The first official day of E3 proper kicked off with the Nintendo Press Conference, which had a few surprises…and plenty of horn tooting. Our thoughts, and random awards, below:
Shoe:
Best Bit: A 2D and a 3D Mario? Someone pinch me. I might’ve slightly preferred a full-on, single-player side-scroller, but a Zelda: Four Swords take on Mario for New Super Mario Bros. Wii? Plus a sequel to one of the greatest, most innovative 3D adventures of all time in Super Mario Galaxy 2? Someone pinch the other cheek, please.
Worst Bit: Feeling slightly castrated when Nintendo was showing off Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion and Style Savvy. Also, the video montage of "man on the street" DSi testimonials was more "girl on the street." Thank god Samus Aran made me feel like a man again.
Best Quote: "Maybe you can think of this as Brain Age for your backside." – Nintendo Vice President of Marketing Cammie Dunaway on (Wii Fit Plus game using butt to hit numbers to do simple math)
Most Mysterious Bit: Hopefully, Team Ninja knows what makes Metroid Metroid with Other M. It’s not sci-fi action; it’s mystery, exploration, and finding the right power-ups to access those new, just out-of-reach areas. I do like this seemingly more story-oriented take on the franchise, however. This may be the most human Metroid game yet.
Most Appropriate Peripheral: The Wii Vitality Sensor. If I were wearing this thing when Nintendo announced it, they’d know just how disinterested I was feeling at that time.
Demian:
Best Bit: The big three — New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Metroid: Other M. New Super has kind of a "casual Mario" thing going on, but you and I both know it’s going to be fun. Galaxy 2 looks like Galaxy 1 with added Yoshi riding…I’d like to see a lot more new stuff than that, but like New Super, I expect Nintendo will nail the execution. And I’m really curious about Metroid: Other M — does Team Ninja still have it, now that former studio head Tomonobu Itagaki left, and took much of the senior staff with him?
Worst Bit: Wii Vitality Sensor — Nintendo Prez Satoru Iwata showed this heart-rate measuring peripheral and then proceeded to give almost no hint at why it’d be remotely cool. I think he actually said it could help people fall asleep. So that’s nice.
No comment.
Best Worst Tagline: Style Savvy: "Visit a wide world of shops!"
Question I Didn’t Want Asked: "Do you have what it takes to solve a James Patterson mystery?" Dunaway posed that stumper to the crowd about Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion.
Greg:
Best Bit: OK, this may be getting old, but I have to go with the Mario double play. It’s hard to imagine a lifelong fan of gaming not be excited by these announcements.
Worst Bit: From Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s President and COO, while talking about EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. Every single mistake you make in the real world…will be faithfully re-created in the game." and Grand Slam Tennis, Sega’s Virtua Tennis 2009, and other games utilizing Wii Motion Plus: " As someone who has spent time on both the course and court, I know this isn’t a good thing. He went on to say you’ll be muttering all the same bad words as you do in real life. I can’t wait!
Other Choice Quote: "Bowser really does suck…and I mean that in a good way!" — Reggie again, this time talking about fall’s Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story.
Wanted to See More Of: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Come on, Nintendo. You’re supposed to get my motor running for this one!
Looking Good: Wii Sports Resort. Sequel to the Wii’s ridiculously popular pack-in game, this one is looking good. It opens with your Mii skydiving to the host resort, reacting to any motion you make with the Wii Remote as you can dive-bomb your character or nab buddies and fall in formation. Shooting hoops and archery also looked solid. Or I should say archery looked good until it got overshadowed in Sony’s press conference.
Michael:
Best Bit: The announcement of two new Mario games is hard to complain about. Although a Super Mario Galaxy sequel seems somewhat safe…especially for Nintendo. But Metroid: Other M? Yeah, that was Samus Aran-hot.
Worst Bit: James Patterson Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion and Style Savvy make us wonder if males still play the DS. Hey, where are you, guys?
Passion, thy name is Woman’s Murder Club.
Worst Death: Marketing head Cammie Dunaway dying within 5 seconds of starting New Super Bros. Wii. Goombas can still be heard celebrating around the Mushroom Kingdom.
Hilarious Quote: "That’s why I sell games, not develop them." — Dunaway after playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii. If playing games makes you a developer, hell, we’ve made some of the best games in the world. For free, apparently. Man, we need to start charging stat.
Bathroom Break Game: Wii Fit Plus. Working out isn’t really fun, but Nintendo thinks it is. Again.
Didn’t Get the Memo Award: Cop: The Recruit. Apparently Ubisoft didn’t look at the paltry sales figures of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Uh, hello: DS owners don’t want to kill people, they want to solve passion-filled mysteries and be "style savvy."
Virtual Boy-Level of Stupidity: Wii Vitality Sensor. We’re sure this will be a hit in hospitals. And with doctors. And with…oh, that’s it.