Thursday, June 14, 2012

Sophia's Take on Nintendo's E3

by Sophia
Contributing Author

Now that E3 2012 has come to a close and with the dust now starting to settle, it is my intent to add perspective to the varying amount of negative emotions combined with a whole host of likely over reactive doomsday predictions for Nintendo and the Wii U. It appears the general consensus is that all three console developers had lackluster showings, but with the most venom directed towards Nintendo.




Coming into E3 we had a vast array of hopes and dream about what Nintendo would reveal in regards to Wii U, many of which did not come to fruition. As is the case with expectations, they have a tendency to go unfulfilled, especially when it comes to the highest of them. Nintendo, for better or for worse, decided to dedicate E3 to the near future, primarily the launch window of the Wii U, and the upcoming game lineup for 3DS. This has ruffled a few feathers because many wanted to see (myself included) post-launch games, which Nintendo did not touch upon. The focus of Nintendo remained on the launch of the Wii U and the games that will be released within that time frame.

If one can get past this disappointment, you can look with a more objective eye at what was shown at E3. For example, a game that many have wanted for years and have expressed their excitement for, was Pikmin 3, is now a Wii U launch game, but for whatever reason the excitement level for this anticipated sequel has dropped for people who once were disappointed by the game’s no-shows at previous E3s. Pikmin 3 appears to be shaping up nicely and should be a solid edition to the Wii U launch lineup. A few other positive unveilings were Rayman Legends, which apparently is an exclusive, ZombiU, and Lego City.

Before I approach the games themselves, I wish to discuss the features of the Wii U system itself. Prior to E3 many were concerned about the Wii U’s control pad, specifically whether more than one could be used. That fear was put to rest at E3, when Nintendo revealed that you can use two controllers at once. One area that appears to be up in the air is what the Wii U will have, out of box, in regards to storage space. It is not much of a stretch to assume that it will be flash based, and if I were a gambling woman I would be willing to bet it will be in the 4GB or the rumored, 8GB range. The irony is that solid state storage is the future, and Nintendo is just ahead of the curve. So once again I fail to see why, let’s say for arguments sake, 8 GB of storage is a problem, it is enough storage for more casual gamers, and if one wants to upgrade the memory they have two straightforward ways of doing so. One must remember that every extra added into a system will create cost that will likely be passed onto the customer, and 8GB sounds like a fair compromise without the bottlenecks the 512 MB of flash memory that the Wii had, but we shall see what Nintendo does in regards to included storage. At least Nintendo isn’t locking users into old technology like the PS3 and Xbox 360, which revolved around traditional hard drives that are more prone to failure. It truly depends on ones perspective!

I would cover Nintendo’s internet strategy, but there just is not enough known about it to give a fair analysis, positive or negative, so that will likely remain a concern until the system launches. Instead let us move onto what is likely people’s biggest concern and that is the graphical abilities of the console. It is here that I think Nintendo dropped the ball, not in regards to power but in regards to showcasing fresh looking games that take advantage of the system. Many of the titles we viewed were 3rd party ports, and beyond those we also received a glimpse of Rayman Legends in action, which is more reliant on artistic creativity rather than horsepower, ZombiU, which is still relatively unknown, and Nintendo’s more basic looking games like Nintendoland and Lego City. Even Pikmin 3 lacked graphical oomph (though it was still a great looking game). With all that said, if one were to sift through the rumors the system’s graphical abilities are a bump up from 360/PS3, it is just that we don’t know by how much or how well PS4/Xbox 3 ports will translate to the system. One thing that we must keep in mind though is visuals are starting to plateau and that we’ll likely see the most impact in things like AI, physics, and other “in the background” improvements rather then what we see directly with our eyes. Likely you won’t see drastic differences between multiplatform games when it comes to the images on your screen, and in general there won’t be near the gap we seen between Wii and PS3/360. But once again, all of this is based on theory; no one knows quite how things will go when Sony and MS release new consoles, even the detractors.

We must keep in mind though that with every bit of added horsepower, every jump in gigabytez of a flash drive, or increases in other features, you have additional costs that will either be passed onto the customer or eaten by the console maker ( something Nintendo cannot do too much of or they would go belly up fast). Nintendo, despite all of their success, is assets are vastly less then Sony or Microsoft, they just can't afford to take the enormous financial hits those companies can and have in the past console generation. Unless people want a $400-500 console from Nintendo sacrifices have to be made not only for the customer but for Nintendo’s financial stability as well. It truly is a balancing act for them.

One thing that is being overlooked about Wii U tech is that the Wii U GamePad is likely expensive to produce and is an impressive piece of tech. The pad is integral to the success of the Wii U since Nintendo cannot compete directly with MS or Sony, as historically proven with the GameCube and N64. They need to do their own thing and differentiate themselves or they'll get buried since they can't afford to compete with Sony/MS's competition to see who can take the most losses on each console sold. Either you accept that “Nintendo Difference” or you buy MS/Sony systems. For me, I enjoy Nintendo's own games too much to let it bother me, the Wii U is likely more powerful then the 360/PS3 and, while it won't be PS4/Xbox 3 powerful, at least I know Nintendo won't be either A) Pricing themselves out of a customer’s budget since they can't take major losses B) Taking major losses on each system sold and therefore putting themselves on the path to extinction.



To wrap up this analysis, I want to squash the doomsday predictors in regards to the Wii U launch lineup. One must realize that launch lineups seldom equate to success down the line, as shown by the PS3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS. Even the 360 demonstrated this to an extent, at launch it really only had three unique games , Condemned, Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero. All there which were a mixed bag, especially Kameo and PD0. Nintendo for their launch window has Pikmin 3, a game that has been anticipated by fans for years now, Lego City, a Nintendo published title that appears to be more of an open world sandbox Lego game, NintendoLand which sounds like a fun title that I predict will be bundled with the system and has the chance to be the Wii Sports of Wii U, Rayman Legends, apparently an exclusive, and ZombiU which looks to bring us true survival horror, through the utilization of the Wii U GamePad, whereas other franchises seem to be shifting more towards action oriented games such as the mainline Resident Evil series and possibly Dead Space 3. Platinum Games is also creating an exclusive (Project P-100)and it appears we’ll be getting another WarioWare esque game as well. I don’t know about you, but that seems to be a solid lineup of exclusives for a system launch. Always keep in mind though, that no matter how Wii U does at launch, it will be how Nintendo continues to evolve the Wii U with new games that will truly define its success. Those predicting immediate failure are jumping the gun. Even if Wii U had a terrible launch lineup and/or a slow sales start, it would hardly be a predictor of its success as seen in more recently examples, such as the 3DS and even the PS3.

Did Nintendo demonstrate the importance of the Wii U GamePad? That appears to be up for debate and will likely starts to clear up only when people are able to try it outside of E3. So far from the impressions I’ve seen, NintendoLand’s games utilize it well even if they are more proof-of-concept like Wii Sports was, and supposedly in ZombiU it adds to the immersion and tension of a survival horror experience. We shall see, but it is hardly time to declare Wii U and its GamePad a failure. All I know is that while Nintendo’s focus at E3 may have disappointed some, it is hardly worthy of doom and gloom. We have what appears to be a promising launch lineup with likely a couple of gems, solid hardware, a fresh controller innovation that holds exciting possibilities for anyone open minded and not set in their ways, and above all else the promise of Nintendo’s own franchises for the future. Nintendo will never please everyone, all they can do is continue doing what they know, and hope that in time 3rd parties and more importantly, customers come around. What they cannot do is try to compete directly with Microsoft and Sony in the graphical arms race, or simply play copy cat in regards to games that are popular from with two competitors. Perhaps I am off base, but gaming has evolved beyond graphical abilities for me, and it is innovations like motion control, the Wii U GamePad, etc. that make gaming interaction exciting for me. Otherwise, I might as well switch to PC on a more permanent basis.

9 comments:

Maxi said...

I have to say that this is the most level headed and informational article I have seen a while about this years E3.

coffeewithgames said...

"Did Nintendo demonstrate the importance of the Wii U GamePad? That appears to be up for debate..."

Not sure how it's up for debate. The games they showed from Nintendo, other than Nintendo Land, apparently use the Wii U GamePad as an option, and not the standard. Pikmin 3? Wii Remote+ & Nunchuk.
New Super Mario Bros. U? Wii Remote.

Nintendo basically answered only one question in the E3 conference, that a lot of people were wondering about before the conference even started that I can remember...and that is the console will be able to use two GamePads.

"What they cannot do is try to compete directly with Microsoft and Sony in the graphical arms race, or simply play copy cat in regards to games that are popular from with two competitors. Perhaps I am off base, but gaming has evolved beyond graphical abilities for me, and it is innovations like motion control, the Wii U GamePad, etc. that make gaming interaction exciting for me."

I don't care about the graphical side of things that much, as a matter of fact, I game more on my Wii still than my PS3. I myself LIKE motion controls in most Wii games...but the biggest failure I continue to see from Nintendo is their online services. Friend codes, or no friend codes? Voice chat, or no voice chat? "Achievements/trophies" or not?

As of your point on, "At least Nintendo isn’t locking users into old technology like the PS3 and Xbox 360", the only one that did that was the Xbox 360.
The PS3's can be changed out with a screwdriver, and data transferred if necessary. Comparing Wii U to consoles released 5-6 years ago now? Not exactly a fair comparison.

"It truly depends on ones perspective!" See above, perspective based on comparing the "new" console that is not yet released to a PS3 and Xbox 360 from a few years back?

"I would cover Nintendo’s internet strategy, but there just is not enough known about it to give a fair analysis, positive or negative, so that will likely remain a concern until the system launches."
Actually, not knowing is knowing, KNOWING Nintendo's past history with their online services...see definition of terrible.
They talked about MiiVerse, but Reggie pretty much confirmed it won't be ready at launch. They didn't talk about online communication, friend codes/no friend codes or even if New Super Mario Bros. U will have online play of any sort (doubt it, again, knowing their history).

I just wanted to see one game from Nintendo themselves, that proved to me why the Wii U GamePad is awesome and worth a new console...unfortunately Nintendo failed to do that themselves, but fortunately for Nintendo, Ubisoft did that for them...and apparently in less than a year's time.

Sophia said...

Coffee, I think you completely missed, and took my statement out of context, the point was in regards to locking one into old technology. Traditional hard drives ARE old technology and my point was that solid state hard drives are in fact FORWARD thinking, and that is what I was referring to in the article. That was my point, and some want the Wii U to have a traditional hard drive rather then flash, even though if you so desire you can use an external drive or SD Card to expand it.

In regards to visuals, it may not matter much to you (or me to be honest), but it matters to others. I think this is an example of the fact how in gaming (and in other areas) determine somethings overall value by what they care about, or in your case, don't care about. It is an understandable viewpoint, but it is at the end of the day a personal view of the importance of visuals, and some really care about them (I play Wii far more then my other consoles as well)

Nintendo Land arguable did showcase why the Gamepad is important from reading most hands on reports, just like Wii Sports before it. Wii really only had Wii Sports, every other game had arguably unnecessary uses for it. We had Twilight Princess where the controls were shoehorned into it, and ExciteTruck which once again could have easily used traditional controls. In fact I am GLAD the Wii U provides options for games in regards to control method. Far too often in the Wii's lifespan Nintendo shoehorned unnecessary motion controls into various games.


Wii, beyond Wii Sports took a couple of years to truly demonstrate the value of motion controls. Wii U will hopefully demonstrate the need far sooner, beyond, well Nintendo Land just like its predecessor, Wii Sports.

Nintendo has made it clear there is more to reveal, and will before the Launch of the system, just like, well Wii. To assume Nintendo's online infrastructure is a pitfall that I am going to avoid until we have more information. One can assume all they want about Nintendo's past history with online, but given recent statements about their drive to improve it is rash, especially when it will likely be an improvement on the Nintendo 3DS which does NOT require individual friend codes for each game, instead only requiring one friend code for every online multiplayer game.

In regards to Ubisoft demonstrating the value of the Wii U Gamepad, I would not be the least bit surprised if Nintendo has been working with them on games like ZombiU on some level, and that game's quality is still up in the air even if it does look promising. I don't recall if Rayman Legends requires it though.

So Ubisoft has one game so far that demonstrates the VALUE of the Wii U pad (aka not shoehorning features that are unnecessary to demonstrate its use), and Nintendo has one, which is Nintendo Land. Wii had Wii Sports and Red Steel (which didn't turn out so hot). And Nintendo DS had, um, Super Mario 64 DS (But that doesn't count right, since it had an alternative control method correct?)?

My point is that it is nothing new for it to take time to get full fledged games to use innovative control methods. The last Nintendo console to really do that was N64 with Mario 64. Nintendo needs time to craft games, which undoubtedly their major studios. Right now we have Nintendo Land to show the possibility of the Wii U Pad, which many says it is a solid game, like Wii Sports, to showcase what the future may look like. Hopefully the Wii U won't take quite so long to truly demonstrate a full fledged game that utilizes the Wii U Mote as it took them with Wii or Nintendo DS.

Thank you for your feedback, and I hope this clears up any confusion. I understand you were disappointed, but I still feel it is overblown, and clouded by emotions.

coffeewithgames said...

An actual DISCUSSION!?

"...the point was in regards to locking one into old technology."
The Xbox 360 released before the Wii, the PS3 at the same time.
Both those systems allow you to "backup" the save data to another HDD if you so choose to do that.

The Wii? It was/is backwards thinking in that your data is tied directly to your system with many games (see Monster Hunter Tri, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Animal Crossing...games that players spend 100s of hours in), and there is no way to backup that save data...so if your Wii dies/gets it's memory corrupted, all those games get lost as well.

There is no simple solution for transferring the data from one HDD to another like on the 360, or changing out and transferring the data like on the PS3.

Yea, as for the visuals, they matter more to the developers I think, and I can understand why. If all the consoles are on the same level playing field as for graphics, it makes the developers jobs easier to just work on creating the style for the game, and not having to worry about porting them as much.

"Nintendo Land arguable did showcase why the Gamepad is important from reading most hands on reports..." hands on being key there. If they don't pack it in, I certainly won't be purchasing it, as I don't see the value in it right now. I would probably go with the Rabbids Land game, before Nintendo Land (WEIRD! I just noticed the name connection there), as Ubisoft seems to try fun and innovative control methods in their games. Rayman Raving Rabbids was a huge hit in our house.

If Nintendo's big game for the Wii U is NintendoLand, why shouldn't we expect more mini-game collections from third party developers?

"...especially when it will likely be an improvement on the Nintendo 3DS which does NOT require individual friend codes for each game, instead only requiring one friend code for every online multiplayer game."
An improvement ib the 3DS, which was not much of an improvement over the Wii at all...it still uses a "friend code", and there is no game invite system that I'm aware of, and no way to really easily communicate.

As a matter of fact, that's the one thing I never hear from early 3DS adopters much anymore, the online aspect.

Wii did have Red Steel, which I actually thoroughly enjoyed, and I have written and shown why in the past several times.
Wii also had Rayman Raving Rabbids at launch, which used the Wii Remote in very fun and laughable ways. It also had an online ranking system...that's correct. Ubisoft had an online leaderboard system in a Wii launch title. A Wii launch title. Now sure, because Nintendo couldn't even get the Wii's online service fully functional for its launch either, Ubisoft had to setup an online leaderboard system using codes, but that is a reflection on Nintendo not being ready at launch, not the third party.

"Nintendo needs time to craft games..."
Nintendo has had since the Wii launched (really GameCube, since the Wii is just the GameCube duck taped together :) ), to get their online services updated, and they have two other consoles as examples they can follow.

"I understand you were disappointed, but I still feel it is overblown, and clouded by emotions."
Emotions based on facts, such as Nintendo's history, are not overblown in my opinion. Defending poor decisions by a company though, seems to be a decision clouded by emotions. :)

Sophia said...

Nintendo has shown a lot of improvement since Wii in regards to online, 3DS is a step in the right direction.

Also I am not following your point regarding old technology, I am referencing the storage method of Wii U (and yes Wii even though it was extremely small) which is a solid state drive vs traditional HDD drives (360/PS3). I made no mention of the ability to transfer data (and yes that was backwards thinking on the Wii but it has nothing to do with it utilizing solid state storage), that section of the editorial was solely on the hardware of the Wii U, and how solid state IS the future.

Once again my statement regarding Nintendo taking time to craft game has NOTHING to do with their online strategy, it clearly was referencing utilizing the Wii U Gamepad and showing its use in a full fledged game, just like the Wii before it.

Mini game collections, are, sadly going to follow no matter what Nintendo does, it happened with Nintendo DS, it happened with Wii and it will happen with Wii U. Mini game collections are often used as a way to make a cheap buck by 3rd parties, since most are of poor quality. With that said, a game like Nintendo Land is important in providing examples of possible uses of the Wii U Controller, and hopefully providing an entertaining game the same way Wii Sports did.

coffeewithgames said...

"Nintendo has shown a lot of improvement since Wii in regards to online..."
I would ask how so?
3DS still uses a friend code.
3DS has no online standards really.
3DS has no online communication (verbal) during gaming (did they release the headset for it yet?)
3DS has no game invite system that has been implemented

I don't see "a lot of improvement", perhaps I'm missing it?

"that section of the editorial was solely on the hardware of the Wii U"
You brought up the Xbox 360 and PS3 though, trying to make it seem like 8GB of solid state is good and "future" thinking? You can find 8GB SD cards for under $10 now, and if Nintendo is going digital with their games for downloads, 8GBs won't last very long at all...putting more cost on consumers that choose to go the digital route and looking for alternative storage methods.

"Once again my statement regarding Nintendo taking time to craft game..."
Well, I was saying that I don't see what they have been using their time doing with Nintendo Land. If Ubisoft was able to have a trailer for Killer Freaks from Outer Space for E3 last year, and within a year totally change the game's design and have trailers and game-play demos at E3 for ZombiU...I just don't think that reflects very well on what Nintendo is doing with their resources.

Sophia said...

Solid State is far more reliable then the HDD, and 8GB is enough for someone to start. If they wish to upgrade the memory the can always buy an external drive, or one of those cheap SD cards. Either way the cost will be pushed on the customer no matter if it is packaged with the system or they have to buy it separately. The fact is that you have that option, unlike the Wii which you did not.

The fact is that the solid state drive is less prone to failure and will last longer. HDD are NOT the future anymore, they are in fact slowly but surely becoming outdated, they are in fact slowly being phased out as SSD storage becomes cheaper. And for the record a SSD drive is more advanced (in most cases) then a cheap SD card when it comes to write speed, wear, etc.

In the PC world we are seeing solid state drives take over, and while you can't store as much, it is seen as superior technology in virtually every way. I'd rather the Wii U have all my important settings, saves, etc stored on a solid state drive then a HDD. I've had two hard drives fail on me on my Xbox 360. If i want to obtain a lot of digital content I'll just plug in one of my external hard drives, one of which is 1TB, or one of the SD cards floating around my house. It is no big deal, both are affordable enough. One wild card that has been rumored is some form of cloud storage as well, but that has not been confirmed

In regards to online, the 3DS has a far better store, patching system has been implemented, one friend code for every game (yes it is still a friend code, but you do not need to input one for every game that is purchased like Wii), and just the overall online navigation has been streamlined.

Is it perfect? No it is not, does it still need work? Yes it does, but it shows a positive direction for Nintendo's online infrastructure and future. They are slowly but surely getting the message that friend codes are annoying, and it is showing. I have little doubt Wii U will be an even bigger step forward for them, it will undoubtedly be vastly better the Wii was, at least when it comes to the infrastructure and features. With the games? Who knows with them, and honestly I am more concerned about having a good system in place for 3rd parties to take advantage of and an infrastructure that I will actually enjoy using.

Do I admit Nintendo is playing catch up with their competitors in various areas? Of course, but it still doesn't change the fact that they appear to making positive changes and are learning (in NIntendo's typical slow way) from their mistakes.

In regards to game development, Nintendo Land more then likely is being done by the studio that did games like Wii Sports, Animal Crossing, Wii Music etc. Nintendo has a lot of studios, and teams who are likely working on the more sizeable games. Though you cannot forget Pikmin 3, while it may not have brilliant use of the Nintendo game pad it is still a big title.

Nintendo is a big company, with lots of different studios. We'll probably see some of the games from the more respected, larger, studios show up next year, maybe even EAD Tokyo or Retro if we are lucky!

Sophia said...

Likely we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. What I do want to say I appreciate having a dialogue with you without things getting "heated". Thank you for that :)

coffeewithgames said...

"And for the record a SSD drive is more advanced (in most cases) then a cheap SD card..."

Are you saying 8GB in WiiU is an SSD though?
If this is seriously an 8GB SSD, Nintendo either purchased a ton of outdated or not sold/repossessed old 8GB SSD, or they special ordered these which would drive up the cost, & knowing Nintendo's record, there is no evidence they would do that unless piracy prevention was key.

When was the last time an 8GB SSD was sold, if ever? Serious question.

The last I checked, they don't even make 8GB SSD these days, & only have 8GB in SD type format; unless we're now simply debating flash versus drive memory? Which I agree Flash is more stable, though I own an original PS3 & haven't had any issues with mine, & never had any interal HDD PC issues.

I'm just not seeing anything here from Nintendo in the memory department that makes me think, "WOW! That's super advanced and future!" If anything, 8GB makes me think, "Wow! That will be used up super fast!"
The PS3 & Xbox 360 offer more memory, HD graphics, & a greater backlog of HD games for cheaper, than the Wii U & Nintendo has yet to prove to me that their online will actually be 2012 standards (really 2005 and 2006 using the PS3 and Xbox 360 standards), & they certainly have not proven why the controller is a must have to justify the cost of a new console.

"If i want to obtain a lot of digital content I'll just plug in one of my external hard drives, one of which is 1TB, or one of the SD cards floating around my house. It is no big deal, both are affordable enough."
You say it's no big deal, because you own them & have extras lying around. What percentage of the market does though? I would guess, based on my experience with family/friends, that very few people have an extra memory card lying around that they want to use for a system's memory, and would prefer it to be built in with a good bit of space from the start.

"the 3DS has a far better store, patching system has been implemented, one friend code for every game (yes it is still a friend code, but you do not need to input one for every game that is purchased like Wii), and just the overall online navigation has been streamlined."
Seriously. The store? The store? Are we supposed to cheer about an online store being streamlined? That stuff happens all the time for online businesses, and is not the "online" as most of the "core" would even consider "online" for a console.
Again, I'm talking online multiplayer, patches being available day one to developers and being implemented by Nintendo (see Metroid: Other M issue that a simple patch could fix, Animal Crossing's dying grass issue), communication, etc.

Achievements/trophies.

And apparently the Wii U will use the same Friend Code system...as there are many conflicting reports on this, and they don't give me much hope.

"Though you cannot forget Pikmin 3..."
I'm not even considering Pikmin 3 at this point, as the game was already announced as a Wii title, and to me with them touting the Wii MotionPlus controls live on stage, confirmed that it was simply ported to the Wii U from the Wii. Not much work there at all really, IMO.

"8GB is enough for someone to start."
Not if Nintendo is going to be pushing the WiiWare/Virtual Console type games.

As for, "Likely we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. What I do want to say I appreciate having a dialogue with you without things getting "heated". Thank you for that :)" I agree, I think online discussions can be just that...discussions. No need for name-calling/yelling.

If you are agreeing, that Nintendo has not sold the Wii U, then I agree. The only disagree part, is the 8GB SSD. I don't agree it's SSD, and Nintendo probably duck taped some old 8GB DS cartridges they had produced, but didn't find use for, into the Wii U system.