Unreality’s E3 2011 Liveblog – Nintendo’s Keynote

Alright folks, it’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. If you haven’t tuned into E3 yet, you haven’t missed a whole lot as Microsoft and Sony didn’t have too terribly much to debut. Read my thoughts about those two shows here.  Rather the best parts of the show have been game demos like the one for Elder Scroll: Skyrim. Autonomous randomized dragon encounters. AMAZING.

Anyway, it’s time to actually make some news. Nintendo is set to debut their newest console at their presentation today. A few details about it have been leaked, including the fact that it’s supposed to be more powerful than the PS3, and its controllers have touchscreens. Other than that though, I’m not quite sure what to expect out of “Project Cafe,” and one of the aspects I’m most curious about is the name itself. What the hell are the going to call this thing?

This is a big moment for the industry, as it’s the first real step into the long-awaited next console generation. What wonders (or horrors) wait ahead? I guess we’re about to find out. Liveblog starts below, and you can refresh the page for updates. Watch on G4 or streaming on IGN.

11:54 – I love how G4 is relevant to gaming exactly one time a year.

11:58 – I like the Nintendo trivia onscreen. Gives the audience something to do.

12:02 – Wow, no vapid hot girls onscreen claiming to be hardcore gamers. Amazing.

12:05 – And we’re staring. How many smiling families will we see in the opening video?

12:06 – Nevermind, it’s a Zelda retrospective. Complete with full orchestra. Kind of awesome.

12:08 – Aw, transition from action into Zelda love story. Kind of adorable.

12:10 – Wow, Miyamoto opening. Interesting. Hopefully we have a less awkward Skyward Sword demo than last year.

12:12 – I wish I could speak Japanese, that would be awesome.

12:13 – Miyamoto really loves his music.

12:14 – Oh I thought the item was going to be the new console.

12:15 – Talking about the 3DS Ocarina of Time. Looks great, I’m not a fan of straight up game remakes though.

12:16 – Skyward Sword for Wii. So, not a multi-console generation thing like Twilight Princess?

12:17 – “It’s great exercise.” Yeahhh, that’s kind of the problem.

12:20 – Sooo we going to actually see some gameplay or…

12:21 – I guess not. That was sort of strange. Fifteen minutes of Zelda and nothing else from Skyward Sword?

12:22 – Now it’s Iwata’s turn. What’s next?

12:23 – Ah, here are those smiling family pictures! I knew they were somewhere.

12:24 – New home platform! Hooray.

12:25 – Full details coming later this morning… Gahhh.

12:26 – 3DS games, Mario Kart, Starfox, Mario, Kid Icarus, Luigi’s Mansion.

12:27 – Reggie’s turn. “We hear you, you want what you’ve wanted, but you want something new.” Yeah, we are kind of assholes.

12:28 – New home console tease again. Guhhh you’re killing me.

12:29 – All good titles, but would have been better if a few of them were there at launch.

12:31 – Underwater racing huh? I’ll ignore the physics.

12:32 – “Captures every reaction whether they’re on your tail, or you’re on theirs.” No comment.

12:33 – Good, the Mario game isn’t a port. Looks quite good.

12:36 – Kid Icarus looks pretty sweet too. His voice is a bit strange though.

12:38 – Luigi’s Mansion 2. Cool I suppose. Entirely new game, good good.

12:39 – Why is this video all glitchy? I’m going to have a seizure.

12:40 – Free version of 3D Excitebike for download.

12:42 – OH SHIT POKEMON!

12:43 – Pokedex? Not a game? Scanning AR shit? Hmph.

12:45 – New Nintendo system! Probably another tease…

12:46 – New console name is…Wii U? Tepid applause.

12:47 – Whoa, new controller looks nothing like the sketches, save having a touchpad. What the…

12:48 – Move from TV to controller (like Vita), draw on controller. Use touchscreen to augment big screen game.

12:49 – I’m confused, this is just a new controller for the existing Wii?

12:51 – I am genuinely perplexed right now. And how much will this thing be? It’s got to be a pretty penny.

12:52 – It also looks like the most giant controller in the history of time, puts Dreamcast and orginal Xbox to shame. The screen by itself is six inches.

12:53 – There’s no way this is it. The new console must be coming after this. This is just going to be another expensive peripheral.

12:55 – Like, what is happening in this picture:

12:56 – They literally said the words “home console system,” right? That means an actual new console, it has to.

12:57 – Big cheers for Smash Bros on 3DS and Wii U.

12:58 – If this is the new “console,” this is a disaster. If not, it’s still a bad idea, the last thing the Wii needs is a peripheral that’s obviously going to be more than all the others. I can’t see this being under $100. And wouldn’t you need more than one for multiplayer, or do you seriously just pass it around?

1:00 – Wait, what is this tech demo for? The controller has better graphics than the Wii?

1:03 – “Once we saw the new controller, together with the new console…” WHAT IS GOING ON? IS THIS THING A CONTROLLER OR A CONSOLE?

1:05 – I don’t understand how this is aimed at hardcore gamers like they’re making it sound. Clearly it’s going to take me some time to process this, because my head is kind of swimming right now.

1:06 – So, this makes the Wii’s graphics better? If so, they’re still under 360 and PS3’s, that’s for sure.

1:10 – STOP CALLING THIS A CONSOLE.

1:11 – At least they’ve gotten their graphical capabilities to the point where they can actually have third party titles now, that is some measure of success in itself.

1:12 – “You’ll have a chance to hold WiiU’s new controller.” Wait, so there is an actual, physical console that is NOT the controller? How am I still this confused at this point?

1:13 – There it is again “The new controller for WiiU.” So the controller is NOT WiiU. WHAT IS WIIU?

1:15 – And that’s it. Did they just premiere a controller for a console that they didn’t show? That seems like the most likely explanation at the moment. I need to figure this out, and the internet is apparently as confused as I am.

A compilation of my currently evolving thoughts here.

Update: Alright, so apparently there is a console box that we saw glimpses of in the videos, I just didn’t catch it. But the presentation not highlighting it at ALL was a huge mistake. It’s hard to be excited when you don’t understand what the hell is going on. They just should have said, “here’s a console, and more importantly, here’s its crazy new controller.”

Console box:

Looks…functional. Word is it still only has flash memory.

I am not saying this new system is shitty or doesn’t have potential, just that the incredibly confusing reveal was poorly planned out and could have been handled much differently as to avoid this mass hysteria of confusion during and immediately after the announcement. Now that we figured out it IS a new console, that’s a bit better, but it wasn’t clear that’s what it was a the time.

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24 Comments

  1. Yo Paul, I love you – in a mostly manly hetero way – and have a suggestion. Most live blogs have the latest updates at the top of the page, so when you spam the living shit out of F5 you see the latest updates first and don’t have to scroll down.

    I approve of you being a rebel and doing it the opposite of everyone else in the world, but just a thought….

    Love, Romple.

  2. I like how you keep getting frustrated trying to make sense if its a controller or system. makes me refressing more comical and hilarious.

  3. Paul, have you not seen the image of the WiiU they keep on flashing up on the screen alongside the TV?

    It’s a console

    It’s there

    It has a massive controller with a video screen in it.

    It’s fully backwards compatible.

  4. They have said it is a backwards compatible console. You see it sitting by the TV in the shots of playing. They are just hammering the controller.

  5. Yeah the WiiU is a new console. N is taking the tack that the new graphics capabilities don’t matter, kinda a been there done that. and that the new controller is the major selling point… and they are right.

    Finally, someone in the gaming industry that truly understands that better graphics don’t automatically make a better game.

  6. “the console itself will run in full HD, via HDMI, but the touchscreen isn’t HD. The console has internal Flash memory which can be augmented with “SD Card or USB solutions”. It will play optical disks and downloadable content, and will be backwards-compatible with Wii software. And it will launch some time between 1 April and 31 December 2012.”

    from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/07/wii-u-nintendo-games-console (a well nespected UK newspaper for the unknowing 🙂

  7. romple, obviously not, but it has huge potential for changing how we interact with games.

    People making a big deal about the size, it looks about the same size as the kindle and that fits just fine in my hands sideways with a full case on it.

    Yeah it looks like a tablet but from what they described it’s a big wireless unit with a touch-screen and an accelerometer, so not much brains on its own.

  8. If it’s optional, cool. I’m not saying it’s bad, certainly it’s not a bad idea and is a good attempt at innovation. I just haven’t seen anything today that makes me go “omg I want to buy a Wii U!”.

    Since the controller isn’t exciting for me (and I know a lot of other people feel similarly) the rest of it is basically “you can play the same games you can play on every other console”.

    For a major console announcement I thought it was a little lackluster. I need to see more.

  9. I’m not sure it’s optional. It definitely has to come with the new system, and looks like it will be a pretty important part of a lot of the games. You might be able to play with only Wiimotes, but I think that’s going to be missing the point of most of the titles.

  10. It is about a year from launch and it looks like the big player 3rd party devs are onboard. I’ll bet we see some more innovative ideas before it rolls out.

    I’m half expecting ME3 to be announced on it. The touch screen seems perfect for their little mini-games for unlocking/scanning/etc.

  11. i know this isnt about nintendo but they did say talk about it at E3 i suggest any fans of mass effect 3 and assassins creed to look up the collectors edition of them. also if you pre-order revelations now they’ll upgrade you for free

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