On Tuesday, Nintendo took its turn on the stage of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) to make new announcements about its new Wii U system.
The console and its main feature, the Wii U Gamepad, enables for a wider range of interaction between players and the way they use their television. Nintendo's tagline throughout the conference was that the Wii U would "revolutionize your living room." Nintendo of American President Reggie Fils-Aime announced at the end of the conference that the system was to make its debut in the holiday season, but did not specify the date of release.
The conference was geared mainly toward game releases for the system, though it did Fils-Aime did announce Hulu, Netflix, and Youtube Apps being available for the console. The show got kicked off with the announcement of "Pikmin 3," the latest installment in the popular strategy franchise. Nintendo Legend Shigeru Miyamoto presented the game. Nintendo also presented "New Super Mario Bros. U," a follow-up to "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" which invokes the original 2D Mario Platforms of the Nintendo and Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems. However, the biggest first party title that Nintendo announced was its "Nintendo Land," a game set in a theme park with attractions from all the major Nintendo franchises. A demo for an attraction inspired from "Luigi's Mansion" showed up to four players using Wiimotes navigating a maze, while a single player with the Wii U Gamepad played as a ghost attempting to capture the four players. The four cannot see the ghost on the TV, but the player with the Gamepad can see all the action with the screen on the controller. Among other attractions announced was one based on "Mysterious Murasame Castle," a "Legend of Zelda" attraction, and a "Donkey Kong" one as well. Because the game's main aim is to familiarize players with the Gamepad, this title will likely be included in a bundle much in the same way as "Wii Sports" launched with the Wii back in 2006, reports TheVerge.com
Nintendo has long been criticized for a lack of third party support in its past consoles. On Tuesday, the company showed off a wealthy lineup of third party titles to support its new console. Leading the pack was Warner Bros. Entertainment with "Batman: Arkam City Armored Edition," an exclusive version of the hit title for Nintendo's console. Ubisoft also revealed a lineup of games that included "Just Dance 4," "ZombiU," "Rayman Legends," and "Assassin's Creed 3" amongst others.
Nintendo also revealed that such hit titles as "Mass Effect 3," "Darksiders 2," "Alien: Colonial Marines," "Ninja Gaiden 3, and "Tekken Tag Tournament 2" would be coming to the Wii U as well. Most of these titles come from franchises that have eluded past Nintendo consoles.
Nintendo left a short segment for announcements for the 3DS in which three titles, "New Super Mario Bros. 2," "Paper Mario Sticker Star," and "Luigi's Mansion 2," were previewed.