Nintendo had kiosks available after the press conference for attendees to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii before E3 opened, so we got a few minutes of gameplay in on the title.

NSMBW feels a lot like multiplayer LittleBigPlanet, and that’s definitely a good thing.  The cooperative/competitive dynamic makes it interesting, and special “moves” are especially intriguing.  Players can bounce off the heads of friends to reach new heights (literally), and these tactics combine with powerups.  Added to the mainstays like the Fire Flower and Mushroom are the Penguin Suit and Propeller Suit. READ MORE

A few pics from Day 1 of E3 2009

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Today I managed to get some hands-on time with Ubisoft’s Wii brawler, TMNT: Smash Up.  The E3 build of the game adds a few characters from the previous preview version and tightens the gameplay and controls.

The game has two confirmed control schemes: remote only and remote-nunchuk.  Remote only is usable, but as awkward as it was with Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  Control is much more precise with the remote-nunchuk setup. READ MORE

Sony’s press conference was the last of the big three to go down today. Jack Tretton MCed the event and covered a few key highlights about Sony’s continuing gaming strategy. A few of those highlights are:

• 364 games are slated for release on PlayStation platforms this year
• Sony is committed to the PlayStation 2 as long as consumers see value in the platform
• 100 new titles are shipping for the PS2 this year
• 35 new exclusive PlayStation titles due out in 2009

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