Nintendo at E3 – a look back – E3 2009 and E3 2010

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, Features, General Nintendo, Videos, Wii

After Nintendo’s incredibly disappointing E3 2008 conference, the company rebounded somewhat in 2009.

Thankfully, Cammie Dunaway said nothing about smiling or breaking her wrist snowboarding. This was, mostly, all about the games.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii started things off. An on-stage demo was held so that the game could be demonstrated for the first time.

Nintendo followed with Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus.

Time was also taken to highlight RPGs for the Wii and DS – Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story localization, and one brand new title: Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

Nintendo closed out its conference with three big reveals: the Wii Vitality Sensor (which never made it to market), Super Mario Galaxy 2, and the surprising Metroid: Other M.

Overall, not bad at all considering how horrendous E3 2009 was!

E3 2010 was very reminiscent of E3 2004 – one of Nintendo’s most well-received conferences. Both had a new handheld reveal (DS, 3DS), and a new Zelda announcement (Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword).

Whereas E3 2004 left Zelda for the last moment, Nintendo began its 2010 conference by showing the first trailer and live gameplay from Skyward Sword. Shigeru Miyamoto also made another lovely appearance!

The games didn’t stop there. Nintendo showed a new trailer for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, revealed GoldenEye 007 (though it leaked out a day prior to the briefing), announced Kirby’s Epic Yarn, debuted a video for Metroid: Other M, and pulled back the curtain on Retro Studios’ brand new project: Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Then it was the 3DS’ time to shine. Satoru Iwata flaunted the new hardware, announced Kid Icarus: Uprising and nintendogs + cats, and gave a look at the third-parties supporting the handheld – Capcom with Resident Evil, Square Enix with Kingdom Hearts, Konami with Metal Gear Solid, and more.

Oh, and Nintendo made a neat little video to show fans what the 3DS is all about!