9:40 – Susan and I just took our seats in the auditorium. They’re displaying coming-attractions-like quiz questions about Nintendo products on the main screen. Do you know what Nintendo 64 accessory was first released as a pack-in with Star Fox 64? It’s D – the Rumble Pak. The more you know!
Side-note: When’s the Wii going to get a legit Starfox game? I mean with Arwings and Falco Lombardi and “Do a barrel roll!”? Finger’s crossed it’s this year.
10:03 – It begins! Cammie Dunaway takes the stage. Keeps a straight face the whole time – no smiles this time. The message? “Everyone’s game.” Your uncle ever call you for MarioKart tips? Cammie’s has.
10:07 – The first surprise? New Super Mario Bros. Wii!
Four-player Mario Bros. with new power-ups and motion controls. Looks a lot like a Mario-themed version of LittleBigPlanet. Not just Mario & Luigi anymore, either – you can play as Toad. Available Holiday 2009.
10:13 – Next up? Wii Fit Plus. New exercises, plus the ability to create your own work-out routines. 40 minutes of continuous Wii wobbling is now possible. Yes!
Available with or without the balance board Fall of 2009.
10:18 – Reggie Fils-Aime takes the stage to talk about Wii Motion Plus. Shows us a nice video of how much cooler the Wii Motion Plus will be than the standard Wii remote. Nice, but we’ve seen this all before.
Next up: a demo of Wii Sports Resort. You start the game by skydiving to a remote island destination – repositioning the Wii remote changes your skydiver’s orientation. Looks like a neat tutorial.
Other demos: archery and a 3-point contest between Reggie and one of his executive underlings. Reggie wins – smart career move for the other guy, methinks.
10:32 – New Final Fantasy game exclusively for the Wii – The Crystal Bearers. And some more footage of the new Kingdom Hearts game for the DS.
10:35 – Next: a look at Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. Available Fall 2009.
10:37 – Another new RPG for the handheld: Golden Sun DS! Six years in the making, apparently.
Annnnd Cammie’s back onstage.
10:40 – Women’s Murder Club: trashy mystery novel meets DS mini-game collection. Looks like suburban housewives will have something other than the next Brain Age to look forward to.
And, for actual gamers, C.O.P.: The Recruit, a new Ubisoft DS game with “gritty” third person action.
10:43 – Back on the hardware front – a look at some of the features of the DSi. Big emphasis on user-generated content, included Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, a DSiware game to be released June 8 that features a full level-editing suite.
Other features: editing and uploading DSi photos directly to Facebook.
10:51 – Mr. Iwata takes the stage and offers some statistics about the worldwide gaming population. Sweet, delicious statistics.
New peripheral: the Wii Vitality Sensor. Clamp it onto your finger, and it measures your pulse. Makes sense with Wii Fit, but I can’t see it being too useful in a Zelda game. Iwata says that the peripheral could be useful in developing relaxation techniques and even as a sleep aid.
11:01 – Cammie’s back onstage. And we have a new Super Mario Galaxy game, this time with Yoshi!
Super Mario Galaxy 2. No release date, but it looks like Super Mario Galaxy with some cool new gameplay concepts.
11:10 – Alright, this is a surprise: Team Ninja is working with Nintendo on a third-person Metroid game for the Wii, Metroid: Other M. Doesn’t look as gory as a Ninja Gaiden game, but seems a bit more violent than your standard Metroid title.
And that’s a wrap, folks! Hopefully we’ll be able to spend some time with these games on the show floor. Thanks for reading!
