My thoughts on Nintendo's E3 press conference

For those of you who missed it, a recap of the event can be found here. For those up to speed, read on!



Another year, another press conference. Does this one do anything special to stand out? Here's my take on how things went.

Every year, people anticipate new games to be revealed. Well, if your one of those people, you may have been a little disappointed this year with the amount of games unveiled, since in the end, we only found out about two new titles. That's not to say these titles are underwhelming! Oh, no no no no no! Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit are both extremely important titles for the console's continued success! Mario Kart is there for the core gamers, while Wii Fit is there for the casual (As well as some core) gamers.

Some of you most likely thought "Ah, dammit, the big announcement is another freaking casual title? Check please!". But a lot of you are ignoring the most innovative part of Wii Fit: The "balance board" (Pictured below). The weight and position sensing of this amazing new peripheral will be amazing for titles such as SSX and Tony Hawk, as many have already said. Imagine actually leaning for a turn and jumping off your board for special moves! The only two things in the way of this becoming a reality are 1: the fact the balance board is a secondary peripheral NOT included in the box with the Wii, and 2: the high price point the balance board is likely to have. But, who knows? Perhaps some ambitious developer will make an amazing piece of software with the balance board! Then again, it could also be doomed to obscurity like R.O.B or Game Boy/GameCube connectivity. Let's hope for the former, hmm?

The Wii "balance board" (Tentative name)

Something else great announced was the new "Zapper" Wiimote/Nunchuk shell (Pictured below). Adding to the excitement was the announcement that several upcoming third-party games (Such as SEGA's Ghost Squad and Capcom's Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles) will be utilizing this new setup. I was quite surprised by how machine-gun like the shell is. I'm really liking it!

The new Wii Zapper shell

Also using the Zapper shell will be Electronic Art's Medal of Honor (Yet to be formally named). Something else great about MoH is the fact that online gunfights will be in groups of up to 32 players! This is a HUGE piece of news for the Wii, since it was previously rumoured that the console could only be connected to one other Wii at a time. Perhaps the Wii is more online-ready than once thought!

The Mii Popularity Channel was also shown, but this time under the moniker "Check Mii Out!". As announced previously, Check Mii Out! will be a channel on which players can view Miis uploaded by other players, rate them, and even download them if they want to. We'll also be able to upload our own creations, and subject them to judging! Perhaps the coolest thing hinted at about Check Mii Out! was the contests. Apparently, every once in a while, Nintendo will give players guidelines about what Miis to make, like a celebrity or a TV show character. The best Mii wins! However, what exactly is won was never said. Wii Points? New accessories? Or something even grander?

There was also some talk about the DS, but not as much as Wii. About halfway through the show, an editor from the all-things-Zelda website, The Hylia, came on stage to demo The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Watching him play, I realized how smooth and seamless the game was. The graphics were bright and vibrant, and the controls always seemed to react the way the player wanted them to. I'm so excited right now! October 1st can't come soon enough!

Well then, at the end of this conference, I must say I was quite pleased! We finally got a glimpse of Mario Kart Wii, as well as several new peripherals!

I know that some of you are saying "Where the talk about Smash Bros.? What about Animal Crossing", but keep this in mind: E3 just started! There are still two more days left for these announcements to be made! When Super Smash Bros. Brawl was unveiled, it wasn't in a fancy press conference or anything like that! It was revealed behind doors to a select group, days after the conference! The same could be true of Animal Crossing, Star Fox, and all the other games we're anticipating, not to mention further news on Mario Kart, Metroid and Super Mario Galaxy!

This E3 has just begun, and already I'm impressed. Here's to another great two days!

The Duck Has Spoken.