie Fils-Aime and Scott Moffitt, combined. Whereas Moffitt, who headed up this particular presser, was as awkward as can be, Bihldorff was relaxed and even witty. More Bihldorff, less Fils-Aime and Moffitt in the future, please!
* Thanks for offering up such specific release dates, Nintendo!--In a move that will surprise nearly no one, but will irritate nearly everyone, Moffitt reiterated during the 3DS Software Showcase that the numeral-phobic pair of upcoming releases known as Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (below) and Paper Mario: Sticker Star will hit store shelves (and the Nintendo eShop, too, I'm guessing) "this holiday season." Gee, thanks! I'll be sure to circle the entire months of November and December, and maybe even January, on my calendar in anticipation. Really, would it be so hard to provide us 3DS owners with actual release dates? I guess so. At least they didn't leave us hanging in regards to New Super Mario Bros. 2, which will see the light of day--both digitally and at retail--on Aug. 19.
* If Animal Crossing 3DS isn't released before the end of the year, I'm going to make voodoo dolls that look like Satoru Iwata and send them to anyone who wants one--Unexpectedly, the long-awaited (by me, at least), 3DS-based iteration of Animal Crossing wasn't even mentioned during this so-called showcase. Why? I have no idea. I'm guessing it's because Nintendo of America had too many other great 3DS releases to talk about during this hour-long event. Only they didn't. Like I said earlier, not a single new game was announced yesterday. Even worse, only a handful of previously-announced games were given center stage, with those games being Castlevania: Lords of Shadow--Mirror of Fate (what a great title!), Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Paper Mario: Sticker Star (below). In other words, Moffitt and Bihldorff had plenty of time to toss out a sentence or two about the game that's sure to sell as much as each of the aforementioned titles combined.
* That's all right, Nintendo, I wasn't planning on buying any more eShop games this year anyway--OK, so that's a lie; I was planning on buying more eShop games this year. Sadly, Nintendo of America decided to mention just two of them during the 3DS Software Showcase: Pokémon Dream Radar and Pokédex 3D Pro. I'm guessing this means the Dragon-Quest-meets-Pikmin curiosity known as Denpa Ningen RPG won't be making its way to our shores anytime soon? If so, bummer.
I could easily add a few more complaints--such as, oh, the fact that Fire Emblem: Awakening was completely ignored--to the list above, but why bother? I'm sure you get the idea that I was more than a bit disappointed (disgusted may be a better word) by Nintendo's 3DS Software Showcase.
Were any of you similarly turned off by the event? If so, what were you hoping the folks at Nintendo of America would discuss or reveal?
See also: 'My one-word review of E3 2012 (thus far): Meh'
20 comments:
Fire Emblem didn't get any love but I'm psyched that Reggie accidentally leaked that it was coming to the US!!! WOOOOO!!! I dunno why they didn't mention it in their 3DS event considering how much the internet is freaking out about it! lol
Could the only reason that Animal Crossing didn't warrant a mention be that the English script is nowhere near done? That can't be true, can it?
And right on re: Nate Bihldorff, though I wonder how well his verbal snappiness would translate to a live setting.
Kaze: Yeah, I just read over on Tiny Cartridge that supposedly someone said FE is indeed coming to the US. So, it was Reggie who said it? If so, consider me stoked. Also, consider it a "day one perch" for me :)
Drew: You're probably right, but then again the game was not only mentioned but shown last year. They could have at least given us a final or near-final name for the darn thing :( Oh, well, I know we'll get it eventually...
Oh, and RE: Bihldorff: This *was* a live setting, wasn't it? Or did you mean he may not do as well in a larger, less intimate setting? That I could see. Maybe. Still, he was so much more relaxed and genuine than Reggie and the other presenters.
Some IGN guy chatted with Reggie and told him. Apparently Reggie was surprised it wasn't mentioned before or something (supposedly). Quite strange of Nintendo to "forget" to mention Fire Emblem!! (cynical me: they're doing it on purpose to build up hyper, like Animal Crossing, which apparently trended on twitter during the presentation)
I vaguely remember NoE said it was coming later this year to Euro, so perhaps it will happen within the same release window.
My guess - your thanksgiving holiday period. That seems to be a popular time to release new games.
I hope Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion 2 come out then, though I'm not sure which one I'll get first LOL I think Luigi's Mansion is probably the more likely one to be bought hahaha
I didn't watch it because I was at work and then a softball game, but I was BAFFLED when I got home and checked Kotaku and there was almost NO new info...baffled and dismayed. Glossing over Animal Crossing is unforgivable. NOT EVEN MENTIONING IT. THOUGH?! Nintendo has just invoked the Furies. They will torment and tease until we get some news.
To say that this E3 was the worst ever, I think, is not exactly accurate. But to say that it was RIFE with disappointment is surely not going too far. WTF, Nintendo? WTF.
Igor: Yeah, I'm not buying that they "forgot" to mention it. I'm sure they have a reason, but I'm not at all sure I'll understand it. I mean, all of the games shown at the 3DS Software Showcase had been revealed before the event, and most/all of them had been shown before the event, too. So, what was the purpose of it? I assumed it was to reveal new, in-the-works 3DS games, but I guess I was wrong.
As for Luigi's Mansion and Paper Mario: I'll be getting both of them. Both look wonderful to me -- Paper Mario especially. Anyway, I have a feeling Luigi's Mansion will come out around Halloween in NA and Paper Mario will hit sometime in November. Will Animal Crossing come out then, too? I hope so, but I'm not at all sure at this point...
Justin: Yeah, the lack of any new info at all was VERY disappointing. I guess we're all just going to have to accept that this is how Nintendo rolls. Still, it sucks for those of us who are excited about their games and systems and want to hear and know as much about them as possible.
I'm really not sure what to think of the lack of Animal Crossing news. Most suggest it means that the translation work is far from done and that it won't be released until next year. Extremely possible, obviously, but they still could have shown something. Hell, we don't even know the game's actual name yet -- despite the fact that the Japanese name was revealed a while ago. Why not give us that little tidbit?
I'd love to think it all has to do with them revamping the game and making it more unique, but I know that's not happening. More than likely, they don't want to mention it until it's closer to release. Sigh.
Right there with you on this. We've both commented on each others' posts to this effect - and I think you hit it in your other comment to me too. With new hardware on the horizon but ton on display, that takes a lot of the thunder out of it.
Really, for me? I hate how every dev seemed to feel the need this year to have pre-E3 trailers and such. I realize they wanted to get the jump on competitors by getting their stuff talked about before it got lost in a vast sea of games, but I think the end result is an E3 with very few genuine surprises.
Very few genuine surprises, Chalgyr? How about none! OK, maybe there were one or two, but that's pitiful when you consider this event used to be known for surprises. Given what's happened this year, I'm seriously considering tuning out next year and just reading other's write-ups of the event after the fact.
All I know is that it had BETTER be worth waiting for...and knowing Nintendo, it will be...
And...umm...Square Enix is releasing a new old school Final Fantasy title?! iOS only. Still WAY cool!
I hope you're right, Justin. Of course, I'm likely going to buy it anyway, which means I'm "part of the problem," as they say. Hopefully Nintendo will wow us all, though.
Justin: Yeah, I read that earlier today, too. Sounds like it's either a port or a revamp of a Japanese cellphone game. I haven't seen it yet, have you? If so, how does it look?
It looks like classic Final Fantasy. Maybe not QUITE as pixelated, but still very cool. I'll for sure buy it when it comes out. Anything to encourage them to keep doing stuff like that!
I gotta say I'm pretty psyched about FInal Fantasy Dimensions myself. Having been one of the few people (apparently) who enjoyed Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, I was psyched at the idea of an all-new game -- especially one that rooted in Final Fantasy V. However, given that the game came out in Japan FOREVER ago, I'd assumed it would never see the light of day here, but now it's been given some slicked-over graphics and everything. Yes, quite excited.
Well, I'm going to have to look into it, then. My sis-in-law loaned me her iPod Touch recently, and I'd love to play something like this on it :)
Drew: Hey! I liked FFIV: The After Years, too! I never finished it, though. Maybe I'll have to do that soon.
Have you only played the WiiWare version, by the way, or the PSP version, too?
Anyway, any game rooted in FFV sounds awesome to me. Now I'm REALLY looking forward to FF Dimensions :)
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