E3'07: Step Up Nintendo News

Contrasting the lack of surprises at Microsoft's E3 conference, Nintendo maintained its pedigree of putting on a performance with a split between old-school classics and titles of a slightly more mainstream persuasion.

Maintaining an unwavering focal point towards expanding the videogames market, Nintendo's success with the DS and Wii makes it hard to criticise a line-up that made puts a heavy emphasis towards non-gaming titles such as Wii Fit, Brain Age 2 and Flash Focus. Nevertheless, the appearance of traditional videogame stalwarts such as Samus and Mario

"Games like Wii Sports and the original Brain Age proved anyone can pick up a video game system and immediately have fun," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We're building on that foundation with games and accessories appealing to our current fan base and drawing in even more new players."

With over 40 million DS units sold to date and Wii continuing to rack up phenomenal sales, Nintendo's speech recognised success with a secondary objective - an increased share of the videogames market. Such glories seem tame compared to its determination, however, to continue appealing towards non-gamers - it seems Iwata, Miyamoto and Fills-Aime will only be satisfied when it's achieved global domination of the way in which people spend their "leesuire" time.

Looking suspiciously like an aerobics step crossed with a set of weighing scales, Nintendo revealed the Wii Board as the next major step to enticing the mainstream to Wii and a natural continuation of its surprising success with Wii Sports. Hooked up to a Wii and standing upon it, the board recognises movement and pressure, highlighted with a one-on-one battle between Miyamoto and Fills-Aime in a game of headers. Promising a variety of aerobic, toning and balance activities, Wii Fit is likely to continue Nintendo's crusade to demonstrate the "good" side of videogames, but unlikely to sustain your interest if you found the appeal of Wii Sport short-lived. Measuring BMI and Wii Fitness Age in a variety of aerobic tests, muscle exercises, yoga poses and balance games, the Wii Board's use outside of fitness "games" however looks particularly enticing.

Wii owners will also have a new Channel to download before the end of the year, with the arrival of Check Mii Out. Essentially a platform to parade your own Mii creations in front of everybody else, the launch will also be supported by a variety of Crufts-like competitions.

Although gamers have often cited superhuman hand-to-eye co-ordination as a benefit from a fanatical videogames obsession, it seems eye health is next on Nintendo's agenda with the announcement of Vision Training's arrival later in the year. A series of exercises to test hand-eye co-ordination, eye agility, reaction time and peripheral vision,

Amongst montages of video clips championing Nintendo's acceptance with the mainstream, fans of Nintendo's more "traditional" dwindling output might be a little concerned that the long-gaps between titles is looking eerily similar to the GameCube.

Moving beyond the reliance, once again, upon the guaranteed charm of Mario and chums on the racetrack, the announcement of Mario Kart Wii and the promise of an early 2008 release will at least calm fears that the 'softcore' attitude is taking over at Nintendo. The small amount of footage revealed a Mario Kart similar in visual quality to Double Dash but with a more traditional theme. There was little shown to suggest any groundbreaking new features, so for now Nintendo appears to be relying on the mantra of "more players' means more fun" with confirmation that the game will feature Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support - although they've stopped short of revealing exactly how much more fun that means for now. With details thin on the ground it was the concerning appearance of the Wii Wheel that is left etched in the mind. Looking suspiciously similar to the cereal-freebie devices that were bundled with Wii launch titles, we're hoping Miyamoto can come up with something a little more effective then what's come before.

Following escalating interest after the recent launch of the Smash Bros Dojo website, Nintendo's confirmation that the next "big" game will arrive before 2008 came as some relief - to an American audience. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until the New Year before Mario, Pikachu and Giga Bowser's return to the battlefield takes place in Europe.

Showcasing new features such as Samus' Hyper mode, increasing weapon capabilities at the price of corruption, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption portrayed the customary high level of execution we've come to expect from Retro Studios. Confirmation that the game will break a summer drought on October 26th means Samus' return can't come soon enough for a lot of Wii owners.

Confirming Mario's return to Europe before the end of 2007 in Super Mario Galaxy served as one of the conference's highlights, since the game looks likely to justify claims of being the first genuine successor to Mario 64. Distinctly different to everything that's come before, Super Mario Galaxy puts the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to perfectly natural use. Displaying an advanced status well into development, the hint of Mario in a bee costume suggests that his latest adventure will have plenty of surprises in store.

The Wii Zapper also made a curious return, with a re-design that now accommodates the Nunchuk controller. With the ambition to redefine the FPS genre, demonstrations of the device in action with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and the promise of SEGA's Ghost Squad and EA's Medal of Honor (32 players online) at least suggest the device will be supported. Between the debate over the virtues of the 360 triggers and the mouse/keyboard combo, we can't imagine too many fanatical FPS supporters to drop chase after the Zapper, but it could begin to bring the hardcore genre to a more mainstream audience and certainly makes Umbrella Chronicles a little more appealing.