Speaking of disasters, Nintendo's tragic "loss" of E3 2012 may not have warranted space on the front pages of the world's major broadsheets, but within the fishbowl world of Nintendo and its eager dependants, this single event might almost be considered Nintendo's very own Dunkirk. Maybe it's finally time to re-visit E3 2012 for just a moment, now that the collective grief has eased.
Sure, we didn't quite get the impressive showcase that Nintendo pulled out of their proverbial hat at E3 2006 for the Wii, where we caught glimpses of everything from Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption to Wii Sports and Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (Nintendo really seemed intend to satisfy the full spectrum of gamers at that show). Despite such comparisons, there were still numerous genuinely impressive and unique titles on display for Wii U at E3 2012.
And when I think about my most-anticipated games of the next year or so (across all platforms), I can safely say that several of these find their home on Wii U. I won't bore you with all the ins-and-outs of these games—no doubt you have already seen some great hands-on impressions and previews elsewhere—but I think it is worth stepping away from the "OMG no Zelda?!" stuff for a just a moment, in order to give these games a little breathing room of their own.
There were a couple of Wii U titles on display at E3 that immediately made me sit up and take notice. For me, Platinum Games' seductively ridiculous (ridiculously seductive?) Project P-100 is right at the top of my "must have" list. Although this Viewtiful Joe meets Pikmin experiment looks to contain some mildly unwieldy elements (such as drawing on the GamePad screen to guide your group of heroes into a given formation), I can't help but be excited about the game's potential. I think it looks gorgeous, for one thing, both in terms of the actual art style and also the animation. Go and check out the videos that show the city crumbling around the heroes; the dozens of buildings on screen helplessly writhe against each other as the highway shatters and disintegrates beneath the protagonists' feet. Simply beautiful.
This is also one of those games that is clearly not simply being ported over to the Wii U, in the sense that it actually makes use of the GamePad in ways that don't seem to be token additions. Moving your heroes into a building, for example, pushes the game action onto the GamePad screen where you get an over-the-shoulder view of the action (while the city itself is still displayed on your TV). Synchronizing your actions on the GamePad with actions on the TV (for example, turning a crank inside a warehouse, and being able to watch the results unfold on the TV) is hopefully one of many ways in which the GamePad will genuinely enhance Project P-100's game play.
Probably the most widely-covered Wii U title, at least as far as third-party efforts go, would have to be Ubisoft's ZombiU. Setting aside the terrible name for just a moment, I think that this game goes a long way in terms of actually validating Nintendo's concept with Wii U. It's fine to show off "asymmetrical game play," of the sort to which titles like Nintendo Land adhere, but I think that ZombiU effortlessly demonstrates one way in which the Wii U can provide a genuinely compelling experience for the so-called "hardcore" crowd. My favorite aspect of this title is the way the GamePad is used: the above screenshot beautifully illustrates the way that the player can perform an action on the GamePad's screen, while the surrounding action is still "live" on the TV. You can imagine how, in a real-life situation, you would not be able to pause the world around you just so you could open a safe or rifle through someone's pockets to search for a valuable item. In ZombiU—as in a real world situation—you have to pay attention to the task at hand while also remaining vigilant as to your surroundings. I can imagine this idea working incredibly well and providing plenty of scares, and it's an idea that could find application across multiple genres in the future. If ZombiU lives up to its potential, it could easily become Wii U's very own Left 4 Dead-style hit. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
At this juncture I should probably say that I am actually quite interested in Nintendo's own offerings: Pikmin 3 not only looks gorgeous, but more Pikmin is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. And then there's, you know, "the other stuff": Nintendo Land, Wii Fit U, and Game & Wario. As dismissive as I might first appear, I am actually greatly looking forward to all three of these titles (albeit due to their value as entertaining curiosities rather than real meat 'n' potatoes stuff). The reason I throw these titles in as an afterthought is both because they were heavily promoted by Nintendo at E3 and also because Nintendo's own content tends to be a sure bet anyway.
I could go on, of course: Aliens: Colonial Marines, Rayman Legends, and Tank! Tank! Tank! all deserve attention in my view. Colonial Marines has captured my attention in particular, in part because it is a direct continuation of the Aliens narrative, and in part because the GamePad doubles as the incredibly famous sonar device from the films (I'm perfectly happy to admit that I may be able to overlook just a few of the game's potential shortcomings as a result of this one awesome feature).
Now that the dust has settled, can we still say that this year's E3 was a disaster for Nintendo? Well, I am not willing to be too revisionist on this point, but I genuinely wonder if the painful collision of inflated fan expectation and cold, hard realism has allowed some truly interesting concepts to slip off the proverbial radar. On reflection, I am actually pretty excited about some of Wii U's E3 2012 offerings. Fortunately, we don't have to wait very long to see if these games live up to their promise.