Was anyone expecting that? Nintendo has announced not just one but three new Mario games!
Nintendo pulled out all the stops for its E3 conference showing off Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. for WiiWare and Mario Vs Donkey Kong 3: Minis March Again.
That was just the Mario revelations. Nintendo also announced Metroid: Other M for Wii, Wii Fit Plus, Golden Sun Shines again, new Wii Sports Resort events and the new Wii Vitality sensor peripheral. What a show!
Here's a list of every news story from the conference including announcements, screens and trailers. Below that is a live minute-by-minute account of the conference, as it happened. We've also added the announcements from Miyamoto's roundtable.
Less than two hours to go now. You're already lining up your wish lists for the conference. Microhenry commented: "If new Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Starfox and F-Zero games are revealed then microhenry will be happy."
We make it 75 minutes to go now, and we're pumped. Neil is on his way to the conference hall, and we're ready and waiting for Nintendo's announcements. Confirmed guests include Reggie Fils-Aimes, Cammie Dunaway and Satoru Iwata. Will Miyamoto be there? Come on, it's E3!
40 minutes to go now. Just got a text from Neil: "On way to the conference, ready to tweet like a"... well, we're afraid we can't finish that one for the sake of decency.
10 minutes to go! Neil has taken his seat. Not long left...
A few doubters have commented on the comments section. NirdBerd says "It's gonna suck again. Prove me wrong". Well, hopefully Nintendo will do just that soon.
We're getting underway...
A video montage is being shown, explaining how Nintendo games can be played by everyone.
Cammie Dunaway takes to the stage. She says that "there is one thing everyone here has in common - a connection to video games."
New Mario game about to be announced...
"For the last 15 years, Mr Miyamoto has been thinking about a new way to let you play a Mario game that's never been possible before."
New Super Mario Bros Wii announced!
Wow - four player co-op New Super Mario Bros. You can carry opponents and battle against other players to try and grab coins.
Main game can be played in single-player, or in co-op. Drop-in, drop-out.
New power-up, the Propellor Suit. Flick the Remote to spin into the air like a helicopter.
At the end of each level it tells you how many coins you collected, enemies you stomped etc and gives you a ranking.
New Super Mario Bros Wii launches worldwide this Christmas.
Moving onto the Balance Board. 15 million copies of Wii Fit sold worldwide.
Wii Fit Plus announced. Six new strength and yoga activities, but you can combine them in any order you want, and can cut out the breaks in between each exercise so you can constantly work out for 30, 40, 60 minutes at a time without having to keep stopping and choose a new excercise.
15 new balance games: juggling, skateboarding, Perfect 10 (where you have to lean to add numbers to ten), and a Mario-style platformer mini-game.
Wii Fit Plus out this autumn both with the Balance Board, and as stand-alone software (for those who already have it).
Reggie Fils-Aime takes to the stage.
He's talking about how the Remote, the Nunchuk and the Balance Board helped innovate. He's going to talk in detail about Wii MotionPlus now.
Montage video showing off Wii MotionPlus. Shows people playing Wii Sports Resort: table tennis, basketball, fencing, golf, archery, kayak, frisbee and jetski.
Wii Sports Resort being shown. Skydiving level starts as an intro scene. The Remote acts as your Mii. You can rotate and twist it to make the Mii move around in the air, and try to make them grab other skydivers' hands. Looks pretty cool.
Archery now. Hold the Remote vertically in your hand and hold A with your thumb. Pull the Nunchuk back holding Z and move the Remote to accurately aim.
Final sport being shown - basketball. It's a three-point contest. You have to reach down with the Remote then make a throwing motion (as if you were throwing a real basketball). MotionPlus makes the throws totally accurate. You're against the clock so you have to throw as many balls as possible.
Other Wii MotionPlus games being discussed. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis, Virtua Tennis 2009, Red Steel 2.
Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers being shown. Looks really cool. Much more action-packed than your traditional RPG.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days shown for DS. Coming out 29 September in the US. Looks incredible. Loads of voice acting and four-player co-op gameplay.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story shown (formerly Mario & Luigi RPG 3). We've been playing the Japanese version for a while in the office and can confirm it's worth getting excited about. Release date is this autumn in Europe.
Golden Sun DS announced. Looks pretty special. Should be a treat for RPG fans.
Cammie's back. From 13 October, James Patterson's Women's Murder Club: Games Of Passion announced for DS. An all-new mystery story from James Patterson (top mystery writer). Looks... interesting. Seems to be a sort of mystery game with mini-games.
Cop: The Recruit from Ubisoft announced for DS. Looks surprisingly decent, almost like PS2 Grand Theft Auto 3 on DS.
Style Savvy announced for DS. Some sort of fashion game aimed at girls. They can't all be Mario, we suppose!
DSi video being shown. People talking about how cool it is. More than 1 million sold in the US in the first two months.
Moving Memo shown. Will be called Flipnote Studio in America this summer.
Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again announced for DSiWare. You can make your own levels and upload them to friends. Launches in America this MONDAY. We should hopefully get it soon.
WarioWare: DIY announced. Lets players design their own mini-games from scratch and send them to friends.
Beginning this summer, you will be able to directly upload DSi photos to Facebook using the DSi. Awesome!
The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks mentioned. Nothing shown, but it'll be playable this week at E3 so Neil will give a hands-on later on.
Satoru Iwata takes to the stage. Woooo!
He says Nintendo divides the population into three groups: those who regularly play games, those who would never play, and those who may play. He says there are 295 million people regularly playing, but another 149 million who may play. "for every to people playing games, there is another person who might join in."
He says he's concerned by games getting harder because it'll not attract new gamers, but he's also aware that if they lower the bar, hardcore gamers will be put off. He says the balance has to appeal to both advanced players and novices: games like the original Donkey Kong.
He says that Mario Kart Wii is one such game, that appealed to casual and hardcore gamers. He says that New Super Mario Bros Wii is going to be another one.
Wii Vitality Sensor announced. It's a sensor that you put your finger in so it can measure your pulse. People will be able to use the software coming out for the Vitality Sensor to help enhance their relaxtion.
Cammie's back, saying there's more. She says they've shown New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario & Luigi 3 and Mario Vs Donkey Kong. But there's more!
SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2! It's got YOSHI in it. Looks ACE. There's a snow level, an underwater one, a haunted level that's a sort of maze, the Bee suit's back. We want it NOW.
Reggie says "I'll be honest. I read the blogs too, and I've been a gamer for a long time. I know there are people out there saying "I want more". And that's generally associated with publishers not named Nintendo."
Some third-party games being shown. A trailer for The Conduit is being shown.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles also being shown.
Dead Space Extraction trailer being shown. Reggie's basically driving the point home that more "hardcore" games are on their way. Dead Space trailer looks excellent.
"But what about Nintendo itself? Could a new edgier game be coming from us? Absolutely."
Nintendo and Team Ninja have been collaborating to make a new Metroid game! SWEET LORD. It's called Metroid: Other M and looks ACE, Looks like Ninja Gaiden on the 360 with Samus. Third-person action. Coming out 2010. AWESOME.
"A Metroid game unlike any you've ever experienced before. it'll take you deeper into Samus's story."
"In the end we believe we CAN provide something for everyone."
The conference ends. Two new Mario games, a Mario Vs Donkey Kong game on DSiWare this week and a new Metroid game from Team Ninja? Awesome.
