E3 2007

Well the "new" E3 has come and gone for 2007 and I can't help but wonder if it would have really been all that different if it were still in it's previous form. It seemed pretty similar from my viewpoint in my chair in front of my computer screen, but obviously it was not nearly as extravagant as it has been for those who were actually there. It's still up for debate if it was better or not, but I believe it's all a matter of personal perspective anyway. Easier for the janitors and developers, worse maybe for the attendees. I was just happy to see more of my favorite upcoming games and listen to Reggie and Miyamoto announce some new stuff. I'm looking forward to this fall and holiday season, but not much more than I was prior to E3. Anyway, here's my personal commentary about the big Nintendo stuff that went down.

The Wii Balance Board was obviously the biggest announcement from Nintendo, while I have absolutely no interest in Wii Fit, it will do a terrific job reaching out to "non-gamers". I'm more interested in seeing what else can be done besides yoga and hula-hooping with the board. Like for instance, snowboarding or surfing. As both rely mainly on how you lean your body and where you put pressure they could be perfect fits.

I'm also looking forward to the other new accessory announced, the Wii Zapper. In it's previous prototype form it looked much like a shotgun, but I love the new two handed approach similar to something like an AK-47. Prior to the announcement I had only a mild interest in Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, but now I can't wait to try it out with the Zapper, especially if I can get two to play with a friend.

As for the games, the ones that I wanted to see the most weren't even at the show which was very disappointing. They included Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and the Harvest Moon games for Wii and DS. However, the games that were there looked better than ever, especially Metroid Prime 3. After what IGN said claiming it to play better than any FPS to date I can't wait to get my hands on it. Super Mario Galaxy looked good, but I'm not anywhere close to foaming at the mouth for it. Other than those two there wasn't much. I was glad to finally see Mario Kart Wii. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and will be a great title to carry the weak Q1 and Q2 after holiday sales. The DS had The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, but where was everything else? Aside from a few other titles the DS was relatively quiet during E3.

Overall, E3 was just okay in my opinion. There wasn't much in the way of newly announced games from Nintendo, seeing Mario Kart Wii was nice, but we all knew it was coming eventually, Wii Fit will do wonders on expanding the market and games like Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy will satisfy the hardcore crowd for the mean time. While it may not have been as special as in the past the new E3 appears to be staying and I'm just glad it wasn't as bad as we all though it would be.