A look at the ups and downs of Nintendo at E3 2016.

Author's Note: This blog post is the first part in the two-part series called "Nintendo At E3 2015." To read Part 2, click here!

Nintendo’s presence at this year’s E3 will surely be remembered for a number of things. Unfortunately, many of those things were not so positive, from absence of key titles to the outrage among fans. Before I go too far, however, I would like to take the time to describe what worked, and what did not, for Nintendo a E3 2015.

SUCCESSES

Nintendo World Championships

The return of Nintendo World Championships may not have felt like a big deal before E3, but just like the Super Smash Bros. Invitational last year, it turned into quite a show. Not only was it a joy to watch, but Nintendo also took the opportunity to make some surprise announcements, including Earthbound Beginnings and Metroid Prime: Blast Ball. Reggie even took part in the fun by battling it out with famed Smash player HungryBox, and it all ended with some hardcore platforming and a fantastic exhibition of Super Mario Maker in the final round.

Super Mario Maker

It has become very clear after each showing of this game that Super Mario Maker is a must-have for any Nintendo fan. Not only does it look like an incredibly powerful tool for creating platforming levels, but it also serves as a celebration of over thirty years of Mario. Creating the level of your dreams has never been easier, and the fact that Nintendo continues to surprise us with every new demo or trailer is a testament to how deep this game actually is. Although some details are still unclear (such as the level-sharing component), Super Mario Maker is looking to be one of this holiday’s biggest titles.

Muppets

Of all the things that went wrong during Nintendo’s E3 presentation (more on that later), one of the most obviously charming things about the Digital Event were, of course, the Muppet renditions of Iwata, Miyamoto, and Reggie. “Making people smile is in our DNA,” said Reggie after the presentation, and he is right; Nintendo knows how to amuse and entertain people of all ages. As much as the digital event was underwhelming, you cannot deny the power Nintendo has to make you smile.

Star Fox Zero

My initial reaction was, “wow, why does this look so bad?” But over time I grew to like the different approach Nintendo went with for Star Fox Zero’s art style, and perhaps more importantly, I started to appreciate what they are trying to do with its gameplay. It seemed, in my opinion, the most natural way to deal with the two-screen setup in an on-rails shooter like Star Fox, which has not seen a proper release since 2006’s Star Fox Command. Although there are many fans who yearned for an experience that resembles Star Fox 64, this new style of gameplay—a more modern, adventure style of game—looks great, and I cannot help but feel excited for what other surprises Nintendo has in store for it.

Nindies @ Home

I understand why Nintendo (or anyone else for that matter) does not release E3 demos to the public. They want to control the messaging on their products, which is fine. But when Nintendo announced that Wii U owners would be able to download free demos for 9 different indie games, I immediately grabbed my Wii U GamePad and went straight into the eShop. From what I have played so far, they are all quite good (my favorite being RIVE from Two Tribes), which was a pleasant surprise since I have not really kept up with the indie scene Wii U since the Meme Run fiasco (I sort of just assumed they would all be garbage). So kudos Nintendo, for at least trying to bring some of E3 to our homes. Hopefully this is the start of something bigger.

FAILURES

Amiibo

The more Amiibos Nintendo announce, the more I want to slam my head against the wall. This week, Nintendo announced new Amiibo for Smash Bros., Super Mario Maker, Skylanders Superchargers, Chibi-Robo Zip Lash, and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (a game that has the damn word in the title!). No, we do not need this many Amiibo. No, production shortage is not a good thing. Nintendo has no idea what its strategy behind Amiibo is anymore, not since it became such a runaway success. The Amiibo craze will end eventually, and Nintendo seems more keen on exploiting it while it lasts rather than try their best to sustain demand in the long-term.

Games Nobody Asked For

I hesitate to even put this on the list because I am not one to judge games until I have had it in my hands for several days. However, the negative reaction resulting from games such as Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force speaks for itself. These were games that nobody asked for. A Mario Party-style board game instead of an HD Animal Crossing? A cooperative adventure instead of Zelda for Wii U? A multiplayer spin-off instead of Metroid Prime 4? Granted, these games may very well—and probably will—turn out to be great games, but they failed to make a good impression on Nintendo’s audience, which ultimately led to a generally negative reaction to Nintendo’s Digital Event.

No Zelda

No, I am not talking about Triforce Heroes here. I know Nintendo said that they would not show any new Zelda U footage at E3 this year, which is fine. The problem is no so much that Zelda was not present at the show, but that Nintendo had nothing to replace it. And to be fair, there was little Nintendo could do to completely fill that void, but the fact that they did not come even close just shows how weak Nintendo’s E3 lineup is without Zelda. What hurt the most was perhaps the news that Nintendo had Zelda U footage ready to go, but opted to not show it at the show. Yes, Nintendo’s E3 line-up is good enough, but having a big, key franchise title like Zelda there would have made it substantially better.

No Retro

Nintendo stated that they did not want to show off anything that they knew would not come out in the next twelve months. One can only assume that Retro Studio’s next title falls into that category. Unfortunately, I believe that to be the wrong decision. If you look at Sony’s and Microsoft’s respective press conferences, a lot of the things that got their fans excited were titles that aren’t expected to ship until Holiday 2016 and beyond. The truth is, Nintendo needed to show off some more big games at this year’s show. Retro is clearly working on something, and they should have shown it.

No Future

If there was one thing that Nintendo failed to do this E3, it was that they failed to instill confidence in their fans that the Wii U has a future. Nintendo’s decision to not show any post-E3 2016 titles hurt them because it sent the wrong kind of message. E3 is a time for Nintendo to give gamers a reason to pick up a Wii U. Right now, the impression is that Nintendo has given up on the Wii U and are already moving on to the NX. Nintendo had a chance to show off what they had in store for the future of Wii U. Instead, it seemed as if the Wii U had no future at all.

That is all from me. Before I go, however, I would like to ask you all: what did you think went right or wrong for Nintendo at E3 2015?