Nintendo Media Summit
Ok, E3 was a huge debacle for Nintendo. I think that even the largest of Nintendo fanboys could agree with me. There were a few cool announcements by way of Wii Speak, and Wii Remote MotionPlus. Barring those two accessories, you could say this was Nintendo’s worst conference ever.
Right after E3, I alluded to Nintendo holding back some of their bigger announcements for a different conference, “Most people that have been venting about Nintendo’s lack of “hardcore releases” has stemmed from Nintendo’s lack of presence at E3. To these people I say that I was disappointed myself when I saw no Punch Out, Kid Icarus or any other first party announcement besides Wii Music, and Animal Crossing. But I blame E3 for this, not Nintendo. E3 is but a shadow of what it used to be, and Nintendo knows that most hardcore gamers will be keeping an eye on the other gaming conferences. Perhaps Nintendo decided it was best to save some of their bigger news for a later time.”
I almost completely forgot that their media summit is tomorrow, but luckily I literally had it written down on my calendar. I almost never write anything on my calendar, so you know that I think this is going to be a special event.
Nintendo is all about keeping things fresh, new, and full of surprises. I believe that nothing would surprise the gaming world more than to make the big announcements that most people thought were coming at E3. If you think about it for a second it makes sense. Why release your big news alongside your competition who’s presenting at the same conference. Why not hold your own summit where everything is about Nintendo, and there’s no competition.
For an E3 Preview Special, I listed surprises you might see coming out of the conference. I’m going to do the same thing here, and list surprises to look out for. Along with the actual chance of it appearing.
Nintendo Hard Drive - This is one of the surprises I mentioned that might show up at E3 back in July. I said that it was as slim chance that a hard drive announcement would be made, but that it could happen.
My feeling on a hard drive announcement comes from Nintendo’s latest string of accessory announcements. First, there was the announcement of Wii Remote MotionPlus, and Wii Speak at E3. Now Nintendo is planning on releasing a pedometer to coincide with their Wii Fit health agenda. To go with this trend, there’s a chance we could be seeing another add-on by way of a hard drive.
Chances of a Hard Drive Announcement: Still not great odds, but much better than the chances I gave it at E3.
New Game Announcement w/ Balance Board Functionality - It has been since May that the Wii Fit/Balance Board bundle was unleashed upon the world. It’s hard to believe that it will have been 5 months since its release when October 19th rolls in.
Needless to say the selection of games that has balance board functionality is slim. There are a few titles on the horizon that look intriguing, and I absolutely can’t wait for Skate It. I think to keep the craze for the balance board going, I have a gut feeling we might see a game announced at Nintendo’s Media Summit.
Chances of a balance board enabled game announcement: Slim to none, but there had to be atleast one balance board owners’ wet dream on here.
Kid Icarus/Punchout Announcement - Right before E3 got started, there was a huge rumor that circulated about one of the titles that Nintendo might announce.
The rumor was that Punch Out would be announced at E3, with balance board connectivity. Another game that even more thought to be announced at E3 is Kid Icarus. So many sites were calling for Kid Icarus to be announced that it was almost seen as given fact rather than rumor.
Of the three announcements I’ve mentioned, this is probably the most likely to take place. After Miyamoto’s comments about Punch Out being a good game for Wii Remote MotionPlus, and gamer’s still yelling for Kid Icarus; seeing either of these games or both show up isn’t a bad bet.
Chances of A Kid Icarus/Punch Out Announcement - This announcement holds pretty good odds. It would still be considered a surprise, but not nearly as big a surprise as the first two announcements.
So what do you think Nintendo will be showing off at the conference? Am I over hyping the conference too much? Do you think the Nintendo Media Summit will be worse than E3?
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