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Kevin Knezevic
I really wasn’t expect much from yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation (in fact, I was dozing off during during the first half of it, catching bits and pieces of the Wii U Virtual Console promotion and the company’s plans for Miiverse in between lulls), so you can imagine my surprise when Iwata announced so many high-profile Wii U games with such little provocation or fanfare.
Yarn Yoshi and The Wonderful 101 are definitely two highlights of the announcements and certainly look lovely, but what really caught my attention was Nintendo’s HD remake of The Wind Waker. I have to admit, though, I was not immediately taken with its new visual design. It’s beautiful, to be sure, but it really doesn’t feel very much like a cartoon anymore, which was the original’s greatest asset. It certainly doesn’t help that I think The Wind Waker is one of the weaker games in the series, but that’s another story. I have to say, though, I’m happy to see Nintendo go the extra mile and offer fans a true, full-fledged remake (much as it did for Ocarina of Time 3D) rather than a quick high-definition port like Sony has done so often on PlayStation 3. Props for not taking the easy way out.
The most exciting thing about that announcement, however, was hearing Aonuma talk about the next Legend of Zelda title. As expected, he gave us very few concrete details on the game, but it seems as though his team is really looking to reinvent the series and its conventions. Zelda is in desperate need of a good Super Mario Galaxy-style shake up, especially after the disappointing Skyward Sword (at least, disappointing relative to its hype), so I’m very anxious to see what Nintendo will reveal at this year’s E3, when the game will presumably be shown for the first time (along with a new 3D Mario– joy!).
And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Monolith Soft’s new title, which looks exceedingly similar to Xenoblade, except far, far more beautiful. There’s nothing that I can say that my colleagues haven’t already so eloquently pointed out, so suffice it to say that I can’t wait to get my hands on the game. Here, truly, is Wii U’s killer app. This probably means I should finally get around to finishing my copy of Xenoblade…
Marc Deschamps
When I first saw there was going to be a Nintendo Direct presentation yesterday, I figured it couldn’t match the one from just a couple weeks ago. Pokémon X and Y, the first 3D Pokémon game ever? They weren’t gonna match that. I figured I’d have a boring little write-up to handle for the News Desk about a system update or something. Boy, was I wrong.
I mentioned this to Kevin yesterday, but, as chaotic as it was getting the story put together, it was also SO MUCH FUN. It reawakened that fanboy feeling I had during the GameCube days when I was in high school. I wanted so badly to wake up this morning, go to homeroom, and rub it in Nate Voltz’s Xbox owning face. But, it’s been about a decade since high school, so I guess I’ll just take a few deep breaths and enjoy what Nintendo Direct gave us.
Going into yesterday’s presentation, I only had two Wii U games that were on my “must buy” radar for 2013: Lego Marvel Superheroes and Game and Wario. Yesterday, that list grew a bit, and I’m more excited for E3 than ever before. If I have to pick a “must have” from the list, it has to be Yoshi’s Land. As a huge fan of Yoshi’s Island, not to mention the insanely underrated Wii masterpiece Kirby’s Epic Yarn, I couldn’t be more excited. Plus, Nintendo has been really cranking out wonderful 2D platformers lately, so I can’t wait.
I will say that I’m intrigued by The Wind Waker remake, too. Unlike Kevin, I realize what an absolutely beautiful game that was. But I do hope that the Tri-Force fetch quest towards the end of the game gets an overhaul. I hated that so much, and it really dragged the game down. If they can fix that, it’ll be a must buy, for me.
I’m not 100% sold on Monolith Soft’s new RPG just yet, but that trailer was pretty mind-blowing, wasn’t it? I’m gonna echo what most people here have said and say that the moment with the mech was pretty much awesome. I’ll be keeping my eyes on this one.
And then there’s the Virtual Console! 30 Cents for these games? Pretty sure I’m sold on every one.
And that’s a wrap! Though, to leave none of the major footage from yesterday’s Nintendo Direct out, here’s a look at the studio behind Bayonetta 2, the Wii U exclusive.
I love that Nintendo does things its own way. E3 is when you would expect stuff like this, but Nintendo has already nailed down what its 2013 is all about, so boom, here it is, in their own words, on their own terms, with their own unique blend of perfectionism and humility.
E3 might be a bit of a fossil soon. Let the stuffy business types go to some physical assembly and speculate about growth markets and demographics; we fans can now get the stuff we care about directly from Nintendo. I wonder if/when the other big studios will follow suit.
…also, holy crap! Xenoblade successor, Wind Waker U, 30-cent community-connected, snapshot-enabled Super Metroid… This is the stuff dreams are made of.
Suddenly I’m a kid again, with a Nintendo Power subscription and free copy of Dragon Warrior, and my mind just boggles at the amount of awesome that’s lined up.
There’s no doubt about it now: Wii U has it’s library, and a solid one at that! If you didn’t want one before, you have to want one now!
It’s got its VC, and as long as Nintendo’s working on NEW Zelda games, I don’t mind a remake now and then to stave my appetite.
Obviously, I can’t wait to see Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, but I like Xenoblade more (I’m still sticking with Monolith X; it sounds better than Xenoblade U, and there’s no telling whether it’s related yet).
Wii U *will* have a good library… but it doesn’t have a good library *now*, and I’m not willing to buy *now*.
3DS has taught me a harsh lesson about buying in early. The retail software lineup for that system has a few highlights but is just starting to be worthwhile now, years after the system was released release. Wii U seems to be on the same path. I’d rather wait to buy until games that I care about are released (and the system has likely dropped in price).