E3 Week: The Nintendo Press Conference

Ninty closed the show, but with what, and how successfully?
At the culmination of the two long days of E3 press conference came the showing of Nintendo. This one has been subject to a lot of criticism, simply because the company seemed not to deliver on their promises of a massive set of WiiU game reveals which would tide people over to get the console. Instead, we mostly found out about ports and HD remakes. On the plus side, this probably means that Nintendo will kick into high gear with announcements in the next few months leading up to the WiiU's Winter release. Here are the full list of announcements from the conference...

• PIKMIN 3 ANNOUNCED- If you're going to reveal a classic Nintendo franchise's return, make it Pikmin. With virtual versions of the little characters walking into the audience, it was clear Nintendo wanted to big their third entry in the series majorly, and rightly so. The game will be controllable with the Wii Remote, Nunchuk and WiiU Gamepad, and is due for release alongside the console this Winter.
• NEW SUPER MARIO BROS U ANNOUNCED- Of course, Super Mario was always going to feature (and boy, does he feature) on the WiiU. His first outing will be this side-scrolling HD adventure, New Super Mario Bros U, set for release at the console's launch with Baby Yoshis, Squirrel Suits and 5-player action.
• BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY ARMOURED EDITION ANNOUNCED- Yep, the Dark Knight's best game yet is coming to WiiU. The title's now got all of its Game Of The Year features (Catwoman included), a motion-controlled camera and a special Bat meter powerup utilising the gamepad. Cool stuff!
• SCRIBBLENAUTS UNLIMITED ANNOUNCED- Scribblenauts was always comprehensive, but with the addition of more adjectives and definitions (as if it couldn't sound more exciting) into the engine, things should really become natural and smooth for the developing games franchise with its return on WiiU and 3DS this Winter.
• MASS EFFECT 3 WIIU ANNOUNCED- BioWare teased this just hours before Nintendo's conference: Mass Effect 3 is on its way to WiiU, and you can bet that there will be some good measures taken to ensure it doesn't feel overwhelming that the original and its sequel won't be there to fill in the narrative gaps.
• WII FIT U ANNOUNCED- This sequel to Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus will be pretty similar to its predecessors, only now with the WiiU Gamepad there'll be new statistics and instructions relayed through the useful second game screen.
• SING ANNOUNCED- In perhaps the most creatively named game ever, you'll be using a microphone to song! I know, INCREDIBLE!!!
• NEW SUPER MARIO BROS 2 DEBUTED- As I said, Mario was at the conference in full force, with the 3DS sequel to New Super Mario Bros outed too. It doesn't look much different to the original or the WiiU version, in all honesty, but more Mario is always welcome!
• PAPER MARIO: STICKER STAR ANNOUNCED- Or is it...? I can't help but think that re-announcing the return of Paper Mario on 3DS was a bit of overkill for the iconic Italian plumber. And yet, it's great to see this 2D incarnation of the character back in action, and looking visually splendid too!
• LUIGI'S MANSION 2 DEBUTED- Remember what I said about overkill...? This pretty much sealed the deal. At least it was Mario's brother...
• LEGO CITY: UNDERCOVER ANNOUNCED- A surprisingly exciting announcement here, the new LEGO City game for WiiU looks like a blend of classic LEGO gameplay and a GTA-esque open world, so I'd advise you keep an eager eye on this one!
• NINTENDO LAND ANNOUNCED- Finally, this theme park-based WiiU party game will combine mini-games based around classic Nintendo franchises like Zelda and Animal Crossing into one comprehensive experience. Fun times ahead!

And now as promised the conference itself, in case you missed it already- enjoy!