Nintendo blows opportunity to win E3

We just stepped out of Nintendo’s pre-E3 media event, and we were, in a word, disappointed.

Nintendo walked into this year’s event with a humongous advantage – it is the only company with a new console at E3 2012.

However, the titles that it showed were markedly lackluster. The company spent a lot of time talking about a game called Nintendoland.

If it is truly an amazing game, we didn’t see that in the presentation. It seemed like nothing more than a bunch of mini-games.

To Nintendo’s credit, it did show off a brand new Mario game – New Super Mario Bros U – and a new Pikmin title, as well as Wii Fit U. In other words, these are the kind of titles that are to be expected.

What we wanted to see was something that showed how and why the Wii U will be able to compete against the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and eventually the PS4 and Xbox 720.

Instead, it came across as little more than a Wii that can display HD graphics and has a controller with its own display.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said during the event that the goal of the Wii U is “to provide new and engrossing game experiences from every type of player, from the hardest of the core to the newest of the newbies.”

The Wii U will launch for the holiday season. Pricing details and an exact launch date still have not been announced.