3 Reasons Nintendo Had a Better E3 Than You Think

Nintendo fans. So loyal. So passionate. So easily angered.

If you've been paying attention to the reaction to Nintendo's E3 showing this year, you know many people feel like Nintendo could have done more at this year's show. Nintendo had already warned us that Zelda Wii U would not be making an appearance, and yet some of the Big N's faithful were disappointed that Triforce Heroes on the 3DS was the only offering from Hyrule this year. But even more fans were upset if not outraged by the mere existence of Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Enough so that some crybabies, and yes, that's what they are, created an online petition asking Nintendo to cancel the game. Seriously?

I'm not here to cheerlead for Nintendo. That's Reggie Fils-Aime's job, and he did it admirably this week, explaining in an interview that plenty of Nintendo fans were unsure about Splatoon at last year's E3, but now it's a huge success for the company. And after playing every single game at Nintendo's booth this year, I will say that I think Reggie has a point.

No, this wasn't Nintendo's best E3 ever. Yes, it's disappointing that we didn't see Zelda Wii U at all and that Metroid Prime 4 is still M.I.A. But if you look at each game Nintendo brought to this year's show on its own merits, and stop judging everything through the lens of unrealistic expectations that way too many Nintendo fans bring into E3 each year, there's honestly a lot to be excited about.

Super Mario Maker Had the Best Booth on the Show Floor

I'm not about to claim that any game "won" E3 over any other. But if you were actually on the show floor last week, you know that the Super Mario Maker booth had consistent engagement with the crowd from beginning to end. Gamers were brought up on stage to play mind-blowingly difficult levels on a huge screen in front of their peers. The Nintendo reps with the microphones helped, but it was a blast to watch the crowd get loud and cheer the participants on as they jumped across the screen.

Some will point out that this was Mario Maker's second year at E3, and that's true, but that shouldn't discount the fact that Nintendo has a huge hit on its hands, and they know it. This is the kind of game that has the ability to go viral once it gets into the homes of diehard fans. Maybe it's not "new" in E3 terms, but the game clearly demonstrated that it has the ability to get people excited.

Yoshi and Star Fox Held It Down

Yoshi's Woolly World and Star Fox Zero are two additional games that we technically knew about before this year's show, but this was the first time both were available on the show floor. It's a shame that Googling "Nintendo E3" right now brings up so many negative headlines, because if you dig a little deeper, you'll find that both of these games were liked by most who played. Yoshi's Woolly Worldproved to be just as much of a joy to play in person as it was to watch its debut video last year. The ability to play co-op in particular is a blast, we'll have another article on that soon.

Star Fox Zero has received some middling press due to initial frustration with the Gamepad controls, but it's telling that most people who said they played the game for longer than just 10 minutes really started to take a liking to it. The game makes excellent use of the Gamepad in spurts, but doesn't force it on you, like say, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse did. Complaining that Nintendo didn't announce anything "new" this year does these two games, as well as Mario Maker, a disservice. The hands-on time was new for many, and it was a solid showing on both accounts.

The Nintendo World Championships. Remember That?

It's amazing what can change in just 36 hours. The Sunday before E3, Nintendo streamed the Nintendo World Championships around the world to rave reviews. Plenty of sites and fans were saying the competition had gotten E3 off to a great start and put the Big N in the driver's seat for the week ahead. Then, all of that goodwill was seemingly squandered by the Nintendo Direct Tuesday morning, at least if you believe some of the headlines.

Yes, Nintendo is still behind the times in a lot of areas, like online gaming and account management, but the company has really seen the light when it comes to competitive gaming over the last couple of years. Last year's Smash Bros. tournament was, well, a smashing success, and this year's competition expanded on that formula. Nintendo has likely tapped into something here that it will be able to capitalize on for a long time to come.

So look, I'm not a paid shill for Nintendo. Shigeru Miyamoto didn't write me a check, I promise. I just feel that a lot of the commentary I've seen online about Nintendo these last few days does not mesh with the experience I had on the show floor, and I wanted you, dear reader, to know that. I hate to say this, but it infuriates me when gamers feel entitled to get a certain game announcement from their favorite company, and then throw a hissy fit that drowns out everything else when it doesn't happen, or when it's different than expected. Nintendo is in a distant third place in the console race, and this year's E3 won't change that. But the company still had a solid showing with a variety of games that will appeal to people who are true Nintendo fans.

Jason Gallagher is a staff writer at Den of Geek US. Follow him @MuckrajerJG