Let's Talk: Nintendo E3 2018 reflection


Let me start off by saying that,until recently, I didn't consider myself much of a gamer. Even now I wouldn't say I'm a big gamer, maybe a little one but nothing too terribly dedicated. So, naturally, this is the first year E3 was any sort of blip on my radar. With that being said, no matter how badly I wanted to find something to be super excited about, I just couldn't. Which is sad because the Nintendo Switch is honestly my favorite game system ever! 

After Nintendo E3, I listened to others talk about it, nodded to my husband has he waxed poetically about the games that he was excited to see and even endured my son going on and on about his plans for Smash Bros. But nothing anybody said struck a cord with me. So I sat down and watched (most of) it tonight, complete with a clip board, paper and pen to take notes and, still, I walked away disappointed. But I did find some not so bad things along the way as well.

So this is my thoughts on this year's (2018) Nintendo E3.

The presentation started of with a quick montage of games and DLC (Downloadable content) to come. Some of them have been previously announced while others were new. The first game announced was a series called Deamon Machine X. Now when I heard that there was a new game series announced, I was confused. Why wasn't this what people were talking about. Then I saw it. The Transformers wanna be creatures that left me no interest to dive into their world, but a hope that these creatures have good personalities and an awesome story because that may be their saving grace.




I got a little excited when I saw Xenoblde Chronicals 2: Torna- The golden Country and  I'd be lying if I said it didn't leave me with a desire to experience the game, a desire I have had before, but Torna-The golden Country is a DLC which was a little disappointed. I was kind of hoping that it was like Fire Emblem Fates, which I had no reason to hope for but I did when I saw the images. However, I do think I will have to add Xenoblade 2 to my wish list but not for the DLC.

Speaking of Fire Emblem is releasing a new game. And, I do have to say, it doesn't look bad. Though I've never been terribly interested in the series, this game looked like no other Fire Emblem game I have seen and I'd be interested in seeing some of the game play, weather on a friend's stream or in my living room as my husband plays.

From there, there is a list of games, some worth mentioning (in my opinion), some not such as Super Mario party, which many were not excited about but I really thought it was cool that you can connect switches and manipulate the board and I'm hoping that Nintendo will not only offer online play for the mini games but also for the actual full game, allowing friends and family to connect and play Mario Party from across the world and the online community such as streamers play with their fans and even collaborative steams with one another.



While Fortnit and Minecraft both had their perks ( I really like how Fortnite is a free online game allowing friends to play together without having to spend money and the Minecraft Mario did peek my attention), neither one of them are my games. And three Mario games featured (Mario Tennis, Mario Party and Treasure Toad) combined with Mary odyssey and Mario and Rabbids, it seems like Mario is almost over represented...which is sad because I was really hoping to hear that Mario Maker 2 is a confirmed thing that will happen and not just living under a veil of rumors.





I was surprised to see that Overcooked was getting a sequel and I know that people play it, but I've yet to see enough hype to warrant a sequel (though maybe I've just missed the hype). I was also really surprised to see Mega Man 11, as I have heard people complain that there was no Mega Man game announced.



And we must not pass over Pokemon Let's Go games that have poke trainers up in excitement and even finding their way back to, or to for the first time, Pokemon Go! The idea of combining Pokemon Go with Pokemon Let's go is revolutionary and adds a whole new level of play and the Pokeball plus did make me consider Pokemon Let's Play up as my first Pokemon game...and then I saw the price! Now I know that the Pokeball plus is the first of it's kind but really? The thing is $50 (U.S) on it's own and a set with one of the Let's Play games and the pokeball plus is $100 (U.S). "Well that's less then a Switch Pro controller or Joycon," you may say and, while that may be true, it's also only compatable with the Let's Go games and holding Pokemon you catch in Pokemon Go! And, considering that a large portion of the Pokemon fan base is children...all of a suddon that idea of the Pokeball Plus is less appealing.




While a number of great game series were announced (Dark Souls among the previously named) that are popular and are sure to bring in excited sales, and a couple of DLCs for games that have already proven themselves as worthy (Xenoblade 2 and Mario and Rabbids both have DLCs coming out) as well as the highly anticipated Switch exclusive Octopath Traveler, the focus remained on none other then Smash Bros Ultimate. 

Now I think it's cool that they are bringing back all of the veteran Smash Bro fighters. For fans of the series, that's awesome but we already knew the Switch was going to get a Smash Bros and did it really warrant more then twenty minutes of focus? I kind of felt like they could have taken those twenty plus minutes and given it it's on Nintendo Direct or press release and spent a little more time focusing on some of the other games like Mega Man and Fire Emblem or Octopath or any of the other games I have or have not mentioned here...especially since they said these are only some of what's to come! 

Of course some of that bitterness and flat out refusal to sit through twenty plus minutes of Smash talk could have something to do with what I was hoping to see but didn't such as a release date for Bayonetta 3, which they announced months ago but still have failed to give me a date to look forward to, or, as mentioned earlier, Mario Maker 2 which  has been hinted at but not yet announced and while I understand that Mario Maker is still alive and kicking, I'd love to be given hope for a new generation.

I would also have loved to hear that when September comes and we are faced with the choice, pay the low fee for online perks or not, we will get perks like messaging and something akin to gamer scores or trophies. While we've gotten pricing announcements, I'd love to know if there is more involved then just the small bit of perks already known by the public.

So, over all, I was disappointed. While I can see how many of these announcements could be exciting for many players, nothing got me jumping up and down and, with as much as I love my Switch, that saddened me. But that's just my opinion. What's yours? Let us know in the comments what you were excited about or disappointed about! 

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