Nintendo E3 2011 Conference Live Report

Hello people of internet land! I am Jamin Smith, and I will be supplying the words you see on your screen for the next couple of hours.

Martin Gaston is currently sat to my left answering the trivia questions up on the big screen. "Kirby's dreamland is the shape of what figure?" it asks. Martin reckons Heart. The correct answer was 'Star'. Gutted, Martin.

I got frisked by security on the way in. Bit of excitement for the morning.

Martin's not feeling to sharp, by the way. One day of E3 does that to people. S'alright though. I'm plying him with coffee and soothing words. He seems to be coming round.

Woffls -- I'll live blog the odd trivia question just for you (presumably there's no stream of the screen up yet?)

What is the official name of the suit that turns Mario into a stone statue? (I don't have time to write the multiple choice answers, so you can just work the answers out for yourselves)

They're all REALLY easy, anyways.

How many different hats does Mario wera in Mario 64?

Let's ask Martin how he's feeling. He's being unusually quiet. "I wonder if Nintendo are punishing me?" he says "Maybe that's why I feel so bad"

(The answer to that question was FOUR, by the way)

Slowly filling up in here. Martin is once again getting frustrated by people taking pictures. He has a real issue with photos for some reason. Makes me laugh.

Who's frequenting the comments section this afternnoon then? Woffls? Ninjutsu? Lee? Guyderman? Draytone? Altaranga? Hello everybody!

The sweet sound of Angels and Airwaves is filling the room as I type. Been a lot of good music so far, actually. Bet Nintendo won't play any Hadouken though :(

Don't think that went down too well at the 3DS launch party. Was totally awesome-balls, though.

The trivia questions are on repeat, Martin informs me. He doesn't sound too pleased.

HELLO ENVIRO-BEAR!

@Neon Soldier -- "It's not hard to beat Microsoft" says Martin. "If they put a price on Cafe, that'd be nice. I'd also like to see Mario on 3DS"

I'd like to see a new F-Zero. Did I ever tell you I was THE FASTEST F-ZERO PLAYER IN THE WHOLE OF THE UK? I was, you know.

Martin reckons he has a fever. He's hot one minute, cold the next. Send him internet love, everybody.

About twenty minutes to go. Laptop battery at 85%. Should be alright.

I told him to 'man up', Enviro bear. He went off on one about how seeing videogames all day is 'not easy', and that the very fact he is here with me means he has 'manned up'.

More Arcade Fire playing now. Love these guys. Sprawl II off the new album is a BIG tune.

Martin is now complaining about a blister on his foot.

Prety packed in here now. Just over ten minutes to go. ARE YOUR BODIES READY?

"I miss James" says Martin, after reading his hilarious Katy Perry joke. I miss him too. But there are a fair few pictures of Cole Phelps around L.A. - so I feel like he's here with us.

Martin would like to see MGS3 on 3DS today. He's arguing with himself whether he'd play this, or the new HD remake. Tough call there.

Oh! I forgot to tell y'all! I had a dream that Martin got himself an interview with Tony Hawk, but he was being really mean to him, and I said "Martin, calm down, you're being really mean" and Martin said "Shut up Jamin! We need NEWS!"

The pressures of E3 are clearly getting to my subconcious.

Martin is getting the second laptop ready, just incase the internet drops. It probably will, you know. Although Ninty have some decent WiFi set up here -- no need for the dongles just yet.

Lol. Dongles.

Razorlight playing now. "In the morning". Still waiting for some Hadouken or Enter Shikari or something. Janes Addiction played after the Sony conference yesterday. Shame I know nothing of their songs.

Another question for you: Who wears sunglassses all the time in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D?

What is the first thing Link does in EVERY Zelda game since Link to the Past?

'Albert Wesker' and 'Wake up' are your answers there.

I'd like to tell you all how excited I am to play SSX: VERY. That NASA sattelite shiz is a BIG DEAL. Not enough people are talking about it on Twitter for my liking. Going to hunt that down later on today.

Predictions for Cafe then? If anybody gets DATE, PRICE and NAME (Beem or just 'Nintendo' seem popular choices) correct -- I'll find some swag to send you as a prize.

Or, whoever gets closest, actually. If you get all three 100% correct, I'll find something EXTRA special. There's loads of cool stuff given away here. You should see my new EA notepad. It's the balls.

Assuming, of course, that all this info is revealed.

It probably won't.

Here we go then! An orchestra is playing as a Zelda montage plays on the screen. Some dude just whistled very loudly in my ear.

Such a great song. If I wasn't excited about Zelda five minutes ago, I am now.

Wind Waker's SO the best game since Link to the Past.

It's a BIG orchestra by the way. I wonder if they know any Shikari?

Montage still going strong. Skyward Sword now on screen. Visually better than I remember it from last year.

Clapping. "Very impressive" says Martin. Miyamoto now on stage.

He's such a happy chappy! "Mmm. Zelda" he says.

This year is the 25th anniversary of Zelda, he reminds us.

The song we heard there at the end was the theme to Skyward Sword. Good work, orchestra.

The orchestra is going to continue to play songs and musical motifs LIVE for our amusement. You're right Miyamoto, it DOES feel nice. "Pearson is going to love this!" says Martin.

Full orchestra doing 'getting an item'. That was effing awesome.

"CRAZY" says Martin. Must be good.

For the 25th anniversary, Nintendo have prepared a Zelda game for EACH console. Links Awakening heading to 3DS store (which launched yesterday)

Four Swords will be offered as a FREE download for DSi. "We hope you will gather all your friends to together!" says Shigsy. WHAT IF I HAVE MORE THAN FOUR FRIENDS?

Golden wii-mote to launch alongside Skyward Sword. Looks pretty.

Shigsy jokes that he has been getting stronger since playing Skyward Sword 'every day'.

In honour of the 25th anniversary, the orchestra will be playing a symphony concert in each region around the world. This will be happening in Autumn. Anybody reckon they'd go to this?

Nintendo and Zelda bigwigs have taken to the stage. I couldn't get their names. Sorry. They thank us for supporting Zelda. THAT'S OK GUYS.

Orchestra are at it again. I'd certainly pay to hear a whole concert of this. They're jolly good.

Iwata has taken to the stage.

We have seen cahnges in 'WHO plays', 'WHERE we play' and 'HOW we play' says Iwata. What next, I wonder?

We haven't achieved a platform that is equally satisfying to all players. This will be solved with their next console, apparently. The new console will offer 'deeper' game epxeriences and 'wider' appeal.

They're not talking about it 'til later. Doh.

Onto 3DS then!

It's Mario Kart. A quick intro shows Mario using a makeshift kite to make his KART FLY. Yes.

Star Fox shown to huge cheers.

Then Mario followed by Kid Icarus. But what's this? Luigi jauting about a mansion with a torch!? The crowd are lapping it up.

Calm down Woffls! Here's Reggie!

He's so at home on that stage. Does he even exist without it? I'm not so sure.

"Five key titles to show you this week" he says.

Mario Kart is first up. "It's a new tricked out version you haven't seen before" apparently. I hate Mario Kart. Where's F-Zero at? You need something called 'skill' to play that one.

Vehicle customisation shown. Interesting.

Brief glimpse of another glider at the end there. Out this Holiday season. Next up -- Star Fox. Definitely the coolest of Ninty's roster of characters.

Game can be played by turning and tilting the system. Four player play with photos of each player on screen. Nice.

Out this September. Hella excited for that one. "I'd play that" says Martin nodding.

Mario, then. Created from scratch for a portable system. 3D platforming shown - Tanooki suit. Coins. Bob-ombs. Goombas. BOWSER. Yep, it's definitely Mario.

Kid Icarus next. Still looks graphically impressive. I remember being somewhat unimpressed with the demo I saw last year. Looks a lot better now.

Luigi's Mansion 2. Lots of ghost busting going on on screen. Scary music, too. Looks great.

Definitely the biggest cheer of the bunch. The game will feature 'several new mansions' according to Reggie.

Time for a montage! Resi Evil: The Mercenaries, Mario and Sonic, Ace Combat, Tetris, Cave Story 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, Driver Renegade, Pacman and Galaga, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater.

Virtual Console games revealed for the 3DS store. 'bout time, Ninty. 3D Classics Excitebike will be offered for free.

OMG POKEMON. LKSgosgfsdlk;gl;onask;jegbd.ns xjhvb> ?

Ah, it's only the Pokedex that was announced t'other week. The keyboard bashing I just did really wasn't neccessary. Still cool, though.

AR markers? Nice. Looking forward to sharing pictures of me and my Emboar with my friends. Once again, FREE. Nintendo are being very generous today.

Very clever, Ninty. You've had Wii, and now you've got U. Wii U.

But what does this entail? It's Cafe, folks. Thew Wii U controller is a tablet like we've been expecting.

What do people think of the name. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? Beem didn't happen then...

The controller can be used for controlling the TV, drawing pictures (of Link, natch)and playing games in conjuction with the screen. Neat AR features shown off.

Crowd went mental when a hand was used to swipe shooting stars from the Wii U tablet, onto the screen. Neat trick, I'll admit.

Zelda shown -- no idea what the title was, but looked nice. Crowd clapping up a storm.

Thoughts Martin? "Curious" he says.

Still not sure on the logistics of the thing yet. Fill us in, Iwata.

6.2 inch screen. Will work with Wii-motes, balance boards, and most other Wii accessoires.

Two circle pads - important that one. D-pad. Touch screen. Microphone. Speakers. Accelerometer. Gyroscope.

It does look nice. "It's not been designed to be a portable games machine" says Iwata.

Nintendo wanted to create strong bonds betwen your games, tv and internet.

Here's Miyamoto having a chin-wag about it. He seems keen on it. "I'm looking forward to new styles of play" he says. "There won't be a shortage of ideas".

Damn son, Smash Brothers. For 3DS and Wii U. Lots of screaming going on here.

No details, though. You big tease, Iwata. Cross platform play hinted at?

A video is now showing demonstrating how the device can be used. So far all I've seen is birds, fish and flowers. People are clapping anyway.

New Super Mario Brothers Mii. Your Mii will play alongside Mario and chums.

Some interesting uses shown off - but I'm still a bit baffled. Reggie admits that what's been shown off are merely prototypes - not actual games.

LEGO City Stories IS a real game. An open world one, at that. Exclusive to Wii U and 3DS.

Third parts developers seem keen. Peter Moore, Danny Bilson, Tekken dude, Ken Levine, Warren Spektor and Frank Gibeau all like it. Dark Siders 2 revealed. Arkham City. Assassins Creed. Ghost Recon. It's all kicking off here.

They're saying lots of nice things about it. The word 'revolutionary' was used no less than four hundred times.

Another montage. Darksiders 2. DiRT. Aliens Colonial Marines. Ghost Recon. Metro Last Light? Interesting.

Tekken - crowd laughing at a customisation features. Presumably you can draw on your characters face with the Wii U tablet.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razors Edge. Blimey. Hayabusa kicking lots of ass with his sword.

Impressive third part support, then. Martin's highlight? Darksiders 2 apparently.

John Riccitiello has now taken to the stage. Weird seeing him there.

He seems to be keen on Wii U as well. Bet he cracks out the word revolutionary in a minute.

He's pushing social and community features. Excellent. Was looking forward to hearing this was going to be a push for Nintendo.

Seems we're coming to an end here. Reggie is asking us to consider the four platforms: DS, 3DS, Wii and Wii U. Innovation is the common trait, he says.

There are 8 Wii U epxeriences over at the convention centre. You'll probably be hearing all about those soon.

So, have Nintendo won E3 again? I reckon so. Some big stuff in there.

What's Martin got to say for himself after all that? "EA getting on board is big" he says. The social and community features Riccietello was jabbering on about certainly seems to have huge implications.

Righty, time to make a move. Thanks for sticking with us! Martin and I are now off to the convention centre for the first time.

Cheerio!