The Shamus Showcase: Thoughts on Nintendo’s E3 2014 Nintendo Direct

Brenton S. Ali June 12, 2014 E3 2014, Features, Opinions

A Fist Full of Reggie

By far, the most exciting, fun intro to any E3 conference this year. Just like last year, Nintendo has opted out of holding a press conference live at E3, in favor of showing prerecorded Nintendo Direct presentations over the day. I am not a fan of this style of conference, it’s too stretched out for the viewer, and I do not feel like waiting all day for an episodic Star Fox announcement.

The first part of the conference started off well enough. I really enjoyed the playful style Nintendo brought with the Robot Chicken-like claymation bumps. The Reggie v. Iwata Super Smash Brothers Wii U trailer was really cool as well. The live-action segments of the trailer stole the show for me, over shadowing the Nintendo Amiibo Figurines and the customizable Mii-Fighter. I can’t see these figurines being used by anyone over the age of 12, but it seems like solid cash grab to compete with the Skylanders and Disney Infinity line of toys.

Easily Fight of the Year

The Mii-Fighter sounds like a cool idea with Mii’s becoming iconic over the last 7 years. The options for customizing the Mii’s skill set its vast, but this variety is bound to have an overpowered skill set that will be over exploited. Hopefully Nintendo is prepared for that; otherwise expect the Mii-Fighter to be banned indefinitely in tournament play.

Both Yoshi’s Wooly World and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse are banking on cool textures. Yes they look nice, and they have these new abilities that tie in with the texture, but I can’t help but feel that this is all very gimmicky. Why is Yoshi made of wool? What talented kindergartener made and cursed Kirby in play-doh? I wouldn’t mind playing these games, just not on the Wii U. I’d rather it as a handheld game, something I can pop in and out of on the go.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker looks like a solid game, but its nothing I’m raving over. What I am excited about is the new Zelda. Although not much was shown, viewers did get a glimpse at what it looks like, including the scale of the world. People are speculating that the world is larger than Skyrim’s, but that is yet to be seen. The game looks pretty, including the weird tentacle laser monster and the lead character, which may not be Link. Definitely a high point for the conference.

Your’s to Explore

Hyrule Warriors had some screen time, but its nothing amazing. It’s just Dynasty Warriors: Zelda edition, although the developers were bragging that the large enemies require extra strategy to defeat. We’ll see if button mashing, and the occasional block, is enough to finish this game later in the year. Mario Maker Wii U was whatever for me, as well as Xenoblade Chronicles X, but I’m sure fans are excited.

A smart move Nintendo did was bundling the original Bayonetta with Bayonetta 2. Wii U owners no longer have to play the original on PS3 or Xbox 360, making the series more accessible on Nintendo’s console.

The finale game, Splatoon is a very different take on the shooter genre. Replacing bullets with paint (G Rated Nintendo at its finest), the game is not about who has the most kills but rather which team has most paint on the map. I felt that there was too much time spent on this game. I wouldn’t pay more than $20 for it, and to see it act as Nintendo’s ace (aside from Smash Bros. character announcements) was pretty weak. It’s not going to win over shooter fans, but I can see the game appealing to a younger audience.

Because of the split nature of Nintendo’s announcements, this conference was only 40 minutes long. Extremely short, and it failed to contain all of Nintendo’s announcements. Hardly any third-party support could be found, but this is nothing new to Nintendo. Solid conference, but that’s not saying much when it clocked in at under an hour.

And there you have it. If you disagree with anything stated above, or would like to chime in on your own thoughts regarding E3, feel free to comment below.