Nintendo's E3 Conference 2010

E3 started this week, and Nintendo's conference was today. Unlike last year and 2008, I was not able to watch it live, but I caught up after school, and I must say... I'm very impressed. Microsoft's conference was a disaster, but thankfully Nintendo managed not to follow their example, or repeat their disastrous E3 2008 conference.

Let's see...

"The Legend of Zelda Wii" is now "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword", and apparently it takes place before Ocarina of Time and delves into how the Master Sword was created. It also blend in the realistic graphics of Twilight Princess with the cel-shaded graphics seen in Wind Waker. It looks a bit awkward, but I'm sure we'll get used to them (like we did with Wind Waker). Watching Miyamoto play it, it definitely looks like it needs to be fine-tuned as far as the motion controls go (it uses the Wii Motion Plus), but it looks nice. Of course, the game itself was pushed back to 2011, but hey... if it makes it a better game, then I have no problem with that.

Donkey Kong Country Returns; my favorite SNES series has been dormant for a long time, and seeing it revived under the helm of Retro Studios (who also revived the Metroid series) makes me a happy camper. It's a side-scroller like the early titles (and Jungle Beat), and looks to take the series back to its roots; DK and Diddy Kong may be the only playable characters (and what teamwork they showed off), but who knows? We may see Dixie Kong appear (and perhaps Kiddy? I doubt it); the other Kongs, I don't know, but I wouldn't count them out. The world needs the wisdom of Cranky Kong now more than ever. XD

Kirby's Epic Yarn; I was wondering where that Kirby GCN/Wii title went; it was announced way back in 2005, but we haven't heard a word from it since. The game was promising gameplay similar to Kirby Super Star. Well, now I see why it has been AWOL; it's been made into a completely different game. Now, Kirby is made of yarn, and can use yarn and strings to affect the world around him. Kirby can transform into other things, but I didn't see his trademark suction powers displayed in the trailer. He also looks like he has a new partner, which means that this game could be co-op like Super Star and Dream Land 3.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn; The game was shown last year as "Golden Sun DS", but now it has a proper subtitle. The trailer talked about a new generation coming to fend off evil, but the main character looks a lot like Isaac from the first two titles. But the game looks nice, and looks like it's going to push the DS's power to its limits.

Just as well too, because Nintendo unveiled the successor to the DS, which we have known about since early this year (at least, as far as the name goes). None other than the 3DS. This baby is far more powerful than the DS, and has larger screens; the top screen is slightly larger than the lower screen, and the addition of an analog stick is a boon for me; the main reason why I didn't play Super Mario 64 DS was because of the DS's lack of an analog, and using the touch screen to move freely was just... bad (especially if you use your thumb; the screen got smudged easily), and so I missed out on Yoshi's addition to the game. Hopefully the 3DS will be backwards compatible with DS titles, and that the analog will work with them. Also, the top screen will allow for the 3D that Hollywood seems to be so fascinated with nowadays, except without the need for those glasses. I'm interested to see how that turns out. It also supports WPA and WPA2 wireless encryptions, which means that I can finally change my router's settings, since the DS doesn't support WPA or WPA2.

With a new handheld comes new games, and what better game to start off with than... Kid Icarus: Uprising? Yep, after 19 years of being dormant, Pit is finally back in an all new adventure, sporting the look he had in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and a new voice (that I'm mixed on). The game is mixed between flight/shooter levels, and ground-based action stages. And it looks nice. Very nice. Welcome back, Pit. That's how you make a grand return.

There were a bunch of other titles revealed for the 3DS as well, including remakes of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, Pilotwings Resort, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (!), Resident Evil Revelations, Kingdom Hearts, The Sims 3, and Dead of Alive 3D. The 3DS looks like it's going to start out strong. Even better? The red model looks sexy as hell. I think I need to start saving up now...

Epic Mickey, which is now called "Disney: Epic Mickey", is shaping up to look nice. Using paint to change the world... despite what was said, isn't anything new (Okami), but I'm not going to dock points for that; how many other games use paint as a device? Also, the side-scrolling stages based on old Disney films will make many long-time Disney fans wet their pants in joy. Those stages (well, the one that was shown off, at least) looks straight out of the films.

I read that they also showed off PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure. Since it's a Pokemon title, let alone a spin-off, no one seemed to pay much attention to it, especially with Black and White on the horizon. But hopefully it will be a decent spin-off; I saw gameplay before, and it looks promising enough. They also confirmed that the third Pokemon Ranger title would be coming over as "Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs."

Now for some short blurbs on random titles. Mario's Sports Mix brings in a bunch of sports for the Mario gang, including basketball. Metroid: Other M will be hitting stores in August, I believe. Wii Party... Reading about it on Nintendo' E3 site, it sound like Mario Party, except without the Mario. I think I'll pass. Samurai Warriors 3... Never heard of the first two, but I'll be looking into this one to see what it's about. Okamiden, the sequel to my favorite game Okami, is on the DS, and I'm looking forward to the continuation of this story. Goldeneye 007 is back; the N64 game was very popular, and seeing it on the Wii may bring back many gamers. Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light... The very first game in the series dealt with the four heroes of light. I wonder how this game is going to relate to that one...? Lastly, there's Sonic Colors, which caught me by surprise a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon its page on GameFAQs. This game does not seem to be in the same series as the previous two Sonic Wii titles, which is a good thing, since I heard that those games sucked. Is there hope for this game, or will it be another roadblock in Sonic becoming good again? Only time will tell.

Anyway, that's all I'll be covering for now. Some good stuff announced or elaborated on this year. Perhaps better than last year's. Nintendo is recovering very nicely, and this year has especially shown that they have not forgotten about the gamer base that got them to where they are now. Wii and DS (and now 3DS) will keep us busy for even longer.

...And yet, there's still one title that I'm especially looking out for...

Namco-Bandai, you better deliver with Tales of Graces. Or else.