E3 2011 - Day 1

At some point after Nintendo had moved through the Zelda anniversary bit and the 3DS bit (which included a WONDERFUL backdrop-encompassing custom animation featuring all five upcoming 3DS games) and into the big Wii U reveal, I think I leaned over and asked Haygood, "So is the controller the entire system?" And he said something like, "Doesn't look like it, there's another piece to it right there." And he pointed to the Wii-looking box visible in the stock photo onscreen.

Then I felt sort of stupid because, duh, yeah, there it is.

So I guess I understand why the gaming press did not feel the Wii U hardware was explained properly, but it's hardly of any concern. That box just isn't that important. The "New Controller" (their term) is what's important. The main thing to know about the Wii U's head is that it has to be there. And if this is final hardware (and it's not), then the red sync button is on the outside, not hidden under the SD card flap.

I love the multi-screen approach. I love the idea that inventories and stats and pause-screen info could be handled on a touchscreen right in my hand. I love that this device could resurrect all those crazy GameCube-GBA ideas that went unexplored and unloved simply because the GameCube was purple.

There's a mic on it. A camera. Four shoulder buttons. Two 3DS-style circle pads. D-pad and four buttons. Start/Select/Home. Stereo speakers. An open plug for attaching the New Controller to other devices (one demo showed a new Zapper that sort of turned the NC into a rifle scope!) There's a lot of cool ideas that are going to come out on this thing, both "regular" gaming experiences and all-new gaming experiences. I am way more excited about this controller than I was when I first saw the Wii's original Remote and tethered Nunchuk.

Nintendo announced a new Smash Bros, which should be no surprise to anybody except that they said it would be coming to both Wii U and 3DS. Which would be the first handheld Smash Bros!

I had two appointments on my first day on the show floor: SOE and EA. I was pretty excited to get to SOE because they run DC Universe Online and I remain a big booster for that one. I got to chat with some of the DCUO team and tell them my favorite parts of the game (including a pair of Clark stories from his time with DCUO) and they showed me the soon-to-be-released mission pack that includes a battle in Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

At the EA booth, I got to go hands-on with the new SSX. Stepping away from the hip visuals of Tricky, this SSX takes real world mountains and turns them into extreme sports courses, with sort-of-recognizable landmarks included in them, which is a pretty cool hook. Even for people with fancy media passes like me, the wait times here were pretty rough, so I did not get to see absolutely everything EA had at the show.

Since I had planned out an easy day, I spent a lot of time just wandering the two show halls and checking out all the neat booth designs and layouts. And mentally noting the booths I would be visiting on the following day for my personal tours. E3 is a convention, just like all the Origins and Comic Cons and trade shows I've been to in the past, just with far more spectacle and art to it. Some booths are stupid loud. Some are built high into the air. Some are nothing more than a pop-up table with a curtain. Some offered wide open spaces with giant TV screens, others were like complicated windy paths with lots of Disney-style queue theming. It is amazing to see.

I had one special appointment after the halls closed, an invitation to Tuesday night's Nintendo Developer Roundtable. You can watch a five minute synopsis of the evening here; the actual presentation was more like 90 minutes. I am clearly visible in that video at least half a dozen times, including this brilliant unfocused closeup near the end:

At the beginning of the roundtable, Miyamoto waved off any questions about Wii U, instead concentrating on the slate of new 3DS titles and the incoming Zelda game, Skyward Sword.

For me, the best reveal was when he copped to switching his long-awaited third Pikmin game from Wii to Wii U. He intimated it will be a launch title for Wii U, which would make sense given he straight up said he wanted to release it for Wii this year.

Yay, Pikmin!

Almost forgot the stats: 7,611 steps and ALMOST TWO HOURS in StreetPass Mii Plaza. Between the two Nintendo conferences and the show floor, the Mii exchange thing exploded.