E3 2010: Nintendo Keynote Wrap-Up

With our coverage of the keynotes for Microsoft and Sony already wrapped up, we turn our attention to Nintendo, the last of the Big 3 hardware manufacturers. Opposite Sony's three-pronged approach and Microsoft's 360 Slim (and Kinect) announcements, Nintendo simply stood pat with one new piece of hardware and a slew of games.

3DS

Nintendo unveiled its new 3DS, a variant of its popular DS portable gaming machine. This 3-D-enabled DS utilizes two top screens to produce its 3-D effect, thus users will not need to wear glasses to see the games in 3-D. There are also two cameras on the backside of the device to take 3-D photos, which can then be viewed. Nintendo is also working with movie publishers to get 3-D movies playable on the device.

The 3DS will also include a new analog stick, as well as an accelerometer and a gyroscope, giving it some similar sensors to the new iPhone 4. There will be a slider to control the depth of 3-D output which can also be slid to zero.

Games

Nintendo is trotting out quite a few franchises for games on the new 3DS. "Resident Evil," "Metal Gear Solid" and "Kingdom Hearts" will all make their 3-D appearances on the device, as well as a launch title in "Kid Icarus." Nintendo is also planning on renewing quite a few franchises such as Zelda and even a new Donkey Kong game for the Wii. The top-two game renewals Nintendo is touting are the new Zelda game and the new "Epic Mickey" game, both coming to the Wii.

One surprise Nintendo unveiled was that a new "Goldeneye" game is coming, a follow-up to the monstrously popular "Goldeneye" game on the Nintendo 64.

All in all, Nintendo didn't do much outside of the 3DS to excite its existing base of gamers, instead using the tried and true classics, with some twists.