….holy shit.

Here’s all that they had to show for us today:

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)
  
• Mario Sports Mix (2011)
• WiiParty
• Just Dance 2
• Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (Q4 2010)
• Goldeneye 007 (Q4 2010)
• Epic Mickey
• A Kirby game that I can’t remember the name of
• Donkey Kong Country Returns (This game probably got the biggest applause out of every game there)
• Dragon Quest IX (July 2010)
• Metroid: Other M (August 31st, 2010)
• Nintendo 3DS Reveal
• Kid Icarus Uprising

As far as the 3DS is concerned, Nintendo announced a possible lineup of games including DJ Hero 3D, a Kingdom Hearts game, and even the possibility of a Metal Gear Solid game.

If you weren’t saying “Holy shit” when you started reading this, you are now.

UPDATE: Destructoid has posted a list of games/fanchises that are supposedly being developed for the 3DS here.

I can remember when I first got a DS. It had already been out for about a year and a half and it just so happened that the first New Super Mario Bros. was on its way, promising an experience that mixes Mario’s new moves in an old 2D-style game.  Nevertheless I got it when I had the chance and loved every minute I spent with it. Being an 80′s kid that logged countless hours playing Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, the game brought back many nostalgic moments from the plumber’s 8-bit glory days.

Despite this, I didn’t know what to think when Nintendo showcased New Super Mario Bros. Wii at this year’s E3 press conference. It could have been the fact that they spent all the time on boasting about 4-player simultaneous half co-op, half competitive multiplayer, but it really took me a while for this one to settle in… In fact, it was only yesterday that I actually was sold on the game by demoing it in single-player. (I’m really the only gamer in the household so it’s really hard to be sold on a game that only offers local multiplayer.) A couple of trade-ins later and I find myself headed home with the game’s bright-red box in hand, ready for yet another classic Mario experience.

Game Overview:
The actual storyline of course is just a shadow to the same old thing. Bowser comes, kidnaps Peach, starts terrorizing the Mushroom Kingdom, yadda yadda yadda… Nothing new there.  Okay, so now that we’re past that… New Super Mario Bros. Wii follows in the footsteps of its DS predecessor by offering a modern Mario game in a classic 2D environment. It’s the type of game that will no likely please just about everyone in one way or another… There’s really just no way I can describe this in greater detail.

How does it play?
With the exception of the mega mushroom, all of Mario’s moves from NSMB can be done here. The controls, assuming you’re using just the remote, (which if you’re like me is the only way to play a game like this) have been simplified down to something reminiscent of an NES game, with a few extra things that require you to shake or tilt the remote, such as spin-jumping or tilting a special kind of platform.  The game takes a lot out of Super Mario Bros. 3 in a way.  The game features the return of airship-style stages, replaces the SMW-style “reserve item” system from the first game with an inventory system similar to 3′s, and even brings back the Koopalings from a long leave-of-absence.  Yoshi also makes an appearance and controls much like he did in his debut nearly 19 years ago complete with gobbling berries, stomping out most enemies in 1 hit, and jumping off his back. (Many times causing him to make noble sacrifices so that Mario can complete his quest.)

Progression is similar to that as in the DS version; Worlds are set out into branching paths and each world contains a castle at the end and 1 or 2 towers along the way. Ghost houses, mushroom houses, warp cannons, and now even enemies that wander the map make a return in NSMBWii. Mario must jump, stomp, and slide his way through to the ever-so-classic flagpole at the end of each level, which obviously opens the way to the next level. He does have the help of a few new powerups along the way; The ice flower works much like the fire flower except that Mario can freeze enemies. This allows him to pick a frozen enemy up and toss it like a koopa shell. The propeller hat allows Mario to fly straight up with a shake of the remote, then slowly float back down. Penguin mario negates the effects of ice and also enhances his sliding ability.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to try multiplayer yet, though I’m confident that one day I’ll be able to give it a spin… I just need people that I can actually play it with.

Pros:

Cons:

• Stale story. Seriously… I don’t know how many ways you can conjure up a story that has the same result… Princess gets kidnapped, plumber sets off to save her.

Do I Like It?
It’s… Mario, and it’s a Mario that just about everyone can relate to.  The presentation is a nice mix of old and new and controls with a similar style to that of the older Mario games. As I said before, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like this game until I was able to try it out for myself, and once I did it was golden. This game is a must-buy.

Who should buy it?
Everyone that has a Wii. I’m not saying this as a fanboy, or a Nintendork, or an old-school gamer. There is something that will please just about everyone in this game unless you absolutely hate platformers… Or old-school games. (I have yet to be given a valid reason as to why someone should hate an old-school game, though.) People who grew up with an NES will like it for its single-player gameplay, and maybe the young ones will like the multiplayer aspects.

First Impression: Very Good. At this point I don’t think Nintendo could have done better… aside from the story.

But, without further ado, here are some of the games you can expect between now and the end of the year:

(Note: The following list is only for North America)

Xbox 360
Oct 13th: Brutal Legend
Oct 27th: DJ Hero
Oct 27th: Forza Motorsport 3
Oct 27th: Tekken 6
Oct 29th: GTA4: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Nov 3rd: Band Hero
Nov 10th: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Nov 17th: Assassin’s Creed II
Nov 17th: Left 4 Dead 2

Dec 22nd: Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Playstation 3
Sept 29th: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Oct 13th: Brutal Legend
Oct 20th: Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time
Oct 27th: DJ Hero
Oct 27th: Tekken 6

Nov 3rd: Band Hero
Nov 3rd: Lego Rock Band
Nov 10th: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Nov 17th: Assassins Creed II

Dec 22nd: Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Wii
Sept 29th: Dead Space Extraction

Oct 4th: Wii Fit Plus
Oct 6th: Spore Hero
Oct 13th: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Oct 27th: DJ Hero

Nov 3rd: Band Hero
Nov 3rd: Lego Rock Band
Nov 3rd: Rabbids Go Home
Nov 3rd: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Nov 10th: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex
Nov 15th: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Nov 27th: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

Dec 22nd: Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Dec 26th: Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

(I also believe that Tatsunoku vs. Capcom is supposed to fit in somewhere here, unless I missed something.)

Nintendo DS
Sept 29th: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Oct 6th: Spore Hero Arena
Oct 12th:  Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
Oct 13th: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Nov 3rd: Lego Rock Band
Nov 10th: Band Hero
Nov 10th: Call of Duty Modern Warfare: Mobilized

Dec 7th: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

PSP
Oct 1st: PSPGo [Hardware]
Oct 1st: Gran Tourismo
Oct 1st: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
Oct 13th: Half Minute Hero
Oct 20th: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Nov 17th: Little Big Planet

(And yes, that’s it for now.)

PC
Oct 13th: Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Oct 22nd: Windows 7 [Operating System]

Nov 10th: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Nov 17th: Left 4 Dead 2

By now, if you’ve been following this, you probably know the runaround.  Sometime late last week, a scan of the latest issue of Nintendo Power showed an article showing Tatsunoku vs. Capcom, the latest in the “vs. Capcom” series that was made famous by Marvel vs. Capcom. The article specifically hinted that the game was coming to North America, which is something that a lot of people were expecting to never happen due to the nature of the characters on the Tatsunoku side.

Well, CAPCOM thought differently on that, and Capcom Unity’s Twitter account confirmed that Tatsu vs. Capcom was one of two or three “mystery games” that they were showing at E3 next month. That being said, not only is CAPCOM surprising us with this Wii game that we never expected to come outside of Japan, but they also have two more that they’re going to spring upon us.

But this is why we all love CAPCOM. They’re one of the few developers that actually listen to their fans.

In the meantime, you can find some TvC  gameplay footage after the jump.

This Wii update enhances the Wii’s SD card capabilities; Not only providing support for cards up to 32 gigabytes in size, but by also allowing you to use any channels and VC/WW games that you have on your SD card. The full text of the update from Nintendo’s support website is provided after the jump.

Available March 25, 2009 – Download Wii Menu 4.0 and enhance your storage options. Enhanced Features Included in Wii System Menu 4.0:

• Increased storage capacity with the use of SDHC Cards (up to 32 GB).
• Download content from the Wii Shop Channel directly to an SD or SDHC card, including WiiWare titles, Virtual Console games and Wii Channels.
• Launch games and channels directly from your SD or SDHC card using a new SD Card Menu.
• Transfer data directly between the Wii and your SD or SDHC card using the new Move command.

This is definitely Nintendo’s “solution” to the Wii’s storage. (or lack thereof) Although the Wii at it’s maximum capacity (32.5GB when used with a 32GB card) doesn’t come close to that of the PS3 or the 360, the interchangeability of SD cards means that you can fill up as many cards as you want.

This solution isn’t perfect, though, as to truly play any titles that you have on your SD card you need to have the proper amount of free space available on the system for it to temporarily copy the game. The Wii keeps the last game you played off your card in a cache on the system. When you load up a different game off of a card, it overwrites the previous one. If by some chance you need the space for something else you can always delete the cached game under your Channels screen in Data Management.  Of course, loading a game from the SD card takes anywhere of up to around 15-20 seconds as it copies itself, which is a very small price to pay, and definitely much better than the time it took to either redownload a game or copy it over from your SD card manually.

One other small feature that was added was the ability to download a title from the Wii Shop directly to your SD card. When you download a game it will ask you where you want to save it.

Aside from this, Wii owners rejoice. Your storage woes have finally been solved.

On a day where Canada is marking the one year countdown to the start of the opening ceremonies for the 2010 winter games, Sega decided to mark the occasion in their own way by uploading a teaser video on YouTube for their second Olympic-based game following their Mario and Sonic mashup of Beijing 2008, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

A short video, it starts with a computer generated flyby starting with the stone “Inukshuk” (which in reality is prominently displayed on Whistler mountain) culminating with Mario, Sonic, Eggman, and Wario at the boardercross start on [which I would believe to be] Cypress Mountain.  There’s nothing special about the video other than the announcement about the game itself.

The press release on Sega’s website goes into greater detail:

Developed by SEGA of Japan, under the guidance of Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games will take players to lifelike Olympic venues where they can choose from a legendary cast of playable characters, including new faces to the series to be revealed later this year. Following the phenomenal worldwide popularity of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, this fresh gaming experience will feature completely new Olympic Winter Games events from the official competition schedule including Alpine Skiing and Speed Skating with more events announced throughout the year.

It then goes on to detail some of the new gameplay options, such as co-op play, (which I’m guessing would entail either speed skating relays, figure skating, curling, or hockey) and the ability to use the Wii balance board.

Now, I wasn’t to big on Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games but even though I don’t think this game will be spectacular, I do get a warm feeling about this game; If not for the fact that this is Vancouver’s Olympics or my involvement in them that we’re talking about, then it’s more about the relation to winter sports and the fact that my main source of income involves hockey and that in the winter I ski on a weekly basis at one of the Olympic venues.  Even if this game isn’t all that great, you can probably expect me to be picking up both versions of this game.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is currently scheduled for release late this year on the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.