Mass confusion? I'm still kind of puzzled about what to think about Nintendo's conference which literally just ended a few minutes ago. The event kicked off with a nice retrospective montage on the Legend of Zelda set to an in house orchestra playing the music to the game. It was definitely a nice step before introducing Miyamoto who talked a bit about the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda. In celebration, Nintendo will be releasing past versions of the franchise to the DS over the year as well as doing a concert series of the franchise's music. This includes a free version of the Legend of Zelda: Four Swords being released in the fall on the 3DS. Also coming in the fall will be The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword with a special tie in peripheral in the form of a gold colored Wii controller. Sounds reminiscent of the gold colored Zelda cartridge from all those years ago. Retro in such a good way.
The 3DS was the first big highlight of Nintendo's conference. They've heard complaints from consumers about the current line up of games for the handheld and so today they hoped to introduce a few titles that people can get really excited for. First on that slate was Super Mario Adventure 3DS, a brand new Mario title launching exclusively for the handheld platform. Joining the new Super Mario game of course is a brand new Mario Kart title for the 3DS that will see some unique game play effects with the 3-D technology in effect. Fans of the lesser Mario brother can get excited as the spin-off title of Luigi's Mansion will finally see a sequel as Luigi's Mansion 2 was announced for the 3DS as well. These titles are joined by the reveal of what seems to be a revival of Star Fox in a new 3D title. Rounding out the line up was a new look at the previously announced Kid Icarus: Uprising complete with augmented reality features for multi-player play.
The second highlight for Nintendo was what everyone had been talking about leading up to the conference; Project Cafe. Nintendo's mantra for revealing this seemed to be that while the Wii concentrated on bringing gamers together in new ways, their new system, freshly dubbed the Wii-U, will be a more user-focused experience. Things get a little fuzzy here for a little while but it's currently being clarified in follow up interviews going on at the moment. There is a new console, let that be known right off the bat. The thing Nintendo chose to focus on though is the new controller. The controller itself reminded me of the PS Vita right off the bat but mixed slightly with the iPad. The demonstration itself would lat go on to show just what this controller was capable of. First off, Wii peripherals and games will be compatible with the new console, spreading the love to current users. The controller however will offer new ways to interact with your games and to play in general. For one the video they showed displayed how it won't necessary disrupt the flow of a living room situation in that you can take the game being played on the TV and play it directly on the controller's 6.2 in touch screen.
The controller will feature a regular set of button controls and analog controls to go along with the touch screen itself. It will also contain a built in camera which will allow for video chat while also featuring a gyroscope for motion control and its own set of speakers. While specifics have not been released yet, it has been noted the controller will have its own internal flash memory. No word yet on if this is expandable. What we do know is that the console itself will use a new kinda of high density optical disc that will hold memory comparable to Blu-Ray discs. This is indicative of Nintendo's claim that the system will be full high definition, sporting 1080P visuals. While they had no games to show off they did show off some early tech demos to illustrate this which included a sleek looking high def version of Link battling inside a dungeon. Along with these we got a few other ways the new controller can be utilized. This ranged from using it as a two player gaming pad separate from the console itself to using it conjunction with the previous released Nintendo zapper attachment, using it like a mock scope for a shooter demo. From what we can tell early on is that the controller itself can essentially replace the need for playing games on the TV and make it more of a personalized experience for the end user.
Now all of this is good and well. When the rumors of a new Nintendo console started we sort of expected certain things to be announced. The console is full HD which is one thing we expected. We knew they would support it with great first party software which they will as they have already announced a new Super Smash Brothers game that will launch on both the 3DS and the Wii-U as well as a new Super Mario Brothers Mii which will allow use of your Nintendo Mii in the game. The new Super Mario Brothers Mii will also be released on both the Wii-U and the 3DS. But what about third party support? This of course is what has killed Nintendo before when it came to competing with everyone else in the market. Lucky for fans, Nintendo has the interest of many third party developers, ranging from the likes of Irrational Games, UbisoftNintendo's brand new console. The result of which is a line up of games that stands proudly beside their PS3 and 360 brethren. The Wii-U will see releases of such games as Batman: Arkham City, Ghost Recon: Online, Darksiders II, Tekken, and even Ninja Gaiden 3. Third party developers are on board and as details continue to come to light, this new console is starting to shape up.
While I was initially confused with what they had actually announced I was intrigued. They're planning a release of the Wii-U in 2012 while the 3DS titles will be releasing over the course of 2011 and into 2012. I suspect in that time we'll hear much more about the Wii-U, even possibly get a spec sheet on it. It seemed odd that at first they only highlighted the control, but have since clarified that yes the console unit will be new, it will be HD capable, and they have officially leveled the playing field between them and the other console creators. All that remains to be seen is how Nintendo beefs up their online presence with the new console, and since we have E3 2012 to hear more about the console there is plenty of time for them to flesh things out. I was skeptic of Nintendo going into this conference but I honestly think they delivered. Going in they had the best position of the big three and they came out ahead of them as well. Good job Nintendo. You're still the industry's darling.
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