E3: Nintendo conference roundup

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Today is Nintendo's turn to take a kick at the ol' E3 bucket. Microsoft came out with all guns blazing yesterday and Sony is still to come, but how exactly the did Nintendo do? Neowin was live blogging the event, but just in case you missed it, here are some of our impressions.

New Super Mario Bros

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): The game looked like a rehash of the original Super Mario Bros for NES, but with one twist, it's four player multiplayer. While it certainly gave the Mario series a nice twist, I wasn't too impressed. Comes out Holiday 2009.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): I thought the game looked great, love the bright colours and the world design taken from NSMB on the DS. Not too sure about the co-op modes yet, but I'll reserve judgement until I see more.

Wii Fit+

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): Nintendo is updating the software to the Wii Fit Balance Board to add new exercises and new games. They seem to try to tackle the problem of people stop using it after two weeks, which may work because it gives people the option to fully customize their workouts. A nice update for Balance Board users and comes out Fall 2009.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): Honestly, I couldn't be any less interested. As far as I am concerned it's just more mini games which are fun for five minutes before you're bored of them and the balance board is collecting dust again.

Wii Resort

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): Not impressed. It looks like an updated version of Wii Sports with different games.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): I liked the look of the basketball game, but that was all really. Again, just more rehashs of the mini games and shovelware.

Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers for Wii

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): Looked pretty cool, but that's because I love final fantasy games. This game is nothing really new, but it was nice to see a new trailer for the game.

Kingdom Hearts for DS

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): A new DS game from the Kingdom hearts franchise. Never really played the previous game so this didn't really tickle my fancy. Graphics looked great though.

Mario and Luigi - Bowsers Inside Story for DS

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): Didn't look to impressive. Just looked like another typical Mario game. Coming this fall to North America.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): Quite excited to see a new game in the franchise, but I hope it goes beyond more of the same.

Golden Sun DS

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): I know Dave is excited for this, but I have never really been a fan of the series. From what i gather from Dave, it should be good.

Mario vs Donkey Kong for DS

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): This main draw to the game is you can create your own levels, but the game looked like it was Lemmings. Available as a download only via DSWare.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): Never even heard of the series before today. Can't say I was impressed by the trailer. I'll definitely follow the development though and try the game out.

Upload to Facebook

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): With the DSi's camera, you can now upload videos to youtube. Seems pretty cool, but nothing too impressive. Just another example of social sites entering the gaming world.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): Seems to be a popular feature this year at E3. I'm not sure how many casual gamers will use Facebook though, especially the younger crowd.

Vitality Sensor for Wii

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): I don't really see the point of this. It allows you to take your heart rate and other things of that nature while playing games. Why? I have no idea.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): I thought it was a lie detector at first haha. Another useless add-on in my opinion.

Mario Galaxy 2

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): I loved the first one, thought it was the best game I played in years. This one should be good, why you may ask? YOSHI!!!!

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): I was initially excited when they were leading up to the trailer. As soon as it started though all my excitment died. It's clearly using so many resources from Super Mario Galaxy. There's no need to cash in on Mario like this.

The Conduit

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): Another game that is exclusive to the Wii from Sega. Looked kinda cool and pretty visual appealing. Should be a nice change from the typical Wii games.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): Honestly, I wasn't impressed. Sega haven't created the best games for quite some time now. I don't see this doing any better.

Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): Looked pretty cool. The graphics were gorgeous for the Wii. This should definitely be a top seller when it comes out.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): I love Resident Evil, definitely looking forward to this. It looked fantastic in the trailer.

Dead Space Extraction

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): While the first one didn't sell well for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, i loved it. I can't see it doing very well though, especially with past sales of the game and Nintendo's Wii audience. Hopefully i am wrong and it sells well, because this franchise deserves it.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): I wasn't a great fan of the first game but the trailer for Extraction did look very interesting and there was plenty of action going on. Very nice to see more mature games making it onto the Wii.

Metroid Other M

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): Made by Team Ninja (guys who brought us Ninja Gaiden). The game looked intense and I kind of wish I didn't sell my wii so I could play this game. This was the most impressive part of the show for me for sure.

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): What have they done! Why on earth would they go to Team Ninja to develop a Metroid game. I don't see it ending well. From the brief clips it just looked like Ninja Gaiden with a new layer of pain, heck I think I even spotted some of Ryu's moves. Disappointed to say the least.

Final Thoughts

Garrett Dodd (rajputwarrior): This presentation sucked, and that is me being nice. It was boring, strung out and most of what was shown had already been seen. I guess Nintendo went into with the attitude of "we are the best right now, we have nothing to prove."

Andrew Gallacher (DrunknMunky): Overall, pretty disappointing but they didn't make a fool of themselfs at least, which is better than last year. I was disappointed in Iwata's speach, he was the most important man in the room who everybody should have been listening to closely. Instead I found myself zoning out and checking the forums to see other's reactions.

(4 replies) #1 Marcus16 on 02 Jun 2009 - 19:09

You guys have a guy who sold his Wii covering Nintendo? Please, either try for real or don't try at all. At least you won't look silly.

#1.1 BoDEAN on 02 Jun 2009 - 22:18

LAUGH!

#1.2 Marcus16 on 02 Jun 2009 - 23:10

I sure that laugh is laughing in agreement. How can you cover a system without actually owning it?

#1.3 +Remysaus on 03 Jun 2009 - 09:02

You don't need to own the console to judge a conference..

#1.4 jordans on 10 Nov 2009 - 10:23

sure that laugh is laughing in agreement.
need not to own the judge a conference blazers.

#2 +majortom1981 on 02 Jun 2009 - 19:16

Also Doesn't nintendo still have a presentation in japan and i think a miyamoto keynote to get through still ?

Plus Sin and punishment 2 is playable on the floor. I really think a nintendo fan should cover a nintendo press conference. You admit yourself that you sold your wii.

(4 replies) #3 VIVIsectVI on 02 Jun 2009 - 21:51

Uh...reads like two 'hardcore' gamers with a chip on their shoulder about the success of the Wii. Thanks for the pointless read.

Next.

#3.1 +dead.cell on 02 Jun 2009 - 21:56

Yeah, it does read off like a bitch fest. At least by one of them. Metroid looked great, and was for the most part, the biggest excitement I got out of Nintendo.

#3.2 TRC on 02 Jun 2009 - 22:27

Agreed, this was terribly written and obviously biased against Nintendo.

#3.3 liamwolf on 03 Jun 2009 - 00:03

VIVIsectVI said,

Our Nintendo's E3 just sucked. Actually, I think it was a bit of both. I believe these guys got the small straws when neowin was picking out people to review Nintendo's announcements, but I also believe that Nintendo failed to release anything that looked partially good, besides maybe Resident Evil.

#3.4 +majortom1981 on 03 Jun 2009 - 02:32

liamwolf said,

I guess zelda wii being announced with artwork is not good enough along with ,metroid, super mario wii, super mario galaxies 2, and sin and punishment?

#4 +dead.cell on 02 Jun 2009 - 21:52

Does it really matter? Aside from Metroid, it was pretty sorry of a presentation. The Motion Sensing accessory should have been there from the get go. It's what everyone expected of the damn "revolutionary" console to begin with, not to wave it around like a stupid wand. Also, that's what they showed last year anyhow, correct? Lame.

(1 reply) #5 Silverskull on 02 Jun 2009 - 22:03

That Kingdom Hearts game is for the DS, not the Wii.

Does it impress you now?

#5.1 liamwolf on 03 Jun 2009 - 00:01

Silverskull said,

Nope

(1 reply) #6 Antaris on 03 Jun 2009 - 00:00

Overall, the whole presentation was kinda half hearted. I think they took one look at Microsoft's presentation yesterday, and just though "sh*t!" There was nothing new this year, this is a quick rundown of what I thought:

New Super Mario Brothers: Wii - Looks appealing.
Wii Fit Plus - Just feels like Wii Fit v 1.5, just adding more games, not really an E3 scale announcement.
Wii Sports Resort - Meh.
Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts - I'd love to see these games in HD!
Wii Vitality Sensor...? Let me go get my Wii-prescription of Wii-viagra because your failed to Wii-arouse me.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Looks good, loved Galaxy.
Metroid: Other M - Odd name, was a bit unsure about the Ninja-peeps building it, but if they can keep the Metroid fans happy apon release, should be a hit.

All in all, I felt that it was duller than E3/2008!

I remember laying out a comment in the live feed: If 2 of 3 of the big console kings are embracing HD devices and content, and a generous amount of those owning those consoles utilise HD televisions, why is Nintendo not looking towards HD version of the Wii, they are still lagging behind with Gamecube-esque hardware and the most diluted and poluted 3rd party library.

No Wii HD at E3?

#6.1 +dead.cell on 03 Jun 2009 - 02:47

What's worse is that Sony went after them and came in with guns blazing. It's like, after the Nintendo presentation was over, everyone probably forgot about their presentation aside from Metroid. As I said already, the Wii should've played as they're showing it off now to BEGIN with.

Then you have the Sony motion controls which literally just blew me away. Better than anything I've seen of Nintendo's Wii controller this entire time. I simply hope Sony can make development with those controls as easy as possible, so that we may have the possibility of having a MGS kind of game where you can actually snap necks, slit throats, and that sort of thing. It's always exciting imagining what you can do with that stuff, especially when it's working so well in a simple demo...

#7 VTSV on 03 Jun 2009 - 02:14

I've been waiting years to hear those 2 words mentioned again: "Golden Sun"

#8 GreyWolfSC on 03 Jun 2009 - 02:43

The delivery was awful. Everyone looked like they were trying to teach a 5th grade history class. I suppose the actual products were fine. I'm not interested in the Wii Fit or finger thingy, but the new SMB looks fun, SMG2 looks good, Conduit looks like it's gonna rock. Metroid is next year, but I was impressed with the preview, too. Nintendo doesn't hint about upcoming products very often and they seem to release things as they finish them instead of seasonally so I expect to hear about more games in the coming months, too.

(2 replies) #9 C_Guy on 03 Jun 2009 - 03:36

Ok so Garrett and Andrew don't get it. That's fine. Numbers don't lie and we all know where Nintendo's sales are. They are what stop Sony from sleeping at night.

Keep leading the way Nintendo. Thank you for not shoveling out cookie cutter crap.

#9.1 +dead.cell on 03 Jun 2009 - 03:39

Cookie cutter or not, crap is still crap...

#9.2 Antaris on 03 Jun 2009 - 08:35

C_Guy said,

Numbers don't lie and we all know where Nintendo's sales are.

I think this is a classic case of Quality over Quantity!

(3 replies) #10 Aahz on 03 Jun 2009 - 17:57

Why are people excited about that thing they are trying to call a Metroid game? Last I checked, Metroid was not about arena fighting but rather exploration and the exploration elements of every single Team Ninja game are horrible and, in fact, only exist to get you to the next arena.

Each of the new Ninja Gaiden games has been going from one small kill-box to another and while Metroid is traditionally separated into rooms they have always been interesting, varied, and focused on discovery not shooting dudes in the face at point-blank range mid face-buster.

#10.1 +dead.cell on 03 Jun 2009 - 18:18

God forbid they'd try something new with their series that's older than me... Sheesh.

#10.2 Aahz on 03 Jun 2009 - 21:57

Perhaps with age will come reading comprehension.

Metroid is tied to exploration. It is the very point of the series. It is so much a definitive part that it has been paired with Castlevania games and made into an entire genre = Metroidvania.

It's not about what they are adding but rather what they have taken away. To remove exploration is to remove the entire basis for the genre.

#10.3 nid~vaeda on 04 Jun 2009 - 04:22

Aahz, perhaps they haven't removed any exploration but simply added to it the fast paced fighting that Team Ninja are so well known for. You should calm down a bit I am pretty sure it will turn out alright, think back to when Metroid first went FPS many were skeptical on how it would pan out but all in all it worked plus Nintendo I am sure is playing a heavy hand in how it is being designed.

#11 jordans on 09 Oct 2009 - 12:54

Our Nintendo's E3 just sucked. Actually, I think it was a bit of both. I believe these trainers got the small straws when neowin was picking out people to review Nintendo's announcements, but I also believe that Nintendo failed to release ugg sale that looked partially wholesale, besides maybe Resident Evil.

#12 jordans on 10 Nov 2009 - 10:25

Actually, I think it was a bit of both, Each of the new Ninja Gaiden games has been going from one small kill-box to another and while Metroid is traditionally wholesale nike separated into rooms they have always been interesting, varied, and focused on discovery not shooting dudes in the face at nike blazers-point-blank range mid face-buster.

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