Road to E3 '14: Nintendo and the Underdog - Wii U

DISCLAIMER: This is the FIRST of my 3-PART SERIES, that I will be writing throughout this week; all dedicated to the Grande, upcoming event, simply dubbed "E3". All content in the following blog post is the sole personal opinion of the user, simply dubbed "AKR".

Yes - it's THAT time of year again; the great celebration for Gamers everywhere! The biggest, and best event for all things Gaming; is all but just a week away. All the major announcements will be made here - and this year, it's looking to be quite interesting. New “next-gen” titles will be announced/fully revealed, and the foreseeable future of all 3 “next-gen” systems, will be mapped out in just 3 short days. Indeed, this will be quite the show.

Today, we’ll be looking at Nintendo and the “Underdog” – the Wii U.

THE PAST:

Nintendo is the indisputable granddaddy of gaming (go home Atari). If it wasn’t for these guys; gaming probably would have never been in the same state it’s in today. Not only does the ENTIRE INDUSTRY have Nintendo to thank for fishing it out of the gutter; but many WELL-KNOWN developers, both game and hardware – have given credit - (or just simply copied) - to Nintendo for providing inspiration. Many have tried to mimic Nintendo with their unique collage of gaming legends and innovative designs; but very few have ever been able to do so. 35 years later – after creating and maintaining an ever-growing nation of creative game characters and hardware; Nintendo is still pushing hard.

They've had quite a few notable moments at E3 over the past decades; all of which they've attended from since E3 “1”. Too be even more accurate – what’s considered to be their GREATEST E3 presentation, and one of the best moments in the entire history of the event – happened exactly 10 years ago. Yes, the great E3 ’04 presentation was a true show of Nintendo’s prowess and strength. Will they be able to re-create that fantastic display this year? We’ll know quite soon.

THEIR CURRENT STATUS:

Right now; Nintendo isn’t everybody’s favorite person to be around - (well, not counting the millions of people who’ve bought the 3DS, or the ones who just swiped up dozens of Wii U bundles and millions of Mario Kart 8 discs just this past weekend) - yeah, it seems just about everyone else has it out for the old bird.
Gaming “journalists” have been running the “Nintendoom-&-gloom” mill for what seems like eternity now; as the sales for their current home console – the Wii U – have been less-than-stellar. Sony’s PlayStation 4; which launched a full year after the U – caught up and surpassed Nintendo’s machine in such a small amount of time, it was almost unbelievable. Microsoft has yet to hit that level with their XBOX One – but anything is possible. For that, Nintendo is being given the cold shoulder by many top-tier developers, and gamers are simply following fashion – throwing their own two cents of negativity almost consistently.

Regardless; Nintendo is a silent as ever when it comes down to responding to this treatment. They know where they stand better than we do, and as we've seen time-&-again ~ you better BELIEVE they have SOMETHING in the pipeline to fix it. What better place to do it than at E3? This surely isn't going to be a major transformation like Miley Cyrus…But hopefully, it’ll spin heads in the same way she did, but for different reasons.

WHAT E3 MEANS FOR THEM:

For all of E3’s attendees – it’s an important event; but for Nintendo – this is truly make-it-or-break it time. In a hope to really get things as PERFECT as possible; Nintendo has decided to really take the reins of their E3 presence. Instead of the traditional press conference; which have had a steady history of awkward moments and straight-up fails (from all attendees, not just Nintendo) ~ Nintendo has now opted to re-introduce their playing card from last year in a bigger-&-better format, and is instead delivering ALL their content DIRECTLY – to their fans, by means of the Internet. They will do this through a series of pre-recorded presentations and live streams.

Essentially; Nintendo will be handling just about every role that would normally be filled out by the press. All the information; full news, “insider” info – everything – Nintendo will be dishing out themselves. They’re making SURE that regardless of how many major gaming sites put them on the back-burner against the liking of Sony and Microsoft; their fans will get all the latest news about their plans, delivered right to their homes.

Many have touted this move by Nintendo, as being “cowardly” and others have been complaining about how this will remove the “atmosphere” created by a live audience. At the end of the day – it’s actually really smart. Not only does this minimize the margin of error; but this gives Nintendo the control to really bring the house down, without any game crashes, Disney-star-like smiling presenters, and just plain cringe-worthy moments. On top of that; they won’t have to endure the awkward silence, of having only their employees applaud, out of an entire theater filled with journalists.

Regardless of HOW the news is delivered; the main point here is WHAT the news actually is. As mentioned before; the Wii U isn't the golden console right now. Mario Kart 8 has managed to do a massive push in a short space of time; but even Nintendo knows that this is something that needs to keep going; momentum is key. The never-before-seen titles, the blockbuster reveals, the jaw-dropping surprises – THIS is what Nintendo needs to have – and going by history – you better believe there will be.

With that being the case; the tide of Wii U’s fortunes could very well do an “XBOX One80”. That may seem like a far-fetched fantasy - but don’t doubt the power of Nintendo’s IPs. There’s a reason why 35 years later; the likes of franchises such as Mario, Zelda and Pokémon – are still being bought and fawned over by millions all over the world. What Nintendo does at this year’s E3 next week – will map out where we can expect the Wii U to be from now until the end of the generation. That’s more major than it sounds - trust me.