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Nintendo Announces New Mario Bros, Mario Galaxy, Metroid

Nintendo's E3 press conference was an eventful one, with announcements for a new Super Mario Bros. Wii, a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy, and a new entry into the Metroid franchise by Team Ninja. The new Mario Bros. game will be available for the holiday season, and the other two are scheduled for 2010. Nintendo also confirmed an updated version of the Wii Fit, called the Wii Fit Plus (trailer), due out this fall. A full list of Nintendo's announcements is available, which includes more games and new features. Live blogs of the press conference, with commentary and pictures, are up at Engadget and 1Up.

17 of 291 comments (clear)

  1. Nintendo.... by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its nice to see Nintendo actually making an effort to appeal to gamers who want a game more involved than a tech demo, but can we please have something... fresh? Sure, Mario, Metroid, and Golden Sun are good, but it seems like Nintendo has really stagnated in good games that aren't gimmicks. Plus theres a bunch of old IP that isn't being capitalized on such as the old Japanese Fire Emblem games, Earthbound hasn't even seen a US release on the Virtual Console and Kid Icarus hasn't seen a new game in ages.

    Nintendo needs to make more "hardcore" games so whenever they aren't in first place anymore they won't go belly up.

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    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    1. Re:Nintendo.... by Errtu76 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nintendo needs to make more "hardcore" games so whenever they aren't in first place anymore they won't go belly up.

      They first need to release Wii 2 with better specs before 'hardcore' gamers are tempted to buy one. Don't get me wrong, Wii is a superb platform for really innovative games, but Mario Galaxy is already pushing its limits and that's not even _that_ special. The best thing they could do was improve on their succes and release newer versions of their best-selling games.

      I don't know anything about DS so i won't comment on it.

    2. Re:Nintendo.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Nintendo has a lot of "fresh" games which are discarded by the gaming populace because they happen to have Mario in them. Mario Galaxy, Mario & Luigi, Mario & Donkey Kong and Luigi's Mansion are some of the most inventive games I've played in a good long while. They'd earn a lot of respect if they'd just take these games and throw some original characters in them instead of chubby plumbers.

    3. Re:Nintendo.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Hopefully, it will be better than Galaxy.

      Hopefully, it will end world hunger, save the whales and bring me breakfast every morning, all of which are about as likely as it or any other game ever, ever being better than Galaxy, except maybe Galaxy 2.

    4. Re:Nintendo.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The original Playstation was the least powerful console of its generation. It had the worst graphics, and it sold the best. It's big technical advantage was the CD drive, which was pretty unnecessary at that point - hooray for pointless, ugly FMVs. Say what you will in regards to the games of that era, but anybody who argues that the Playstation had better graphics than the N64 is either blind or a liar.

    5. Re:Nintendo.... by BenoitRen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hardcore gamers already have a Wii next to their XBox 360 or PS3.

    6. Re:Nintendo.... by Supurcell · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But those discs are hella cheap!

  2. I'm a hypocrite by wilsoniya · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As the type of person who despises media companies that crap out products having never-ending sequels (sims, guitar hero), Nintendo really brings out the hypocrite in me, as I feel compelled to always buy the canonical Mario games.

    They had me at at Super Mario World.

    --
    I can't remember the last time I forgot anything.
    1. Re:I'm a hypocrite by Darkness404 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The difference is that each Mario game seems to be more than just an expansion pack. Super Mario Bros. was a classic platformer, SMB 2 (US version) was totally different yet still addicting, SMB 2 (Japanese version, Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels for westerners) was somewhat of an expansion pack but really seemed polished (and difficult), SMB3 added so much to the series and video games in general, Super Mario World added TONS of replay value, Super Mario 64 defined 3D platforming, Super Mario Sunshine was an experiment that worked sorta well, but played differently then any other game at the time or since then, Super Mario Galaxy expanded the Mario world a lot. Each new release isn't just new tracks or new powerups its a totally new experience that seems to redefine video gaming as a whole. While the next Guitar Hero just will have new tracks, the new Mario games usually have something unique to offer.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    2. Re:I'm a hypocrite by atamido · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The thing about these characters is that they are such a valuable piece of property to Nintendo that it pretty much guarantees that they won't risk releasing a crappy game with those characters that would destroy the franchise. Let's face it, Mario's story isn't exactly great, it's Nintendo's dedication and time to developing Mario games that makes him so popular.

  3. Looks good but... by blahplusplus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... nintendo really needs 3rd party games badly. The fact they went with underpowered hardware really killed 3rd party companies ability to port their games to the system. Which means: No final fantasy 13, no Street fighter 4, No soul calibur 4, etc, etc....

    Everytime nintendo learns from it's mistakes, it makes another one. It's also a shame that they fucked up starfox series so badly with Starfox Assault and Starfox adventures (was: Dinosaur planet)

    I heard the starfox developer got in a tiff with Miyamoto on the direction of the starfox franchise and they went their seperate ways... shame, it appears that Miyamoto thinks he's gods gift, and he outrights ignores the fan's of the games themselves. Pretty awful in my opinion.

    It's cool that Nintendo seems to be getting on the ball with Metroid, I hope Team Ninja's metroid is awesome, looks good from the trailers... I wish that they would farm out Zelda to team that does 3D combat well, I wonder what the god of war team could come up with working with Nintendo's own team.

    1. Re:Looks good but... by bogjobber · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Other then for cut scenes/graphics the games really don't *need* the extra power.

      Even ignoring the fact that graphics are a major factor for most gamers' enjoyment (it's inexcusable that the Wii doesn't have HD), you really do need extra power. The Wii really limits what you can do with a game, because there is just not the processing power or storage that you need for modern, sophisticated games. This is the main reason why you don't see ports on the Wii, otherwise every developer would love to make Wii games. But they've ensured that only a certain type of game can be made on the Wii, and that will certainly have negative consequences in the future as the PS3 and 360 are taken to their full potential.

    2. Re:Looks good but... by slim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But what Nintendo has done with the Wii is to tap into an alternative market. Why compete with Sony and MS, in a "who can be the best platform for playing gamepad games" competition? Someone has to lose that competition, and it might be you.

      Instead, make something that appeals to the millions of people who want cheap, fun gaming with a gimmicky controller. Turns out it works.

      It'll be interesting to see what happens now that Sony and MS are trying to muscle in on that market. Nintendo have a couple of advantages -- they were there first, and Sony/MS are heavily invested in a 'cool' factor that could be undermined by being too cheerful, brightly coloured and family-oriented. See their more "sophisticated" alternative to Miis, for example.

  4. Re:Still dissapointing. by Toonol · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Mario, Mario, and Metriod. And another gimmick, Wii fit. How depressing for us Wii owners.

    If it's that depressing for Wii owners, why do those games SELL SO WELL? Why is Sony and Microsoft intent on copying them?

    I get what you're saying. I want some hardcore action, FPS, RPG, and strategy games. The Wiimote would make a sweet interface for a RTS like Starcraft. But just remember, Wii Fit makes more people more happy than a port of 'Bioshock' would. Just not necessarily you or I.

  5. Yawn by Itninja · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I must be getting older because I just don't get too excited about "new" games. I wonder if I am leveling up in my Geekdom. I find myself caring less and less about video games and movies, and more and more about getting network jacks in every room in the house and getting all my DVDs ripped to a SAN so I stream them to the media room.

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  6. Re:Still dissapointing. by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hope Nintendo doesn't listen to you, for their own good. They did the homework already, about what kind of demographic gets them the more profits, and they nailed the equation. Just because there is one console manufacturer that doesn't cater to your needs, doesn't make their strategy a bad one. You have Sony, Microsoft and a host of PC game developers catering to the likes of you. Surely that's enough?

    I for one find the "hardcore gamer's games" boring and unplayable. I could complain why doesn't Sony bring more fun games to the PS3? Its amazing hardware could make for a great experience for those games, but you don't see me or anyone else complaining to Sony. So you guys play with your crap and we play with ours. We shut the fuck up, so can you.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  7. Re:Storage? by BenoitRen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No HD = simpler graphics = less storage space needed.