At this morning’s Nintendo press conference (read the live blog here!), I kept waiting for good ol’ Nintendo to pull out something magnificent after the endless barrage of “casual” games. Confused and bored by Wii Music? Okay, people … here’s a brand new Zelda! ZOMG!
Sadly, that never happened. In fact, I am guessing audiences left screenings of The Love Guru with more positive things to say. It pains me to admit it — being the huge Nintendo fan I am — but Nintendo really disappointed a lot of people with its tepid presentation. If I had an ocarina, I would play a sad tune …
Luckily, there was one game that sparked my interest. Being an avid supporter of the original Wii Sports, I genuinely got excited to see a sequel announced for release in early 2009. Entitled Wii Sports Resort, the game will ship with the new Wii MotionPlus accessory that offers true motion control in a 3D space. This new, very impressive technology was demonstrated using a few of the multiple activities the final game will have to offer. Out of the three shown — Disc Dog (a cute puppy catches frisbee simulator), Power Cruising (Wave Rave with a Mii!), and Sword Play (fencing with real swords!) — Sword Play impressed me the most. The amazing 1 to 1 sword control was incredible and really gave me a sense of what the Wii MotionPlus could do.
Wii Sports Resort is still early in development, but if it is half as fun as its predecessor I will be one happy guy. I am going to try out the game on the floor later, so check back soon for some hands-on impressions and more details of this promising sequel. In the meantime, you can peruse the below gallery for some first screens.
