The Nintendo conference started with an orchestra playing the theme song of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It was a phenomenal opening! Shiggy walked on to the stage and the orchestra played as he walked in. He explained to the audience, just how important music is in basic things in the game. I have to agree. The music has to be fitting for the game to have a magical feeling. It just feels complete. He had the orchestra play a few of those as an example. I can only imagine how rewarding it felt for him to hear the orchestra play the songs of his game live. He said it was exhilarating, but I can only imagine the intensity he felt.
They made the announcement that The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the 3DS would be available to download for free today. For those playing the game for the first time, "hint movies" are included to assist with gameplay. A Master Quest will provide a challenge for those who have played it before. A free download of The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords was also given to us today for the Nintendo DSi. They further created the hype by reminding us that Skyward Sword out this holiday season for Wii. I was surprised to hear that it would not be on the new system. I guess that they will be squeezing a few more out on the Wii. Wii Motion Plus is utilized and a special gold remote will be released at launch, as a promotion. I need it! It has the Triforce on the gold remote.
The Legend of Zelda 25th Annniversary Symphony will be holding concerts in various regions in the fall. I would love to see this. The power of the orchestra playing the music live, was just amazing. The soundtrack will be a gift for the first to register the game on Club Nintendo. The symphony concerts will be released on CD, at launch of the game. More announcements of events for the anniversary to come! I can't wait to see what else they have in store.
Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime showed some trailers of what to expect on the 3DS. Mario Kart resembles the Game Cube version, but the hang glider makes the jumping look extra fun, as you can soar across launches and landings. The game will be coming out, conveniently, this holiday season. Star Fox 64 3D jumps back into the cockpit and a new option allows you to navigate, by tilting the 3DS. The camera idea is really neat that allows you to play with your friends and see each other's faces. Super Mario 3DS is the first Mario game made for a portable system...from scratch. It is similar to Super Mario 64. While the trailer they showed at the conference was not 3D, it still didn't look as polished as we expected. It will be out in September of this year. Kid Icarus Uprising looked absolutely breath taking, though. The graphics were very clean. The trailer included augmented reality cards, where they placed them facing each other and you can see Kid Icarus fighting. That is amazing! You will be able to battle with them. It will be launched later this year. The new game announcement, that they had in store, was Luigi's Mansion 2! I called this out to my husband, so to see the announcement was gratifying. It will be great. Not only are there ghosts, but mummies, too.
Glimpses of games that are coming were also shown, including Medal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3d, Tekken 3D. The update that was just launched, includes trailers to upcoming titles. Virtual Console will offer up those classics. Don't forget to get your free download of Excitebike, since it's only for a limited time.
Reggie announced the new system and the name to be WiiU. He explained that it's tailored for "YOU". The new controller was shown, that includes the touch screen, dual analogue, and cross pad. It was amazing to see that the television was turned off and then the game converts to the controller, to continue playing as someone else wants to watch television. They showed various amazing videos on just what this controller will do. You can draw images on it, like a Bamboo writing tab. You can push an image up, in the direction of the television, to bring what you are doing on the controller onto the television screen. The WiiU will be out in 2012. Players can play with regular controllers, the controller with no television, or both. Using both seems fun because they incorporate the screen with the game you are playing.
Smash Bros. was announced to be coming to both the 3DS and the WiiU! New Super Mario Bros. Mii will allow you to incorporate your Mii into the gameplay. This was something we had thought about before, so they are now releasing it. LEGO City Stories is coming exclusively to WiiU and 3DS. The game will have an opened world. Batman: Arkham City will also be another title coming to Nintendo's new console.
I have said it time and time again, Nintendo is great at launching revolutionary equipment, however they are always playing catch up, when it comes to the standard capabilities of the console itself. We still have yet to see HD or even a console that allows you to watch DVD. I am not completely sold on WiiU, but nonetheless, I know I will pre-order it.
All in all, Nintendo had some great announcements this year. The 3DS titles will be highly anticipated, including Luigi's Mansion 2. The WiiU will sell, but I don't think they will see the sales that they want to see at launch. I suppose we will have to see what the pricing will look like. What are your thoughts of the conference? Share them in the comment section below!
Message