Official E3 2011 Thread

[PracticalAl]

I hope we get a HD video of the Zelda tech demo for Wii U soon. I need to watch that repeatedly for a few hours. :I

EDIT: Not exactly a high-res video, but a neat demonstration of the Zelda tech. And yes, this is in REAL TIME!

http://kotaku.com/5809555/zelda-games-on-wii-u-could-look-this-stunning

Also some info on Wii U's specs:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432965

[Pikminister]

Those (WiiU) games are all multiplat right? Doesn't really give PS3/360 owners a reason to buy.

Neither will it give Wii owners a reason to upgrade to those consoles. They can simply buy the WiiU. Which I think is what Ninty is going for with their new console. I mean, Sony and MS have always made the claim that Wii owners eventually would move on to their consoles. I think Nintendo wants to avoid that from happening in greater numbers, once the Wii gives up the ghost for good, next year.

Now, I also think Nintendo made a great move by keeping the Wii brand name alive with their next console.

Despite the slowing down in sales, the Wii still is popular enough to have sold 15 million units in the recent fiscal year. Which is the same amount Sony wanted for their PS3 (it seems they came a bit short, though). Anyway, with a user base of nearly 90 million users, even if only half of them end up buying this UPGRADE, it will still be a great start for the WiiU.

Another positive out of the WiiU being merely an upgrade to the Wii, is that it cools down the start of a new console race. Meaning that Sony and MS can safely continue with their present consoles for at least 3-4 years more.

The fact that the WiiU is only a bit more powerful than present consoles, also allows game developers to continue developing present gen HD games. They don't have to adopt new technologies and tools that would only make game development more expensive than it currently is.

So its a win-win for everyone, it seems.

Another advantage of making their new console seem like simply an upgrade to the Wii, is that in the scenario where it would become the next Dreamcast and fail, Nintendo could still save itself by quickly coming up with another console (in 2 years) that they could paint as being the real successor to the Wii. It could be sold as a fresh start. And not as being related to the Wii in any way.

Nintendo is obviously covering all bases on the home console front. Since the mobile market is becoming too difficult for traditional gaming devices.

So, did Retro Studios made any news at E3 yet? It was said they were working on a new game... maybe another Metroid Prime?

[Vector]

Sony 7/10
Microsoft 4/10
Nintendo 6/10
EA 7/10
Ubisoft 5/10

[Grem]

Just saw Revelations and Operation Raccoon city trailers and bits of gameplay. Not very satisfaying, in all honesty.

Revelations looks weird and ORC is just a fucking action shooter a la Gears of War.

[Vector]

ORC is just a fucking action shooter

We've known this for months now. Once you wrap your head around it and accept it for what it is, it could be fun.

[Grem]

Yeah, I know. But seeing this for real makes me feel strange.

[valentinesdead?]

Watching Starhawk demo on gametrailers. Looks pretty nice actually.

[Pikminister]

Wow... Mark Rein actually bothered to go to Ninty's conference.

http://img.ly/4Onl

That's like Obama going to a Tea Party meeting.

[Branden_Lucero]

Nintendo needs to come up with a new name, and fast. people think Wii was a bad name, and say jokes like "Wii-Wii". but Wii (touch) U sounds even worse. no Nintendo, you will not fuckin' touch me.

[Stu]

Nintendo needs to come up with a new name, and fast. people think Wii was a bad name, and say jokes like "Wii-Wii". but Wii (touch) U sounds even worse. no Nintendo, you will not fuckin' touch me.

I'm sure Nintendo give a fuck what people think of their name whilst their machines continue to print money.

[Pikminister]

Nintendo needs to come up with a new name, and fast. people think Wii was a bad name, and say jokes like "Wii-Wii". but Wii (touch) U sounds even worse. no Nintendo, you will not fuckin' touch me.

Nah, the whole wii jokes stopped like weeks after they originally started back in 2006. Because they were so frequent, they got old FAST. Ppl still making them today, are the type that like to bore you with crusty old jokes or stories.

And the Touch U thing was also done years back.

[Rombie]

...what did I just see from Nintendo? This isn't a half generational leap forward entirely like many were touting, it's a simple leap into the same graphical and online ball park as their competitors. Unlike when they add features to better the product, this feels like a change of requirements and a simple extension of the Wii brand to stay competitive when the Wii and 3DS aren't selling like they think they should.

While the core support has started to show through, this is an E3 event. The same was true of the Gamecube when it was first shown and that didn't last either if the sales don't happen. If the Wii-U happens to turn into the same level of "success" the 3DS has had so far, then it's going to be a bumpy road for 3rd parties.

My other doubt is will Nintendo be able to convince Wii-supporters to purchase a new console after 5 years when their competition has had over 6 years each and aren't looking for console change either. I think that's a hard sell for some people, especially what has been the core Wii audience. It's fine for most of us on the forums here with vested interest in the future products, but thats not Nintendo's bread and butter consumer.

On the flip of that, if it's cheap enough and Nintendo markets it like they always do then I think the Wii-U will really appeal to the young market and parents more than anything else, simply because it's going to allow the tv to be made free while people play on the controller which parents will love. Personally I think the 3rd party devs will come at the start with alternative "mature" titles as shown and fizz out (or move to Nintendo-kids and family titles) once they can't compete against the larger sales slice of Nintendo's family friendly 1st party titles as always they do. Happened on the N64, the GC, and the Wii - I'll be surprised if this changes at all.

[Branden_Lucero]

so instead of releasing a tech demo exclusively to show off the power of the Wii U, Nintendo goes and swipes in place PS3/360 games to do its justice.

[Rombie]

Its another reason to me this feels very Un-Nintendo is in it's reactionary response. I think this is really the first time it's really bowing to the pressure of outside voices on what they want into a console.

I guess too it becomes another version when they're multi-platforms to consider. Do I want this style of content on the 360, or the PS3, or do I want the features of Wii U when picking a game. It's a good move for Nintendo in regards for people to stop considering them as just the always alternative choice.

Edit - In my above statement I made it sound like all 3rd parties abandoned everything. I think the Wii got a good balance of content for a while, but in the last 2 years when the sales dropped off so did the 3rd party support. It could happen to any console at any time, Nintendo just seems to have it more often because, as I mentioned, it's hard to compete against the massive appeal and sales of it's 1st party software/franchises.

Edit 2 - Skimming through the post Nintendo stuff on GT.... Reggie was lacking the smack down on Geoff's shitty questioning earlier today. Check it out if you didn't see it, around after the 2hour 30 mark (only until the stream finishes at the end of the day - otherwise someone will hopefully You Tube it, train wreck TV - classic stuff). He also confirms a co-existence model for Wii and Wii-U (like the DS and 3DS) for different marketplaces, a competitive "value" but not price point against the competition, it will play old Wii games but not scale them up to HD, otherwise for new titles it's runs a Nintendo propriety media and not BluRay.

http://www.gametrailers.com/netstorage/e3/e3-live.html

[Pikminister]

...what did I just see from Nintendo? This isn't a half generational leap forward entirely like many were touting, it's a simple leap into the same graphical and online ball park as their competitors. Unlike when they add features to better the product, this feels like a change of requirements and a simple extension of the Wii brand to stay competitive when the Wii and 3DS aren't selling like they think they should. .

I don't get where you go on ranting that the WiiU isn't even half a generation leap, considering that its processor suggest otherwise. We do know that it is more powerful than the Cell and whatever keeps the 360 relevant these days. Yet not enough info is out there.

However, one developer just gave an interview today making the point that the console does use technology that is quite modern (I guess some want future-day tech, though). You even got Mike "Nintendo-hater" Rein impressed by the console. I mean, that alone says a lot (albeit not enough for tech geeks).

And that PR video of several multiplatform games for the WiiU really says nothing about the consoles capabilities since they were all obviously running on the PS3/360. I would rather wait to see a 1st party game (not the tech demos available today, though) before making any judgement in that regard.

Besides, it would be stupid of Nintendo to ditch the Wii brand name considering the impact it had this generation and its installed user base. It would be as stupid as Sony letting go of the Playstation brand name after they made it big with the PS1.

...While the core support has started to show through, this is an E3 event. The same was true of the Gamecube when it was first shown and that didn't last either if the sales don't happen. If the Wii-U happens to turn into the same level of "success" the 3DS has had so far, then it's going to be a bumpy road for 3rd parties.

You make it sound as if 3rd party devs are placing all their eggs on the WiiU. They aren't. They are in fact going to cast a bigger net by making multiplatform games for 3 systems instead of 2. I wouldn't worry about them at all.

...My other doubt is will Nintendo be able to convince Wii-supporters to purchase a new console after 5 years when their competition has had over 6 years each and aren't looking for console change either. I think that's a hard sell for some people, especially what has been the core Wii audience. It's fine for most of us on the forums here with vested interest in the future products, but thats not Nintendo's bread and butter consumer.

The Wii consumers you're talking about are quite different from the typical 'Nintendo consumer' or the ones Ninty had durin' the Cube years. These ones, they are not predictable at all. They can support stuff you wouldn't imagine that could catch on. Besides, everyone agrees that the Wii needed an upgrade or a successor to arrive as soon as possible. You got Michael Pachter, Sony, MS, gamers in general saying pretty much that in their own particular way.

I do think that Nintendo, and even Sony and MS will have a difficult time making it these days.

The mobile market is just unstoppable.