Nintendo E3 World Report

Nintendo continued a tradition of holding a great E3 press conference at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California.

Nintendo has a history now of holding their E3 press conference at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood California, and it is always an event designed to put the fun back into gaming. Again for 2008, Nintendo showcased the fun in the Nintendo Wii and the DS and took a look back at the success that these platforms have enjoyed in the past year.

Though there was a lot of fun with the demo of the Wii snowboarding conducted by Shaun White from Ubisoft on the Wii Balance Board controller, it was still hard to tell just exactly how the tricks were performed during the demonstration. We just can't wait to get our hands, er, I mean feet on it and see how it's done.

The real interesting part of the conference was when Satoru Iwata took the stage to highlight the company's upcoming product line. That is after all what we are all here to see, right? Well he did not get into too many details but did promise that the Zelda and Mario teams are working on some new Wii titles. This was met with an enthusiastic round of applause from all the press. It seems that we are not the only Mario and Zelda fans there.

Next we were introduced to Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii, by way of a video of some game play. This new version will support a new microphone peripheral called WiiSpeak. This is an interesting concept, basically a community microphone that picks up all of the voices of everyone sitting around the television. Players will be able to again be able to visit other player's cities, of course by the use of their Friend Codes, and then exchange gifts and trade items. There will also be message boards and auctions where players can interact with other animals.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime also got his two-cents in showing clips of some third-party titles that are "coming soon" to a Wii near you. These titles include Call of Duty: World at War, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party.

Nintendo is also getting into the Music scene with Guitar Hero: World Tour, but then they announced a second entry to the DS Guitar Hero series, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades. In this game, players will be able to share songs during multiplayer play as long as both players own the game.

Next up was footage from Spore for the DS which is called Spore Creatures. EA Games is bringing us this little treat for this platform and making good use of all the DS has to offer including great use of the touch screen. Then they announced the only Nintendo-published project for the DS, Pokemon Ranger: Shadow of Almin, but gave very few details about it.

The biggest announcement of the conference we believe was the announcement of Rockstar Games' development of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS. This was met with grand exuberance as it will bring the open environment of GTA to the platform of the DS, and this should be extremely interesting.

In the history of saving the best for last, Shigeru Miyamoto showcased Wii Music. This is a game that will allow anyone to play music by making gestures with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, as well as using the Fit Board. It will feature a variety of songs, including Nintendo songs of course, as Mario's theme was demonstrated. If you have ever wanted to be a conductor, this may be your chance. But for the most part, this will be another in a long list of casual games for the Wii.

Nintendo again is focusing on keeping the fun in gaming, and as you left the conference, you were left with the feeling that there was something for everyone. But as a journalist, we were left with a lot more questions than answers, as most often there were few details and much show. Though Nintendo does have a history of coming through for its customers so as a fan, I can still say, hang in there. There looks to be a lot more Nintendo goodness down the road, and I for one will be looking forward to getting around that next bend.