3DS price drop: How Nintendo messed up, and can they fix the damage?

Man, sometimes it feels like Nintendo's existing on an entirely different planet from the rest of us. I haven't seen the industry's #1 company making so many bad decisions since, well, Sony with their $600 PS3. What amazes me though is that even with there being so much talk and speculation about smartphones and their impact on the handheld market, even with the "DS" systems mainly appealing to families and kids, and even with Nintendo constantly stressing affordability, they were still willing to take the wind right out from the sails of their impressive 3DS reveal by later announcing a launch price of $249.99....for a handheld system. A handheld system in the DS family, which saw not 1, but 3 new "improved" versions of itself (DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL) in an extremely short period of time; how did Nintendo think parents would react to having to purchase yet anther DS, one for the ridiculous price of $250?

But let's step back for a second. When the Nintendo 3DS was first fully revealed at E3 2010, Nintendo blew everyone away. They showed off an impressive roster of 1st and 3rd party titles (many in name only) that looked to be catering to the hardcore gamer, rather than the families and kids who now make up much of the DS userbase. In fact, Iwata has recently blamed the 3DS' poor performance on the fact that the system has been catering to the hardcore gamer more than the casual, a statement that's almost laughable when one looks at the 3DS' software lineup. Sure, the high price point seems to be targeting the hardcore gamer, but what games on this thing are hardcore gamers supposed to be interested in? Nintendo delivered for launch a shallow Pilotwings spinoff game, a (pointless) Nintendogs sequel that nobody asked for, and Steel Diver, a game universally criticized for being, well, boring. How is this appealing to the hardcore market, exactly? What games on the 3DS to date would inspire non-Nintendo fanboys to rush out and buy a handheld system for $250? Street Fighter IV was a great title and portable experience but then again, it was a port...and looking back at that E3 reveal, the vast majority of those big-name games have no release date. $250? Are you kidding, Nintendo? Who did they expect to buy this thing?

The timing of this sudden $80 price drop looks to me like Nintendo was waiting on Ocarina of Time (another port) to save their system, yet another decision that doesn't take into account the fact that most people have played this often-ported (and rom'd) game to death by now. To those who haven't, well, it's an old game. My first Zelda was Wind Waker, and from there I played Twilight Princess. Ocarina of Time is a game that many people have recommended to me countless times, and after finally buying it on the Virtual Console recently, I'm discovering that while I can appreciate how impressive it was for its time and while I can marvel at what it did for the industry, it's hard to get past the fact that this is simply an old game, there's no way around it. Even with the 3DS version's improvements, I don't think it will win many new fans.

So essentially, Nintendo's stuck with a handheld that was intended to target older gamers, yet, like with the Wii, Nintendo seems totally out of touch with how to appeal to these older games from a software perspective. It takes more than retro franchises and nostalgia to win this group over, something Nintendo never seems to learn. And from the looks of things, they're already giving up. E3 2011 saw a different face to the 3DS, one bringing out (yet again) more Mario titles like Mario Kart and Luigi's Mansion 2, another sequel that I don't think anybody was clamoring for. Nintendo will now try to win over the same casual audiences who made the DS such a smash hit; the same casual audiences who abandoned the Wii once the Kinect hit shelves, and the same casual audience who will abandon the 3DS once they buy their first smartphones. This is the audience who will be worried about their kids exposing their eyes to the 3D images of the system thanks to the warnings that Nintendo continually advertises. Iwata says he will step up the promotion of the feature that allows you to adjust the 3D viewing, which means that basically, Nintendo will be telling people "well, you can turn the 3D off," which seems like yet another mixed message to send. Isn't the 3D the 3DS' main feature? Why would people want to turn it off unless it sucks?

Not a great message to put out there.

As far as the hardcore gamer, Nintendo's E3 lineup has shown that they won't be doing anything they haven't done before; the 3DS is a more powerful DS, end of story. Hardcore gamers will buy the Playstation Vita (well, maybe,) and Nintendo will once again be relying on casual audiences for their success rather than the loyal fans necessary to build up a fanbase. How Nintendo sees this as a good strategy is beyond me.

I really don't see much of a hope of this getting fixed, I hate to say it. Nintendo's price drop will definitely spur 3DS sales in a big way, as it's the price the system should have been to start with. But as far as a long-term strategy, I don't think this handheld has what it takes to keep the casuals away from smartphones or the hardcore away from the Playstation Vita, which sports far better graphics and more features. The best way going forward for Nintendo to fix this mess is to aggressively promote 3rd party titles such as Metal Gear Solid 3 and Resident Evil Revelations, games that have a shot at appealing to the core gamer. They need to make games like these themselves in addition to stuff like Nintendogs and Mario. And they need to make up their minds on whether they want to sell the 3DS as a system for 3D gaming or as a system where 3D gaming "can be turned off."

It's sad because I want handhelds to succeed; I much prefer playing complex and deeper games on a handheld than the often simplistic crap we get on smartphones (sorry Angry Birds fans). Nintendo though doesn't seem to have any idea what they're doing. I haven't even addressed the 3DS' notoriously short battery life, online features that didn't even make launch, the fact that the 3DS released when the much cheaper DS was still the world's #1 selling system, the games being priced at least $10 too expensively, the world's rapidly dwindling interest in 3D......it has really been one mistake after another for them. This price cut will help; I might even buy one. But I just don't see how Nintendo can effectively take this system to the heights of the DS in a rapidly changing marketplace and with such a boring list of 1st party titles on the horizon.

Review: Shadows of the Damned has potential but disappoints

I had been looking forward to Shadows of the Damned from the moment it was announced. A game developed by Suda 51, the writer/director behind No More Heroes, which was one of my favorite games this console gen, and executive produced by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami (just having come off from developing his own great game, Vanquish) I thought this had potential. Several times throughout the experience, this potential makes itself visible; at others, the game feels tedious, repetitive, and restrictively linear. Shadows of the Damned has its moments, there’s no denying that, but just like with Suda 51/Grasshopper Manufacture’s last game, No More Heroes 2, I find myself stopping short of awarding it a recommendation. (And I honestly have no idea what role Mikami had in this thing, since it never once feels like one of his games. Strange.)

Visuals: Graphically, Shadows of the Damned is very nice. Running on the Unreal Engine, which does great work with lighting effects, areas of this game look very pretty. The art direction’s inspired, the characters are cool-looking, some of the enemies are downright bizarre, and overall, Hell has never looked better. This is actually, come to think of it, Grasshopper Manufacture’s first game on HD platforms, and even without that considered it looks very nice. Certainly not the best-looking game on the systems, (and long load times and some *serious* linearity are a price to pay) but it looks good and the stylish art direction and varied environments keep things fresh.

Storyline: Undoubtedly the best part of Shadows of the Damned is its incredible dialogue and voice acting. The laugh out loud moments are not only quite frequent, but the game’s self-awareness and perfect voice acting really helps keep Shadows of the Damned’s humor varied and unpredictable. Garcia Hotspur (a Suda 51 name if ever there was one) proves to be a likeable main character, but the real star here is his talking gun, Johnson. His existence not only serves to provide the game with a long-running **** joke, but he actually winds up stealing every scene he’s in with his hilarious commentary and excellent vocal delivery. He and Garcia’s banter wind up being the star of the show, and thankfully cutscenes are frequent but short enough so as not to feel like an interruption from the action.

The storyline itself is pretty simple; Paula, Garcia’s girlfriend, is dragged into Hell by demons and it’s up to him to save her. The plot's not terrible; it’s serviceable in that it gets you from one level to the other, but it’s unfortunate that more effort wasn’t put into this part of the game. With such great voice actors and writing, not to mention the fact that Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami’s last collaboration was Killer 7, a game with a truly thought-provoking, groundbreaking, twisted, and memorably horrifying storyline, this just feels like a missed opportunity. I also have to stress that this game never tries to be scary, which is again too bad, because a true horror game from these two would be absolutely terrifying. Even going as far as calling Shadows of the Damned “action horror” would be too much of an over-statement, as this game presents itself almost as a full-on comedy. There’s just no effort to be scary here, and though the story has its moments and more than its fair share of wonderfully weird characters, it just never feels like it’s on the level of Suda 51’s past games.

With such great dialogue, though, you’ll love the cutscenes. The game may not be about a whole lot, but the way it says what it wants to say is pretty near perfect. The story keeps Shadows of the Damned afloat, while the gameplay tries its hardest to capsize it, resulting in an uneven experience that I loved one moment and hated the next.

Gameplay: Shadows of the Damned features an aiming style similar to that of Resident Evil 4 and 5, in which the camera sits behind the character and goes to an over-the-shoulder view when aiming. The difference is that this game, unlike those, not only allows you to move while aiming, but also gives you a dodge button that has Garcia roll out of the way. Dodging makes him momentarily invincible, so it’s a move you’ll find yourself using constantly, especially when enemies begin using otherwise unavoidable moves against you.

At its core, Shadows of the Damned provides a fun gameplay experience. The demons you face off against respond well to being shot in specific places, there’s plenty of enemy variety, and the environments are very cool-looking. Checkpoints are often frequent enough (I’m not going to spoil what those look like) and you have a good deal of customization over your character and his 3 weapons (shotgun, machine gun, and pistol). This stuff’s all solid. The problem is that Shadows of the Damned has some huge flaws that can rear their ugly heads at any time to make what should be a fun experience frustrating.

The game’s first problem is its darkness mechanic. Often in Shadows of the Damned, the demons will trigger darkness upon the world, which immediately begins draining your health. When Garcia gets trapped in darkness, he must either escape it as soon as possible, or, if the game doesn’t give you that option, shooting your light beam at a goat head (yup) on the wall will turn it light again. Any enemies that were in the darkness with you now must also be fired at with the light beam before you can continue to effectively damage them. Shadows of the Damned does not feature regenerating health, instead, Garcia gets his HP back by drinking alcohol, either purchased in vending machines or found throughout the environments. Going into the darkness is often required in order to progress through the game, and you are not given your health back after these segments. So essentially, through no fault of your own, you’ll have to tear through your alcohol surplus at a nearly constant rate just because the game decided “okay, you’re going to lose health here” and threw a darkness segment at you. The dark sections look cool visually but don’t add anything fun to the experience and are certainly not worth all the health you’ll lose when you’re forced to venture through them.

Another problem is that the game features some of the more tedious boss battles I’ve experienced in a long time. Back when Resident Evil 5 came out, I defended its decision to prevent you from aiming and moving at the same time. Many people disagreed with that, but I just don’t think that this type of aiming is well-suited to a run-and-gun action title and Shadows of the Damned validates that point for me. Aiming can be difficult, and more times than I liked, I found myself missing enemies entirely, even when using something like a machine gun. Boss battles, unfortunately, are all about shooting tiny red areas on the boss’s surface, which becomes a nightmare later in the game as bosses start using projectiles a lot more. These guys move fast, and getting Garcia to a place where he can aim at one of these red spots isn’t easy when you have to constantly dodge out of the way to avoid projectiles or other moves by the boss that cover a ridiculously large radius. While I admire the developers’ decision to force you to use all of your weapons on some bosses, the game’s just not long enough to level them all up to a satisfactory level; you really have to focus on one or two of them, unless you happen to be great at finding the hidden gems scattered throughout the levels that level you up. So bringing out my shotgun for the final boss when I was required to was irritating, because it was much weaker than my pistol and machine gun. Once the game gave me the option to upgrade my HP, I stopped bothering with my weapons entirely, and after losing patience from dying so much due to the many Darkness sections, (and suffering through long load times while you’re taken back to the level) I think most of you guys will do the same thing and opt to simply upgrade your health instead of your firepower. Not to mention the game’s complete lack of an ability to let you skip the cutscenes, even after having seen them. Not any fun.

Then there’s the linearity… yeah I know, more whining about linearity, but I have to make a special case for Shadows of the Damned, which is about as linear as games get. There’s only one path through each level, with small branches along the way leading to gems, ammo, or stuff like that. Let’s say though that you see a fork in the road and take a path, walk a few yards down it, and realize that this is where you go to progress the story. You’re out of luck if you want to go back those few yards to see what’s down the other path, as the game will throw a force field in the way preventing you from backtracking. Yeah, really.

Don’t get me wrong, linearity’s not typically a big problem for me, especially in an action game, but Shadows of the Damned just feels so shallow, and exploration would really have helped add…something to it. In the first couple chapters I was loving the atmosphere, the dialogue, the gameplay, and the art direction. But once it became clear that the game had little else to offer, I found myself dreading playing it. Grasshopper did add some variety to certain levels, including a couple sidescroller segments and a pretty awesome game of Pachinko, but generally their attempts to shake things up result in levels more frustrating than the rest.

Audio: What is absolutely top-notch though is the game’s soundtrack, which was done by Silent Hill's Akira Yamaoka, who outdoes himself. Just like with Alan Wake, which also had a stellar soundtrack, I found myself wishing here that they had just created an actual *horror* game instead of an action game, because this soundtrack would have been perfect for one. As I mentioned earlier, the voice acting’s excellent, as it often is for Suda 51 games. Overall, the audio experience here is pretty much perfect: one area where this game really shines.

Verdict: Shadows of the Damned was a game that had me hooked at the very first moment….until around Chapter 2. At its start, I thought I was about to play another Suda 51 classic. Even though I don’t recommend this game at full price, I’d go as far as to say to pick it up once it gets to the bargain bin just to hear its hilarious dialogue and great voice acting, not to mention that awe-inspiring soundtrack. As the game went on, though, I found myself growing more and more tired of it. A misguided and poorly-implemented dark/light mechanic adds far more frustration than fun, aiming’s slow and difficult, bosses last too long and are rarely ever any fun, ammo ranges from being seemingly infinite to unbelievably scarce, and the main story lacks the depth I expected from a Suda 51 game. Shadows of the Damned isn't horrible and there’s plenty of redeeming factors to it, but just like with No More Heroes 2, I find myself wishing somebody inside Grasshopper Manufacture would have tried playing the game and realized “hey, this is actually kind of annoying.” I think Suda 51 needs to return to directing his projects himself instead of just overseeing and having other directors take a crack at them.
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Presentation: An interesting storybook motif and kind of a cool level-to-level load screen. Story though is not one of Suda 51’s best and the ending *really* goes to painful lengths to set itself up for a sequel. Load times are bad.

Graphics: Pretty visuals make great use of the Unreal Engine. Characters have that usual Grasshopper Manufacture feel.

Gameplay: There’s fun to be had, but it’s stopped in its tracks by frustrating gameplay mechanics that constantly show up to ruin the good time.

Audio: The soundtrack’s amazingly good, voice acting’s top notch, and the sound effects work well. Game’s very atmospheric.

Replay Value: Ehhhhhhh. 8+hours isn't bad at all for an action game but replay value's minimal.

Overall: 6/10

(Note: This review is for the Xbox 360 version. My reviews go on a .5 scale)

Blog Post: My Letter to Nintendo

(I thought I'd post the letter I've written to Nintendo regarding their refusal to localize Xenoblade. This will be mailed into them, and I encourage all of you who want this game localized to write letters as well and send them in. Check out http://oprainfall.blogspot.com for more info.)

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To Nintendo of America and whomever it may concern:

I am writing to you today to address your rather troubling decision to refuse the release of Tetsuya Takahashi’s Xenoblade in North America. It’s a decision which I feel shows little respect to your fanbase, a group of people who have braved a console with frequent game droughts, severely lacking graphical prowess, and underwhelming 1st party content such as Animal Crossing City Folk, Fling Smash, Wii Play, Wii Music, and countless others.

Xenoblade, as well as the other two games currently in question, are titles that Wii owners, frankly, deserve to have. There’s absolutely no excuse, as far as I’m concerned, for the inconsiderate treatment of the core gaming fanbase at the hands of Nintendo this console generation, and this decision is just one of several that illustrate this point.

With all of this said, it’s important to note that I have enjoyed the Wii, at times labeling it as my favorite console of the Big 3 currently in competition. I purchased the system at launch, and it’s a console that I have always been willing to defend. When my Wii’s disc drive broke this year, I cared enough about the system to send it in to you guys for repair and paid over $70 for the service. My friends and I have devoted countless hours to playing the likes of Smash Bros Brawl, (over 500) and plenty of time with Mario Kart Wii as well. These are fun games, and I have definitely appreciated all the great times they brought to us. Nintendo has always excelled at creating memorable multiplayer experiences and the Wii, with the exception of its terrible online setup, has been no exception.

That said, these are not the ideal gaming experiences for me, as incredible as they can be. My favorite memories as a gamer have always involved games that delivered rich single player experiences; games like No More Heroes, Muramasa, Red Steel 2, Metroid Prime, and many others. These have existed on the Wii, but few have been promoted enough to be discovered by a large number of people, and few have come from Nintendo. It’s a shame that more effort on Nintendo’s part wasn’t put into developing rich, single-player experiences on the Wii system, with the exception of course of dated and aging IP such as Zelda. It’s also unfortunate that you at Nintendo of America seem to think that ancient franchises alone are enough to win all but the most die-hard Nintendo fanboys over: they’re not.

What truly saddens me is that Nintendo of Japan has, in recent years, put effort into addressing this problem, not only delivering to their customers fantastic-looking RPG titles like Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower, but even M-rated products like Fatal Frame. It sucks, frankly, that Nintendo of America is so quick to deny North America, the industry’s biggest market, of these titles, and it’s insulting to Tetsuya Takahashi and Hironobu Sakaguchi, the two legends who developed Xenoblade and The Last Story, respectively, to see their products not considered “good enough” for release here, while garbage like Wii Play is instead deemed acceptable.

Simply put, I’m tired of this. I have made the decision not to purchase the 3DS, as I’m sick of being force-fed Mario year after year and be expected to be okay with it. For the ridiculous price of $250, it’s clear from the 3DS’ lagging sales that others agree with me. I am also rapidly losing my resolve to purchase a Wii U, a system that I thought a few months ago would bring Nintendo back to its former glory. Nintendo can be keen on providing new IP, but you at Nintendo of America have consistently refused to deliver them to your gamers. Mario and Zelda are not all that it takes to win us over.

It’s with this letter that I beg and insist that you at Nintendo of America make the right decision. Localize Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower, games that your fanbase not only craves, but deserves. Simply put, it’s the least you can do.

Yours truly,

Ben
-A frustrated fan quickly losing respect and interest in Nintendo thanks to decisions like these.

Blog Post: And the fans are shot down.

Not much else to say here but to express my complete disappointment with Nintendo's decision not to localize Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower for North America. I purchased a Wii at launch as I did with the Gamecube. By choosing not to localize some great hardcore games that their system desperately needs, Nintendo's spitting in the face of what might be one of the biggest movements behind a Japanese title in quite a long time. It's an insult to their fanbase, a show of where their non-casual fans stand to them, and a decision that proves that Nintendo's quite cold-hearted. They thank us for being "incredible fans," but I don't feel like much of a fan right now.

Blog Post: An amazing thing to see (Xenoblade/Last Story/Pandora's Tower)

Well, look at that, people do want these games! Years ago, Nintendo acquired Monolith Soft from Namco. They were the studio responsible for the Xenosaga series of video games, and under Nintendo, they released Disaster: Day of Crisis and, more importantly, Xenoblade, regarded by both Japanese gamers and importers as one of the best Japanese RPGs developed this gen. Xenoblade was released in Japan....last June, and has (finally) been announced for Europe for release. Nintendo of America has remained silent.

In other related news, Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy) and his studio, Mistwalker, partnered with Nintendo to release The Last Story, another strong-looking RPG title that seems to have been developed with worldwide appeal in mind. Released in Japan at the start of this year. Sakaguchi recently let slip that there are plans to release it in Europe. Once again, Nintendo of America didn't say a word. Both games were absent from E3, as was any mention of Pandora's Tower, another Japanese game being published by Nintendo.

I've been complaining for years about these games being total no-shows, both on Nintendo of America's release calendars as well as in any of their press events. Each and every E3 when these games were ignored, (well, Xenoblade was technically announced at E3 as Monado: Beginning of the World, but since then has never been mentioned again by Nintendo of America) I would complain and beg others to do the same, but all too often, it felt like I was one of just a few. Others would tell me that Nintendo was taking their time to announce the games like they always do, and that it wouldn't be worth it to get upset about it.

Well, something happened: A Nintendo of Europe representative recently let it slip that Nintendo of America is not planning on releasing any of these games in North America. Whoops. It sure took a while, but it looks like finally, the gears have been set in motion.

Operation Rainfall was formed, a group dedicated to bringing attention to this issue and demanding North American releases for these games. Immediately a campaign was put under way. People are being asked to pre-order Xenoblade from Amazon.com (Where it's listed under its original title, Monado: Beginning of the World) and amazingly, it has become the #1 selling video game on the site. When was the last time a Japanese RPG has been the #1 selling video game on Amazon.com? When was the last time a game with no planned release date has EVER been #1 at any retailer?

Needless to say, this turned some heads. Prople from both Monolith Soft and Mistwalker have tweeted their happiness at this campaign, as well as the spamming of Nintendo's Facebook page,  which has also taken place.  Operation Rainfall's encouraging fans to plan to send letters in to Nintendo of America via snail mail. This is all very exciting and pretty newsworthy, as it has gotten attention both in the gaming media as well as with gamres in general; Xenoblade's Gamefaqs.com message board is more active than it has ever been, for example.

As a fan of Japanese games, I'm thrilled to see so much support being thrown behind these titles, especially considering the fact that the Wii is, for all intents and purposes, dead, mostly thanks to decisions like these. Nintendo of America comes across as both clueless and uncaring due to their handling of these RPGs from two of Japan's most acclaimed video game developers, and this perception of them can only be a good thing. In a gaming landscape dominated by casual games, first person shooters, and licensed garbage, it's more important now than ever to let companies like Nintendo of America know that there's still a market for quality Japanese-developed games. It's a hint that other publishers should take and certainly, Nintendo should learn from.

I encourage everybody who has an interest in buying Xenoblade to go ahead and preorder the game. If you live in Europe, especially, you should do this at your local shops or wherever you buy your games from. You're being given a great opportunity here and it's now, more than ever, important that we send the message across that there is a market for these types of games in the West. That way, we won't have to wait years to play Tales of Graces, we won't have to miss out on games like Valkyria Chronicles 3, and of course, we won't have to beg to play the latest games from the creators of Final Fantasy and Xenosaga.  Head on over to Operation Rainfall's Twitter page (or their Blogspot) and see how you can help. Now may be our last chance to get these games over to North American shores. Nintendo is apparently aware of this movement, and let's bug them till they announce frigging release dates already. It's been long enough, right? Let's do this.

Blog Post: Backlash against Duke Nukem Forever

Wow, I can't remember the last time I've felt so sorry for a game developer. 3D Realms had spent something like 14 years developing this game, and throughout that time it has been cancelled multiple times. The latest cancellation felt like the final nail in the coffin, but lo' and behold, Gearbox stepped in to finish the game. The long-awaited day was finally here, and wow....reception has so far not been friendly.

I have to say, I sort of saw this coming, but even I didn't predict a 49 Metacritic score, an even lower user-rated Metacritic score (4.2) and an Amazon.com Customer rating average of 3/5 stars. People do not seem to be digging the game, and I can only wonder how its developers feel, having devoted over a decade of their lives into something that's now getting trashed by gamers and critics alike.

The question which of course begs to be asked is how much of this is due to the game's infamously long development time, which may have vastly increased expectations and skepticism among the gaming and critical community, and how much of it is truly based on the game's own merits, or I guess lack of them? It's something that I don't think I'll personally ever know, since I've never really even liked Duke Nukem and certainly never planned on buying this game. Still, its release marks the closing of a pretty bizarre chapter in the gaming landscape, and the product not delivering, especially after such a long period of development, makes the situation even weirder.

Only time will tell if this is truly the end of Duke Nukem or if other installments are planned, but that'll depend on sales figures, I assume, and with such bad word of mouth, I have to wonder how good those will even be, even with all the apparent anticipation that surrounded the title's release.

My thoughts on Nintendo's E3 2011 Press Conference

The last of the Big 3 to deliver their press conference was Nintendo, and they were in the position to completely dominate this year. As the only one to be releasing a new home console anytime soon (2012) and with their recently-launched 3DS handheld, they definitely had the most potential to impress. Unfortunately, I have to say, this ended up being a pretty forgettable conference overall, with Nintendo putting all of their eggs into the Project Cafe basked (now officially known as the Wii U) without having anything truly compelling to show for it.

Things started out on a fan-related note with a full orchestra playing Zelda music, some of it off the upcoming Wii Zelda game, Skyward Sword, which was otherwise completely absent from the conference. Nintendo made some exciting announcements for Zelda fans and the series' 25th anniversary, including free downloadable goodies and upcoming soundtracks CDs and nationwide performances. Okay, good stuff, but where's the trailer for the new Zelda game, Nintendo? The one that's coming out this year for your Wii system? There was a noticeable lack of the Wii at this press conference, with expected titles like the new Kirby game, and the long-awaited Xenoblade and Last Story announcements, totally absent. Instead, Nintendo jumped right into the 3DS, with a truly mixed bag of a showing. Mario Kart has some cool new track features but otherwise is looking like the same old Mario Kart.

The upcoming 3DS Mario game looks like it'll contain some more of the amazing platforming we saw in the Mario Galaxy series, though the art direction, to me, doesn't look quite as nice. Star Fox 64 we didn't get to see much of, but I'll assume it's Star Fox 64 with a new paintjob and 3D visuals.

They also surprise-announced a followup to Luigi's Mansion, a pretty cool idea that can be fun in 3D. Interestingly, they also mentioned that there would be multiple mansions to explore, which I think suggests a bit more of a linear, level-to-level structure than the exploration-heavy first game in the series. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this one plays out

The game that actually looked truly awesome and definitely caught my attention was Kid Icarus: Uprising, a title that looks like such a fun and epic adventure that, if the 3DS had more games like it, I might be more compelled to throw down the $250 for it. Voice acted, cool visuals, likable-looking characters, and fun flying action, it's looking like a must-have title that hopefully demonstrates the types of games Nintendo will bring to the system in the future. Granted, I like Mario as much as the next guy, but I'm getting to a point where I want to experience something new. And driving a go-kart underwater isn't really cutting it.

Anyway, moving to the heavy-hitter of the show, the Wii U, as it's now called, and it got its big reveal this morning. We only got to see the controller itself, not the system, but even the controller looks like a lot to take in. It's a device loaded with potential and clearly something that can push console gaming forward; there's nothing else like it. Some things definitely bothered me, including its use of analog sliders instead of analog sticks, which seems like a big step down, but at least there's 2 of 'em. There's a lot of potential for the touch screen, and the way it communicates with the TV is cool to say the least. Definitely not a VMU clone.

I guess what bummed me out a bit was that the games shown for it were underwhelming. We got a tease for an HD Zelda (another Zelda game already...) which looks really cool, and the announcement of an upcoming Smash Bros game, which will undoubtedly be amazing. But then, all Nintendo had to show were Mario-related (sigh) tech demoes. One of which demonstrated the power of the system, and it looked really great. The others were pretty gimmicky. I guess I was just hoping for something a little more concrete, though the system is still a year away, I suppose. What nearly saved the conference for me was a montage of upcoming Wii U titles, proof that, at the very least, the system will be getting some 3rd party multiplats, a huge improvement over the Wii. The focus on hardcore games shown from 3rd party developers was refreshing, and I can't wait to see what Ken Levine and his team at Irrational have planned for the system.

But then....the conference ended. Nothing really new for the 3DS except a Luigi game, really no announcements from Nintendo on a price for the Wii U or their software, nothing at all about the Wii itself, and at the end of the day, I have to say, Nintendo had the potential to blow everyone out of the water at E3 and instead they merely put on a show that just felt so....safe. With the Wii U not arriving until 2012, it would have been nice for Nintendo to show us what we'll be playing on our Wiis until then, and no luck. And the 3DS, which looks like it'll be making Nintendo fanboys happy with more franchise titles, isn't offering much else for people who want something new.

Grade: C+

A bit disappointing, only because I felt like it could have been so much better. Nintendo teased a new system, which looks like it really has potential, but it would have been nice not to see the Wii forgotten. Still a decent press conference to watch and definitely better than Microsoft's. Nintendo knows casual gamers, and they also know their devoted fans, and they know how to appeal to these groups. It'd be great to see them branching out and trying to appeal to a wider audience of core gamers. The Wii U seems positioned to do that, and hopefully it's successful.