Nintendo’s E3 last year was fantastic for Wii owners, bringing them lots of content to enjoy over the second half of the year (although I didn’t particularly agree). This year what have we had? Mario Sports Mix… That’s it. Can we expect more to be revealed at E3? Definitely. Will they be the heavy hitting franchises like last year? Eh, I don’t think so. Why?
If you’re a Wii owner in North America or Europe, there hasn’t been much for you in 2011. Mario Sports Mix….Mario Sports Mix… That’s really the only title we’ve had launch this year. We’re in April and we’ve only see one Wii release by Nintendo. So what is Nintendo telling their fans right now? ‘Wait till E3, then we’ll blow your mind!’ With E3 2010’s line-up of Wii titles, that definitely seems possible. But are recent moves by Nintendo of America and Europe suggesting a slim line-up for E3 2011?
If you’re familiar with my gaming tastes, you could imagine a recent announcement and other bits of info have had me rolling around in glee. Nintendo of Europe announced Xenoblade for 2011, and Nintendo of America has registered xenobladechronicles.com and thelaststory.com. What? Nintendo localizing titles without a huge franchise character in it or “Wii” in the front of it? Crazy! Now if we can only get Nintendo to localize Zangeki no Reginleiv and Pandora’s Tower. Although it should be noted that Xenoblade hasn’t been officially announced for North America and The Last Story not for any western regions at all. But what does this say for Nintendo’s E3 2011 line-up for Wii?
Supposedly Coming 2011
The Last Story and Xenoblade are bound to be fantastic games, and from what we’ve seen from Japan, they are. But they aren’t the heavy hitter franchises most Nintendo fans, and Nintendo of America for that matter, really want. So why take the time to localize these titles? Maybe they’re just feeling generous…Or maybe they just don’t have much software to work with. With Nintendo 3DS pushing onto the market, Nintendo’s focus has surely changed. And at least from what we’ve seen so far, there hasn’t really been any third parties that have pledged support to the platform since the holidays.
I’m not saying we won’t see anything new at all, but Nintendo of America’s interest in these smaller titles seem to be a good indicator that we won’t exactly have the blowout of Wii announcements that we had last year. But with the recent release of the Nintendo 3DS, it’s only natural that Wii would take a step back this year. And who knows, maybe Kirby and Zelda will be enough to keep fans happy for 2011.
XENOBLAD
Either way, I’m not complaining. I’ve got my Xenoblade in English, whether it comes to North America or not. And that is all that really matters to everyone… That I get my Xenoblade. Nothing else. Dedicate 2011 to the release of Xenoblade. No, no more Wii titles after Xenoblade. Ever.
