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E3 2010: Nintendo’s Hardcore Press Conference

June 15, 2010 | | 2 Comments Share thison Facebook E3 2010: Nintendo’s Hardcore Press Conferenceon Twitter

Nintendo’s press conference has come to a close, and it’s looking like 2010 and even 2011 are going to be big years for Nintendo fans. While half of the conference was dominated by the 3DS (which also had some amazing game announcements), the Wii and DS are getting a lot of love this year.

Nearly every classic Nintendo franchise was covered, from the upcoming Metroid: Other M that we’ve been excited about for months to newly announced Zelda, Kirby, Kid Icarus, Donkey Kong Country, and even Goldeneye titles. While everyone is focusing on how these games look and feel (the 3DS is absolutely stunning), we were paying attention to how they sounded, and I have to say that I liked what I heard.

Hit the jump for our impressions of Nintendo’s newly announced titles directly from the press conference.

First of all, before the conference kicked off, the giant screens above the stage displayed some Nintendo trivia that included “who composed the soundtracks for Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda?” and specific questions about the ocarina tunes from Ocarina of
Time
. It was nice that they had music on their mind when coming up with these questions.

The first title shown was The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Swords, which is a new Zelda title for the Wii using the Wii MotionPlus for realtime sword combat as well as shield and item use. The demonstration started with a feed of Miyamoto on screen talking about the game with the Zelda fairy music in the background. He was looking down and giving directions to his translator on stage who was demoing the game, and with the music, it was pretty comical as he floated above like a magical being. Regarding the music, we heard two pieces in the demo, including an epic orchestral trailer piece that worked in the series’s iconic theme. The in-game track, however, really stood out for its somewhat mature fantasy RPG sound. It didn’t sound like the typically playful Hyrulian training area that I would have expected, and has me wondering what else we’ll be hearing in the game.

We also saw Kirby: Epic Yarn, a strange but cute looking Kirby platformer that featured a whimsical orchestral accompaniment with playful bells and bass tones and an airy string section. This was surely a trailer piece, but I’m looking forward to this game and its music. There was also Donkey Kong Country Returns which featured gameplay and even music directly from the original game. Oh, and Retro Studios is devloping it, which definitely has me intrigued.

On the handheld front we saw Golden Sun: Dark Sun which sported a heavy orchestral rock track that sounded like Sakuraba’s work, and of course Kid Icarus on the 3DS, which was a big surprise. The gameplay trailer was accompanied by a poppy rock tune, although my favorite thing about it on the audio front was the classic Kid Icarus jingle that appeared at the end as an eggplant with legs ran by. With Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Street Figher, Professor Layton, Kindgom Hearts, and Final Fantasy also on their way to the 3DS (unfortunately none of these were shown during the presentation), there’s more to look forward to from the system in the future.

I have to say that I’m incredibly impressed with Nintendo’s conference this year. Zelda looks and sounds amazing, we’re getting new entries into some of our favorite franchises with Donkey Kong Country Returns and Kirby: Epic Yarn, and the 3DS will have you giddy about games
again.

Look forward to more coverage of these titles from E3 in the coming days.

Let us know what you think of Nintendo’s E3 conference. Which titles and soundtracks are you looking forward to the most?

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