E3 2011 Part Three: Nintendo

Part three of my E3 recap will focus on the last of the big companies, this one in the form of the Big N. I thought Nintendo had a strong showing last year, and this year was even better. So, what did they show us this year?

3DS Games. Lots of them.

We saw new trailers for games we knew about, like Resident Evil Revelations, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 3DS, Animal Crossing 3DS, and Kid Icarus. We were also shown games we had never seen before, such as Super Mario 3DS, Paper Mario, and Luigi's Mansion 2.. EVERY one of these games I just listed looked good. Yes, the 3DS doesn't have too many games to play right now, but looking at Nintendo's E3 lineup will get any owner of the new handheld excited.


Super Mario 3DS looks like another great Mario title.










Never got around to playing the first one, but Luigi's Mansion 2 is looking good so far.







The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Nintendo made it official. After much speculation that the latest Zelda game would be heading to their new console next year, Nintendo announced that Skyward Sword would indeed be a Wii title. And how cute does Zelda look in it?

Other Zelda Stuff

A downloadable Four Swords game for free? A 25th anniversary Zelda themed concert tour? A gold Wii remote when Skyward Sword comes out? Good play, Nintendo.

Oh, the Zelda series did make one other appearance at E3, and I'm not talking about the Zelda-themed level in Super Mario 3DS.

Another New Toy

Of course, the big news at E3 this year was the unveiling of a brand new Nintendo system. To read more about it, visit IGN's write up about it here. It's called the Wii U. Basically, it's an HD powered console, with a controller that looks a lot like a tablet. The controller has a massive screen on it, one that will allow you to stop playing on your TV and play a full console game on it. It's not a portable device; the controller has to be in the vicinity of the console. However, being able to play Smash Bros while I watch a ballgame will definitely be cool.

While the Wii U may have some quirks to iron out, I'm loving it so far. It'll have the Nintendo franchises, of course, but is also being backed by some big-time developers. EA has already said that Battlefield 3 will come out for it, and Batman: Arkham City will be out for the Wii U.

A few things that Nintendo didn't tell us were how much the Wii U would be, and when it would come out. Some speculate that we could see it within the first half of next year, but since Nintendo didn't show us any actual games on it, I was actually thinking it would be Fall 2012. As for how much, I'm guessing it will be in the $300 to $350 range, but we'll see.

Heck, don't tell Nintendo, but if they give us a Zelda game that looks like the HD concept they showed us last week, I'll pay a lot more than $350.


Nintendo was definitely the best of the three big companies, although I thought all three of them showed us some cool stuff. My next post will talk about the multiplatform games that we saw (and there were a ton of good ones).

Til next time!