Round Table: Post-E3 Thoughts

With the big show behind us, the staff reflects on Nintendo’s performance!

By Nintendojo Staff. Posted 06/19/2017 20:00 1 Comment     ShareThis

Another year, another E3 behind us. With the conference now in the rear-view mirror, our staff sat down and discussed the show’s highlights, and our overall impressions of Nintendo’s 2017 showing!

Marc Deschamps

I have to say, I’m really happy with Nintendo’s showing this year. I predicted at the start of last week that we wouldn’t see much in the way of surprises, and that proved mostly true. What was revealed, however, was quite exciting: not one, but two new Metroid titles, Rocket League and an unbelievable number of Amiibo.

More importantly, we got a better look at Nintendo’s plans for the rest of 2017, and it’s shaping up to be one of the best first years I have personally ever seen for a video game system. From now until the end of the year, Nintendo has at least one major first party release per month, which is huge, and a sign that they’re learning from the problems that plagued Wii U.

While the Metroid announcements were both welcome and exciting, what intrigues me the most is the fact that we still don’t know what Retro Studios is up to! Rumors have linked them to a new Eternal Darkness title, and while that may seem farfetched, Nintendo has curiously kept that trademark renewed over the last few years. As a huge fan of the GameCube title, I would absolutely love to see what Retro could do with the IP. Either way, my anticipation for Retro’s next project only continues to grow!

Finally, there’s Super Mario Odyssey which looks absolutely incredible. Had Nintendo not revealed two Metroid titles in development, they still likely would have won the show by way of Odyssey alone. The game looks beautiful, surreal and charming and October simply cannot come soon enough.


Andy Hoover

I too was quite pleased with Nintendo’s E3 showing. Part of me is a little disappointed by what still appears to be some hesitance on the part of major third parties, but things are definitely looking up and I think many companies were caught off guard by how quickly Switch caught on. Come next year, I think we’ll be seeing a very different picture from the likes of EA, Activision, 2K, and other big publishers.

As for what was on display, Nintendo didn’t have one weak link in its lineup. While I think most people will walk away with Mario Odyssey as their standout title, nothing that was shown felt like filler. And as good as the rest of the year looks, just the next few months look to be an embarrassment of riches. Arms initially looked kind of gimmicky when first revealed, but Nintendo smartly showed off more and more in a manner that has impressed me greatly. Splatoon 2 looks to be great sequel that will greatly expand on everything that made the original brilliant. Also, while Mario+Rabbids might have been on of Nintendo’s worst kept secrets ever, it’s X-Com inspired gameplay proved to be just as exciting and surprising as its August release date.

Looking further on, Yoshi and Kirby (I imagine those titles will be updated at some point) look to be really solid platformers, but I too have my mind on Metroid. First, I’m pumped to play Samus Returns because it appears to fix all the little gameplay problems that stopped me from truly loving the 2D entries in the series. But I’m kind of surprised by how excited I am based on one of the least flashy reveal trailers ever to be associated with E3. I’m in the camp who believes Metroid Prime remains the high watermark for the franchise so I am excited to finally know, for certain, that Nintendo is continuing one of the best sci-fi sagas in gaming history.

Speaking of sci-fi, I also want to give kudos to Starlink: Battle for Atlas. Not only am I happy to once again see Ubisoft jumping feet first into a new Nintendo system, but as a nerd with an appreciation for everything space related, especially exploration and ship to ship combat, this new IP looks ready to tick a lot of boxes for me. Also, let’s hope for some confirmation that Beyond Good or Evil 2 will get the Switch treatment.

Finally, I want to mention the competition briefly. To be honest, I don’t think there was much shown by anyone looked truly awful, but most of the presentations this year felt really lacking in energy or creativity. With a few exceptions, much of what was shown off looked like slightly more polished versions of things we had seen before. Meanwhile, Nintendo showed up with an array of great looking games coming soon as well as a few major surprises. The only other company that actually got me even half way as excited was Devolver Digital, and that’s because their “press conference” was a violent, absurd bit of performance art that thoroughly skewered the concept of E3 press conferences. I find that these two approaches to E3 beat out the rest of the pack somehow both odd and appropriate.


Robert Marrujo

When the broadcast ticked down to its final seconds on Tuesday, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as I thought, “Nintendo screwed this one up.” I felt like the company hadn’t revealed nearly enough games to get fans excited and that the ones it did unveil weren’t going to be here for at least another year. Then the Treehouse broadcasts started… and more information started coming out… and suddenly, I felt a lot better. First off, to see Metroid making a return like this is very refreshing. Though they won’t be dropping at the same time, fans haven’t had two simultaneous Metroid games to look forward to since back when Metroid: Zero Mission and Prime 2 were on their way. I don’t think we’re completely out of the woods, however; for one thing, I hope fans aren’t forgetting that the reason Other M became the mess that it was is owed largely to Yoshio Sakamoto, who’s back for Samus Returns. Though he helped bring Samus into the world, if Other M is any indication he’s lost his way when it comes to the bounty hunter’s characterization. On the other hand, Other M‘s gameplay was fun (albeit flawed), so hopefully Nintendo is reigning Sakamoto in this time around.

I had a total blast with Super Mario Odyssey at the show; it very much deserves the praises it’s been getting around the web. Mario+Rabbids might actually make me a fan of those obnoxious bunnies, it played so well. The rest simply looks good; from Kirby combining elements much like his N64 days, to Yoshi’s new diorama-based adventure, I’m thinking Switch has one of the most promising looking lineups of anyone, including Sony and Microsoft. I’m also cautiously optimistic that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will hit its holiday release window, though I’m not willing to go in 100% on that one just yet. It looks awesome, but it reeks of potential delays, to me! I’d also like to point out that our predictions list wasn’t perfect, but I did call it on Nintendo not abandoning 3DS just yet. I was amazed by all the support it continues to get. It remains a constant travel companion for me, and I hope that all the games coming now and even into 2018 and beyond keep the handheld relevant. In short, Nintendo had a solid show!


Kyle England

Let me tell you what made this E3 the best in years for me: going in with a totally open mind and no real expectations. Last year’s Zelda-centric show proved to me that Nintendo doesn’t have to reveal a parade of unannounced titles to make a splash. They just have to get it where it counts. When I heard that Nintendo’s E3 show this year was being called a “Spotlight” rather than a “Digital Event,” I was thinking it’d be low on the announcements and heavy on the gameplay of titles such as Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey. Boy, was I ever wrong.

Nintendo absolutely knocked it out of the park. Straight to the point games. Games we wanted, games we didn’t know about. Games that we’d lost all hope of ever seeing again. I feel like this is an all-new Nintendo: self-aware, more transparent, and eager to please rather than make excuses.

I have been on staff here at Nintendojo during five E3 events, and that’s also five years that a core Metroid game was not announced. This year– just like 15 years ago in 2002– we got news that not one but two Metroid games was on the horizon. I’m happy to know Metroid Prime 4 will be coming, but that’s a while off. I’m thinking 2019 or 2020, and that’s ok. The real star of the show for me is Metroid: Samus Returns for 3DS. Not only is it the return to 2D Metroid that I’ve been craving, but it’s a bold statement that proves Nintendo really means it when it says that 3DS is not losing steam any time soon. As Robert mentioned, Yoshio Sakamoto, (aka the “George Lucas” of the Metroid series) is involved. However, from all the footage we’ve seen, Samus hasn’t spoken a word. So if he can focus on crafting good gameplay and leave the writing alone, I’m a-ok with that.

And I would be remiss and would let down all my fellow Kirby fanatics if I didn’t give a shout out to the new Kirby Switch game!! It’s beautiful! It’s got the buddy mechanic from Super Star! Super Mario Odyssey is looking amazing too, and really assuaged my doubts that Nintendo would never return to the open-world style Mario any time soon. Hat possessions? Are you kidding me? It somehow makes absolutely no sense while also making perfect sense.

I’m super glad to be Nintendo fan in 2017. Not that I ever wasn’t. But we’ve been really spoiled this year with Switch and all the great games coming in the first year. Remember back in 2012 when Wii U’s first E3 showed off the underwhelming launch lineup and ended with fireworks? How far we’ve come.


Did your opinion of the show match our staff’s? Let us know what you thought of E3 2017 in the comments below!

One Response to “Round Table: Post-E3 Thoughts”

  • 819 points
    Toadlord says...

    Nintendo deserves a lot of credit for hearing the fans and announcing Metroid Prime 4 – even if they aren’t ready to show it just yet. That news really made the difference in giving us a big franchise entry to look forward to after Super Mario Odyssey launches.

    Let me say that this launch year is shaping up amazingly well. Kimishima’s promise of a strong lineup is being delivered on. It looks like we’re getting a quality exclusive every month, even if not every game is everyone’s cup of tea.

    I also fully expected a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 delay, but after the news broke that this game started development while Xenoblade Chronicles X was being still worked on, it looks like this might actually make it out this year.

    Oh, and did anyone catch Miyamoto reconfirming that Pikmin 4 is being worked on? This is a huge relief for me, since it hadn’t been explicitly stated that Hey! Pikmin wasn’t the game Miyamoto announced two years ago. Solid E3, I think.

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