E3 2012: What you need to know from Nintendo keynote

Nintendo’s E3 2012 press conference has just wrapped up, and it turns out it was only part one of a two part presentation on all of its fabulous new games and projects. This presentation held at 9am PST on June 5, 2012 was mainly about the Wii U, and the 3DS will get its own, online video presentation at 6pm on June 6, 2012 via the Nintendo at E3 website. Still, we got to see lots of good stuff. And, so you don’t have to watch an hour long video, I’m here to sum everything up for you! After all, Nintendo did go through a whopping 23 Wii U games!

Let’s look at what happened in bullet point form, because that’s just more fun.

• Pikmin 3 kicked off the presentation. You get all the usual pikmin, as well as rock pikmin. It’ll be out this holiday season and will have control schemes involving the gamepad or the Wii remote and nunchuk. You can have four leaders at a time, however none were Captain Olimar.
• Miiverse was briefly discussed. Miis from friends and strangers will congregate under game icons with text messages over their heads. You can also see them in games, like in New Super Mario Bros U. Since it’s browser based, it will also be available on 3DS, PC and Wii U. It may not be available when the Wii U launches.
• New Super Mario Bros. U is in development. You can see status updates from other people via Miiverse. There are also new power-ups. Two players, one with a Wii remote and one with a gamepad, can attempt ultimate speed runs as the gamepad player can influence surroundings.
• Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition is headed to Wii U with armored Batman and Catwoman. Their new suits can store up kinectic energy from battles to unleash stronger attacks. There will also be special gamepad controls to make using the remote batarang and explosive gel easier. For example, explosions can be set off one at a time.
• Scribblenauts Unlimited is coming to the Wii U and 3DS. The Wii U version will be continuous, have DS graphics, allow players to create custom objects/characters via the gamepad (ala Freakyforms). It also marks the first time the series will have a Story mode and Multiplayer mode.
• A brief montage showed Darksider II, Mass Effect 3, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Trine 2: Director’s Cut, Ninja Gaidan 3: Razor’s Edge and Aliens Colonial Marines
• Wii Fit U is coming with the new Fit Meter, gamepad support, more mini-games and the ability to use the offscreen play mode.
• SiNG will be a karaoke game that will display the lyrics on the gamepad and allow the singer and the other people watching to all sing and dance together at the same time.
• New Super Mario Bros. 2 is coming to the 3DS on August 19, 2012 and will be all about acquiring gold. New powerups will appear to facilitate the gold acquisition.
• Paper Mario: Sticker Star is headed to the 3DS this holiday season. Mario will be able to pull off stickers and use them to change the environment or attack enemies.
• Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon will be out during the 2012 holiday season and will send Luigi to multiple mansions to exterminate ghosts.
• A brief 3DS game montage was shown with Kingdom Hearts 3D, Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion and Scribblenauts Unlimited
• Lego City is coming to the 3DS and Wii U. The Wii U version will be called Lego City: Undercover and will use the gamepad to call dispatch for missions, check the map, scan for criminals, change disguises and more. The 3DS game will be entirely different with extra content.
• Just Dance 4 will be like previous games, only now the gamepad holder can be the Puppetmaster and choose which moves people will have to perform. It will also support VJ and live messenger modes
• ZombiU will be a survival horror game where your character has to escape zombies. The gamepad will be used to check the radar, scan surroundings, access inventory, shake off zombies or bring up the sniper rifle’s sight.
• An Ubisoft Wii U montage showed Assassin’s Creed III, Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2013, Sports Connection, Avengers: Battle for Earth and Rayman Legends
• NintendoLand will debut when the Wii U launches. It will feature 12 attractions based on popular Nintendo properties. Each attraction is a mini-game that uses the gamepad and remotes. Players Miis dress up for each attraction and the whole game will connect with Miiverse.

Overall, it was pretty exciting, but I’m dismayed that the 3DS press conference is being held separately. Pikmin 3 is definitely my must-play. What did you think?

Read [Nintendo at E3]