After two years of lackluster showings at E3, Nintendo listened to its fans and brought a slew of game announcements, trailers, new hardware, and more. Miyamoto, Iwata, and the Regginator took the stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles to deliver the company’s 2010 E3 press conference. Here are the highlights.

Nintendo Games

The first-party offerings kept coming and coming. Gone were the Wii Musics and Wii Plays of the world and, in their place, Nintendo strutted out the hardcore titles center stage.

The Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword
Zelda creator and Videogame Godfather, Shigeru Miyamoto started off the event and demonstrated the next Legend of Zelda. Skyward Sword is the first entry in the series since 2006′s Twilight Princess and the first completely developed specifically for the Wii. Skyward Sword utilizes the Wii Motion Plus add-on, providing a closer 1-to-1 representation of Link’s swordplay. The on-stage demo suffered from a few technical hiccups, but E3 attendees vouched for the game as being free of issues. No specific date was given but Nintendo assured fans to expect the game sometime in 2011.

Mario Sports Mix
Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom cohorts have made their way into all manner of sports titles including basketball, baseball, golf, and tennis. Mario Sports Mix is a collection of other sports titles that might not stand on their own as a full game and have thus been put together in one collection. Ice & beach hockey, volleyball, and more are all given the Nintendo remix treatment incudling power-ups and other arcade gameplay breathe new life into these games. Coming in 2011.

Donkey Kong Country Returns
Since closing the book on its Metroid Prime trilogy, Austin developer Retro Studios has gone silent regarding its next creation. Fans of the Donkey Kong Country series from the Super Nintendo days were, no doubt, elated to see Retro is leaving Samus behind in favor of Nintendo’s trademark ape. There’s plenty of vine-swinging, barrel shooting, and banana hoarding abound in what’s sure to become Retro’s next masterpiece. After the way Retro handled Metroid, it’s exciting to see them take a chance on a platformer. Luckily, we won’t have to wait very long. Donkey Kong Country Returns drops during the Holiday Season of 2010.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Elements of LittleBigPlanet’s tape-and-string aesthetic combined with Nintendo’s trademark charm make up the first official Wii outing for Kirby. Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Super Smash Bros, created a new company known as Sora. This is the studio’s first release. Gameplay is a mix of platforming and fabric-based mechanics. Kirby is composed of yarn, the word is made up of felt and other fabrics. The art design is incredibly unique and the gameplay looks to offer some clever twists. Nintendo did an amazing job keeping this under the radar, Kirby’s Epic Yarn launches this holiday season.

Third Party Games

Many have argued that third party games don’t succeed on Nintendo platforms. It’s hard to argue third parties haven’t had a hard time on Wii but there’s certainly an audience. While this E3 didn’t exactly buck this trend, Nintendo did manage to put a few third party games into the spotlight.

Goldeneye
Fond memories of the split-screen multiplayer of days gone by came flooding back as Nintendo and Activision showed off a debut trailer for the Wii-exclusive Goldeneye. The game looks to be a re-imagining of the original Nintendo64 classic with added features such as online multiplayer (along with classic split-screen) and the delightfully British Daniel Craig. Goldeneye ships in the last half of 2010.

Epic Mickey
Bold, bizarre, and above all, brave in its use of the Disney license, Epic Mickey took the stage for a hands-on demo. The producers showed off some of the game’s mechanics including the paint mechanics. Players can choose between painting the world to overcome obstacles, or use paint thinner to eliminate them. The tone of the game is a strange change for Disney. It’s exciting to see them breathing new life into a character who’s more than 80 years old. The demo concluded with a 2-D platforming section. Much of the game is a third-person action/platformer but the producers showed off the Steamboat Willie level, a throwback to Mickey’s first cartoon. The art-style changed to the old black and white to mimic Mickey’s inaugural outing. The creators are set to debut Epic Mickey sometime later this year.

Nintendo 3DS

Hardware is always a show-stopper at E3 and Nintendo knows this. Smoke and fog flooded the Nintendo stage as the Nintendo 3DS, atop a rising pedestal, made its debut. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled the company’s next portable device. The Nintendo 3DS is the next evolution for the Nintendo DS line. It’s not an upgraded version ala the DSi. Instead, the 3DS is a completely new device with design characteristics similar to its predecessor. The device has two screens, the bottom is touch-sensitive. The top screen, however, is wider and employs a new kind of 3D technology. Without the use of glasses, Nintendo 3DS creates a 3D effect giving added depth and dimension to the next generation of handheld gaming. Unfortunately, Nintendo did not divulge a final release date or price but all will be known before the end of the company’s fiscal year, March 2011.

The device also sported three cameras, one on the inside for self-portraits and two lenses on the outside for 3D photographs. Yes, with the 3DS players can take their own pictures and have them project in 3D.

Other changes to the hardware include an analog stick-like device Nintendo called a “Slide Pad” above the directional pad. While Nintendo was mum on specifics, but the system is also more powerful than the original DS. Also included in the system are an accelerometer and gyroscope to implement some motion-controlled gaming. A slider along the top-screen increased or decreased the severity  of the 3D effect. Lastly, Nintendo gave some cryptic details on the added wifi features which seem to be looking for connections even while the system is closed. The implications of this are, as of now, only theoretical until developers get their hands on the device and find exciting ways to implement this technology into their games.

Games

A new system is nothing without some games to show it off. Nintendo’s big reveal was a love-letter to nostalgic fans as they unveiled Kid Icarus: Uprising. Kid Icarus hasn’t seen a game of his own in over twenty years despite making an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Gameplay is a mix of aerial combat along with third-person action/adventure platforming.

Other games announced included:

• Dj Hero 3D
• Nintendogs + Cats
• 3D Remakes of Star Fox 64 and The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater “The Naked Sample”
• Resident Evil Revelations
• Mario Kart
• Animal Crossing
• Paper Mario
• Pilot Wings Resort
• Super Street Fighter IV

and many many more.

Nintendo listened to fans who felt somewhat unloved by the company’s new-found affinity for the casual gamer. The company proved it’s still capable of delivering a mix of hardcore nostalgia alongside games that cater to any taste. Kirby’s Epic Yarn was quite a surprise. A game that’s infectiously cute yet still looks grounded in tried-and-true mechanics. With all of the games announced combined with the one-two punch of new hardware, Nintendo set the bar incredibly high this year.

Miss the event? Watch it here courtesy of G4.

Source: Kotaku