E3 2010 Conference
Written by: Niek
As I write this it is 17:30 hours Amsterdam time and I am watching everything from the live stream off Gamespot and eating my warm dinner. Well the latter one is going to be cold before I'm done with it.
Half hour before the start, everyone was entering and taking a seat. The people already present were entertained with unreadable slides, but if I have to hazard a guess, they were some small trivia questions about Nintendo. At first glance Nintendo's stage looks overwhelmingly blue, where Microsoft's stage looked overwhelmingly green.
Yay, an interesting slide with OOT's young Link was just shown, next to the questions. Some more logo's and old artwork is shown. I think I saw Wart (you know, the vegetable hating guy) from SMB2 come by, and now Super Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros Melee and Twilight Princess logo's. I really wish I knew what was on those trivia questions.
Reggie is the first to come out and gamespot seems to get problems feeding me the live stream.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
It starts with the announcement everyone was waiting for: "The legend of Zelda Skyward Sword." and now gamespot is really freaking out on me, but from what I can guess is that they made the controls more motion controlled with Wiimotion Plus and more accurate to actual arm movements. The only buttons used are the Analog Stick, C, Z, A and B button. Mr Miyamoto suddenly appears off the screen and on the stage. It is MAGIC!!!
Miyamoto demonstrates the gameplay in real time in a live demo and the first thing I notice is that the controls are not as responsive as one would want to. No seriously Miyamoto often has to repeat his motions. He blamed the problems on the use of wireless devices in the room. The sword and the shield controls are similar to TP for the Wii. But nonetheless, the sword did seem to follow Miyamoto's movements accurately when he was moving slow. New is though that to charge the sword you need to hold the sword up. Pointing to the sky, hence the name Skyward Sword, I guess.
To use items you apparently need to grab them from your pocket and turn the Wiimote when you are in the pocket. I always wondered where all those items went in the Zelda games. It seems Link has some really deep pockets. Bigger on the inside than the outside. There is probably a TARDIS engine somewhere in there.
The press conference shows the bomb, that you actually need to throw or you can roll. A bow that works the same as in Wii sports resort. You have catapult you use by aiming and pressing B. The whip makes its return. And it kinda reacts realistically to the movement of the Wiimote. It probably would respond better if there aren't so many wireless signals. Damn you, whoever thought wireless was good for anything.
New item is introduced and it is called the Beetle. You can launch and similar to TWW's seagulls you take control over it. Really sweet if you want to scout some larger area from a birds eye view. And you probably can pick up items with it as well.
But enough about gameplay and items. The firs thing everyone notices are the graphics. Don't get angry, but it seems they have returned to cell shaded graphics. No it is not TWW style. The models look still much like TP. But where TP had realistic looking textures and shading, Skyward Sword however is more cartoony looking with brighter colors.
The trailer of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword looks really sweet. Well, as sweet as a pixelated livestream on a Full HD 32" TV can be. Well, I am getting intensely delighted from just watching the trailer and I can't wait until it arrives in stores. Oh god, that will be another week with little food, sleep, fresh air and sunlight.
A trailer of Mario Sport Mix shown. Which I partly missed due to switching to Gametrailers, that has a somewhat better stream. But from what I gather the game is meant to combine all those various sports games that have been released in the past. Probably to decrease the requests for new games in Mario Tennis, Golf, Basketball and a lot more, that actually have little to do with the Mario franchise to begin with.
Reggie babbles a bit about what Nintendo has accomplished in the last year. But unfortunately, it means squat to me. And it goes by in the daze I still have from Zelda. It is followed up with the announcement of Wii Party. It is actually Mario Party but without the Mario franchise attached to it. Another attempt of Nintendo to reduce the overuse of the Mario brand. It was about time to. I can't think of another character that has appeared in as many games as Mario did. NOOOO! Pikachu does not even come close.
Ubisoft's Just Dance looks nice, but hardly any gameplay footage. The next big announcement is Golden Sun Dark Dawn. Yes dear readers, the new Golden Sun DS has a new name. The trailer looks great and more accurate to the pixelated live stream I have to deal with.
"What is the best first person shooter of all time?"
Well that would be Golden Eye for the N64 off course. Anyone with half a brain could have told you that. Guess what? It is comming back. Although it seems that James Bond is modeled after Daniel Graig, instead of Pierce Brosnan. Yes, Reggie I remember those Golden Eye days. I am one of those old fossils. It is good to know that it will be returning this holiday season and is Wii exclusive.
The new Disney Epic Mickey is also Wii exclusive. The FMV graphics look special though, as if they are drawn with the hand. Ingame graphics are not that special.... Wow! The ability to erase and paint objects looks great, but I am afraid the number of objects that are effected are really limited considering it is a Wii game. Interesting is that it has areas with full 3d free roaming platform action and old-school 2D side scrolling platform action.
Oh goody the stream is hampering again. And I just found out that my dinner is cold. Yummy.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! A new Kirby. After 7 years it was about time that he returned to a new home console, Nintendo!!! What took you so long. The graphics are nothing short from awesome, astonishing and CCCCCUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEE. It does remind me of Little Big Planet with its cloth looking graphics. Goddamn, I can't wait to fall to play this new 2D platforming Kirby.
Okay, nice little facts about Dragonquest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies. It did okay in Japan. The US release is set at the 11th of July, but when does it arrive in Europe? No mention of that.
...
What's this? OH MY GOD! I can't stop drooling! Quick get me a napkin! Metroid Other M looks gooooooood. Gimme a date, gimme a date, gimme a date NOW!.... Yay August 31st.... Also in Europe? No clue? I hope so.
...
EEEEEEHHHHHHH I love that music. It is Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country Returns. A fitting name to, because it is exactly like Donkey Kong Country with its full 2D glory platforming action. Nintendo is really returning to its 2D platformer roots. The minekart rides, animal riding and barrel canons are back. Also it are Donkey and Diddy who are the main characters and not Dixie or that other ape (whose name I have forgotten).
Okay, going on to the Nintendo 3DS, starting with a nice history lesson in 3D stereoscopic glasses. Slowly the 3DS rolls in under the roaring of a T-rex. Iwata opens it and holds it up. What... The... !@#$%... It is an upgraded DSi. From a distance you can hardly see the difference. The upperscreen is turned into a widescreen with 3D capability. With a depth slider you can adjust the depth of the 3D effect. In the controls they added a Slide Pad (like the PSP analog stick), a motion sensor (probably a tilt sensor or accelerometer) and a gyro sensor. They also added another camera on the outside, so you can make 3D movies.
Huh?? What did you say Mr Iwata? The 3DS is going to play movies? That would have been nice, although Iwata only says it is "capable of playing" and not "will play". He does quickly mention that they have a contract with Disney to provide trailers and demos of upcoming 3D movies.
Project Sora is the first title developed for the 3DS. What goody goodness will that be. With such a name it can't be goo......................... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! It is Kid Icarus Uprising. I am drooling once more. My nostalgia is getting a big feast at the moment. The gameplay looks great in third person perspective platform shooter. Some real nice effects and the 5 minuted limited flying action. Oh man I am getting another orgasm here. But the trailer looks really nice.
Apparently the 3DS is constantly online with a lot of nice tech specs, but I kind of missed what Mr Iwata said because I was still having a Kid Icarus high. But I think I saw Nintendogs come by, Square Enix with Kingdom Hearts and Konami with Metal Gear Solid. Games specially made for the 3DS. Oh yeah! Apparently some developers really like the 3DS. Well, the 3DS has not impressed me much, but I still know I will buy one just for KID ICARUS UPRISING.
Okay a movie starts with Iwata, Miyamoto and Reggie about the realism of the 3DS. Iwata and Miyamoto get sucked in. And Reggie is laughing about it, but he gets deep fried by Bowser. Don't know what really happened, but it did give me a big smile on my face. The guests at Nintendo's show are immediately spoiled with the possibility to play the 3DS and The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword hands on right there in the Nokia Theater. And this is where the show ends.
Overall this press conference is probably the best this E3 has to offer. The 3DS wasn't as hip and cool as Nintendo made it out to be, but a game like Kid Icarus made everything okay. The live demo of The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword didn't go as smooth as Miyamoto hoped, but the news was pretty sweet nonetheless. And the trailers of Zelda and all the other games were delicious. I think I got a multiple orgasms watching this press conference, but I am definitely sitting with a very big smile on my face, here on my couch right now.
Sony, try to trump this, will yah! I think you can't.
Thank you Niek, for providing a well written article.I will conclude this article with questions.
What has Nintendo messed up in the new Zelda? Why? (Motion controls aside, as it is quite obvious that they had difficulties with it during the presentation)
Do you plan on buying this new Zelda?
What are your hopes for this new Zelda?
Interest:
Zelda Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 Remakes for 3DS
confirmedhttp://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9033963Credits
Article- Niek
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword screenshots - MediaKick
(
http://mediakick.org/2010/06/15/nintendo-e3-zelda-skyward-sword-screenshots/)
Trailers (Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Kirby, Golden Eye 007) - IGN, AuroraVirus, Nintendo
(
http://www.youtube.com/user/IGNentertainment)
(
http://www.youtube.com/user/AuroraVirus)
(
http://www.youtube.com/user/wii?blend=7&ob=4)
