Ask a Dork – Nintendo at E3 2012

“What does Nintendo need to win E3? What do you expect?”

Allow me to make an extremely partisan statement: Nintendo will garner the most attention this year at E3. We already know that Nintendo will be bringing a new Super Mario Bros. entry and Pikmin title to the Wii U and I think it’s safe to say that more of Nintendo’s first party IPs will likely join them. It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything new about a Wii U entry in The Legend of Zelda series and I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a Mario Kart title released soon after the system’s launch.

That said, the system itself still remains a mystery. When is it released? How big is its launch catalogue? What’s the price? Will it be backwards compatible? Has the controller actually changed? What are its graphical capabilities? At this point in time, we are awash in questions to be answered. My hope is that Nintendo will make the Wii U the centrepiece of their event this year.

Providing they place a heavy focus on showcasing the system and its capabilities, Nintendo will absolutely ‘win’ the Electronic Entertainment Expo, but they should also place a heavy focus on the 3DS’ catalogue. I really want to see a strong new batch of first-party games and hopefully a few new third-party IPs. We know for sure that New Super Mario Bros. 2 will be making an appearance, but my 3DS is already starting to collect dust and first party titles are nowhere to be seen. Nintendo needs some system selling titles and they need them now. While we’re on the topic of systems, I know some people are mulling over the idea of a 3DS redesign (affectionately being referred to by fans as the “3DS lite”), but I don’t think it’s likely this year. The 3DS may lack a second analog pad, long battery life, and a large touch screen, but the big N has already invested a lot into the current iteration of this title and I doubt they would be willing to eat the loss.

At the end of the day, content is king. If Nintendo can shed light on some of the games that consumers are excited over, I have full confidence that they’ll take E3 by storm.