Well, another E3 has come and gone. Unfortunately, Nintendo's presentation was very underwhelming. They did reveal some good games like Star Fox Zero and The Legend of Zelda Triforce Heroes, but everything else was games we already knew about, and tons and tons of filler. Especially when it involved amiibos. I get the feeling that Nintendo is going to make amiibos into their next cash cow, and milk the crap out of their fans with it. The Animal Crossing Amiibo Party is a perfect example of that.
Plus, the fact that there were very little Wii U titles presented further shows that Nintendo is looking to kill off the Wii U and move development to Codename NX. I know Shigeru Miyamoto said that the Zelda game is coming to the Wii U, but I get the sinking feeling they're going to do the same thing they did with Twilight Princess and release it for both Wii U and NX. Ah well... I sure hope the Codename NX turns out to be a good system... and I really hope they don't repeat the same mistakes they did with the Wii U, because if they do, it could be the beginning of the end for Nintendo.
Despite the disappointment, though... I still hold to my opinion that E3 2008 was Nintendo's absolute worst event ever. Even to this day when I look at it, it leaves me with a horrible taste in my mouth from beginning to end. The E3 they did this year, while it still left a pretty bad taste, it had some good games that were worth looking forward to, and the Muppet segments did add to the presentation, it was just lackluster. A lot of fans are pretty outraged, but I think they'll get over it. Opinions do change after E3, so who knows how we'll look back at this in a few years from now. Next year should be better as that would be when Nintendo officially reveals Codename NX. Not only do I hope it becomes a really good system worth owning, but I also hope it's finally the system Nintendo makes that's truly powerful, and is enticing for third party developers where the system becomes the place to get all of Nintendo's exclusives and all of the big third party titles. Believe me, if Nintendo does not do that, I think they're going to end up in a lot of trouble that can really hurt them, and they might not be able to recover.
However, this year's E3 also brought over a great addition for the Wii U Virtual Console.... and it's time to cover that at last. This is the Virtual Console lineup for the week of June 18, 2015.
Wii U Virtual Console:
Earthbound Beginnings (Famicom)
$6.99
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA)
$7.99
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, the original Mother has finally been released in North America fully translated in English, and is going by the name Earthbound Beginnings. This came out on Sunday right after the Nintendo World Championships. I think they released it then to coincide with the Lucas DLC in Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS. Still, I'm pretty excited by this, and I do plan on getting this title... that is... right after I finish with getting the Smash Bros DLC. I still have yet to get Ryu and the Suzaku Castle stage.
I did look up gameplay footage for Earthbound Beginnings. It seems that they used the original prototype version that was used when the game was in development for a North American release in 1990. The reason the game never got released, of course, is because they chose to localize Mother 2 instead for the SNES, and that's what became Earthbound. However, a rom file of the prototype version was posted on the internet a few years after Earthbound was released, and they renamed that to Earthbound Zero to differentiate it from the SNES game. The North American release still uses the Earthbound title card that was used in the prototype cart, and was not modified in any way.
Also... MOTHER 3 CONFIRMED! Yeah, I don't like that meme myself, but just this once, I'm using it. Why? Because with Nintendo releasing this, and the SNES Earthbound on the Wii U Virtual Console, I think it's pretty much a given at this point that Nintendo is indeed planning a North American release at last. It seems that they want to attract more Earthbound fans with this, and when the time is right, then they can dish out Mother 3, and they'll get the maximum hype they can possibly bring with this. Of course, they'll probably call it something like Earthbound 2... or some subtitle of sorts.
Fire Emblem Sacred Stones was just released today. It's possible that they released that to follow up with the Roy DLC in Super Smash Bros. Even though this game doesn't have any of the Fire Emblem characters that appeared in Smash. However, Roy did appear in the other 2 GBA Fire Emblem games, the first of which, he made his debut, and the latter was the first ever North American Fire Emblem title... which already came out on the Wii U Virtual Console. This was the last GBA Fire Emblem they had yet to release. However, it was available to early adopters of the 3DS in 2011 as it was included as part of the Ambassador's Program.
And last, Nintendo has a special E3 eShop discount that lasts until June 23rd. They have titles that are 30% off... and this includes some Virtual Console titles. On the Wii U Virtual Console, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga and The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, both of which were originally $7.99, are currently $5.59. Mario Golf Advance Tour, which is normally $6.99, is discounted at $4.89. Yoshi's Island DS and Yoshi Touch and Go, both are normally $9.99, are $6.99 for this discount. Why is Yoshi's Island DS the one that's being discounted and not Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island? That game is way better than the Artoon/Arzest Yoshi's Island titles.
On the 3DS Virtual Console, Mario Tennis and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Ages, which are normally $5.99, are priced at $4.19. Yoshi for the NES, which is normally $4.99, is priced at $3.49. It kind of baffles me how Yoshi is the only NES game to be part of this discount... and it's only discounted on the 3DS and not Wii U. But then again... it was part of the Famicom 30th Anniversary discount. Still, they could have included the original Super Mario Bros games as part of this. Especially after they've been talking about Super Mario Maker throughout E3 as well as Super Mario Bros 30th Anniversary.
