Famichatting: Nintendo Direct [E3 2018]

Similar to Smash Bros, we created the Ultimate team to do some Famichatting about Nintendo at E3 2018!
James, Danny, Sairus, Ty, Cheesemeister, and Jon Cousins run through every game at the show!

Famichatting: The E3 2018 Nintendo Direct

Daemon X Machina [2019]

James: What a bizarre way to start a Direct, a cell-shaded Armored Core game?! Sure why not. Give the fans what they want, or what Nintendo thinks they want?

Danny: Who doesn’t like mechs? Okay, there are probably quite a few people out there that don’t, but this game looks gorgeous. As long as Marvelous nails the control aspect of the game, this is definitely something that’s on my radar. 

Sairus: The list of credits on this trailer has me pretty excited for this one! Alumni from Macross and Armored Core hopefully mean this is in good hands. Definitely a bizarre game to open with though.

Ty: This thunder has already been stolen by noted game of show Metal Wolf Chaos HD.

Cheesemeister: What’s happening? I don’t know what’s going on. Did I tune in to the right stream?

Jon: The only new IP and genuine surprise looks insane. Despite being in Japan, I'm not at all versed in mech or manga stuff, but I do love me some Zone of the Enders. The art style looks amazing and there's some veteran talent behind it, so I have high hopes.

Xenoblade 2: Torna The Golden Country DLC [September 14th, 2018]

James: I thought it was a sequel at first, but instead it’s a hefty DLC pack for people who bought that $30 season pass at launch. Good luck to you all, I’m just going to walk on by.

Danny: This definitely looks like a pretty significant expansion for Xenoblade 2. Seeing as the game reviewed well and saw strong sales globally, a number of people are still interested in JRPGs that are done right. The Torna Golden Country DLC looks to just give these people (not me) more of what they want, and that’s a good thing. 

Ty: Every day I pray for the death of games that involve hitting monsters with swords and having numbers come out.

Cheesemeister: Okay, all mechs all the time. The next giant fighting robot had better be Voltron.

Jon: Although RPGs are way too much of a time dump for me, XC2 always intrigued me and its story based which is cool too. Great for fans, but I'm not that bothered, unfortunately. 

Fortnite [It’s out now!]

James: Voice chat works through the headphone jack?! I thought that wasn’t possible Nintendo? HINT HINT PUT THAT IN SPLATOON 2. Also, LOL at Sony’s response to the lack of cross-play with PS4! I guess we should all play together sometime (Switch/PC/Xbone).

Danny: Oh my god. Nobody saw this one coming! (harhar) Great to see the Switch not getting left out in the cold with huge games like this. 

Sairus: I love how this game just makes Nintendo’s insane voice chat system look even more ridiculous than it already is. I can only hope this is a sign Nintendo are officially abandoning it. I doubt it’ll be removed from Splatoon any time soon though since they sold all those headsets and connectors.

Ty: Actually, every day I pray for death.

Cheesemeister: In case you haven’t heard already, Sony has blocked Fortnite accounts that have played on the PS4 from being used on the Switch or Xbox One. Microsoft, meanwhile, has posted instructions on how to go from Xbox One to Switch here.

Jon: The worldwide phenomenon and worst kept secret since Mario and Rabbids shows up and is already doing gangbusters (2 million in a day or so?!) I'll give it a go at some point but it will likely not replace Splatoon 2 as my online game of choice. 

Ninjala [Spring 2019]

James: Splatoon rollers + bubblegum = this game? Definitely has potential, colour me intrigued!

Danny: There really are some Splatoon vibes here. It almost seems like a melee based Splatoon from first glance. We’re still quite a way out from this one (2019) so let’s hope that Gung-Ho uses the time wisely to bring together an awesome game.

Sairus: Love the colours and the Splatoon vibe. Early days yet, but I’m curious if it will focus more on the single or multiplayer parts. Character designs are super cute!

Cheesemeister: Is this Arms? This looks so much like Arms.

Jon: Not heard of it. 

Hollow Knight [It’s out now!]

James: A year in the making (for the Switch version) looks cool!

Danny: The animation and over visual aesthetic for Hollow Knight look absolutely fantastic. Great to see more indies finding homes on the Switch.

Sairus: FINALLY

Cheesemeister: Woo, platformers. I’ll have to take a closer look at this one.

Jon: YES! I had a feeling it would be released during E3, and the team cherry guys are awesome. I can't wait to get this. It looks stunning.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses [Spring 2019]

James: Hurry up and release this already so you can get working on Advance Wars.

Danny: Oh boy. Another 100 hour game. As much as I respect the series, I still don’t know if this is something I’ll bit one. I sure have a lot of time to think about it, though. The game looks great visually, and from what little bit of the Fire Emblem series I’ve played, I’m sure it’ll be great. 

Sairus: I am totally unfamiliar with Fire Emblem outside of Smash and the month I played Heroes on my phone. I don’t know if that's a series staple, but I really liked how when two units clash it shows dozens of soldiers fighting. Cool touch to remind you you’re not just 12 guys fighting 12 other guys.

Ty: Where’s the one girl with the big boobs?

Jon: In pretty much the same vane as XC, fans have been waiting for this for a while but it doesn't really float my boat. That being said, it does look more dynamic and a fresh take on the series, so I might give it a go.

Dragon Ball FighterZ [2018]

James: Never heard of it.

Danny: Okay. Now I can feel justified in not having picked up this game on other platforms. Seriously, though, I’m super stoked about this one. After hearing Ty talk about it so much over what seems like the past decade, I’m ready for a little Dragon Ball action. 

Sairus: I pray for the souls of all the JoyCons that will be crushed into dust trying to play this in single JoyCon mode. With all the other fighters coming to Switch I might skip this, but man it’s great to see so much support for the genre after the complete absence on previous generations.

Ty: Every day I pray for life everlasting.
Jon: From memory, there was a bit of outcry that this wasn't on Switch, and now it turns out that the leak was spot on about everything, so in general, there were no surprises outside of what Nintendo revealed. Looks bonkers.

Super Mario Party [October 5, 2018]

James: I dunno, it’s looks “OK” I guess, but the minigames are never fun enough to warrant me buying a Mario Party game, this is no different. Interesting that you can play the minigames (and only them) online this time!

Danny: More Mario Party. Just what we wanted, right? Since this series sells like crazy, it would be stupid of Nintendo to waste any more time bringing it to Switch. I don’t think I’ve ever actually purchased a Mario Party game before (I played a lot on the N64 with friends back in the day, though) and I can see that trend continuing. Even with that said, the mutli-screen handheld mode stuff is impressive. 

Sairus: I have been craving a solid Even Babies Can Play This game for Switch that I can busy out at parties and this will do nicely. The joining multiple Switches together is so deliciously clever too! 

Ty: My reflex in any conversation about Mario Party is to tell people about Pac-Man Fever, which is the same game except you win with skill. It’s fun! Mario Party is not.

Cheesemeister: So, it doesn’t go to 11? Or would the expectation have been for it to be a massively-multiplayer online party game? In any case, the physical arrangement of Switch tablets to form a game board uses some sort of magical technology we haven’t seen in the system before.

Jon: This COULD be awesome, and it was definitely a game I'll keep an eye on. Really interesting use of the system and a certain hoot for a get together. Don't sell us short, Nintendo. 

Smash Bros. Ultimate (US/EU) / Smash Bros. Special (JP) [December 7th, 2018]

James: Sometimes I don’t like being right. Well, that’s not true it’s always good being right, but still, the fact that this is literally Smash4Switch is kind of disappointing. There are thousands of updates I wanted to know about, and they covered zero of them in the Direct. I knew Mario was going to be in it Sakurai, get your shit together and tell me about the other modes!

Danny: It’s really great to see ALL of the former fighters returning to Ultimate. I’m also really happy to see GameCube controller support as well. Even with all the information dumped at E3, I’m still left with a ton of questions. What kind of modes are going to be included? How exactly will online work? Will For Fun and For Glory return? However it goes, I seriously hope Sakurai can have a long nap after all this is over because it looks like he hasn’t slept since the game was first announced. 

Sairus: Yay! I think most folks were right in the assumption that this would be a game somewhere between a full new title and a remaster like Mario Kart DX. Seeing every character return is super cool, but I’m kinda worried about how they said there’ll be an initial roster of 8. It sounds like they’ll go the Splatoon/ARMS route and release a steady stream of characters as free updates as opposed to unlocking them.

Disappointed they focused so much time on this though. Nitty gritty updates like new Final Smashes should have been given to a specific Smash Direct, not during E3.

Ty: I was pleasantly surprised to see Snake is back in what might potentially be not the worst Smash game.

Cheesemeister: Hey, Daisy Ridley is in this game! Now who made bets against either of them? If you’re like The Washington Post, though, the lack of Waluigi merits a headline.

Jon: To be honest, I found it a bit disingenuous that Nintendo dedicated half of their 'conference' to a game we not only knew about but also knew that it was going to be covered for the rest of E3 in a massive way. For the direct to cover Smash for the entire back end with no new announcement to finish left me wanting more. 

Metroid Prime 4 [Not at E3 2018]

James: This blows. Mario Party and a bunch of shit we already knew about, over THIS? I guess that logo really was the only thing they had finished.

Danny: I’m not going to lie. I’m disappointed. I wanted to see SOMETHING about this game at this year’s show. Even just a cobbled together trailer with some concepts, a HUD or something. I get it, though. Nintendo has to try to make gamers forget about Metroid and give the spotlight to the two big 2019 titles, Pokemon and Smash. 

Sairus: I didn’t think this would be back till later in the year at the earliest, so I’m not really shocked or disappointed. Gives me more time to finally actually finish the other games in the series!

Ty: Cancel this and put new strong Samus in Switch Fit Trainer.

Cheesemeister: I thought this was going to be one of the headliners until time was taken to list every individual character in SSB Ultimate. It makes sense to put it on the back burner for now if, hypothetically, it’s slated as the November 2019 holiday flagship title.

Jon: Honestly, I'm.not surprised we didn't get anything. Nintendo doesn't want their new baby’s thunder being stolen by other games. Everyone knew smash was going big, but I think that due to last years ’announcement’ and this years no show could suggest that it is still really early in development (along with Bayo 3). Not only that, if fans are hoping or expecting something on the same page as Halo in terms of production values, it's still a way off. 

Yoshi Working Title [Delayed till 2019]

James: Looks like they ARE doing a Wooly World again, i.e. announcing it years before it comes out and never showing it in public until a month before release until then!

Danny: Not a huge surprise. Unlike the situation with the Wii U and Woolly World, this game isn’t something that is “needed” right now. Perhaps this will fall into the Kirby Star Allies slot of March of next year. 

Sairus: This game looked awful to me when it was first announced. If they need to hide it to completely remake the game from scratch into something actually good then that’s fine by me.

Ty: Really looking forward to this spiritual successor to Yoshi’s Story, which I fondly remember as Nintendo’s first major foray into making terrible games.

Cheesemeister: Whenever works for Yoshi, really.

Jon: While the year is already packed with games, I'm surprised it wasn't shown at all, but it could still be out this year/ early next. Yoshi is beloved and a first party character, but is no smash or Pokemon. It could have been delayed due to those two or getting some labo support, either way, I'm looking forward to seeing more but not bursting to play it like I am smash or Metroid. 

Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong & Sky Skipper

Cheesemeister: WHAT?! These two releases were the biggest surprises of E3 for me, moreso even than Ridley in Smash Bros. Donkey Kong has been tied up in a legal quagmire ever since Nintendo lost a court case to contract developer Ikegami over the rights to the arcade version. Yes, it was somehow included in DK64, but this is a full-fledged product that’s now widely-accessible. Now we can see a truly broad competition for the top score.

Sky Skipper, meanwhile, has never seen the light of day in the west beyond an Atari 2600 port. Here’s a long read from a group of preservationists who somehow managed to be granted access to the only Sky Skipper arcade cabinet in North America: