Highlights From Nintendo's E3 Announcements

A triumphant Reggie Fils-Aimes, Nintendo of America CEO, took center stage at the company's E3 briefing Wednesday. The Wii has certainly been a success for the company, and if you own one, here's what you can look forward to playing on it this season.

Super Mario Galaxy: Using the Wii-mote or Nunchuk, you'll be able to move Mario through a series of planets, challenges and power ups on November 12. This looks like it's going to be worth the wait.

Wii Fit: If you're a fan of Wii Sports, you'll like this one. But is it too much? You decide. Wii Fit will use what Nintendo calls the Wii balance board (a sort of pressure/center of gravity sensitive wireless scale/step) and have you doing yoga exercises, push ups, rhythm walking and other aerobics, soccer ball heading, hula hooping and more.

Click play to see footage of Wii Fit, Super Mario Galaxy, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: Nintendo are already claiming that this'll be the best first person shooter this fall, but with Halo 3 and BioShock imminent, it's gonna have some competition. Actual launch date is August 27th.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Slated for a December 3 release, this fighting game will include all your favorite Nintendo characters, plus Konami's Solid Snake (Metal Gear) and the option to use the Wii Remote, Nunchuk, Classic controller, or GameCube controller.

Mario Kart for the Wii: Due in early 2008, this update to my second favorite game from college (after Golden Eye), will come bundled with Nintendo's own Wii Wheel. A page out of Ubisoft's book to be sure, but an interesting move all the same.

Wii Zapper: Designed for first person shooters and targeting games, the Zapper shell (expected later this year) will cost $20 on its own or ship bundled with a game, such as Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

Reggie said that there are currently 150 Wii games available, and Nintendo plans to have 350 by year's end. Of course, that's where third-party games come in, and some of the ones I'm looking forward to include Electronic Arts' new Madden NFL and FIFA games and Sega's Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Finally, Nintendo DS fans can look forward to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (you'll be able to control Link using only the stylus on October 1), Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (October 15), and Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (August 20). Interesting-looking third party games include Activision's Call of Duty title, Electronic Arts' MySims and Ubisoft's My Word Coach.

For more up-to-the-minute blogs, stories, photos, and video from the show, visit our E3 2007 Infocenter.

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