E3 2014: Nintendo Are Back in Form

Every year at E3, a bunch of corporate drones in smart clothing get on stage and do their best Steve Jobs imitation in an attempt to flog some video games. They pace back and forth on a gigantic stage practicing their well-rehearsed hand gestures and commercially-viable intonation while an audience of hacks and gaming enthusiasts holler like approving sea lions. Last year, Nintendo ducked out of this routine in favour of showing an online video, a move which many at the time saw as an admission of its inability to hold their own against Sony and Microsoft. This year, they did it again, but unlike last year, it worked a treat.

Nintendo at E3

Whereas last year’s presentation had a mild whiff of resigned desperation about it, this year’s offering was a different kettle of fish entirely. Embracing the fact that they didn’t have to try and placate a live audience, Nintendo turned a no-show into an opportunity and did something that felt like a breath of fresh air.

It was obvious from the opening moments that this was going to be a more confident, self-aware outing than last year’s effort, as the video kicked off with a specially-commissioned vignette by Robot Chicken poking gentle fun at the company. What followed was a joyful 40 minutes or so of colourful video games, developer interviews and, at one point, high-ranking Nintendo executives beating the crap out of each other. Interestingly, CEO Satoru Iwata (staying in Japan on doctor’s orders, apparently) made only a brief cameo and hosting duties went to Nintendo of America president and all-round company mascot Reggie Fils-Amie, who made a point of reminding viewers of the company’s embedded philosophy that “there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun.”

Nintendonator

And fun was the name of the game here. Super Smash Bros was the opening salvo, with a ton of new features announced that will no doubt greatly excite People Who Really Like Smash Bros, before the company unveiled one of its newest weapons in the battle for gamers wallets: Amiibos, small figurines of Nintendo characters which interact with the Wii U to do all manner of cool video gamey stuff. Next up was Yoshi’s Wooly World, a game starring the beloved dinosaur that looks so amiable that it could probably diffuse tensions in the Middle East.

The digital event hadn’t even got to the halfway mark before it dropped its ultimate megaton moment, and as it did so you could hear jaws drop worldwide as the planet was treated to a brief but goosebumps-inducing preview of the new Legend Of Zelda. What little we saw looked incredible, and we only have until next year to wait for it.

Legend of Zelda E3 2014

And there were still more treats in store: Bayonetta 2 will now include the first game, complete with Nintendo character costumes for its titular heroine to lark about in; Zelda spin-off slash ’em up Hyrule Warriors, almost derided after it’s announcement earlier this year, now actually looks like a game worth playing; Captain Toad Treasure Tracker is a charming puzzle platformer; Mario Maker gives players the chance to make their very own stages starring the iconic plumber; Kirby And The Rainbow Curse depicted the pink blob in a plasticine world of whimsy. Nintendo may be rinsing its franchises for all they’re worth, but the ideas contained therein still look fresh and appealing.

A sizeable chunk of the video was given over to that most mythical of entities at Nintendo: brand new IP. Splatoon is a bright, gaudy online shooter that uses ink as it’s core gameplay mechanic and even a few minutes of gameplay make it look like a ton of fun.

Kirby

Some media commentators would have us believe that Nintendo in 2014 is an embattled company struggling to keep up with modern video games. The triumphant 47-minute video that we watched this week suddenly reduces such criticisms from a shout to whisper. If Nintendo is having a bad year then it is doing an amazing job of making the thing we all came here for in the first place: great video games. Imagine what the company was capable of if it was having a good year? All of a sudden, Sony and Microsoft’s live audience grandstanding looks quaint and slightly backwards.

Who’s to say they won’t try their own digital event in 12 months time? Nintendo is still in a league of its own and as Tuesday’s video showed, it is no danger of slowing down. It’s future is assured, and I find myself excited about owning a Wii U again. Mission accomplished.

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