Nintendo Press Conference: Highlights
Product announcements and hardware reveals from the Wii and DS manufacturer's showcase event
It's a bit odd nowadays to see Nintendo's E3 press conference as sandwiched between Microsoft and Sony, because its market position and philosophy is anything but... However, the company still has things to say to its hardcore consumers, and the presence on-stage of Cammie Dunaway, Reggie Fils-Aime and Satoru Iwata brought a smattering of new announcements - and some philosophy on the next steps for the company too.
Games - Wii
The main headline news, of course, revolved around the reveal of not one, but two Mario titles for the Wii. The first, New Super Mario Bros Wii is a remake of the hugely popular DS title, but introducing four-player co-op and compatibility with the Wiimote.
That game will be out in time for Christmas, while the second title - which was unexpected - was Super Mario Galaxy 2, also for the Wii.
The mention of a new Metroid game was also a surprise for most, as was the idea that Nintendo would itself be working on a "mature" title. Called Metroid: Other M, it will be a collaboration with Team Ninja, and is set for release some time in 2010.
The next edition of Wii Fit was also shown - Wii Fit Plus will allow users to choose from six different activities, covering strength, tone and conditioning, and you'll be able to mix up things up at will. That will be released towards the end of this year, both as a standalone disc and bundled with the Balance Board.
Other products also mentioned in the stage show included Final Fantasy: Crystal Bearers, The Conduit, Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles and Dead Space Extraction.
Hardware - Wii Motion Plus
While the Motion Plus is hardly a revelation in itself (after all, it's released this month), there was a little more light shed on its capabilities, with a stage show demonstration of a couple of games from forthcoming Wii Sports Resort.
Shooting hoops in basketball and an archery demo both displayed the improved accuracy of the Motion Plus over the original Wiimote, while Red Steel 2 was announced as only being compatible with the new controller technology.
Games - DS
There were a number of new titles announced for the DS during the press conference, although none of them hit quite the same highs as the Mario or Metroid Wii reveals.
Mario did make another appearance, however, this time in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, while new Golden Sun and Kingdom Hearts titles were also announced.
One of the new games that saw gameplay presented was Cop: The Recruit from Ubisoft - a sort of Pheonix Wright-meets-Chinatown Wars, with combat, racing and a bit of puzzling by the looks of things.
A link up with best-selling author James Patterson was discussed, alongside the forthcoming title Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion, while Style Savvy is a fashion game aimed squarely at the girls' market that's been popular in Japan already.