Trine 2 Coming to Wii U, Getting Expansion This Holiday

Gorgeous indie puzzle-platformer Trine 2 is on its way to Nintendo’s upcoming system with all-new content.

@impynickers I think your suggestions are pretty sound and within reason considering Nintendo’s tendencies.

Mario is a massive franchise right now – the only franchise that sells in the same stratosphere as Call of Duty. I’m very interested in seeing what will happen to the 3DS when Mario Kart 7 comes out. Last I checked Mario Kart DS is STILL selling copies.

The mention of Call of Duty is an interesting one too. I have no doubt in my mind that Treyarch’s next COD game will have a Wii-U version, and it’s highly possible that it will be the best console version just from a technical standpoint. Nintendo needs to advertise the fuck out of that.

I understand why Nintendo doesn’t do a lot of what enthusiasts ask them to do: waiting for the proper market penetration of each new technology along with profitability and doing it their own way. They didn’t embrace online last gen because less than 10 percent of console gamers used it back then, and most online gaming didn’t make any money either. I even recognize their current approach to online as something built from the ground-up for consoles rather than downgraded from the PC, their execution is just way off. On top of that it’s been a very Japanese solution to the demands of American and European audiences. Now Nintendo has conceded that they just don’t have the same knowhow on the subject as the western companies, and claim to be leaving it up to them. I at least think it’s good that Nintendo acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses of its own nature.

First, the 3DS has to compete with the DS, and I have to wonder whether the market really sees the difference between the two yet. The Wii had a fitness hook during our cultures highest health craze, but for many lays unused as though it were a thighmaster, or other ‘as seen on TV’ peripheral. The core market probably owns a 360 or PS3 in conjunction to the Wii, and their expectations are mounting due to innovations in online functionality and interface design. The Wii-U has a large number of issues to address.
Here’s some ideas:

Look at smaller developers and get a more solid arcade/PSN game solution. Fund a few smaller exclusive projects from creative third party developers.

Stop trying to turn interacting with your friends into a gimmick. Get a simple system that works while giving you basic communication and game connection. Gimmicks must be discreet and optional.

Use Mario as a spokesman to promote third party games. He is probably Nintendo’s biggest icon and one could use him to draw attention to new and interesting things on the platform.

Be a little more visible, competitive. How many times is Call of Duty advertised on TV? A smart Nintendo commercial could do alot for their brands. Maybe have Nintendo characters parody other games? I don’t know. Hire a better marketing department. Kevin Butler was a big hit for sony, and I think humor is a good way of hooking people.

If Nintendo doesn’t push themselves into the enthusiast’s mind share who will promote the Wii U? Your mom?

@Shingro @feenwager I think Nintendo’s losses show exactly what happens when they follow other people’s trends and don’t do their own thing (in this case the 3D trend). Their losses are really more due to exchange rates than anything else though.

In my opinion the only place where Nintendo misstepped with the Wii was developers. That’s always been their only big problem since the N64. In this case the hardware gap was just too large and designing for the Wii remote required re-thinking games at the drawing board level.

About the “casual consumer” not being as dedicated, I think that was what Nintendo was desperately trying to change. They no longer thought it was worth it to continue to solely support a hardcore audience that isn’t growing fast enough and, for them, is shrinking. That’s what’s wrong with current HD game budgets right now – there aren’t enough enthusiasts willing to pay $60 for most of them.

I think Nintendo, in a way, saw that coming and decided to go for a much larger audience while hoping they could keep their core audience entertained. The problem was they couldn’t get other developers to follow them until it was too late. And I think the emergence of mobile gaming has proven that most of those consumers just don’t give a shit about photo-realistic HD graphics.

With the Wii-U, hardware-wise we just don’t know shit. We still have no clear idea of where it sits power-wise, though some developers have hinted that it is indeed more powerful than the PS3 and 360. What we know less about is how much more powerful the other upcoming consoles will be. Some are saying that they’ll be equivalent to 2011 or 2012 PC gaming hardware. Will a 2013 set top box be able to run the Samaritan on one GPU (what Epic showed required three)?

More importantly, most of the graphics engines that are gonna run next gen games are already running games right now – Frostbite 2, CryEngine 3, idTech 5, etc. The only unknowns are UE4 and the upcoming Japanese engines like FOX, Luminous, and that thing Tri-Ace is making. The prevailing opinion right now is that PS4 and Xbox Next games will scale down to Wii-U much more easily this time around. Plus, the touch pad and conventional buttons are much more familiar to devs.

Best case scenario for Nintendo: The Wii-U get’s enough penetration with its one-year-lead to become the baseline for most multiplatform games, which will then port-up to the other systems, similar to the PS2 back in its day.

If the whole industry really wants the casual pie though, I think they’re gonna have to turn consoles into near-universal set-top boxes that everyone will want, and then buy apps from. That and they’ll have to embrace the idea of games as a service. It remains to be seen if they’re actually willing to break away from the current model in which they wield so much power. It’s hitting it’s breaking point with budgets and consumers.

Also, I don’t know if I’m way behind or anything, but Wired has a really, really good article about Nintendo and the lack of localization efforts made for some of its more anticipated titles. It’s well worth a read: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/06/xenoblade-the-last-story/

Assuming you all saw this, but I just picked this off of @DavidDWinn’s twitter feed – http://www.infendo.com/odesu-ka/

I’d be pretty darn excited about this, and if it was a 3DS release, I may be convinced to get one.

@RocGaude I agree on the Nintendo part and share your slightly curmudgeonly views on that entire stable.

Whatever happens at any E3 or big event just makes me feel the consumer burn and preemptively behind the times. Cannot stand that.

I just kind of dipped in and out of the big pressers today so it’s difficult for me to assess the real impact they had on the most important customer they have…me.

For Nintendo fans, Nintendo did just fine. Zelda looks nifty and there seem to be a lot of goofy mascot driven fluff to send the faithful into a fit. Personally, I don’t care about anything they announced for the Wii…it’s just not my thing. I’ll care once I can play the games in 720P.

The thing I had the most excitement built up for was the 3DS. That is, until it dawned on me…no matter how cool the tech is, it’s a Nintendo product so it comes with everything that encompasses. Take that as you will. The screen grabs of the Kid Icarus looked very cool and surprisingly un-Nintendo in its art direction which gives it an advantage over it’s namesake. The upper screen looks woefully undersized compared to the Kotaku mock up which had me pumped for the 3DS in the first place. It’s like looking at one of those older laptops that had a 10″ screen with a 3″ border around it. The only thing I could think of was “man, I bet there was supposed to be more screen there, but…”.

As for Sony, kudos to them for wheeling out Kevin Butler. It shows humility and that they’re listening after all. The Move announcements were on par with what was expected and, unlike other pressers, they actually gave us a price. It was reassuring to see that this will be the last fuggin’ E3 we’ll ever see GT5 at. Other then that, nothing surprised me too much. I’m looking forward to giving PlayStation Plus a whirl. The only real downside to their hoedown was making 3D the big focus which most of us won’t be able to enjoy for quite sometime. Maybe someday we’ll look back on it and laugh. Until then, I won’t be.

Now it’s time for the floor to show us what they’ve got. Hit me.

Yeah. It can’t cost more than the Wii, right?

@rocgaude What exactly did you not like?

I’d give Nintendo’s presser a solid A-. I think the only thing that really mis-fired was their first mini-game collection whose name I can’t even remember and Goldeneye (although I suspect it’ll still sell tons).

3DS looks surprisingly good, and I’m please with Epic Mickey, The Kirby game, and the new Zelda.

No date, guess it is 2011

@AJ They have to do something like that. Maybe Toys R Us’s? Seeing it in person is the only way to sell these things.

Nintendo busting out the booth babes?

Please put demo units in gamestops or something.

It prints money! Er… Coins.

Star Fox on 3DS confirmed?

I wonder if those 3d cameras can shoot video?

@captcarnage Doubt it. My guess is April 2011.

I bought the original Icarus at a flea market in Pennsylvania. I might have been 6 or 7 years old. That game kicked. my. ass.

Hopefully this one will be better. That’s IF I get a 3DS, that is.

I’ll tell ya right now: Kid Icarus sucked. A lot.

Kingdom Hearts on 3DS. I hope Mike is still alive.

The vagueness of content leads me to believe we’ll be waiting a while for 3DS.

Yeah, I mean, the new game looks great. No complaints there. I just don’t get why people are obsessed with the brand.

Ok I’m sold on the 3DS, day one purchase. The graphics quality is prob on par with the PSP.

Wonder if it will have firmware updates, the DLC stuff could also be anti-pirate measures.

Viral spreading of dlc. Interesting.

I still don’t understand the obsession with Kid Icarus. I watched a YouTube of the old game. Looked pretty crappy. Yet the core have been dying for a new game for years.

Fuck yes. nintendo is easily winning so far. Sony is going to have their work cut out for them.

Maybe I’ll settle on “put it in the closet, and take it out when Epic Mickey & Zelda come out”. Sound fair?

I wonder if the 3DS version of 3D will work for me?

Everyone happy now?

I don’t think anyone was expecting movies for the 3DS. Pretty cool.

It’s a friggin 3d camera!? Wow.

@rocgaude What are you talking about? They’re hitting it out of the park. Guys, back me up.

Adjustable effect. I like that.

Here’s comes Iwata to kill the momentum.

Here we go. Let’s see what the 3DS has to offer.

Silhouettes are the new lens flare.

I’d like to see Portal on the Wii. Think of the possibilities with Motion+

Man…this could be the E3 that makes me dust off my Wii. I’m only seeing stills, but the Kirby stuff looks incredible. Nintendo appears to be sticking to their guns of not copying other systems with thousands of FPS’s.

Yes! It’s a fall title! Huzzah!

Oh. My. God. That looks incredible!

Holy crap!

Yeah he does. Have you seen how pissed he looks on all his box art?

I’m genuinely excited about Epic Mickey. Can’t wait to see how it shapes up. Did they announce a date?

The animation of Mickey is great. Glad they got squash and stretch right.

These guys sure know how to develop for the Wii. Love the art style.

Show the fucking footage!!!!!

Specifically for the brothers, I really hope Epic Mickey is good. I think they’ve really got a great idea going for this game, and hope that the follow-through and development goes well.

LOVE GOLDEN SUN. Hate 3D isometric on the DS.

The original Goldeneye doesn’t hold up, and its success back in 1997 has absolutely nothing to do with shooters today. It’s just a brand. No unique style of gameplay to bring back like Bionic Commando or anything.

And go figure it’s from Activision. It’s just a money grab.