If its one criticism that Nintendo receives, it’s for being set in their ways. Unfortunately, Nintendo hit the nail on the head it right off the bat with most of their flagship franchises. Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid…you can look at each game in the series dating back to the beginning and there’s not a bad one in the bunch. Interestingly enough, for a company that prides itself so much on “INNOVATION”, these series rarely change in any drastic way.

Such is the case with Mario Kart, a series grounded in tried and tested gameplay, but this time around Nintendo has made things a little more interesting. Hit the jump and find out why.

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As great as the Nintendo press conference was earlier today, the complete lack of Wii titles was a tad depressing. Sure, we saw The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, but that was it. Aside from that, a new Mario Party title, and Kirby Wii, there isn’t a whole lot more software inbound to breathe life into the system. One of the reasons that the Wii has been one of my favourite consoles of all time is due to the strange (often incredibly Japanese) library of games I’ve piled up for it. Rhythm Heaven may very well be the last of that breed to hit the system.

Join me for some brief impressions after the break.

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If I had to describe El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron in one word it would be ”gorgeous”. After seeing the game it probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that El Shaddai’s develop was headed by Okami lead character designer Sawaki Takeyasu.  The brightly coloured, pastel ce-shaded visuals are a dead give away, and they just absolutely ooze style.

But is it more than just a pretty face? Hit the jump for my impressions.

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Every 25 minutes, like clock work, press huddle into a cramped screening booth replete with dark red velvet and stifling heat, to get a glimpse at Saint’s Row: The Third. To refresh the weary, THQ splashes a new 20 minute video of in-game footage on our faces. The video shows off more open world exploration, heavy duty/heavily insane weapons and ends with a bank heist.

Comparing the Saint’s Row series to GTA, as many do, is comparing two completely different series’ on opposite ends of the propriety spectrum. While GTA tends to inject more or less a realistic story line of gangs and guns, Saint’s Row uses these tropes for pure caricature. The new video shows that developer Volition, Inc. aims to widen this gap even more.

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Earlier today, Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata spoke regarding the successor to Super Smash Bros Brawl. Apparently, Masahiro Sakurai, the creative mind behind Kirby and the Super Smash Bros series, approached Iwata to discuss what was next for Project Sora after the completion of upcoming 3DS title Kid Icarus: Uprising – the next installment in Nintendo’s flagship fighting series. While Iwata remained tight lipped about the details, apparently so we can focus on Pit’s next adventure, he did announce that the next title in the Smash Bros series would be on both the 3DS and Wii U platforms and that they would work together in some fashion.

As if the prospect of a new Smash Bros weren’t enough to be excited about, Nintendo boasting some sort of inter-console connectivity? This is amazing!  Until today I was a bit of a sceptic about the successor to the Wii and the path Nintendo was headed down, but they’ve managed to bring me back. My mind is racing just thinking about what they’ll do next and which characters they’ll include this time around. What would you like to see in the next Smash Bros title?

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Earlier today, EA showed off about 45 minutes worth of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Personally, I am extremely excited for this Star Wars based MMO from Bioware. Not only because I’m a huge Stars Wars nerd and fan of MMOs, but because Bioware’s track record speaks for itself.

Anyhow, enjoy a recording of the stream after the break and be sure to check out more from EA at their E3 site. Read more… »

Earlier this afternoon, I had the opportunity to sit down and play Capcom’s latest spinoff in the Resident Evil series. Capcom has partnered with SOCOM Confrontation developer Slant Six Games to push the series in an entirely new direction with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.  Together, they have created the franchise’s first third-person team-based shooter and it looks like it’s shaping up to be something special.

The game follows the Umbrella Security Service (USS) through the Raccoon City Incident – previously seen from the perspective of Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield in Resident Evil 2 and Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Operation Raccoon City features three-way competitive multiplayer between US Spec Ops, Umbrella security forces, and the infected threat of zombies and Bio-Organic Weapons. While at the Capcom booth I had the chance to sit down for a fifteen-minute single-player demo.

Hit the jump for my impressions.

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Today at their E3 2011 press conference Nintendo announced not one, but two Legend of Zelda titles for the 3DS as a part of the series’ 25th anniversary celebration. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, previously seen on the Gameboy, will be available through the eShop later today. Nintendo also announced that a reworked version The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords, previously seen on the Gamecube and GBA, and that it would be available soon for the DSi and 3DS platforms FOR FREE.

While they were at it Nintendo reaffirmed release dates for both Ocarina of Time 3D and Skyward Sword, which will be hitting their respective platforms next week and sometime Holiday 2011. Additionally, a golden-coloured Legend of Zelda Wii remote will accompany the release of Skyward Sword.

Finally, the Legend of Zelda Symphony will be touring as a part of the quarter-century celebrations. Nintendo confirmed concerts in each region (NA, EU, JP) as well as two musical CDs. One disc will feature music from Ocarina of Time, whilst the other will be for the 25th anniversary and will release alongside Skyward Swords.

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Say hello to the Wii U. Yea… So maybe I was a bit premature in labeling the PS Vita as the worst product name ever. But that is neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is, that the over-the-top controller we had heard rumors of the past couple weeks has been confirmed.

The Wii U is full of some interesting features including switching the video from your television to the controller. The controller will also act as a secondary display so as to provide a new, unique experience. Whether or not it is a better experience will be seen when it is released in 2012. For more information on Nintendo’s new console, hit the break. Read more… »

There it is ladies and gentlemen. The NGP is officially named the PS Vita. Vita, meaning “life” in Latin is easily the worst product name I have ever heard.

While this has been rumored for a while now, all of us here at Gamer Limit have hoped that it wasn’t true. But, despite the poor name, the features and games shown during the Sony press conference were quite promising. And at $249 for the Wi-fi version and $299 for 3G, it falls right in line with one of its competitors, Nintendo’s 3DS. Sad to think that is an acceptable price for a handheld these days. Oh economy, how I hate thee. Hit the break for a full breakdown of the PS Vita.

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After bringing back a ton of nostalgia with the Sly Cooper HD collection, there was nothing more that I wanted from Sucker Punch than to revisit the series. Thankfully enough, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time was announced during the Sony press conference. While the trailer didn’t tell us much, it didn’t matter to me. The fact of the matter is, SLY COOPER IS BACK!

HD remakes are a common occurence in the video game industry today. Well, it turns out we will be seeing more of our favorites transform into high-definition. This time, God of War‘s PSP games will be remade for the PlayStation 3 in what is called God of War Origins. And for the few of you out there that have invested in a 3D television, you will be happy to hear that it will support stereoscopic 3D.

While I enjoy this news, it is another bit of news they gave alongside of this that got me excited. After a ton of delay of the ICO/Shadow of the Colossus HD collection, it is finally going to be released the same month as God of War Origins in September. About… freaking… time! Can’t wait!