The Nintendo E3 2010 press conference was held today and showed off a ton of new footage and some new game announcements.
Here’s a list of the keynotes:
Reggie comes on stage and discusses technology and how it is about the experience overall. “We intend to show you how Nintendo is raising the bar in terms of game experience, once again”
ZELDA IS SHOWN RIGHT OFF THE BAT. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword announced for Wii. Gameplay footage is shown and demoed on-stage by Miyamoto himself.
Reggie comes out to talk about more casual titles. Specifically sports. Announces NBA Jam on Wii.
Mario Sports Mix announced! A brand new Mario sports game that stays true to his roots but goes to new activities including Volleyball, Hockey, Dodgeball, and Basketball, among others! Coming in 2011 and looks just as fun as ever!
Nintendo announces it’s highest sales recently as evidence that Wii is doing well. Mario Kart Wii sold over 22 million. New Super Mario Bros. Wii 14 million! Talks about “bridge titles” that move people to more hardcore gaming from the casual fair.
77 million Mii characters have been created. Wii Party announced and shown. All new party games like Hot Potato, Board Game Island and Balance Boat shown. Includes many all-new “House Party” games where you interact in unique ways with the game using the Wii Remote and/or Nunchuck. Like Hot Potato has you passing the Wii Remote until it rumbles. Another has you placing the Wii Remotes on a table in front of you and picking them up to “Buzz” in and answer questions. Over 70 mini-games in all. 13 Party Game Sections. Releasing in Japan this July and presumably this holiday in America.
Just Dance 2 is the sequel to the breakout hit original; a game that sold millions. Just Dance 2 will include 40 tracks. More dance moves than ever before. Dancing duets, Just Sweat Mode, Dance Crew Face Offs, Up to 8-Players. Coming Fall 2010.
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn announced for DS! Trailer for the game is shown. 3D top-down graphics. Use the Stylus to control Djinn powers and to solve puzzles. Shows off new magic attacks. Both screens used to show off massive bosses that take up both screens. Coming this holiday. Sadly it mostly looks like typical RPG fare. But will be fun for fans I’m sure.
GoldenEye 007 formally announced and shown! Starts off showing a focus group talking about how it was the best game ever and how it revolutionized gaming for them back in the day. They reveal that a new remake is coming, exclusively to Wii! A trailer shows off the game. It has been completely upgraded graphically (though this is Wii so it doesn’t look mind blowing) and will include all kinds of new features. Split screen and online play shown. 8 classic characters. 15 game modes including paintball. Melee moves used to take down enemies look pretty awesome. They plan to use this FPS to also introduce new gamers to the classic that may not have played it before or were too young. Releases this holiday 2010.
Disney Epic Mickey is shown as Warren Spector of Junction Point comes on stage to demo the game. Coming exclusively to Wii this holiday.
Talks about Smash Bros. and Kirby creator . . . A new Kirby game?! Been 7 years since he had a console starring role!
KIRBY RETURNS! Kirby Epic Yarn announced! A mix of the old with the new! In the game, Kirby is made out of real material for a visual-style that is striking and incredibly awesome! He literally unzips, unfirls and moves the world around him from a side-scrolling perspective as he interacts with the very fibers and material that make the world! This creates some incredibly awesome platforming. Many Kirby powers are shown in the trailer, he even floats down like an umbrella. He can also turn into objects like car or UFO and even surfs on a Surfboard! He also uses a whip to fling projectiles back at enemies. Gameplay may be co-op. At one point he even transforms into a giant mech! He also fights many epic bosses. The art style is truly incredible and this is definitely one of my favorite games shown so far.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies will be released in America on July 11th, 2010. 120 Mini-Quests, additional downloadable wi-fi quests, 300 monsters, 900 items, Infinite treasure maps. Interaction between players was huge in fueling it’s popularity in Japan. In the game three friends can quest together. Social element in Tag Mode seeks out nearby players. New maps and characters added to adventure on constant basis. 120 game hours by one Nintendo girl who works at Treehouse.
Last day of August, Wii gets ….. Metroid: Other M! Release date is August 31st!< /li>
New Retro Studios game is DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS!!!!!!!!!! New side-scrolling donkey Kong game looks just like a 3D Donkey Kong Country but with great graphics! Some awesome art style moments as well. Diddy rolls atop Donkey Kong at one point. Lots of Barrel Blasting and Mine Cart riding just like you remember! You can even shoot into the background. One cool section has columns breaking apart and collapsing as Donkey Kong quickly sails through by barrel blast after barrel blast quick enough to avoid getting hit by the collapsing columns behind him. The Barrel blasting looks so awesome! Just as fun as the Donkey Kong Country games of old. It’s a true return to form for the series! It will be available this holiday!
Super Mario 64 first moved us into fully rendered 3D game worlds. The Wii Remote got us up off the couch. And now Nintendo 3DS is on the way…. It will revolutionize the industry, which has been hampered by it’s requirement of wearing glasses to enjoy 3D….. It’s the glasses, stupid! Nintendo thinks there is a better way to have 3D wherever you go without glasses. And promises lots of content available on day one!
“Nothing between you and the experience”. Nintendo 3DS.
The console raises from the floor birthed in red light and fog as the camera zooms in on Nintendo’s new sequel to the DS! Satori Iwata then comes on stage with 3DS in hand! Looks the same as the DSi with the exact same clamshell design. Looks very small. 2 screens, upper screen is 3.5 inch widescreen display. Full 3D graphics without glasses (top screen only). Virtual Boy is mentioned just to drive home that Nintendo’s been thinking about 3D for a long time.
What they’ve always searched for was a way to make 3D games a practical reality. A mass market product. 3D Depth slider adjusts 3D effect. You can maximize the 3D or remove it altogether! Or any degree in between. Nintendo said the reason both screens aren’t 3D is because they realized that smudges reduce the 3D effect. “Touch screen and 3d screen don’t combine well.” It’s been 6 years since DS launched. Graphics hardware is a major improvement and the graphics look to be better than Wii quality! Even Xbox 360 in some games if that’s possible. At least it competes with PSP. This alone might cause a lot of enthusiasm in development community says Nintendo.
So how about the controls? There is a “Slide Pad” designed for analog control which is pretty much a control stick. Motion sensor and gyrosensor also integrated into the system! Nintendo hopes new ideas will be born to take advantage of the new control mechanisms. As reported previously, the 3DS is fully compatibile with DSi. Also has camera’s! There are two cameras on the outside and one inside on the swival. The two cameras are oriented so that you can take . . . . dum dum dum, 3D DIGITAL PICTURES!
You can then view the photos in 3D! 3D PICTURES! This is the first time 3D pictures have ever been offered on a device. Obviously Nintendo is targeting mass market appeal with this device.
To that end, Nintendo revealed that the 3DS capable of showing 3D Hollywood movies!!! And they revealed that they will be available . . . although they didn’t exactly say how. Movies from Disney, WB, and Dreamworks were announced and those movies will be on display at E3. These include: How to Train Your Dragon 3D, Legend of the Guardians (WB), and Disney’s Tangled. This is a first time 3D film content has been demonstrated without need of glasses.
Gamers may recall a joint venture Nintendo formed called Project Sora in 2009 . . . It was established to create game design specifically for 3DS.
And they are the studio behind . . . NEW KID ICARUS GAME! Kid Icarus: Uprising is the official title! “The miracle of flight”. As character flies through environments effortelessly, you blast enemies out of the sky in what looks like a fast-paced fully 3D shooter. Graphics are 3D and about PS2 quality. Gameplay is fast and furious. As Pit flies and dodges laser beams, fights enemies melee, shoots arrows and more. Looks like a Treasure-developed game. Pit also speaks and fights against massive bosses. The gameplay truly looks amazing! “Let your wings shine!” The game is coming soon but an exact release wasn’t revealed. Kid Icarus in 3D! Can only appreciate it when you play it yourself in 3D says Nintendo.
The 3D graphics allow for better depth in the gaming world. It makes the ability to navigate and go around objects much better. You can more easily judge distance between yourself and the world.
3DS can also search for Wi-fi access points or other 3DS systems while in sleep mode. It will automatically communicate with them. Nintendogs used a somewhat similar function but back then it was limited. The communication stopped if they played another game, now the 3DS hardware itself does it automatically no matter what is being played. Also gamers can use Internet for wi-fi. Even if not at an access point new stages, quests, ghost data, new rankings, etc. will have already been downloaded automatically. No monthly fee, it will remain free. Iwata feels 3DS will have best third party launch ever. And Nintend is also developing many games internally.
Miyamoto then reveals that he is working on Nintendogs+Cats for 3DS!
They then announce a slew of third-party titles that are in development: DJ Hero 2 from Activision, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy from Square Enix, Saint’s Row from THQ, an all-new Resident Evil game from Capcom entitled “Resident Evil: Revelations”, Batman from WB, Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy from Ubisoft and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D from Konami and Hideo Kojima! This is followed by a video that has developers describe their reaction to the 3DS hardware and what they think they can do with it.
They then show a funny promo video to “demonstrate” the 3D effect which can’t be adequately shown on video, so says Reggie. In the video Iwata, then Shigeru Miyamoto, then Reggie himself are all “sucked into” a 3DS system when they pick it up! Reggie comes out with “burned clothes”!
And with that the conference is over! AMAZING! So many great games I was not expecting, lots of awesome franchises being revived! It’s an exciting time. 🙂
