E3 2011 Nintendo Conference Info Summary

From handhelds to new consoles, Nintendo had plenty to show off at this year’s E3. For those of you that weren’t able to see it live-streamed or on TV, here’s a quick look at the highlights of Nintendo’s show.

Zelda 25th Anniversary

The presentation kicked off with a montage video of Zelda games, accompanied by an orchestra and choir performing familiar Zelda tunes. Shigeru Miyamoto takes the stage to announce Zelda titles on all Nintendo platforms in honor of Zelda’s 25th anniversary. On the 3DS eShop, Link’s Awakening–the GameBoy Color version–will be available later today. Next week, Ocarina of Time 3D will be released on the 3DS. This classic will include not only 3D effects and new controls, but hint videos, Master’s Quest, and a boss challenge mode. On DSiWare, Four Swords Adventure will be a free download in September. On Wii, Skyward Sword will launch this holiday season with a promotional gold colored Wii remote.

Nintendo will also be hosting 25th Anniversary Zelda concerts, performed by an orchestra, around the world, and they are releasing two CDs. An Ocarina of Time soundtrack for the first people who register Ocarina of Time 3D on Club Nintendo, and a CD recording of the 25th Anniversary concert. And that wraps up the Zelda celebration.

3DS Games

Satoru Iwata appears next to discuss Nintendo’s next platform and his hope to provide a “deeper and wider” appeal to all manner of players. He confirms that Project Cafe will release next year. More details come later in the show, but Iwata leaves with a stylized montage video of upcoming 3DS games: Mario Kart featuring some sort of hang glider, Star Fox, Super Mario with a tanooki suit, Kid Icarus, and a brand new look at a Luigi’s Mansion game. Next up is Reggie Fils-Aime to give some more information on these 3DS games.

Another Mario Kart video shows off new tracks as well as a few old ones from Mario Kart DS and Wii. The new racer takes to the air with a hang glider and goes underwater to race on the sea floor. It appears that you can customize your karts by mixing and matching parts of the vehicle. Expect it to launch this holiday season.

Star Fox 64 3D allows you to use the 3DS camera during multiplayer. Due out in September.

Super Mario 3D is a brand new 3D adventure on the handheld–the first of its kind. A longer video shows both side-scrolling and 3D portions. New environments provide a variety of challenges; Mario dons the tanooki suit which seems to allow him to flutter through the air–not quite flying. A goomba even appears with a raccoon tail! Due out before the year is over.

Kid Icarus: Uprising will include a multiplayer feature, allowing you to battle fellow players. The video concludes with what appears to be new AR cards of Pit and other Kid Icarus characters. When the cards are placed next to each other, they’ll even fight one another. Due out later this year.

Finally, Luigi is back in Luigi’s Mansion 2, a brand new adventure with multiple mansions for Luigi to exorcise. Armed once again with his vacuum-like ghost catcher, Luigi will square off with a variety of ghosts–it looks like a mummy even makes an appearance. No release date was mentioned.

Another montage video shows off third party games, including Resident Evil, Cave Story, and Tekken 3D to name a few. Reggie goes on to discuss 3DS features that will be out soon: game trailers later this week, and demos sometime later this year. The 3DS virtual console will include GameBoy and GameBoy Color titles. Reggie mentions ExciteBike 3D–available now on the 3DS eShop–and the free Pokédex 3D that allows you to collect Pokémon and display them in 3D.

Wii U

Reggie announces Wii U, the new home console from Nintendo (formerly known as Project Cafe). The rumors were right on the controller; a screen included in the controller gives you a variety of functionality. You can move a game from the TV screen to the controller screen to continue playing without tying up the TV. With a stylus, you can draw on the controller screen. You can play games solely on the controller. Motion controls connect the controller to the TV–one example shown was ninja throwing stars displayed on the controller can be “thrown” onto the TV by touching the controller screen. You can use the controller to connect the TV for web browsing, and video chat on the controller. Wii U will be backwards compatible with Wii games. A sneak peak at a new Zelda game is also shown where your inventory is on the controller while the action is on the TV.

The new controller for Wii U has two analog sticks, a D-pad, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons, speakers, a microphone, a touch pad, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a front facing camera. The new controller will be a “new structure for home entertainment.” Another video shows off the gorgeous graphics that Wii U is capable of.

A new Super Smash Bros. game will be available on 3DS and Wii U; Iwata doesn’t give any further details, but the software will work together in some way. For other Wii U games, Reggie reveals a few prototypes. New Super Mario Bros. Mii allows your Mii to play alongside Mario in a side-scrolling adventure. Shield Pose has you moving the controller around to block arrows. Again, these are merely prototypes; no guarantee that these will be full retail games. The one game that is confirmed is Lego City Stories, a new open world Lego game exclusively for Wii U and 3DS. Third party developers mention some games that will release on Wii U, including Darkstakers, Batman: Arkham City, and Assassin’s Creed. A montage video gives just a taste of how great these games will look on the new console, including Aliens Marines, Ghost Recon, and Ninja Gaiden 3.

John Riccitiello of EA joins Iwata and Reggie on stage to discuss EA games on Wii U, including Madden and Battlefield 3 with an open online community for connectivity. And with that, Reggie concludes the show by mentioning the variety of games that are available to play on the show floor.

So how did Nintendo do? Another stellar conference, or are you disappointed with some aspect of it? Let us know in the comments!