The Reveal of the Wii U
E3 Announcement Fails
The reveal of the Wii U may go down as one of the worst in E3 history. As we’ve seen many times in the gaming, first impressions are everything when it comes to pitching new hardware – ask Microsoft and Sony how the reveals of the PS3 and the Xbox One went for them. In the case of Nintendo with its Wii U, instead of getting the masses excited and interested, they confused the casual community and failed to impress all but the most loyal Nintendo fans. It was a nightmare reveal.
Of course, prior to the conference, Nintendo was still riding high from the popularity of the Wii. By that point though, despite selling like crazy for most of the generation, the Wii had kind of fallen off a cliff at the end of its life and a successor was sorely needed. More than just to keep up with the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, the eight console generation was fast approaching, so Nintendo was in even greater need of a big win to keep the momentum rolling.
The Wii U’s reveal trailer constantly referred to the console as “the new controller.” Many of the games shown had Wii-era looking graphics, as well as a bewildering focus on the Miiverse, and it’s easy to see why all but the most up-to-date gamers could be thrown off by what it actually was. Not to mention, the name itself didn’t do the console any favors. It was far too close to ‘Wii,’ only reinforcing the notion that the hardware was a small iteration rather than a generational leap. See the mess for yourself below:
To make matters worse, it didn’t resonate with many hardcore gamers either. The controller concept was neat but gimmicky and limited. Unlike the Wii’s motion controls, the limited portability of the Wii U controller just didn’t change the gaming landscape in the same way its predecessor did. Plus, it lacked the power of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (forget the PS4 and Xbox One). A double whammy for sure.
It’s because of all this that the Wii U had the shortest home console lifespan since the Sega Dreamcast. There is a happy ending, though. Nintendo learned their lesson, and built on that idea and released the way, way better Nintendo Switch, which fully realized the Wii U’s untapped potential. RIP buddy; you kind of deserved it, but at least you helped give us the Switch.
*Featured image from Extreme Tech*
The PlayStation Vita
E3 Announcement Fails
Listen, I take no joy in putting the wonderful handheld that is the PlayStation Vita in an article about E3 dumpster fires. Both the Vita and the Dreamcast will go down as two of themost under-appreciated consoles of all time that, unlike the Wii U, didn’t deserve their fate. Still, there’s no denying that the PS Vita announcement, and the choices they made following it, were mistakes that Sony probably wishes they could have back.
Whether it met Sony’s expectations or not, the proof of how little Sony cared about the PS Vita is evident. They barely supported the handheld, well… ever really. By 2014 the console was already a zombie; an unloved zombie just wanted friends completely abandoned by its maker. They had moved onto the much more successful PlayStation 4, and the PS Vita fast forwarded to the end of life PSP stage where Atlus and a few other Japanese companies and indies were the only ones regularly supporting it.
It’s a shame because the hardware is still great and it has so much potential. But nonexistent marketing, seemingly zero interest in getting games made for it, and a terrible choice to not allow for SD storage upgrades doomed the PS Vita early.
Wonderbook
E3 Announcement Fails
Did Wonderbook even come out? I’m not 100% sure. I feel like all I ever heard of Wonderbook, Sony’s AR peripheral for the PS3 was at E3 2012 Sony press conference when it was first revealed. All I remember for sure is that everyone was very confused by it and that JK Rowling was somehow involved.
Sony, which probably pumped a lot of money into developing the PlayStation Move (thank goodness for PSVR to get at least something out of the Move, right?), wanted to come up with something, anything, that would make people feel better about their terrible purchase.
Oh wait, I’m getting some breaking news: apparently… OK yes, Wonderbook did come out. There were four games made for it, and you can buy it right now on Amazon for $8.99. If I wasn’t tasked with writing this article I probably would have never thought about Wonderbook again for my entire life.
I’m all for designing things for kids, and kids at heart, but Wonderbook was strange and a total waste of precious E3 time.
The Xbox One’s Failed Do-Over at E3 2013
E3 Announcement Fails
Now this one is kind of breaking the rules since the Xbox One technically wasn’t announced at E3 2013. Microsoft jumped the gun and announced it slightly before at their own event a few weeks prior. That reveal, though, was such a disaster. During a time when DRM in gaming was on the forefront of many gamer’s minds, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One would require mandatory online connectivity, which if fulfilled, would make buying, selling, and playing used games a thing of the past potentially. And, on top of that, the Kinect, which was already flaming out at that point, was apparently going to be a mandatory purchase (lumped into the price of the Xbox One) and was required for basic functions. It wasn’t the greatest week for Microsoft, that’s for sure.
Luckily though, instead of stewing in the shit brew they made for themselves, Microsoft had an opportunity via their E3 press conference to put together a do-over, and do some damage control. Surely, Microsoft paid attention to the terrible initial reaction to the Xbox One, and would have put together a plan for back pedaling on the biggest video game stage of the year, right? Wrong.
Microsoft doubled down on their terrible bet and built a moat complete with angry alligators around their dumpster fire so no one could save them. Not only did they reconfirm all the terrible things that no one wanted such as needing to have an online check to play games, and having restrictions on used games (which led to this now legendary posterizing moment from Sony), but at the time Head of Xbox, Don Mattrick, then sealed their fate. Mattrick said in response to all of the backlash and concern about being always-online: “fortunately, we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360.” WOOF. What a line, and what a way to hand Sony a massive headstart in the battle for the console generation.
To their credit, Microsoft reversed just about all of the things people hated about the Xbox One’s reveal. They have spent the better part of this generation innovating and refining the product through ideas such as Games with Gold, and Mixer integration in an effort to play catch-up. In the conclusion of our review of the Xbox One X, we noted how far the platform has come. Still, that reveal, and the failed E3 do-over, was too much to overcome.
Final Fantasy VII: Remake
E3 Announcement Fails
The reveal of Final Fantasy VII: Remake is one that could both be on a list like this, and a list of the best announcements ever. That sounds weird right? Well, hear me out.
I was there when Final Fantasy VII: Remake got announced. It was a borderline religious experience. After years of begging and rumors, the dream remake for so many late 90s-era RPG fans was finally happening. The initial reaction was about as positive as could be, and that conference might go down as one of the greatest of all-time.
That said, just about everything we’ve heard about Final Fantasy VII: Remake since then has had us pulling on our collar. It started with the news that the game would be episodic in nature, and that the combat was no longer turn-based, and would feature something that looks more akin to Final Fantasy XV. And more recently, there have been rumors, that work on the project isn’t going so great, and a lot of the work that has been put into so far it is not usable.
Plus, there’s also the most obvious problem: the game was announced in 2015 and we still know almost nothing about it half way through 2018. For any other company, maybe a pass could be given. But Square Enix, after the whole debacle with Final Fantasy XV’s tumultuous development, isn’t going to get as much as slack on issues related to development time.
I would wager, knowing what they know now, that if Square Enix could back and hold off the announcement for a couple more years, they probably would. Hopefully, we’ll get some good news in a few days when E3 2018 kicks off.
Published: Jun 7, 2018 01:34 pm