Nintendo Wii U

[Crowbar Man]

NSMB series usually uses a really lame art style (gross CG backgrounds) and terrible music. They are quick games Nintendo spits out for cash grabs. The real Mario series has moved on from 2D unfortunately. NSMB is a sub series, much like Mario Kart, Golf, Party, etc.

NSMB Wii and U are really fun games (NSMB1/2 are kind meh) but they aren't real mainline Mario series games. Shgieru and the main Mario team have little involvement with NSMB

Also how the heck does NSMBU have the same graphics as Mario Kart 8? NSMB uses prerendered 2D CG backgrounds and rather simplistic models/textures for the 3D characters that run on them. That makes no sense to even try to compare the two let alone say they are the same

Did you even see the trailer for Mario Kart 8? Its pretty awesome "next gen" stuff

Again for "Serious" I mean pushing the series forward, single player focused, full on adventure.

Examples: SMB1, SMB2, SMB3, World, 64, Sunshine, Galaxy are REAL/mainline/serious Mario games, created by the main Mario team, headed by Shigeru Miyamoto.

(I'd throw Yoshi's Island in there too if it wasn't a game almost completely based on Yoshi, but freakin' awesome all the same)

NSMB is a "nostalgic" throwback, by design.

Super Mario 3D Land "series", while better, is still a throwback of sorts, again by design. "What if we made an older style Mario game in 3D?" basically. Look at the names even: Super Mario 3D Land is a reference to Super Mario Land, an old Mario game on a handheld. Super Mario 3D World is obviously referring to Super Mario World, an older Mario game on a console.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Crowbar Man

[omnipotentBagel]

NSMB has a really lame art style (gross CG backgrounds) and terrible music.

Agree with you 100% on this.

Mario series has moved on from 2D unfortunately. NSMB is a sub series, much like Mario Kart, Golf, Party, etc.

No. It's not. You know what makes Mario Kart and Golf and Party sub-serieses? They feature the same characters as the SMB games, but they aren't 2-D platformers. You know what is a 2D platformer? NSMB. It's a sub-group, just like the first three games were (Mario Bros), but they're as core Mario platformer as anything. I'm sorry they were so disappointing to you.

Shgieru and the main Mario team have little involvement with NSMB.

Teams change all the time. Are the Oracle games and Minish Cap not proper Zelda games because Capcom made them?

Also who the heck does NSMBU have the same graphics as Mario Kart 8? NSMB uses prerendered 2D CG backgrounds. That makes no sense. . Did you even see the trailer for Mario Kart 8?

It's not the same aesthetics, no, I'll give you that. But it's high-fidelity graphics, which is literally the only qualifier for "high-def" or "next-gen" graphics which is what you were originally asking for. Yeah, I don't like the style and think they could do way better (although I don't necessarily want detailed backgrounds or the MK8 look, but that's just a matter of personal taste).

What you are saying is you would like a 2-D Mario platformer with live-rendered, highly detailed 3-D backgrounds and new, more dynamic and stylized models, with a more classic feel. That's cool, I would love that too. Just say that next time instead of being all petulant about it. If you'd have said "I don't really like NSMB and want to see Nintendo do something different with 2D Mario's", I would have been absolutely with you. Eh, I suppose I'll let it go. It's really not that important and it's detracting from what really matters, which is talking about games we like and are excited for. And on that note...

(I'd throw Yoshi's Island in there too if it wasn't a game almost completely based on Yoshi, but freakin' awesome all the same)

Are you excited for the new Yoshi's Island? I am really excited for that game (although also a little nervous, since the last time they tried to make a sequel, Yoshi's Island DS, I thought it was pretty disappointing). But what I've seen so far looks better than that at least.

Edited June 12, 2013 by omnipotentBagel

[Crowbar Man]

No. It's not. You know what makes Mario Kart and Golf and Party sub-serieses? They feature the same characters as the SMB games, but they aren't 2-D platformers. You know what is a 2D platformer? NSMB. It's a sub-group, just like the first three games were (Mario Bros), but they're as core Mario platformer as anything. I'm sorry they were so disappointing to you.

Again, Mario is not a 2D platformer series as of Mario 64 (see its follow ups: Sunshine, Galaxy). NSMB1 wasn't even created by the Mario team and Shigeru had no involvement with the first game. It was a nostalgic throwback subseries. They even named it as such: New Super Mario Bros. In reference to the older games: Super Mario Bros (they no longer really call the Mario series Mario Bros). It was not in any imaginable way meant to be a new real Mario game.

Teams change all the time. Are the Oracle games and Minish Cap not proper Zelda games because Capcom made them?

Actually, No, I really don't but that is another story.

That aside: See Mario Galaxy. That is a proper Mario game by Shgieru/Mario Team. They didn't "change teams" per se if they are still making games. I'm sure they are currently working on a new Mario game, Super Mario 3D World isn't it unfortunately

t's not the same aesthetics, no, I'll give you that. But it's high-fidelity graphics, which is literally the only qualifier for "high-def" or "next-gen" graphics which is what you were originally asking for. Yeah, I don't like the style and think they could do way better (although I don't necessarily want detailed backgrounds or the MK8 look, but that's just a matter of personal taste).

What you are saying is you would like a 2-D Mario platformer with live-rendered, highly detailed 3-D backgrounds and new, more dynamic and stylized models, with a more classic feel. That's cool, I would love that too. Just say that next time instead of being all petulant about it. If you'd have said "I don't really like NSMB and want to see Nintendo do something different with 2D Mario's", I would have been absolutely with you. Eh, I suppose I'll let it go. It's really not that important and it's detracting from what really matters, which is talking about games we like and are excited for. And on that note...

Actually, I said I wanted MK8 style graphics in a Mario 64-like 3D mario game. If Nintendo decided they wanted to do a real 2D Mario, I would like it if it had beautiful HD pixel sprites, hand drawn art, or heck high quality 2D vector graphics (ala Rayman Origins) instead of the awful pre rendered CG crap with 3D models sitting on top, but hey, MK8 style 2.5D wouldn't be too bad either!

Unfortunately I can't be excited about the new Yoshi's island. I know its not going to have the Shigeru touch, Yoshi's Island DS was a complete letdown, and they have this terrible mixture of prerendered CG art that looks somehow also hand drawn. Also, the trailers they've shown look rather lackluster and with terrible music :/ but maybe I'm being harsh, I'd LOVE for a game of Yoshi's Island level of awesomeness to come out. I don't think that is going to happen

Edited June 12, 2013 by Crowbar Man

[omnipotentBagel]

I would like it if it had beautiful HD sprites, hand drawn art, or heck high quality 2D vector graphics

I have been waiting for high-res sprites and super artistic hand-drawn stuff since last generation and it's incredibly sad to me that hardly anyone is even considering it. I had hoped Rayman Origins would convince people that it's okay to do sprites and traditional-style platforming, but no big names seem to be getting that message.

I share your worries about Yoshi's Island, but I guess I'm a little more optimistic. I've really been enjoying most of Nintendo's 3DS output lately and I'm hoping that the fact that we haven't seen very much of the game at all means that the good stuff is all still coming. I have to believe like the glimpses we've seen are rough, early production material (no idea if that's true, but I want it to be).

[Devyn]

I think the new Mario game looks pretty damn sweet. That's coming from a guy who remembers walking into my cousin's apartment and seeing SMB, the very first one, playing on a big TV. The sound of those bricks breaking and those coins ringing....

I'm kinda in this middle on this argument. I've always hoped for a somewhat "life-like" Mario game in which they add more detail and "realness" to the characters. More emphasis on story....Nintendo have almost always delivered excellent gameplay with the various Mario series, but few of the series have ever really taken the story very far. I would kill for a Mario that really went a little less G and maybe a little more P-13. I'm not talking about Mario and company "shooting hookers", but maybe some actual character development to go with the gameplay. Maybe some emotional involvement. It would add weight to the games. When I was a kid, I really cared for the characters. But now Nintendo just assumes we should give a shit because "Hey. Look at me! It's a me Mario!"

That said, the new Mario game, in terms of gameplay, looks pretty damn good. A full 3-D Mario game with four players, plus mechanics introduced from my personal favorite of the original series (that would be SMB 2 USA, with vegetables and frogs), has definitely made it on my Christmas wish-list. This looks like a good way to burn through a sixer. Good, if not amazing, graphics, solid multiplayer or single player gameplay from the guys who developed Galaxy. Yeah, I'm buying, but I still wish Nintendo would do a "mature" Mario. Not a hooker-shooting Mario necessarily, but a tear-jerking Mario where maybe the characters aren't smiling all the time. Maybe Bowser ins't a complete dick. Maybe he's just misunderstood. Maybe the characters talk to each other, express emotions. Maybe Mario and Luigi have to deal with mid-life crisis or something, while the Princess' kingdom is being destroyed. Maybe Peach turns on the bros. Maybe some existential and off-the-wall crazy. That would be awesome, to me at least. But it's not going to happen.

Still, I love what Nintendo brought so far this E-3. Just crossing my fingers for a little more over the next couple of days.

[Brandon Strader]

Brown Mario on the ps4 would be amazing. First person Mario with jumping on enemies like in Borderlands, and aiming the fireballs. That's where Mario needs to go. If left to Nintendo, they'll just keep releasing the same game with a slightly different title, and a slightly modified tanooki suit.

[zircon]

I was also disappointed to not see a followup to Galaxy. Even though it sold less than NSMB, Galaxy is IMO a work of art and one of the most brilliantly designed Mario games ever. NSMB to me feels... tired. Within a few hours of getting it, I just felt like I had done it before. Even with Galaxy 2, which I look at as basically DLC for Galaxy1, it felt extremely fresh with the mechanics and level design. I'm definitely holding off on a WiiU until, at the very least, new Zelda + a new Mario game of the scale/scope of Galaxy.

[Crowbar Man]

Brown Mario on the ps4 would be amazing. First person Mario with jumping on enemies like in Borderlands, and aiming the fireballs. That's where Mario needs to go

No. I hope this is a joke

[Sir_NutS]

No. I hope this is a joke

New to the internet?

Anyhoo the only things that interest me on the nintendo platforms are a new 3d mario (not this NSMB in 3d thing they are doing, I mean a real 3d Mario like galaxy or 64) and smash. A new star fox or f-zero would have caught my attention but nintendo seems to have forgotten about those.

[Mirby]

I took a look at the Wind Waker HD trailer again. Pulled this nugget out.

Click for a larger version.

Check the D-Pad icon on the upper-left side. Wind Waker, Cannon, and Salvage Arm all mapped to it. Note that though the Grappling Hook is mapped to Y, the bombs aren't currently equipped. Which means no need to equip those whenever you need the cannon this time around. Odds are the same will apply to the Salvage Arm as well.

Also note that A makes you go faster, a much needed function for traveling the seas.

By the way, that's Spectacle Island (B-3), home of the Barrel Shoot minigame and possible Ghost Ship destination, with the Mother & Child Isles (B-2) in the distance.

[EC2151]

I actually wish more effort was put into the aesthetics of the NSMB games, because if they actually had the fun design concepts and fantastic sound design of the 3D Mario games, they'd probably be the masterpieces of the generation.

But Nintendo clearly doesn't think their best-selling series deserves any effort, so we get BAH BAH music and Ice-Fire-Jungle worlds from Nintendo's B-squad.

[Calpis]

The first viewing of the Direct video left me kind of disappointed. The games didn't look as good as I thought they would. Then I went home and watched it in 1080p on my 60" tv and felt a lot better. Wind Waker HD looks incredible on a large tv. If you haven't yet, I suggest watching the Nintendo Direct on your Wii U from the videos in the eShop. They didn't compress them as bad as the nintendo.e3.com or YouTube videos are.

All in all, it feels like Nintendo is playing it too safe. They want to get more games out asap, so it makes sense but I was kinda hoping for footage of something really exciting. However, so far I'll be buying Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, Mario Kart 8, Wind Waker HD, Smash Brothers (hopefully there'll be a 3DS+Wii U combo pack), and probably the new DKC, so I guess I can't complain too much.

[dfcentre]

I collect high-res art from Nintendo's press room. Does anyone knows the username and password for it?

Yeah I agree with the lot of you, the Mario 3D formula gets tired quick. Its boxey and lacks any real sense of atmosphere. Oh well. Shigeru Miyamoto always wanted his Mario games to play like interactive cartoons but for the last four or five years Mario could not be further from this idea. He lacks in personality and just spouts self-promoting mantra at every opportunity, Mario games don't have a soul anymore.

Mario Kart 8 probably looks like a fun game, but I'm not going to buy a WiiU for it. If I can get Rayman on the PS3 I'll be happy.

I was very disappointed to see Smash Bros look identical to the older games. The in-game animation is still as choppy and as poor as the Gamecube version which is not acceptable. The director of the game says that he didn't want to change the game much due to its success. Well that's great I just won't buy it! The pre-rendered cut scenes are great but the sad thing is no-one should be using pre-rendered scenes to sell games these days.

Wind Waker? Great game but I've already played it... twice. So all-in-all its been a poor E3 showing for Nintendo in my opinion. But as long as they make millions who cares, right? As long as people lap up whatever they are given why should Nintendo change anything?

So yeah does anyone have access to the press site and hi-res artwork?

[Penfold]

The Wind Waker HD trailer was kind of nostalgic for me - I only played the original once, about 10 years ago, but the events towards the beginning were really memorable. I really look forward to playing this new version. No word on release date/window yet, right?

[Calpis]

The Wind Waker HD trailer was kind of nostalgic for me - I only played the original once, about 10 years ago, but the events towards the beginning were really memorable. I really look forward to playing this new version. No word on release date/window yet, right?

October, I think.

[The Derrit]

Smash Brothers (hopefully there'll be a 3DS+Wii U combo pack)

i will pre-order the double-secret probation collector's version of this

ALSO BIG DOUBLE EDIT Luigi U comes out in like a week. I feel like that's flying pretty far under the radar.

Edited June 12, 2013 by The Derrit

[Dexie]

No. I hope this is a joke

We can all only hope that I, Mario will be a reality one day.

[liquid wind]

I took a look at the Wind Waker HD trailer again. Pulled this nugget out.

Click for a larger version.

Check the D-Pad icon on the upper-left side. Wind Waker, Cannon, and Salvage Arm all mapped to it. Note that though the Grappling Hook is mapped to Y, the bombs aren't currently equipped. Which means no need to equip those whenever you need the cannon this time around. Odds are the same will apply to the Salvage Arm as well.

Also note that A makes you go faster, a much needed function for traveling the seas.

By the way, that's Spectacle Island (B-3), home of the Barrel Shoot minigame and possible Ghost Ship destination, with the Mother & Child Isles (B-2) in the distance.

Good to see some actual gameplay improvements and that the game isn't just a ridiculously gratuitous use of bloom lighting, was hoping for some info on the next Zelda but WWHD is looking more appealing to me now anyway

[omnipotentBagel]

Good to see some actual gameplay improvements and that the game isn't just a ridiculously gratuitous use of bloom lighting, was hoping for some info on the next Zelda but WWHD is looking more appealing to me now anyway

I felt like the handling of Ocarina of Time 3DS was about perfect for a port. Polished the graphics, tweaked the interface and control scheme to reduce trips to the menu, but otherwise leave well enough alone. They showed good judgement in knowing what to mess with. No idea if the same people are involved with Wind Waker, but if they follow the same strategy, it'll turn out great.

[Crowbar Man]

ALSO BIG DOUBLE EDIT Luigi U comes out in like a week. I feel like that's flying pretty far under the radar.

Even though I had negative words to say about NSMB as a whole, I think the Super Luigi U expansion / DLC is pretty awesome and I want to try it out

Edited June 12, 2013 by Crowbar Man

[omnipotentBagel]

I just love that they're finally giving Luigi the spotlight he justly deserves.

[Mirby]

Apparently Nintendo planned on showing off the new Wii U Zelda at E3 but opted not to.

I'm sure we'll see it at TGS.

[Dexie]

Doesn't Nintendo usually not go to TGS?

[Mirby]

yeah that's been pointed out to me by several people

whatever

we'll see it in some form eventually, obviously

[Brandon Strader]