I think yesterday's Nintendo Direct sold me on Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS) and Splatoon (Wii U)

I'm especially enamored with Splatoon, which reminds me of something Sega's geniuses might've concocted back in the day, after encountering the footage below during yesterday's Nintendo Direct.

Honestly, what was shown of this upcoming Wii U title at this year's E3 event didn't impress me much. The following video, though, did just the opposite and even caused a huge grin to spread across my face.



As a result, Splatoon, which is being made by the software-development group at Nintendo of Japan that previously produced Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Nintendo Land, is now on my "Wii U wish list"--despite the fact that I still don't own a Wii U.

Who knows, maybe I'll finally buy one when the luscious-looking Kirby and the Rainbow Curse drops in February? (Which would give me a few months to break in the system before Splatoon hits the streets.)

Yesterday's Nintendo Direct also sold me on Project S.T.E.A.M. for 3DS, which will be hitting both physical and virtual store shelves throughout North America this coming spring (alongside The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, curiously enough).



As was the case with Splatoon, the E3 reveal of Project S.T.E.A.M. left me more than a smidge cold--which is pretty sad when you consider it's being developed by the mad scientists at Intelligent Systems, makers of the Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Paper Mario and WarioWare franchises.

The trailer (above) shown as part of the most recent Nintendo Direct, though, went a long way toward defrosting me in regard to this tactical title. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's now a shoo-in purchase for me, but it's at least a "probable pick-up" at this point.

How about all of you? Did yesterday's Nintendo Direct sell you on Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. or Splatoon or any of the other 3DS or Wii U games that were showcased?

10 Wii U games I'd like to play in 2013

One thing to keep in mind while reading through the following list: It's possible I won't even buy a Wii U system until late next year, so expecting me to buy and play all of the Wii U games mentioned below between now and the dawn of 2014 may be a bit much.

Still, I consider myself to be a pretty positive person--when it comes to gaming, at least--so I'm hopeful that I'll get to play at least a handful of these 10 titles before 2013 is over.

1. Bayonetta 2--Although I've thus far avoided experiencing the first Bayonetta, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little excited about its Wii U-based sequel. Don't worry, I'm planning to check out the Xbox 360 version of the original before the much-ballyhooed follow-up winds up on North American store shelves.

2. Dragon Quest X--Of all the Wii U games included in this post, this is the only one that has yet to earn an official North American release announcement. Interestingly, should the Wii U version of Dragon Quest X arrive on our shores before next Christmas (which is when I'm expecting it to be released--if at all), it may prompt me to pick up Nintendo's latest console earlier than I had planned. That's how much I want to play it.

3. New Super Mario Bros. U--Strange, but true: Apparently I'm only interested in the New Super Mario Bros. titles that are made for Nintendo's consoles. After all, I was bored to tears by the DS-based original, and I've yet to even try its just-released-for-the-3DS sequel. New Super Mario Bros. U, though, earned a spot on my "to buy" list the minute I laid eyes on it. In fact, I expect it to be the first Wii U game I pick up (unless, of course, I buy the "Deluxe Set").

4. Nintendo Land--As I believe I've said before, I'm going to get Nintendo Land simply because of "Balloon Trip Breeze." I'm also pretty interested in "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day" and "Luigi's Ghost Mansion" and "Metroid Blast," though, so it's not like I'll be blowing my hard-earned dough on a single, bite-sized mini-game.

5. Pikmin 3--This game would be on my Wii U wish list even if I hadn't seen screenshots and videos of it before now. Is it going to be the earth-shattering, made-for-the-Wii-U-from-the-ground-up sequel that some die-hard fans had hoped it would be? Probably not, but that doesn't mean it isn't going to be a ton of fun.

Raise your hand if you picked up a Wii U yesterday

To those of you with hands raised: Which bundle did you buy? And which games did you pick up alongside your shiny new console?

Sadly, I won't be adding the Wii U to my collection until sometime in 2013. In fact, I may wait until this time next year to purchase Nintendo's new system--although I could be swayed by, say, a summer release of a localized Dragon Quest X.



Oh, who am I kidding? It's more than likely that the five-punch combo of New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land, Pikmin 3, Wii Fit U and The Wonderful 101 will push me to pick up the darn thing before next autumn, but I'm going to do my best to hold out until then (mainly because of the ton of awesome 3DS games that are set to be released throughout 2013).

Still, I'd love to hear what those of you who decided to buy a Wii U on launch day think of it and its games, so please share your stories, opinions and more in the comments section of this post.

A few not-quite-random thoughts on the Wii U's launch date, price and software line-up

I'm calling these not-quite-random thoughts, of course, because they came to mind after watching the trio of online, Wii U-focused events Nintendo aimed at fans in Japan, Europe and North America earlier today.

Before I get to my opinions on the Wii U's launch date, price and software line-up, though, it'd probably be a good idea to share these particulars:

* The Wii U will be released in North America first, on Nov. 18, followed by Europe on Nov. 30 and then Japan on Dec. 8.

* Two bundles will be released in each region: A "Basic Set" (above) that will include a white Wii U system (with 8 GB internal memory), a Wii U GamePad, AC adapters for both the system and GamePad, an HDMI cable and a sensor bar, and a "Deluxe Set" (below) that switches the while Wii U system for a black one (while bumping up the internal memory to 32 GB) and adds a copy of Nintendo Land, a charging cradle for the GamePad, two stands (one for the GamePad and one for the system) and enrollment in Nintendo Network Premium, which rewards those who purchase digital titles with points (discounts) that can be applied to future purchases. (The latter bundle will be called the "Premium Pack" in Europe and the "Premium Set" in Japan, by the way. Both will differ slightly from their North American counterpart in terms of components and price.)

* In North America, the "Basic Set" will retail for $299.99, while the "Deluxe Set" will sell for $349.99.

* Although a number of games will be released alongside the Wii U system, it appears that only two will be Nintendo-made: New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land.

As for my thoughts on all of the above (and a few other tidbits that were covered during the aforementioned events):

Welp, it seems I'll be buying Nintendo Land should it be sold separately from the Wii U

That's because this launch-window release for Nintendo's next console will feature a Balloon Fight-based mini-game that uses an art style similar to that of Kirby's Epic Yarn and that can be played solo (as opposed to pretty much every other Nintendo Land mini-game unveiled so far, save "Donkey Kong's Crash Course").

To see it in action, head on over to gameinformer.com and watch the trailer that was uploaded yesterday afternoon.



Will this mini-game, called "Balloon Trip Breeze," also contain a multi-player mode? The folks at Game Informer don't seem to know, unfortunately. Personally, I hope it does--despite the fact that it's likely I'll be playing Nintendo Land (and practically every other Wii U game I purchase) all by myself.

See also: 'Welp, it seems I'll be buying a 3DS XL a bit sooner than I initially thought I would'

My, er, Wii U Experience experience

As some of you (i.e. those of you who follow me on Twitter) already know, I attended the "Wii U Experience" event Nintendo of America held in downtown Seattle last night.

In case you've never heard of them before now, these invite-only events have been held in cities across the country over the last month or so and provide attendees with a bit of hands-on time with Nintendo's next console and a number of its games (both first- and third-party).

As far as I can remember, the following games were demoed during the "Wii U Experience" I attended: Batman: Arkham City--Armored Edition, Game & Wario, Just Dance 4, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, Project P-100, Pikmin 3, Rayman Legends, Sing, Wii Fit U, Wii U Panorama View and ZombiU.

I think Scribblenauts Unlimited, and possibly another game or two, may have been at the event as well, but I'm not sure about that. (The venue where the "Wii U Experience" was held had a number of rooms, and I didn't go into all of them, shockingly enough.)

Anyway, of all of the aforementioned games, I personally got to, well, experience just four of them: Game & Wario, Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U and the still-tentatively-titled (I hope) Project P-100.

Below are my impressions of each of those titles, as well as a few thoughts on some of the games I simply watched other people play.

* Game & Wario--If there was a Wii U game at this event that disappointed me, or at least confused me, it was this one. For starters, I find the art style used here to be kind of off-putting, especially when compared to the style that's been used in the most recent WarioWare titles.

The oddly childish (in a bad way) art style employed here isn't Game & Wario's main problem, though; no, that would be its rather unappealing gameplay. You see, rather than rapidly throwing a series of hilarious (or at least mildly humorous), single-player-focused mini-games at players like WarioWare does, this Wii U title tosses a bunch of slower-paced (as in, some of them have time limits that last for a number of minutes), multi-player-focused games at them.

My one-word review of E3 2012 (thus far): Meh

After spending (some would say wasting) a good chuck of yesterday watching Nintendo's, Microsoft's and Sony's E3 2012 press conferences (I wasn't able to watch Sony's or Microsoft's live on Monday), all I can say is: Woof. As in, "woof, all three of them sucked, didn't they?"

OK, so saying they sucked may be a bit harsh. Saying they were awfully underwhelming, though, is as close to the honest-to-goodness truth you're going to get, in my opinion.

Why? Read the following blurbs to find out. I combined my thoughts on Sony's and Microsoft's pressers, by the way, because I only had a few things to say about the latter conference and I felt bad about leaving it out in the cold, so to speak.

Sony and Microsoft:

* Beyond: Two Souls looks nice, but that's all I can say about it--I have to give it to the crew at Quantic Dreams for coming up with graphics that nearly, but not completely, put to rest the notion that game consoles are unable to produce human characters that aren't at least a bit creepy. Unfortunately, that's about all I was able to glean from the trailer shown for this upcoming PS3 title, which features Academy Award-nominated actress Ellen Page, as it showed no actual gameplay footage. I'm guessing it'll follow in the footsteps of the developer's previous product, Heavy Rain, but it would be nice to know that (or not) for sure.



* The Last of Us was the most intriguing game of Sony's presser, and maybe the most intriguing game of the whole event so far--PS3 and Xbox 360 games look so good these days that it's hard to impress me anymore. That said, The Last of Us (above) impressed me. It looks amazing, the banter between the main characters was about as natural as you could hope for in a video game and the gameplay seems diverse. Can someone remind me why I don't yet own a PS3? Oh, yeah, it's because I can't afford one right now. I may have to buy a copy of this game, though, as soon as that situation changes.

* PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale: Most boring name of the event?--I sure think so. Granted, I've yet to come up with a better name for this Super Smash Bros. clone, but I can't help but think anything would be better than the current one. Thankfully, few gamers are going to care about its name. Will they care enough about its gameplay to add it to their collections? I'm guessing so, although I can't say it appeals to me all that much. (Full disclosure: I find Super Smash Bros. and its sequels similarly unappealing.)

* South Park: The Stick of Truth was the only Xbox 360 game that impressed me during Microsoft's press conference--Which is kind of sad, as this Obsidian Entertainment-developed RPG isn't even an Xbox 360 exclusive. OK, so I also kind of liked what I saw of Fable: The Journey and Resident Evil 6, but the former requires Kinect (which means it gets a big "hell no" from me) and the latter is a game I'd much rather watch someone else play than play myself. Oh, well.



* Vita? What's a Vita?--You know a system is having problems when the company producing and selling it barely mentions it during one of the biggest events of the year. Honestly, I think some people may have blinked and missed the Vita segment of Sony's conference altogether. That's how short and underwhelming it was. A few games were announced for it (including the above-mentioned PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale), as was PSone Classics support, but that's about it. Sigh.

Nintendo:

* Does anyone else think the Wii U may support a few too many controllers?--As of now, players can use Wii U GamePads, Wii Remotes (and Wii Remote Pluses, along with Wii Nunchucks), Wii U Pro Controllers, Wii Classic Controllers and Wii Balance Boards while playing games on their Wii Us. Although I'm glad all of the peripherals I bought for my Wii won't just sit around and gather dust after I pick up a Wii U, I can't help but wonder if all of the control options will overwhelm some consumers and even developers.

* I'm not so sure NintendoLand is the killer app Nintendo thinks it is--That said, the Animal Crossing- and Luigi's Mansion-inspired portions of this mini-game collection (Animal Crossing: Sweet Day and Luigi's Ghost Mansion) look like a lot of fun. Personally, I think Nintendo should include a copy of NintendoLand with every Wii U console, but I'm not at all confident it will do so. If not, here's hoping it's no more than $19.99. Otherwise, I have a feeling a lot of gamers--myself included--may give it the cold shoulder upon release.



* New Super Mario Bros. U is more of the same, but I'm (kind of) OK with that--Although I'm not the biggest fan of the art style used in the New Super Mario Bros. series (I find it a bit generic), I am a fan of the tried-and-true gameplay that takes center stages in these titles. New Super Mario Bros. U looks to be the best yet thanks to the inclusion of the new flying squirrel suit (I'll die if the chicken suit is in here, too) and some adorable baby Yoshis. Oh, and some impressively detailed backdrops.

* Pikmin 3 looks and sounds wonderful, as expected--Not only that, but Nintendo wisely decided to allow gamers to use their Wii Remote Pluses and Wii Nunchucks (or their new Wii U GamePads, of course) while playing this, the latest entry in the vaunted Pikmin series. Combine that with the news that Pikmin 3 will include new captains and, well, you've got yourself a game that will be picked up by yours truly the day it's released (or the day I purchase a Wii U, whichever comes first).

* Uh, where's the rest of your games, Nintendo?--Nintendo only showed off a handful of first-party games during its presser: New Super Mario Bros. U, NintendoLand, Pikmin 3 (below) and Wii Fit U. (I'm not counting LEGO City: Undercover or SiNG.) That's pretty paltry, especially when you consider two of those titles were shown and one was announced at last year's E3. Hopefully a few more will be revealed by the end of this year's event (or in the coming weeks, at the very least).



* Wii Fit U will be bought for one reason, and for one reason only--With that reason being that it can be used while watching TV. Honestly, one of the only reasons I haven't used Wii Fit Plus in a few months (I used to use it two or three times every week) is that I prefer watching TV while I work out at home.

Overall:

* I'm completely sick of the "let's have four guys (OK, maybe one girl) stand on the stage and seemingly play the game we're currently talking about" strategy employed by each of these companies--I understand what they're trying to do (make us believe that what we're seeing on screen is actual footage of the game they're promoting), but it's always seemed rather lame to me.

* Next year, let's hear from some new "suits"--I'm sure Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime, Microsoft's Don Mattrick and Sony's Jack Tretton are great at whatever they do when they're not on stage at E3, but when they are on stage at E3 they are about as awkward and unappealing as can be. No personal offense meant to any of these men, of course; I just wish their employers would ask someone else--someone with a bit more personality and presence--to front these particular press conferences.

* What's up with the 10-minute-long gameplay videos?--Both Microsoft's and Sony's conferences could have been a good half-hour shorter, if not more, had they limited gameplay videos to about three minutes. Instead, they went with gameplay videos that seemed to last an eternity. A good portion of the live crowd seemed to enjoy them, but I found them to be snoozefests.

So, those are my rather long-winded thoughts on E3 2012 so far. If you've been paying attention to this event, what do you think of what's transpired?