E3 Press Conference Impressions: Nintendo

Nintendo held its press conference early Tuesday morning, and by playing to its nostalgia strengths and focusing on the audience who made them what they are, they had arguably the best show of the conference.

Things immediately started with a bang with the long-awaited reveal of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii, using Wii Motion Plus. A lot of the mechanics used in the game are similar to mini-games inside Wii Sports Resort, so if you’re looking for a Zelda primer, that’s your best place to try it out. The game itself looks like your standard Zelda game: amazing if you’re a fan, more of the same if you’re not. I’m sure Nintendo’s counting on there being more fans than not.

Mario returns in another sports game, Mario Sports Mix, but instead of a singular sports game, it’s a mix of a few, probably since each sport alone wasn’t big enough to make a full-sized game for it. Another mini-game collection is coming as well, Wii Party. Both of these games are for the new Wii audience, the audience I am not a part of.

Two Golden games were shown off afterwards, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS and a remake/reimagining of Goldeneye for the Wii. Golden Sun is yet another franchise I’ve never been too familiar with, but Goldeneye I do know. It’s ironic that it’s showing up only on the Wii, the console with the most nostalgia-based games on it. Nintendo is great at repackaging your childhood and having you rebuy it and, despite this game being an Activision product, it fits perfectly on the Wii.

Epic Mickey was a big highlight, as it looks like Mickey Mouse is finally getting a great video game and a nice successor to Mickey Mania on the SNES (the last great Mickey game). Kirby’s Epic Yarn was the next reveal, and it was probably the visual highlight of the press conference. The entire game looks like it’s made from cloth or felt, and it looks stunning, one of the most original looks for a game in years. This is definitely the right way to bring back a character who hasn’t been seen in years on consoles, with a new gameplay mechanic and a new look.

To do it the other way is to make a carbon copy of the original games, which is what Donkey Kong Country Returns appears to be. There hasn’t been a proper DKC game since the SNES, and it’s finally making its return thanks to the people behind the Metroid Prime series, Retro Studios. It really does look exactly like the SNES games, with an obvious visual upgrade. This is what Nintendo does best, and people eat it up.

On the other hand, Metroid Other M is a fresh new take on the franchise. Confirmed for a late August release, Other M is helmed by Team Ninja, the team behind the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series of games. Due to that, it looks much more action-packed than the solitary Prime games. Not to say those were bad; it’s just a different take, and I’m curious to see if it works. It’s the one Wii game this year I’m anticipating most.

Lastly, Nintendo revealed its next handheld and the first handheld with glasses-free 3D, the Nintendo 3DS. Basically a DS with a 3D top screen, Nintendo is positioning it as the next evolution of handhelds and a step above 3D requiring glasses. Sadly, the only way to see if it works or not is to get your hands on it, so it might be a hard sell until it’s put somewhere where the average Joe can get a look at it. I imagine many gaming kiosks to come.

The software support for it seemed to be very big, though. Third party publishers like EA, Activision, THQ, and more have all signed on and are bringing their biggest and best franchises over to the 3DS. Nintendo will, as well, and shocked many by bringing back a character who hasn’t been seen in a standalone game since the NES:  Kid Icarus. Kid Icarus Uprising will be a launch title for the 3DS, and it looks… well, it looks like Kid Icarus. The key thing to note about the 3DS is that it seems to be very early in its unveiling, since no release date or price point was given for it. I wouldn’t expect it until sometime next year.

Overall, between a mix of nostalgia and forward-thinking innovation, Nintendo arguably had the best conference of E3. Plenty of games shown of, a new piece of hardware and a slick pace helped it stand apart from the rest. Looks like Nintendo, as far as the “hardcore gamers” are concerned, is back.