E3 2012: Nintendo Conference Summary

Nintendo's press conference kicked off with Nintendo's main man Shigeru Miyamoto being pursued by some cute CGI Pikmin. After a fun star, Miyamoto goes on to introduce Pikmin 3, the first Nintendo developed game to be announced for the Wii U tonight. As well as looking incredibly adorable, Pikmin 3 features a brand new type of Pikmin. Rock Pikmin can break down walls. Pikmin 3 will be compatible with either the Wii U pad or the WiiMote. 


 Miyamoto then exits the stage to be replaced by Reggie "my body is ready" Fils-Aime. He explains what we should expect from the Wii U game pad (with help from a brief video), then goes on to discuss the MiiVerse. Working as a feature on the Wii U, the MiiVerse will be shown as the home screen when the Wii U is switched on. It displays all of your friends, as well as those who use the console, and acts as a place to interact about the games you are playing.


New Super Mario Bros. 2 was then shown. It contains a new boost mode, new power ups and features on the Wii U game pad. It doesn't look that different from New Super Mario Bros., but no doubt it'll be a fun multiplayer.


It was then time for some third party titles for the Wii U. The first of these was Batman:: Arkham City Armoured Edition, which uses the Wii U game pad to control Batman's gadgets, amongst other things. The graphics looks crisp and impressive, whilst the Wii U game pad gameplay is promising. Good stuff!


Scribblenauts Unlimited allows players to create their own bunch of wacky items, and looks cute and vibrant in HD. 


Aftr this, a brief video showing other third party releases was shown. These were: Darksiders II, Mass Effect 3 (this one got a huge cheer from the audience), Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Trine 2: Directors Cut, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, Aliens: Colonial Marines. 


Back to Nintendo again, with the introduction of the latest fitness title, Wii Fit U, which allows for gameplay through the game pad rather than the TV, and brings brand new fitness features.  Balance boards will still work with this.


Karaoke title SiNG is next, where an incredibly forced "gameplay" trailer is shown. The Wii U game pad is used to read the lyrics, whilst dancing actions are shown on the television screen. 

A small amount of time was dedicated to the Nintendo 3DS next, where New Super Mario Bros 2 showed off plenty of gameplay...and coins. Lots of coins. Paper Mario: Sticker Stars and Luigi's Mansion 2 both look brilliant, whilst he mentioned that Castlevania: Mirrors of Fate, Kingdom Hearts 3D, and Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion were on their way. A separate 3DS separate conference was presented on Wednesday. 


A cute and amusing trailer for Lego City was shown next, which shows off the free-roaming aspects of the game. Lego City Undercover is also in development for the 3DS. 


Ubisoft took the stage next to show off their mature zombie title, ZombiU, where the game pad is used for sniping, scanning and much more. Just Dance 4 was demoed, which shows how the Wii U game pad is integrated into the dancing. Also shown in a brief summary clip was Rabbids Land, Assassins Creed III, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013, Rayman Legends, Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth and Sports Connection. 


Finally he conference ended with the unveiling of Nintendo Land, which includes 12 mini games based on some of Nintendo's best known series, such as Zelda and Mario. By the looks of things, this will be packaged in with the Wii U when it is released this November. 


The best games in Nintendo's conference:
Pikmin 3
ZombiU
Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Luigi's Mansion 2

Hands On: Luigi's Mansion

On the 29th October, I covered the video games and comics section of London's Mcm Expo for MCM BUZZ. It turns out that Luigi's Mansion 2 had already been covered, I've put it up here, on 8-Bit Girl, for you all to read. Enjoy!

The Nintendo booth was host to a variety of impressive games throughout the MCM Expo weekend, and Luigi's Mansion 2 was one of the games on offer.

Following on from Gamecube launch title Luigi's Mansion, Luigi's Mansion 2 focuses on Luigi, who is sent by Professor E. Gadd through teleportation,  to capture and eradicate ghosts from a number of haunted mansions. I'm a huge fan of the original Luigi's Mansion, so I greatly anticipated giving the demo of it's sequel a go at the MCM Expo this weekend. Was it worth it? Definitely!

Fans of the original should have nothing to worry about. Luigi's Mansion 2 appears to be an improved, polished and engaging sequel. The demo allows players to navigate Luigi through a haunted mansion, complete with his trusty ghost-catching device, the Poltergust 5000. Luigi wanders through a variety of dimly-lit rooms (the lights flicker on and off when thunder strikes), as he sucks up gold coins, notes of money and, of course, ghosts. Just like its predecessor, Luigi is a nervous wreck once again, and the laughs come in seeing Luigi activate his scared little run, shake and breathe out streams of cold air.

What made the demo of Luigi's Mansion 2 so engaging was by far the ghost catching elements, which made the original game so endearing. Luigi can suck up ghosts by using the analog stick to aim in the direction of the ghost, and the right trigger to activate the sucking. Like the first game, Luigi once again has to battle with the ghost for a while by steering the Poltergust 5000 until the ghost finally admits defeat and sinks into the machine. What can be better than playingGhostbusters with one of Nintendo's best-loved characters?
Straight away, it becomes apparent how brilliant this game looks. The 3D adds in a high level of depth and really brings to life the crisp, detailed layers of each room in the mansion. Whilst a lot of the fun comes in the ghost bustin' elements of the game, a large amount of enjoyment comes in merely exploring the variety of rooms in the mansion. Luigi's torch can be shone at different places in the room, where secrets, items, or ghosts can be discovered.

Overall, the demo did not offer a lot to do, but it did briefly offer up some ghost catching gameplay, and a significant amount of exploration before it ended. It's a beautiful looking game, which looks perfect on the Nintendo 3DS, and, from the looks of things, a worthy sequel to the excellent Luigi's Mansion. Fans should enjoy this.