E3 Response

[Musouka]

After watching the 3 major console companies presentations at E3... all I have to say is that Nintendo may have presented a day later than Sony and Microsoft, but Nintendo just walked up behind them and buried a knife in their backs, sat on the throne and said "I'm King again." The new concept for their new console is completely amazing, and I totally did not expect anything like it. The fact that they have all these major 3rd party developers excited about making games for them, as well as this HUGE partnership with EA games, is going to bring hardcore gaming to Nintendo. The controller is mind-blowing in its capabilities. Don't just take my words, go check it out for yourselves.

If you want to see the presentations, I suggest going to http://www.gametrailers.com/ and watching their streams, which are even going on live right now.

[ArkoHighStar]

I find the new Wii simply Nintendo coming to the HD gaming table 5 years late, with a huge controller that should have been replaced with a kinect like system.

Sony's only slightly compelling entry was the Vita(horrible name)

Microsoft has really begun to own the console space with Kinect as it is drawing away Wii users and is becoming more and more integrated with the dashboard.

[DoctorWhofan]

ISenguard...heehee!

E3 is on my tV right now.

[Bombalo]

I was really unimpressed with Sony. They are pushing 3D gaming when it clearly isn't ready for center stage. And the "deal" that they are offering on a $499 24" 3D TV is laughable, not to many people outside of a college dorm are playing next gen consoles on TVs that size. BTW the apology upfront was garbage and they probably would have done better just not addressing the hack if that was all they were going to do.

Nintendo's new console looks really cool but I still would like to see some great games from them. Remember the days of the Nintendo exclusives that made you go "Wow, now thats a reason to pick up that console". I feel like we haven't had one of those games since the N64.

Microsoft looked ok but again the Kinect technology hasn't proven itself in the top end games (similar to Wii with party games, it looks cool and functions on certain genres but I haven't seen anything that makes me believe they can make the more complex games work yet).

[TheDjinnFor]

That was exactly what everyone said about the Wiimote, and we saw how well that delivered. My mother bought the Wii for when my niece came over to her house, and whenever I'm over there too I might play some Super Mario Bros or Donkey Kong with my niece for nostalgia's sake, but other than that I never touched the thing and rarely wished I had it myself.

I'm probably going to dismiss whatever new gimmick they've come out with out of hand, like I should have done last time.

*goes to read up on it*

*comes back*

Yep, I was right. Whoopee, its a Nintendo Wii but with a gigantic, over-hyped gameboy as a controller. Just what exactly does this new controller do that's useful? Nothing.

And oh, look, Nintendo's boasting a not-completely-garbage system to run their games on, how is that a talking point? I bet it will cost a fortune too, now that they'll actually have to make a console that doesn't suck in the technicality department. And if they don't actually make a semi-decent system, well, it will be another Gamecube: dumbed down, shoddy-looking ports.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I had to counter your optimism with some sour grapes.

[Chai]

Good luck to Nintendo on that - they are late to the 3D party. Those other companies you named were on that years ago, and since its old news, they arent presenting it like its the hot new thing.

They know 3D isnt going to happen over night. The TVs have been out for a while now, and there are quite a few 3D titles coming out for movies and such. Consumers arent there yet, which is why its not catching on like its wildfire in the general population like we know it will eventually.

The real question here is: Will all these companies agree on a standard, or are we going to need different equipment for each company's devices? If one company goes with red cyan, another company goes with line alternate, and a third company puts out active shutter equipment needed to play all their games, hilarity will ensue. No one wants to make the first move. Running a huge production of one standard only to find that the entire industry gravitates to an entirely different standard can and likely will bankrupt companies who make that mistake.

How many people who were cranking out HD DVDs are still around, after BluRay destroyed that market share? No one wants to make this mistake in regards to 3D.

I still have my first DAT machine with a few albums that came out in that format, along with several hundred CDs, heh.

[ArkoHighStar]

I was really unimpressed with Sony. They are pushing 3D gaming when it clearly isn't ready for center stage. And the "deal" that they are offering on a $499 24" 3D TV is laughable, not to many people outside of a college dorm are playing next gen consoles on TVs that size. BTW the apology upfront was garbage and they probably would have done better just not addressing the hack if that was all they were going to do.

Nintendo's new console looks really cool but I still would like to see some great games from them. Remember the days of the Nintendo exclusives that made you go "Wow, now thats a reason to pick up that console". I feel like we haven't had one of those games since the N64.

Microsoft looked ok but again the Kinect technology hasn't proven itself in the top end games (similar to Wii with party games, it looks cool and functions on certain genres but I haven't seen anything that makes me believe they can make the more complex games work yet).

based on what was shown Forza motorsport 4 looks like it will be huge with kinect especially with things like head motion sensing so you can turn your head to see next to you.

When I saw the Wii controller I knew it would be a hit with non gamers as it was so much more natural to use your body actions than smash a button(unlike us gamers who have been trained to smash buttons from a young age). The new controller is just huge and will turn off non gamers as it is essentially a game pad with a screen.

The kinect and classic wii controller were future looking and made gaming fun for certain games.

The key thing for Nintendo will be price. The wii was not only great for non gamers but it was cheap and sold great during an economic down turn

[Memnir]

I've learned to never underestimate Nintendo. Sure, the Wii didn't appeal much to me as a gamer... but when you get my non-gaming parents playing and having a blast, there is something interesting going on. Heck, after playing it at our house - my folks went out and bought their own, under the pretense of having it for when my kids come to visit.

We live in Seattle, and visit maybe once a year. After about six months they fessed up - they'd been playing it themselves.


Do I think the Wii U is a dumb name, a funny looking system, and have some doubts about the whole concept. You betcha. I had the whole array of thoughts about the Wii as well.

But, when I watch this Video Link it's very interesting. I am intrigued - and I am waiting to see how much of the hype they deliver on, and how much of it won't make the actual system. This is another place I've learned to not underestimate Nintendo.

[Zachski]

I'm actually impressed with the Wii U. Namely the various different ways they had the new controller used (though I imagine that more than half of them are theorycraft right now, but you know)

And honestly, considering that most people nowadays have used a blackberry or iphone or android, the use of a touch screen will be even more natural to them than waggling a Wiimote (which, even though I like wiimotes, I still find a funny term)

Though if it's heavy, that might be a downside.

[DoctorWhofan]

I'm actually impressed with the Wii U. Namely the various different ways they had the new controller used (though I imagine that more than half of them are theorycraft right now, but you know)

And honestly, considering that most people nowadays have used a blackberry or iphone or android, the use of a touch screen will be even more natural to them than waggling a Wiimote (which, even though I like wiimotes, I still find a funny term)

Though if it's heavy, that might be a downside.

VERY IMPRESSED! Just watched the G4 presentation. very very nice!

[Missing_Minds]

I'm more curuios what you could do outside of the Wii system with those new controllers.

And if so.. why couldn't you control/play with a DS? thumb force controller issue in games?

[Cyr]

Very impressive demo. Dumb name and silly announcer, but the pre-recorded demo was outstanding.

[Musouka]

I'm more curuios what you could do outside of the Wii system with those new controllers.

And if so.. why couldn't you control/play with a DS? thumb force controller issue in games?

I can imagine that one person could watch a movie from the wii if needed, like through Netflix. Definitely play most games.

The coolest part about it is that it actually can immerse you in a 360 degree landscape. If you turn your whole body 90 degrees while holding the controller in front of you, the screen will display something to the right from view the TV will show. That goes for turning all the way around. I like the idea that it can have a zoomed in screen like a scope from a rifle for shooter games. Or just totally remove the split screen. Have a main general screen on the TV, but have your personal character screen on your controller. A plus is that the controller is said to be HD as well as the console. There's a ton of ways that the controller will work for sports games, especially for critical accuracy that you just cannot have with just one screen.

[DoctorWhofan]

Personally, I liked the Zelda opening.

[Ziindarax]

After watching the 3 major console companies presentations at E3... all I have to say is that Nintendo may have presented a day later than Sony and Microsoft, but Nintendo just walked up behind them and buried a knife in their backs, sat on the throne and said "I'm King again." The new concept for their new console is completely amazing, and I totally did not expect anything like it. The fact that they have all these major 3rd party developers excited about making games for them, as well as this HUGE partnership with EA games, is going to bring hardcore gaming to Nintendo. The controller is mind-blowing in its capabilities. Don't just take my words, go check it out for yourselves.

If you want to see the presentations, I suggest going to http://www.gametrailers.com/ and watching their streams, which are even going on live right now.

What's really cool is that it can use the Wii Fit boards, as well as the Wii Remotes. My only question is whether or not Nintendo will make enhanced versions of the Wii Fit for those of us who are into exer-gaming.

[DoctorWhofan]

What's really cool is that it can use the Wii Fit boards, as well as the Wii Remotes. My only question is whether or not Nintendo will make enhanced versions of the Wii Fit for those of us who are into exer-gaming.

ooohhh!!! Good question!

[ExK444]

Questioning how shooters will work on this. Also, how good is the hardware on this? Good enough that it will be able to run those PS4 and Xbox (Whatever) games in a few years time without worse texture quality, worse effects, etc.?