E3 2011: Liveblog – Nintendo Press Conference

Alright kids, well, they have saved the biggest for last. They’ve given Nintendo the entire day to not be upstaged by another press conference. We’re expecting some big things out of the show this year for the Japanese company, with a new console announcement, bigger 3DS lineup, and a few new games for the old dust-collecting white-box. Let’s get settled in and get ready for the show to start. I’m excited. Are you?

• Okay, we’re almost set for the show. Should see Reggie any moment now.
• Who is Nintendo going for with the Wii 2? What kind of features will we see on the console? What games will they reveal for it? Good third party support? We’ll find out here shortly.
• Weird. Nintendo has a full orchestra in the Nokia Theater. I guess we’re going to have an epic reveal for this console.
• Alright, let’s go. Get this shit rolling.
• Really love the orchestra playing the music to go along with the gameplay of Zelda and Link, even Triforce.
• All of the games on display, from the NES to the latest railroad themed Zelda (the name escapes me).
• Shit, they even have a choir.
• Man, I’m getting goosebumps watching this stream online on my computer at work. Yep. I’m a gamer.
• Looks to be Skyward Sword gameplay now, with a few sweeping shots of levels and a large tree with a face on it.
• The Legend of Zelda: 25th Anniversary on stage now.
• Shigera Miyamoto on stage now for the briefing.
• Such a class act. So professional.
• Translator now.
• 25th Anniversary of Mario, this year is Zelda’s anniversary
• The music that we heard earlier is the theme to Zelda: Skyward Sword.
• They are going to be playing a few tracks for us at the briefing.
• A chime for solving a puzzle? Okay. Now we’re just listening to sound effects.
• Miyamoto is crazy.
• Really cool touch. Wish I could be there to hear this live.
• For the 25th Anniversary of Zelda, they are preparing a Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy Color Advanced.
• They’ve created a Zelda game for every console iteration.
• Zelda 3D for 3DS will launch next week
• September on DSi, 4-player co-op for free download for Legend of Zelda: Four Swords.
• Skyward Sword will be available for holiday season this year.
• Announcing a special gold Wiimote for the game.
• Lots of content in Skyward Sword, delivering the best Zelda experience yet.
• We’ll get more info on the release dates at a later time.
• Talking about music cd’s for Zelda. Guess they are really pushing this with the orchestra here. Might be down for it having heard it so far.
• Satoru Iwata onstage now
• A gameplatform equally satisfying for all players.
• They are attracting all of the elderly and young gamers
• They want deeper, and wider games
• I’m guessing porn.
• “To serve every player”
• No details just yet on the next gen console.
• Next year release date.
• Moving onto 3DS titles
• MarioKart 3DS on screen now
• Do a barrel roll! StarFox
• Mario on the 3DS
• Now we see Kid Icarus?
• Luigi’s Haunted Mansion? Couple of candles and ghosts, with a Luigi capturing him Ghostbusters style.
• Reggie’s turn.
• “Something for everyone” is what they are going for with the 3DS
• New headline titles for the 3DS
• MarioKart for the 3DS talk now.
• Mariokart looks okay, but I’m sure it looks great on the 3DS. Looks like they are adding a glider feature, and underwater races.
• Car customization (body, tires, spoilers, etc.)
• Looks good.
• Holiday 2011.
• StarFox 64 3D is back on the 3DS
• You can use buttons, or you can tilt and move the 3DS to do what you want it to do.
• Faces record video from the 3DS camera, and overlays that onto the game in multiplayer, similar to what Burnout does during wrecks.
• September 2011 release timeframe.
• Mario 3D is from the ground up for the handheld.
• Mario looks cool. Looks like a much smoother version of Mario 64 running on the 3D. I’m anxious to see how the 3D looks.
• It looks like a 3D side-scroller.
• Mario out before the end of the year.
• Kid Icarus: Uprising talk now, with video.
• Great looking gameplay of flying Icarus, shooting elements and going through canyons and open terrain on a set path.
• Battle other players. (looks like 4-player)
• Choose varying weapons
• Closes with an enormous Medusa (probably a boss battle) and fade to black.
• 3 on 3 multiplayer action. Sorry, thought it was 4player.
• Kid Icarus is coming later this year.
• Luigi’s Mansion 2
• 3D ghosts and gameplay look good as he sucks up multiple phantoms into is vacuum.
• Now talking about 3rd party developers jumping on the 3DS bandwagon.
• Resident Evi: The Mercenaries 3D
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympics 3D
• Ace Combat 3D
• Tetris Online
• Cave Story 3D
• Resident Evil: Revelations
• Driver Renegade
• Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions
• Tekken 3D
• Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D
• The library of games coming to the 3DS is growing. It might get me to buy it.
• Game demos available later this year for 3DS games.
• Virtual Console for the 3DS only
• Hopefully they carry over the demo shit to the regular Wii.
• Damn. Excitebike is 27 years old.
• That makes me old.
• Pokemon 3D and AR marker cards to look at
• The Pokemon can be superimposed onto 3DS pictures, making it easy to take pictures with Pikachu, or have sex with him.
• Now we’re getting into next-gen stuff.
• Going from Wii, to you.
• Welcome Wii U!
• Wait, what? Wii U? Seriously? That’s the name?
• Very cool controller for Wii U. Looks like a PSP with dual joysticks, directional pad on the left side, and bumper buttons on the back.
• Now going into gameplay
• Guy playing
• Switch from the TV to the controller.
• Draw on the controller
• Play simple games on the controller, as well as disc based games from the Wii U
• Interact with the Wii U to be a part of the game even more.
• I’m kinda excited for this.
• It looks to be perfectly integrated into the already heavy Nintendo lineup.
• Make video calls with the controller.
• Look at webpages and zoom with the Wii U controller as you hold it over the TV.
• Coming in 2012.
• Zelda next-gen looks awesome, with the inventory screen on the controller, and the gameplay on the screen.
• Iwata back on stage to give details
• 6.2 inch screen built in, so you can switch between the TV and the Wii U controller and play regular Wii games on it (backwards compatible).
• ZR and ZL buttons are added (those are the two bumper buttons we saw earlier) Looks to include a lot of tech into the controller. Accelerometer, mic, camera, etc.
• It shares some characteristics with a handheld gaming system, but it is not supposed to be used as one.
• Still haven’t seen what the console looks like, just the controllers.
• Video chat is available on the controller, even while you watch TV
• Now there can be games designed for mini-games on the controller, different to what is on screen, and vice versa.
• Iwata talking about Smash Bros. coming to both 3DS and Wii U, to work on both platforms.
• Could it be?
• Yes. That is awesome to be able to play cross platform from the 3DS to the Wii U.
• Will the Wii U change the way we play games? Is it that interesting?
• Now we’re looking at gameplay from the Wii U of a bird flying. Very early render of CGI gameplay. All pre-rendered.
• Looks to be on par with current consoles. Nothing really ground breaking or life changing, but definitely gets Nintendo on level playing field.
• New Super Mario Bros. Mii (where your Mii is actually in the game)
• Shield Pose - where you have to pose still-like, if you don’t, ninja arrows will attack you from all sides in 3D space.
• Chase Me - a new multiplayer game with differing views depending on what controller you are playing with, whether it be the Wii U or regular Wii controller.
• Reggie has to say “these are prototypes” because the games don’t look like anything special. They are basically just Wii games with a handheld different controller. Nice.
• Lego: City Stories is the first game announced for Wii U and 3DS development.
• Watching a video of third party developers blowing smoke up Nintendo’s ass, about the Wii U controller.
• Planning Darksiders II on the console at launch
• Batman: Arkham City on the console
• Ghost Recon: Online on the console
• Assassin’s Creed on the console. Nice!
• Looking at Darksiders II gameplay. The handheld (if there is no console part) looks to handle the job of gaming.
• Dirt 3 next.
• Then even a surprise look at Aliens: Colonial Marines! YES!
• Ghost Recon Online I can definitely see taking full advantage of the console.
• Metro: Last Night also shown off.
• Tekken now with character customization, no doubt using the drawing capabilities of the tablet.
• Ninja Gaiden 3 shown off. From what I’ve seen so far it looks great.
• Iwata and Reggie onstage.
• Now welcoming CEO John Riccatello of EA
• Breakthrough in their relationship?
• Looks like Madden where you call the plays and have menus on the tablet, with the screen devoted solely to the gameplay.
• Battlefield 3 mentioned. Really? Frostbite 2.0 will run on this? Call me shitfaced.
• Now they’re showing off 8 Wii U experiences on the show floor as well as hands on time with the 3DS as soon as press walks out the door.
• That’s it guys. Reggie wrapped it up by saying thanks and check out E3.nintendo.com for more information.

I really don’t know what to think about this press conference. Is the Wii U THE console? Is there something else we need to make this work on our TV’s? How is it broadcasting HD gaming over the air then? Lots of answers and confusion after the fact. Hopefully we’ll get more info as the show goes on, but for right now. It’s time for me to pack it up. Hope you guys enjoyed it!