E3 2007: Nintendo Impressions

Although Reggie's crazy eyes are forever burned into the back of my skull, here is my analysis of Nintendo's E3 2007 Keynote presentation.

Pick-Ups:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption looks great. Fast, fun shooting action with more than enough different from the flock to make it a must-have. I've never been a fan of the Metroid series, but this one got my blood pumping.

WiiFit's scale 2.0 looks to reinvent how gamers get their exercise. Or reinvent if they get any at all. Although i question it's staying power I can't help but appreciate the Balance Board's genius design and the applications it could have in future title releases.

As if I even need to bring it up, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the must-have title for the Wii. It looks marvelous and will be one of the few games I see my friends and I playing well after the newness fades away.

Super Mario Galaxy looks great. I have no idea how it feels yet, but the visuals are especially stunning for a Wii release. Plus, Mario in a bumblebee suit, what more could I ask for?

Let-Downs

Although Reggie made passing mention of the WiiWare to come in 2008 no titles were given, not even a mention of partners working on it. Simply stating it exists and something will happen with it. I'm a fan of DLC and it's a shame to see Nintendo lagging so far behind the independent development space.

MarioKart Wii should by all logic be one of the best titles for the system, but it doesn't look any different than MarioKart DS. Did they think that simply adding Wii controls is enough to satisfy gamers or did they just run out of ideas? Perhaps more is to come but nothing can excuse them for...

The Wii Wheel and the Wii Zapper. The whole point of the Wii was to provide a platform for free-form experience away from title-specific peripherals, yet here we have Nintendo releasing plastic shells like a million other cheap third parties. Not cool and not necessary, I prefer my gaming raw.

Lastly, I would have really liked to see a few more Japanese imports confirmed for North American release. Iwata even teases us with the cookbook software that's available in Japan but laughs because stupid Americans should never learn how to make deep-fried gyoza.

Summary:

Although Nintendo's show lacked the serious flare of the others it did have a few interesting announcements. Although the Wii Zapper and Wii Wheel are completely idiotic and hypocritical, WiiFit is sure to sell a billion copies. However, it's yet to be proven if it will have the staying power against real games.

Nintendo can keep pushing this kind of innovation, but they have they really do need to take care of their repeat customers and provide a high calibre title designed with the bloodthirsty hardcore player in mind. They want to kill and maim their terrorists in Ghost Squad, not give them "A healthy Zap!"