At GDC last week, Epic VP Mark Rein spoke about Nintendo's upcoming console, the Wii U, suggesting that it will "shock us" at E3 this year.
In what sounded more like a paid advertisement than an interview, Rein told Eurogamer that he "likes the Wii U".
"I think E3 will be a big eye-opener for people," he predicted. "I played Batman: Arkham City on the Wii U and they are doing some really cool stuff with the controller."
"Do you remember the Zelda demo they had on it? Would you not buy a Wii U just to play that? Of course you would," he said. "That's what Nintendo is all about. Their hardware is the software delivery service for their great content. That Zelda demo was gorgeous and we can do even more than that with Unreal Engine 3. I think it will do great."
Echoing what we've recently heard from video game analyst Michael Pachter, Rein suggested the Wii U might have been better off had it been released last year, but he's just as "excited for them to do it this year."
Unlike Pachter, however, he'd be "shocked if it doesn't do well."
"Did you play that Battle Mii game?" he asked. "Two players would play with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk and one would play with the Wii U controller?"
"I would buy a Wii U to play that game in a heartbeat. And I hope people make those kind of games with our technology. I think we've yet to really see what the Wii U can do and I think at E3 this year they're going to shock us."
E3 will be one of the last few "big" shows Nintendo has to really wow the gaming community with what the Wii U offers before it's planned Winter 2012 release.
Since the Wii U's unveiling there have been plenty of question marks and rumors surrounding the console. Nintendo has remained quiet about the system's specs and features, but rumors have indicated similar specs to the Xbox 360 with it being potentially "twice as powerful" at best.
Of course, with Nintendo and their consoles, it's not always about power. Sometimes pure innovation sells, as evidenced by the original Wii console. Like its predecessor, the Wii U will break the mold of traditional gaming by introducing a tablet-like controller that will work in unison with the console.
Is innovation enough to warrant the rumored high price point? Analysts certainly don't think so, many of which have predicted modest sales at best. Perhaps that's why Nintendo is looking into partnering with third parties to develop high-spec core games – Epic Games perhaps?
Mark Rein doesn't seem opposed to the idea.
"If I had 10 development teams I'd make a game for every single platform and make that the special game for that platform," said Rein.
"If you're the special game on that platform you do really, really well. Gears was one of the special ones on Xbox 360. Infinity Blade is a special game on the iPhone and iPad. Shadow Complex was a special game on Xbox Live Arcade," he explained. "But we don't have 10 development teams so it's just a matter of picking and choosing what we do and doing the best thing we can for the idea that we have."
Epic Games currently has two titles in development: Infinity Blade: Dungeons for iOS devices (specially designed for the new iPad) and Fortnite, a new survival-based game without any confirmed platforms…the Wii U maybe?
