Nintendo underwhelms at E3 2012 Articles - Editorial Tuesday, 05 June 2012 20:33 Written by Carl B

One of the first things Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said when he appeared on stage was that this year, for Nintendo, it was all about the games. After an abysmal Microsoft presser and a decent Sony one the day before, it was pretty apparent the Big N was taking a shot at its competitors.

Shigeru Miyamoto trotted out on stage before Reggie and demoed the long awaited Pikmin 3, showing off the title's new features including rock Pikmin, bridge building, and four-commander gameplay. The conference started off strong, and I'm sure fans watching thought the same thing I did: they aren't going to show off their best game first. That honor is traditionally left for the end of the show, making its unveil even more special and exciting.

But that's exactly what Nintendo did. After Pikmin 3, it was a steady downward decline that left fans wondering if Nintendo was just joking with the final game they showed off.

Fils-Aime stated in his opening monologue that 23 games would be shown in some form or fashion during their press conference. He wasn't lying -- a lot of games were shown. The problem is that these games, outside of Pikmin 3 and ZombiU, weren't compelling. Quality is always better than quantity.

Nintendo fans that are convinced that the publisher can do no wrong will point to the third-party montage shown and use that as an example of all the quality titles coming to Wii U either at launch or within the "launch window." These games included Mass Effect 3, Batman: Arkham City, Darksiders II, and Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Arkham City came out last year. It's an amazing game, but no matter how many times Fils-Aime claims it's a new experience on Spike TV, the game released last year. Mass Effect 3 came out earlier this year, and Darksiders II on Wii U will likely launch well after its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 brethren. The majority of games shown for Wii U were 360/PS3 ports. These are games that most core gamers have already played, except for the Nintendo fanboys that refuse to play anything that isn't on a Nintendo platform.

I'm fine with ports if they're done well and if there's a strong list of original games to go along with them.

There isn't, unless you're really looking forward to Just Dance 4 and Wii Fit U. Nintendo also showed off New Super Mario Bros. U, and it looks the same as ever: like a glorified DS game. I'm not sure if I'll be buying a Wii U at launch if the only original games are Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros. U, and Nintendo was mum as to when Pikmin 3 will launch.

The conference was winding down, though, and there was still a glimmer of hope that Nintendo could save E3 and ride off into the sunset with everyone's wallet. Then they showed Nintendo Land, which is essentially a mini-game compilation featuring 12 Nintendo franchises meant to teach people how to use the Wii U GamePad -- Wii U's Wii Sports.

Nintendo displayed a mini-game based on Luigi's Mansion, and it was by far the most boring and uninspired demo at this year's expo. Nintendo Land is a launch title, but there was no word as to if the game would be bundled with the system or not.

Fils-Aime returned to the stage before the disgruntled audience could make their way out of the theater, saying that they have something else to show everyone before they left.

Metroid Prime 4?

No. More Nintendo Land.

Nintendo had a great opportunity to wow the masses at this year's show. Quite frankly, we wanted to be amazed by Wii U and its potentially extensive library. Nintendo needed to bring back dormant franchises such as Starfox and F-Zero, but they didn't -- not a peep. Nothing was even mentioned about what Retro Studios is up to, there was no Zelda tease, no Mario Kart, no Metroid, no Donkey Kong.

None of Nintendo's memorable franchises made an appearance at this year's show, effectively giving us nothing to be excited for Wii U this year.

Except for Pikmin 3 and ZombiU.