E3: Nintendo Press Conference

Super Mario Galaxy

Nintendo kept characteristically (and perhaps rather disapointingly) tight-lipped during their E3 press conference today.

The big N showed small glimpses of highly anticipated titles such as Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3 and dropping the news that Super Mario Galaxy is in the works for the Wii, but any hard information was nowhere to be seen. Nintendo did not divulge a release date or price for its upcoming console which most hoped for and many genuinely needed, to dull the pain of the PS3’s outragous $600 price tag. Nor did Nintendo reveal plans for launch or an online strategy. Nintendo’s message: this stuff is fun. You’ll see tomorrow on the show floor.

I have to say, watching the Nintendo Wii graphics on the big screen didn’t exactly impress me. Nintendo made it clear that graphics will come second to gameplay, and I believe that in theory. I certainly don’t consider myself a “graphics whore,” but everything looked like a Gamecube game. I can’t help but feel a little disappointed when the games I’m seeing at an E3 conference don’t make me go “wow.” It just ain’t right.

I will, however, take Nintendo’s advice and wait to get my hands on the system. Nintendo’s new slogan is “Playing = Beliving,” and I’m more than willing to go along with it. Nintendo’s conference was the only one out of the big three where people actually looked like they were enjoying themselves playing. People weren’t muttering “that looks so cool,” but “that looks like so much fun.” And maybe that’s what it’s about.

At least, that’s what I’ll keep telling myself until tomorrow.