At this year’s E3 Expo in Los Angeles, Nintendo built it and they came. The lines to demo the new Wii U console curled up in between ropes and around the outer wall of their glorious booth. The usual wait time was over an hour, even up to the last closing minutes on the last day.

Nintendo’s presence was so grand, that it disrupted my game play next door at the  Sony PlayStation Move demo station. The light from Nintendo’s effulgent wall confused PS Move‘s light sensors and left it stunned. Only the outer setups closest to Nintendo’s booth were affected. Unfortunately the only thing Sony could do was restart the console, which was a turn off (literally).

Here you can see the reflection of Nintendo’s luminescence, as well as people trying hard to play the game. It made for great action for passing traffic, but a terrible gaming experience.

Just as the Wii began to collect dust, Nintendo invited us to play again with the Wii U. The Wii U is an innovative extension that gives gaming a new dimension. Think of it as an iPad (with a stylus) that syncs to the visuals displayed on your TV. The trailer looks amazing, but the games that were demo’d at E3 were unimpressive.

Super Mario Bros. Mii: Not a bad game that would beg for continuous play.

Measure Up: Looks like a fun game but the fun is only temporary. I give it 10 minutes max.

Shield Pose: Terrible for adults but perfect for 10 and under. However if I were 10 years old, this would not be my first choice to beg someone to buy.

Chase Mii: A new way of playing tag. I prefer Mario Kart.

Battle Mii: Looks fun and has more dynamics to it compared to the other games. But I’m still not sold.

It would have been a stellar winner if The Legend of Zelda was available to demo. The Wii U is a great idea, thinking outside the box, so hopefully the developing games will too.

Check out Scav’s intro to Wii U here.

Check out the trailer:

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