E3 Aftermath: How Did ZI’s Predictions Stack Up?

So E3 is all over, and has had plenty of time to sink in, so it is time to begin this little new series called the “E3 Aftermath”, which will include some articles here and there looking back to E3. Think of it as both the continuation, and the opposite, to our awesome 16 day “Countdown to E3” series.

Today we take a look at how our staff’s collective E3 predictions stacked up. Of course, we made our customary predictions for E3, but now we get to scrutinize how we went. Did we get remotely close, or were we way off? Well, let’s get started.

The Legend of Zelda

We said:

• We may see a final trailer for Ocarina of Time 3D and a reminder of the release date – but given it wasn’t even mentioned last year, don’t expect it to be seen at all.
• Skyward Sword will be featured prominently as one of the main sections of the conference. We will see a new trailer, more gameplay and heaps more details. It will release in 2011, and we probably won’t get a specific date – just a general time period. It will also not be released on Kafei. It will be playable on the show floor.
• Zelda William’s secretive Nintendo shooting will not be revealed at E3, as it was filmed too late.
• The Zelda 25th Anniversary surprise will not just be a special bundle. That may be a part of it, but not all of it.
• There will be no Kafei or 3DS titles announced, but we will get details on what to expect of Zelda on the 3DS eShop.

Nintendo said:

• We did get a reminder of Ocarina of Time’s imminent release, along with some extensive footage in the orchestral medley. It was also playable on the showfloor. ✔
• Skyward Sword was featured prominently in the orchestral medley, but not as much as we thought. We saw a trailer, but no demonstration. There were three demos on the showfloor. Holiday 2011 is a general release period and not a date, and we did get lots more details. ✔✘
• Zelda Williams did appear at E3, but no details were revealed about her secretive shooting. ✔
• 25th Anniversary was not/did not include a bundle. It constituted a Zelda game for every current console, CDs, a symphony tour and more surprises to come. ✔
• There was no Wii U Zelda revealed – just a tech demo. We didn’t just get details on what to expect at the eShop, but we got Link’s Awakening straight away, with Four Sword coming to DSiWare/3DS vitrual console in September.✔✘

Reggie’s Verdict:

Your body was relatively prepared for the Zelda section of the conference. You got some things spot on, a few things plain wrong, and then had lots of vague/general predictions that were vaguely true.

Nintendo DS

We said:

• A trailer and release date for Professor Layton and the Specter’s Flute in the west.
• Very little else, which will pretty much tell us that the DS is done and dusted. Killed by the 3DS.

Nintendo said:

• It wasn’t during the actual press conference, but we did get a trailer and confirmation that it is coming as “Professor Layton and the Last Specter. Release date is still to be announced.✔✘
• As for the rest of the DS announcements, we got Kirby Mass Attack, a Dragon Quest spinoff and Super Fossil Fighters. In other words, we got confirmation that the DS is pretty much dead. ✔

Reggie’s Verdict:

Your body was almost entirely prepared for the DS announcements. You picked out the big Layton announcement, and that there would be very little else.

Nintendo 3DS

We Said:

• A rundown of games coming to the eShop in the near future.
• Trailers, details and a release date/period for the following titles – which are likely to be playable on the show floor:
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Star Fox 64 3D
• Super Mario 3D
• Paper Mario 3D
• Mario Kart 3D
• Animal Crossing 3D
• There will be no mention of the following titles:
• Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle
• Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney
• There will be some big new games announced, such as Pokemon, Donkey Kong, or Dragon Quest, for the 3DS.

Nintendo said:

• No rundown of games coming to the shop, but extensive information on the titles already in the shop.✘
• We got release periods, a trailer, details and demos of Kid Icarus, Star Fox 64, Super Mario 3D and Mario Kart 3D. Paper Mario and Animal crossing had trailers shown after the conference, but no dates.✔✘
• There was no mention of Layton on the 3DS.✔
• There were not “some” big game announcements – just Luigi’s Mansion 2 and some minor titles. ✔✘

Reggie’s Verdict:

Your body was just ready for the 3DS section of the conference. You knew most of the games that we’d have and that there would be a some sort of big announcement.

Wii

We said:

• Pikmin 3 and Kirby Wii will finally be revealed with a trailer and release date. Also playable on show floor.
• Wii Play: Motion – trailer and date reminder. Also playable.
• Sadly – The Last Story, Xenoblade and Pandora’s Tower will not be mentioned.
• There will be several big Wii titles announced to see out the life of the console. For example: a New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2.

Nintendo said:

• Pikmin 3 is still in development, but now for Wii U. Kirby Wii is also coming this year, and we saw a trailer. ✔✘
• Wii Play: Motion – Date, trailer, demo – it was all there. ✔
• None of the three Japan-exclusive to date RPGs were mentioned.✔
• There was the big announcement of Mario Party 9 and Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Winter Games. New Super Mario Bros. Mii may turn out to be a sequel to the original, but it would be on Wii U. Nintendo delivered less than we expected, signifying the approaching end of the Wii.✔✘

Reggie’s Verdict:

Some almost perfect body preparation there. You were either spot on, or just slightly off.

Wii U

We said:

• It will be revealed with a launch date of mid to late 2012 announced.
• It will either be called Nintendo Café, or a name we haven’t yet heard.
• It will be backwards compatible with the Wii. Wii Remotes will work with the new console, but new Café remotes will also be available.
• It will succeed the Wii – not sell alongside it. It is Nintendo’s next generation of console, and not just a step towards the new generation.
• It will have awesome hardware and online capabilities that are beyond that of current generation consoles.
• The controller will have a screen, gyroscope and a camera.
• Third party developers have had development kits for a long time. Therefore there will be lots of titles available in the launch window.
• It will be playable on the show floor.
• Big Nintendo titles announced will include:
• Mario Kart
• Super Smash Bros. 4
• A (Super) Mario Game
• A Donkey Kong (Country) Game
• A Pokémon online game.

Nintendo said:

• Wii U is coming after E3 next year.✔
• It is called Wii U, which is a part of “either Cafe or a name we haven’t heard” .✔
• It is backwards compatible with the Wii – including games and remotes. Because it is called Wii U, there is no need for re-branded remotes, but a U might be added on.✔
• It is not selling alongside the Wii and will succeed it.✔
• Wii U does have the best tech specs and online of all Nintendo consoles.✔
• The controller does have a screen, gyroscope and camera.✔
• Third party developers have had the console for a decent amount of time and are developing lots of games set for the launch period.✔
• No big new Nintendo games were confirmed for Wii U, other than Pikmin 3 and eventually Smash Bros 4. Super Mario Bros. Mii may turn out to be a full Mario Bros. game for Wii U too.✔✘

Reggie’s Verdict:

A superb display of bodily readiness. You were almost as ready for Wii U as I was.

Others

We said:

• No announcement of anything special for Metroid or Dragon Quest’s 25th anniversary.
• Reggie will finally give us another epic quote to go with “kickin’ ass…takin’ names…playin’ games”, “I am happy”, and “My Body is Ready”.

Nintendo said:

• There was no 25th Metroid or Dragon Quest Announcement.✔
• Reggie did not provide a stellar quote to take the internet by storm. ✘

Reggie’s Verdict:

Hey, hey – we had a lot to get through. There was no time for awesome quotes, and besides, my head speech writer was away sick. You got the first point right, but you just failed at this section.