T’was the morn before E3 (June the fourteenth in the year of our Lord Two-Thousand and fifteen all through the house the only creature that was stirring was my two year old Erik. I had slept in figuring that I would soon have to be at work and awoke to realization that E3 is tomorrow. I grew up playing video games my entire life even when I was younger I would await the E3 issues of “Nintendo Power” and “EGM” (Electronic Gaming Monthly). So naturally I woke with a spark of excitement remembering in a haze of shock induced vigor that Nintendo was doing a small Pre E3 event.
I tuned in to catch the last few minutes of the live Twitch feed to see Ryu was really coming to Super Smash Bros. being a huge fighting game fanatic to begin with, the rumor I have heard previously I deemed more wishful than possibility (needless to say I have found a new favorite.) A few more amiibo were announced followed by screen shots that filled my sleep filled eyes with detail, widening them a bit as sipped a bit of rich yet droughty Dark Roast Verona coffee from the previous night. I went to work to immediately and purchased a Nintendo e-shop card in hopes of trying Ryu and the two fan favorite DLC fighters (Roy and Lucas) when I got off of my drooling-ly mundane shift.
Alas! I was greeted by a wind that smelled of – the best way to describe it - my childhood and not a particularly violent wind but dominant enough to force me to notice it. The heavens themselves had parted. A five headed Dragon had gallantly flown from the silver and gold lining soaring ever closer to me careful not to frighten me as it majestically landed at my conversation level the wingspan over 10 feet in length talons clutching concrete it spoke and even more luster worthy than the mythic beast itself was the message it had diverged upon me. “Mother has been brought to the United States.” I asked myself in awe “No.. When?” The third head going clockwise (I believe the head was an eagle) “Now.”
For those who are not in the know Earthbound: Beginings is the localization of the first Mother game an RPG that most fans thought would never see a proper state side release. Needless to say it is a bit dated compared to Earthbound (Mother 2 Japan) but still holds up and is fun for $7.00 I highly recommend it. I went to sleep awaiting the magic maladies that may await me the next day: the first day of E3.
Day 1
Excitement coursed through my veins and my circulatory system was a tangled mess of caffine, naproxen, nicotine, and sugar. Agitated at Microsoft’s previous laser light show and talk of glorifying games from 2005 and so on as seems to be the trend with HD remasters these days. Backwards compatibility may sound great to a lot of people, in fact it makes shelf space for more games or figures but if they were going to do it they should have done it at launch. Or take the approach Sony did early on and charge a subscription fee to play previous console games digitally via a streaming service. Microsoft has also decided to not let the great IPs of rare (Conker, Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, etc.) go to waste. By releasing a massive HD collection for the Xbox ONE. Sony on the other hand were about the same playing catch up with “The Last Guardian” a title that many assumed to be dead. Showing off Media Molecule’s latest creation a virtual dream simulator. Also to my detest they announced that they have an exclusive deal with Activision to hold on to the rights of a huge chunk of the latest Call of Duty game. (While I may not play the series. I have to admit that is a good business ploy on Sony’s part to get more people to abandon Xbox for their flagship console.)
The real winner was a VR headset they had lightly talked on mid 2014 Project Morpheus with “Reality” their recurring montra it makes sense. Other than that they showcased a lot of third party titles that will be on both Playstation 4 and their rival’s console. The astonishing Final Fantasy 7: HD Remake, appalling Destiny DLC, admiring the audacity of yet another “Assassin’s Creed” installment, the awe inspiring Street Fighter V (that is a PS4 and PC exclusive for the time being) and the all advancing Star Wars: Battlefront and the amazing Arkham Knight all shown running on Sony’s hardware. (Not much of a difference between the machines either.) It is neat to see how much like the two entities and their perspective consumers are yet they can not agree on what actually makes a game fun to play.
Day 3
I was feeling a bit sluggish as I awoke wondering if it was all a dream a world of VR headsets, HD remakes, a loss of originality, Achievements/Trophies is all there is left in gaming, rage quitters in my fighting games, foul mothed twerps in my shooting games, a sad deafening defeat almost deterring me in the depths of despair. What happened to the games that I raised in praise and in return raised me? Nintendo where are you? Nintendo’s event was today. It started as a Fabulous Thunderbirds parody I knew right away Star Fox on WiiU. Miyamoto in front of the Inari Shrine speaking of his inspiration for the best flight simulator ever conceived. It looked amazing, if only I could play it in person. High speed space dogfights, transforming into a robot at the press of a button. And a few references to R.O.B. (everyone’s favorite NES Robot) throughout.
“We don’t make art we make videogames.” Iwata, President of Nintendo
My discerns were lost in pure adrenaline fueled hype. Nintendo and Koei Tecmo revealed to have a 3DS port of Hyrule Warriors in the works. Followed by an announcement that made me literally jump out of my chair spewing my beverage from stiffened tense nostrils. The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes the first online game in the series set for a Fall 2015 release window. No they were not done. Two Animal Crossing games announced one on WiiU with actual amiibo support. Also another on 3DS with Amiibo trading cards.
Finally they ended it with - after announcing a sub-par Metroid spin off Metroid Prime: Federation Force - Super Mario Maker a WiiU title that a lot like Mario Paint (SNES) is a creator toolkit to forge your own levels and even go as far as you want being able to make your own side-scrolling Mario adventure with multiple pixel filters and any in game obstacle, enemy, power-up or terrain you wish to use at any time. I for one have faith in Nintendo at this point to really change the industry beyond a silly looking VR helmet or HD rehash. They changed it with the Wii and everyone imitating that almost ruined the industry turning it into a giant copy paste idea worth billions and billions. I honestly can not wait until that mythical five headed beast visits me again whenever that may be if it may ever have happened at all. Because I know next time...next time it will tell me “They did it, Nintendo is back on top of the world again.”