Nintendo Underwhelms at E3 2018

Jun 17, 18  | posted by Ben Cornett (1019)

Too Much Time on Smash. Not Enough on Other IPs.

If there’s one thing the Nintendo fandom is, it’s that we’re all consistently not happy with Nintendo.

People will argue that Star Wars fans hate Star Wars, and you can read fan comments of The Last Jedi for verification on that, but it’s very true to know that Nintendo fans tend to be not pleased with Nintendo decisions and announcements.

This year at E3 2018, the big game speculated from Nintendo ended up taking half of their Nintendo Direct presentation time. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate arrives in December 2018, but fans are already not pleased with the way this game looks like a port of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U.

Though the roster of playable characters has every single playable character from the franchise’s history, the abundance of characters doesn’t make up for a not great port of a mediocre entry into the series.

Nintendo wasn’t completely a miss during their Nintendo Direct at E3 2018. Super Mario Party does look to be a unique entry for that series with the use of the HD rumble feature on the Joycons and the use of dual Switch screens to create interesting mini-game modes.

The addition of indie games like Paladins and Fortnite are smart moves for Nintendo, but indie games have never been an issue for Nintendo consoles. Keeping Nintendo in the mainstream is the target here and these two games can help do that.

And while the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate segment of the Nintendo Direct at E3 2018 offered a sweet reveal of Metroid villain, Ridley, becoming a new playable combatant in the game, that brief glimpse left many wondering: What about Metroid Prime 4?

Metroid Prime 4 was something teased at last year’s E3 and completely surprised fans of that franchise, as many had been left to assume Samus would pretty much only appear in Super Smash Bros. titles going forward. While a full gameplay trailer would have been a lot to ask for, something more than a title card this year would have tithed fans over for another 6 years while the game is produced. Apologies if you didn’t pick up on the sarcasm there.

And what about Yoshi? There was a confirmed Yoshi title for the Switch at E3 2017, and the most screen time Yoshi had this year was in the Smash trailer swallowing Luigi.

The Nintendo Direct for E3 2018 just didn’t have that razzamatazz that it usually does. Yes, Reggie looked excited when talking about Let’s Go Pikachu and the sweet Pokeball that will work with the game, but his time on screen wasn’t long enough to assure fans that we were getting a sweet Nintendo Direct.

Maybe this is a sign of the time we’re in – in a day of the Internet of Things, where everything is connected and can share data and information, it’s hard to be surprised when things get leaked onto the internet. Maybe that’s why this article is dripping with my saltiness. I know from E3 past, there have been so grand reveals that have made people go nuts (watch the Twilight Princess reveal video). This year was just meh.

As for E3 2018, and E3 in general, fans in the gaming world always declare a “winner” of the event. I try to be the middle ground guy and say, “as fans, we’re all winners,” but E3 2018 hasn’t won me over anywhere. Sony had my attention with Spider-Man, but to be fair, Marvel Comics had my attention for Spider-Man when I was 3 years old. There was nothing in Microsoft’s presentation that made me think: damn, I’m glad I own an Xbox One. And Nintendo…as a faithful fan that questions your motives, you spent so much time on a title that you know will sell and didn’t really bring anything fresh to the table. From my humble opinion, no one really won E3 2018.

Vote: 0 0

You must or to vote.

Did you know you can report news for us too? Anyone can report the news, or post a review on gamelust.com, AND have a chance to become featured on our homepage! All you need to do is or with us and add your voice today!