In which I go running back into Nintendo's warm embrace
So I watched the Nintendo press conference.
Let me start with my impressions of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. (Yes, I laughed at the title.) I was both satisfied and disappointed, which left me just wanting more. I was really hoping there would be a real trailer, one that shows off not only gameplay, but gives insight into the story line, character interactions, and gives and idea as to what makes this Hyrule unique to the others. There was nothing but gameplay, which, technical difficulties aside, looks promising! I wish the demonstration had gone better (poor Miyamoto...) but it's clear from the gameplay trailer that there's fun to be had in the game.
Probably one of the most talked about subjects though are going to be the graphics. They're a strange mix between Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, with the Twilight Princess character models and environments, but Wind Waker-style cell shaded graphics. It's hard to swallow, I'll admit, and I feel a lot of fans are going to be displeased. It does look like a last-gen Gamecube or PS2 title. However, I have faith that Nintendo will do what they can to answer these problems and improve on the graphics. They have a year to develop the game, and in the years between Twilight Princess's announcement and it's release, they made graphical changes to the Twilight realms and other regions, so they can do the same with this game.
I want a more mature Zelda, and I'll admit that the new graphics don't suggest one. We won't know until more on the story is revealed, and I have a hole in my stomach that's telling me we won't get that information until the next E3. I guess we should begin the count down.
Zelda aside, I found the rest of the conference to be amazing, especially when compared to last year's craptastic, casual-gamer-marketed show. Pretty much all of the titles were sequels, yest, but Nintendo is losing it's hardcore market, so it makes sense that they would whips out the nostalgia card to pull everyone back in. I'm actually interested in a lot of the new Wii titles, and I haven't played my Wii extensively in almost two years. The last game I bought for it was Super Mario Galaxy. (Granted, it's broken and turns off every 40 minutes, but the point is, I've had to no reason to get a new one because none of the games are of any interest to me.) Other M looks beautiful (and basically is what I want Zelda Wii to be, but so much for that?) and there are other titles that I'm interested in reading more about.
Finally, the 3DS. I am so stoked for the new handheld. The confirmed titles are amazing - Professor Layton? Metal Gear Solid? Resident Evil? Hell yeah, sign me up! Even though it's 3D, I don't feel like it's a gimmick, maybe because of the lack of glasses. This actually feels like an amazing step forward for video games and not just a new device trying to jump on a passing trend.
There are some things I wish Nintendo had announced, though. I really would have liked an HD Wii to be announced, or a Wii with greater graphical capabilities. Like I said, I wish there had been more info on Zelda rather than a broken demo and gameplay trailers. A Pokemon Black & White and a Pikmin 3 trailer would have probably added to the excitement, but I feel those will come later in the year. I wish the show had been slightly flashier, but maybe that's just me - we don't want them to go out of their way and do something like hire Cirque du Soleil, right? Cuz that's stupid, no one would ever do that. They need to announce a Wiimote that has MotionPlus capabilities without that ridiculous peripheral.
Thank God they didn't talk about the Vitality Sensor though. Thank. God.
Let me start with my impressions of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. (Yes, I laughed at the title.) I was both satisfied and disappointed, which left me just wanting more. I was really hoping there would be a real trailer, one that shows off not only gameplay, but gives insight into the story line, character interactions, and gives and idea as to what makes this Hyrule unique to the others. There was nothing but gameplay, which, technical difficulties aside, looks promising! I wish the demonstration had gone better (poor Miyamoto...) but it's clear from the gameplay trailer that there's fun to be had in the game.
Probably one of the most talked about subjects though are going to be the graphics. They're a strange mix between Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, with the Twilight Princess character models and environments, but Wind Waker-style cell shaded graphics. It's hard to swallow, I'll admit, and I feel a lot of fans are going to be displeased. It does look like a last-gen Gamecube or PS2 title. However, I have faith that Nintendo will do what they can to answer these problems and improve on the graphics. They have a year to develop the game, and in the years between Twilight Princess's announcement and it's release, they made graphical changes to the Twilight realms and other regions, so they can do the same with this game.
I want a more mature Zelda, and I'll admit that the new graphics don't suggest one. We won't know until more on the story is revealed, and I have a hole in my stomach that's telling me we won't get that information until the next E3. I guess we should begin the count down.
Zelda aside, I found the rest of the conference to be amazing, especially when compared to last year's craptastic, casual-gamer-marketed show. Pretty much all of the titles were sequels, yest, but Nintendo is losing it's hardcore market, so it makes sense that they would whips out the nostalgia card to pull everyone back in. I'm actually interested in a lot of the new Wii titles, and I haven't played my Wii extensively in almost two years. The last game I bought for it was Super Mario Galaxy. (Granted, it's broken and turns off every 40 minutes, but the point is, I've had to no reason to get a new one because none of the games are of any interest to me.) Other M looks beautiful (and basically is what I want Zelda Wii to be, but so much for that?) and there are other titles that I'm interested in reading more about.
Finally, the 3DS. I am so stoked for the new handheld. The confirmed titles are amazing - Professor Layton? Metal Gear Solid? Resident Evil? Hell yeah, sign me up! Even though it's 3D, I don't feel like it's a gimmick, maybe because of the lack of glasses. This actually feels like an amazing step forward for video games and not just a new device trying to jump on a passing trend.
There are some things I wish Nintendo had announced, though. I really would have liked an HD Wii to be announced, or a Wii with greater graphical capabilities. Like I said, I wish there had been more info on Zelda rather than a broken demo and gameplay trailers. A Pokemon Black & White and a Pikmin 3 trailer would have probably added to the excitement, but I feel those will come later in the year. I wish the show had been slightly flashier, but maybe that's just me - we don't want them to go out of their way and do something like hire Cirque du Soleil, right? Cuz that's stupid, no one would ever do that. They need to announce a Wiimote that has MotionPlus capabilities without that ridiculous peripheral.
Thank God they didn't talk about the Vitality Sensor though. Thank. God.