The Philippine Online Chronicles

After company Global President Iwata Satoru’s tease of their new console, Nintendo’s E3 press conference continued with a montage of upcoming 3DS games. The handful of snippets used the multilayered stage screen to great effect, showing Mario Kart, Star Fox 64 3D, Super Mario, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Luigi’s Mansion 2.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime then took the stage, saying confidently, “Look. We hear you.” He explained Nintendo’s understanding of the video game player, that people want to experience things that are new, and yet look familiar at the same time; they want to be both comfortable and surprised, and that these seeming contradictions are part of creating compelling video games. This goal of managing to create games for everyone is something that applies both to the new console and the 3DS. With those bold words, Fils-Aime showed off the first-party 3DS lineup for the year.

Mario Kart for the 3DS is a “tricked out version [we] haven’t driven before”, according to Reggie. The first few seconds of the trailer showed traditional Mario Kart , until Mario’s kart takes off from a ramp and sprouts glider wings—an entirely new addition to the series and one that will change how the game is played. There are also underwater sections where propellers sprout from behind the karts when in the water—previously, going into water led to a penalty, usually resulting in last place. There looks to be more kart customization this time around as well, with players able to change wheel size. Mario Kart releases this holiday season.

Next up was Star Fox 64 3D. A port of the Nintendo 64 game Star Fox 64, there have been several 3DS-specific features that have been added, such as optional gyroscopic control to control the Arwing ship, and the interior-facing camera to record your face during multiplayer, enabling a sort of video chat during matches.

It’s the implied that’s exciting here—motion controls aren’t usually very fun when playing a flight game, and especially with the 3D, and it’s not the video chat itself that captures interest—the very fact that there is video chat in the first place means that there should be multiplayer over wi-fi, since video chatting with people you’re playing with locally is laughable. This might be old hat for the other hardware manufacturers, but Nintendo’s been decidedly behind regarding online until recently, and things like this are signs that they’re learning. Expect robust online functionality for Star Fox 64 3D when it launches this September.

While the previous two games have been known about since E3 2010, Super Mario for the 3DS was only tangibly announced early this year, and the first footage was shown in the conference. Simply titled Super Mario, this title will be first original Mario with 3D gameplay for a portable system, since Super Mario 64 DS was a port. The Tanuki suit from Super Mario Bros. 3 makes a comeback, though its abilities seem to have been limited: instead of full flight, Mario appeared to hover, similar to the riding Yoshi in New Super Mario Bros. Old standbys have made a return as well, such as musical blocks and underwater levels, though there are new elements as well, such as offensive rolling and elongated item blocks. While no definite release date was given, Fils-Aime assured the audience it would release before the end of the year.

Kid Icarus: Uprising, originally speculated to be a launch game since it was the go-to first-party title back when the 3DS was first announced at last year’s E3, was showcased next. It introduced a secondary protagonist who vaguely resembled a Native American with a giant sword, which is strange because this game centers on Greek mythology, with enemies like Cerberus and what appeared to be a Hydra making appearances. The game is fully voiced, featuring melee and projectile combat both in the air and on the ground. Newly announced include the addition of three-on-three multiplayer, hopefully with online as well, and AR card battling of several of the game’s characters. Kid Icarus: Uprising releases later this year, 20 years after the last game in the series, which was on the NES.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 was the last first-party 3DS title announced, and the only one that was completely new. Though it wasn’t exactly surprising—the original Luigi’s Mansion, a launch game for the GameCube, was one of the very first games that Nintendo tested autostereoscopic displays with. This title for the 3DS continues the premise of the first game, in which Mario’s brother Luigi explores haunted houses with his Poltergust, a hybrid flashlight and vacuum cleaner. Luigi’s Mansion 2 features multiple mansions and new gameplay mechanics, though there was release date mentioned.

A montage of third-party games for the 3DS was then shown: Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Mario & Sonic at the London Olympic Games, Ace Combat, Cave Story 3D, Resident Evil Revelations, Driver: Renegade, Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions, Tekken and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. Of these titles, only Tekken was new; many of these games were also announced at last year’s E3.

Fils-Aime rounded off his 3DS presentation by talking more about the Nintendo eShop, the online store accessible via the 3DS which had launched the night before the conference. All manner of content can be downloaded from it: 3D trailers, screenshots, demos, Virtual Console for portable systems, and more (this will be covered in-depth in our 3DS software review, coming soon).

To close the second part of the program, Fils-Aime dropped some 3DS buzzwords: social, connection, and interaction, all of which leverage the 3DS in some way. And with its strong features and software support, Nintendo’s new handheld is going into stride after a launch perceived as rocky. After all this, “there’s one more order of business,” Fils-Aime said, and he was talking about the reveal of the Wii’s successor, which we’ll examine in the third part of our Nintendo coverage.

Nintendo E3 2011 Press Conference Coverage:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Images courtesy of Nintendo's live stream of the conference.