Day two of E3 2009 kicked off with the Nintendo press conference. After a very disappointing showing at last year’s E3 and Microsoft’s impressive debut of “Project Natal”, the house that Mario built had its work cut out for it. Unfortunately for the second straight year, Nintendo fell flat on its face.
In what was easily the most boring and unentertaining of the 3 press conferences Nintendo stretched what could have been presented in 25 mins to a tedious and often painful 1 hour and 40 mins. Most of the event showcased properties that have already been announced; The WiiMotion Plus with Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus. It was very much a feeling of been there done that. The most tell tale sign was that there was hardly any audience reaction from the usual raucous E3 crowd.
Most games were very briefly shown with little to no game play or demonstrations shown. Games featured were; Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers, The Conduit and Dead Space: Extraction. The three biggest games announced …the New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which will feature 4 player game play, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and finally Metroid Prime: Other M which is being developed by acclaimed Team Ninja.
The Nintendo DS was not left out in the cold as several games were on hand as well. Golden Sun DS, Cop: The Recruit, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 just to name a few. Aside from Golden Sun and Cop not many DS games were given very much face time outside of the announcement that they were coming to the DS. Also the DSi will soon have the ability to take photos and upload them directly to Facebook
In what was perhaps the most bizarre announcement Nintendo revealed the Wii Vitality Sensor. Essentially the thing boils down to a heart monitor. Outside of Wii Fit I just can’t see a use for this device and frankly it looks ridiculous. It looks like a standard heart monitor from a hospital that slides over your finger. My only question is, Why?
*Videos via Gametrailers.com
