E3 Day Two: Nintendo’s Press Conference

It’s the second day of E3!  Yesterday, Microsoft gave a big press conference, and today, Nintendo gave one.  Naturally, they showed footage and announced all sorts of games.

• Things started with Wii Zelda, which is now called Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.  It’s fancy-looking…I guess?  It’d probably look better in HD, except Nintendo doesn’t support that.  Anyway, there was a thirty-second trailer for it, half of which was a recap of the 3D Zelda games up until now.  There was also a demo of the controls, which they promise are super-fancy thanks to the Wii Motion Plus, but there were also technical difficulties during this demo, which is super-embarrassing. No release date was announced.

• Things got Golden as they talked about Golden Sun DS and Goldeneye Wii.  Golden Sun was a popular RPG series for the GBA, so everyone’s excited that it’s coming to the DS after seven or so years.  Goldeneye 64 is also a popular game, judging from its place on GameCola’s Top Fifty Videogames List, and it is particularly well-known for its multiplayer experience, which begs the question: Will Goldeneye Wii have online multiplayer?  Will Goldeneye Wii be worth playing, seeing as it is not being made by Rare, the best videogame-making company ever?  These questions were probably answered in the press conference, but I decided to take a bathroom break at this point in time, so I missed it.
• They mentioned a bunch of games that we already know are being released this year, such as Epic Mickey (as in Mickey Mouse), Dragon Quest 9 which is coming to America after selling a zillion copies in Japan, and Metroid Other M.
• Mario Party and Wii Sports are trading spaces. A Mario Sports game is in development, where you can play as the Mario characters in a bunch of different sports, including volleyball and hockey.  Meanwhile, in Wii Party, you can play as your Mii characters through all sorts of minigames.

• A bunch of old series are coming up with new installments, including Kirby, Donkey Kong and Kid Icarus.  Kirby Wii is a yarn-based game, and, hey!  I’m serious here, people!  This is not fabricated news!  The art style is based on yarn and string, and it looks kind of weird, to be honest. You could tell the audience was confused at this.  The audience was more enthusiastic for Donkey Kong Country Wii, which appears to be a 2D platformer.  It looks good, and they said it’s being released this holiday, although I notice they didn’t mention which holiday.  Finally, Kid Icarus Uprising appears to be the flagship game for the Nintendo 3DS.  Speaking of which…
• There was a lot of stuff about the 3DS.  Nintendo started by bragging about how it is super-innovative when it comes to making new systems.  I thought they might mention their first 3D system, the Virtual Boy, but they didn’t.  Instead, they mentioned the fact that their new 3D system does not require glasses about a million times.  No glasses.  No glasses.  You don’t have to wear glasses.  This appears to be the major selling point for the system, which is actually a good idea.  Nobody likes having to pay an extra ten dollars for glasses.  Only the top screen of the Nintendo 3DS is in 3D because the bottom screen is a touch screen.  It comes with two cameras so you can take 3D pictures.  It can play the latest 3D movies.  You can use some sort of slider to determine how much of a 3D effect you want.  It automatically connects to the Internet, with no monthly fees.
• Nintendo ended the conference on a sexist note, as they brought in a hundred Hooters girls in Nintendo shirts to give everyone in the audience a free 3DS…demo.  So much for Nintendo’s family-friendly image.

So that was Nintendo’s big press conference.  Tomorrow, we’ll report on Sony’s big press conference.  Then, we’ll discuss all the news that came out of the 90 or so other companies that attended E3.  It’s going to be exciting, by jingo, so stay tuned!