E3 From the UK – Nintendo, I Still Want a Wii U

E3 From the UK – Nintendo, I Still Want a Wii U

E3 might be over, but that doesn’t meant our coverage is done and dusted as right here, right now, I take on the might of Nintendo. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo didn’t hold a massive conference in Los Angeles, instead they delivered another Nintendo Direct presentation.

I can imagine that a lot of people were left disappointed by Mr Iwata’s presentation, and I can see where they are coming from. It felt very same-old same-old with Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U and Pokemon X and Y for the 3DS. For those who want to get on board with the Wii U, they were maybe left feeling put out by the absence of a price cut while titles like Wii Party U and Wii Fit U have been pushed back to later in the year.

It is Mario...need I say more?
It is Mario…need I say more?

Indeed, I wouldn’t blame people for being aggrieved at the lack of an all new Zelda title or a Mario Galaxy. Rather we had The Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World, the first being an HD take on a GameCube title and the latter a slight re-imagining of Super Mario 3D Land that came on the 3DS.

For some reason though, despite the aforementioned issues, I still feel like I need to own a Wii U. People might find this odd in light of the blockbuster Sony conference..and the less so block-busting Microsoft event. However, I am starting to feel like Nintendo have moved themselves out of the hardcore gamer scene, and I wonder how many AAA third-party titles beyond the current line up (Watch Dogs and Batman for two) will be announced for the Wii U. This though shouldn’t put people off getting a Wii U.

Zelda...in HD!
Zelda…in HD!

When you look at the games that will be coming out on the PlayStation 4 and Xbone, the vast majority of them will also find their way onto PC. They might not get onto it straightaway, but when the “exclusivity” deal runs out, we will see a lot of them on the home of the mouse and keyboard. Even better, they will generally appear on the PC looking even better than the next-gen consoles.

The games that won’t make the transition to the PC are Nintendo’s titles. So yes, Nintendo might have failed to truly deliver an outstanding E3 show, but I want to play some high-quality Mario and Zelda games along with the growing number of indie, smaller-scale and retro titles that are going to land on the Nintendo e-store.

If come the winter I am faced with the choice of getting one new console to go with my PC, which offers so much more than any console can, it likely won’t be the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. I will choose the Wii U…but it really will need some sort of price cut by then to persuade me to get any console.

Comments are closed.