Nintendo took to the stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angles today, to show off their plans with a nostalgic look at what Nintendo has to offer in the future.
Nintendo biggest characters were all there from Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Kid Icuras, as well a few new names including Golden Eye and Mickey Mouse.
Nintendo similarly left the best to last with the unveiling of the new 3Ds – presented by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who came on stage to show off their latest handheld and it didn’t disappoint.
He talked about the fact that the future of gaming was 3D but felt the unfashionable 3D glasses were a major turn-off. He confirmed what many had thought, that there will be a 3D swtich – well in fact, a slider, to allow users to decide how much 3D they want.
He went on to explain that touchsceens and 3D screens were not great together because of smudging and grubby fingers. So they have decided to make the top wide-screen 3D display and the bottom one a touchscreen. He talked up the increased graphics capabilities, new analog controls and added that the 3DS would have a motion sensor and gyro sensor.
Iwata hyped the online experience of the new 3DS – with the ability to communicate with friends even when you’re playing games and said it would all work in the background – much like Xbox live.
The most interesting addition was the news that the 3DS will feature 2 cameras and would allow users to take full 3D pictures. He mentioned that the 3Ds would be able to show 3D movies without glasses – a world first.
The creator of Zelda was on-stage to show off the new The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – but suffered some embarrassing difficulties with the on-stage demo. The game featured Wii remote play with gameplay elements showing off sword play, wip play, and a cross-bow. It boasts the best graphics on the Wii and was a far cry from the simple look of Wii Sports. Its scheduled for release sometime next year.
A new Mario sports game was unveiled, called Mario Sports Mix, it will be out next year and looks like a sports version Smash Brothers.
Next up was a new party game called Wii Party. This was billed as the next game to bridge the social divide and will use your Mii avatars as the players. It will feature 13 game modes and will be out this summer.
Surprise announcement was the re-make of the classic N64 shooter Golden Eye and will be an exclusive to the Wii. I must admit it did look fantastic and brought back so many great memories.
Nintendo were pleased to announce a brand new Disney title which features their mascot Mickey Mouse, called Disney’s Epic Mickey. It would span the 80 years of Disney’s history using adventure platforming formula with some clever RPG elements and was confirmed as a Wii exclusive.
Nintendo’s US boss Reggie Fils-Aime announced that the Kirby would make a welcome return after seven years, called Kirby EpicYarn and is scheduled for release this fall.
Metroid will return for the Wii, called Metroid: Other M, which is set for release on 31st August. It looks like a futurist 3D platformer with shooting and sci-fi elements.
Mario creator was pleased to announce the return of Donkey Kong and it looked fantastic and real throw-back to Donkey Kong 64. It will continue with banana collecting in 3D, but continues with the side-scrolling formula.
One thought on “E3 Nintendo Press Conference: 3DS, Wii And Games”
I am well excited about the Nintendo 3DS.