When’s It Happening?
June 15th: Nintendo Media Briefing, Nokia Theatre
Why Should I Care?
Good question. Every single year faithful Nintendo fans go through the same merry-go-round of emotions surrounding E3 and always end up with blue balls. Frenzied, impossibly satisfying speculation routinely follows a show dominated by pie-charts, back-slapping statistics and underwhelming “casual†game reveals. This year though could genuinely be very, very different.
For one thing, we have actual confirmed news to get excited about – the full reveal of Nintendo’s mysterious 3D handheld follow-up, the Nintendo 3DS. Secondly the first glimpses of the latest Legend of Zelda console installment will be shown, with both items thought to be gearing up for Winter releases.
Finally we expect the low point of Nintendo’s E3 2009 performance to be finally shown to punters – the mysterious Wii Vitality Sensor. Essentially nothing more than a pulse detector for your finger, we really hope Nintendo has a genuinely innovative gameplay implementation for this bizarre peripheral or failing that, they address the likely event of gamers everywhere sticking their cock in it “for the laughâ€.
What Should I Look Out For?
Nintendo 3DS – In typical Nintendo style, security surrounding details on Nintendo’s biggest E3 announcements are tighter than a duck’s arse. Some claim the 3DS’ graphics could better the Wii, or that we’ll be shown a full launch lineup and Winter release date. Crucially however, no-one even knows who is providing the much-vaunted specs-free 3D technology. One man who has seen it however is developer EA’s CEO John Riccitiello, who has didn’t hold back, stating “I will tell you, I’ve seen it; it’s cool”. Hmm… thanks John.
Speaking of cool, the above is an undoubtedly cool implementation of quasi-3D from a Japanese DSiWare title, later released to our shores Looksley’s Line Up. The game uses the front-facing DSi camera to assess the gamer’s position and changes the background to provide depth and angle accordingly. It’s thought the 3DS will provide a much more genuine 3D experience than this however, whilst also featuring backwards compatibility with your current handheld game collection. Which titles we can expect, what launch date and what pricepoint are going to be the real questions, but luckily we don’t have long left to wait.
New Legend of Zelda – Aside from announced Wii Motion+ compatibility for greater combat, little is known about the next Zelda epic apart from the below concept art shown behind closed doors at E3 2009. After Twilight Princess’ protracted Nintendo Gamecube development, it was eventually released as ported Wii launch title in 2008. For years however we’ve been hearing rumours and whispers of the first genuine Wii installment in gaming’s most critic-proof series.
Therefore from the above art what we can at least confirm that the franchise is moving back to the mature Ocarina/Twilight Princess art style, with the cel-shaded, cartoonish Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass style now presumably reserved for handheld iterations. At JOE we’re mostly holding out for a genuine shake-up in Zelda’s gameplay. Though each Link adventure seldom disappoints, lately the enter dungeon/acquire weapon/defeat dungeon boss with weapon formula has meant that recent adventures seldom surprise either. Let’s hope series creator Shigeru Miyamoto can repeat what Super Mario Galaxy did for his other famous creation and successfully up-end everyone’s stratospheric expectations.
Aside from Zelda and the 3DS we should expect playable footage of Team Ninja’s (Ninja Gaiden) 2D/3D hybrid Samus reboot, Metroid: Other M, Nintendo’s own Mario Party-alike Wii Party and hopefully first details of a Western release for the intriguing Tomodachi Collection, a Sims-like DS title for your imported Wii Mii characters.
What Not to Expect?
Let’s just say straight up that no matter how much we want sequels to F-Zero, Kid Icarus, Starfox, Wave Race , Pikmin, 1080 Snowboarding or any other much-loved but long-forgotten Nintendo sequels, let’s not hold our breath.
With the Japanese giants rolling in money the last few years through courting nannies everywhere with Wii Fit/Play/Music it’s tough to accept that such sterling franchises are permanently passed over each trade show but such is life. Best hopes lie with a possible Pikmin sequel, or Wii Gardening as it will probably be rebranded.
Any Crazy Rumours?
Oh yes, the craziest. If recent leaks are to be believed we could bear witness to Wii and DS remake of the classic Nintendo 64 shooter Goldeneye 007. Pant-wettingly exciting rumours tell of an Activision reboot, with tales 8 player online multiplayer and a pack-in Golden Wii Classic Controller Pro. Curiously if true, it’s thought that Daniel Craig will take over the Brosnan role due to Bond licensing issues too.
It all sounds far too good to be true, though an image of the controller and box art are floating around may sway the doubters. All we can say is that we’ll all know for sure in the coming days, whereupon we will swiftly delete this section if proved embarrassingly false.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
