The C-E staff give their views on gaming's most important issues.

Now that the dust has settled, it's time for some post-E3 analysis. Were Nintendo able to make up for last year's disappointment? Did the DS impress? Is the current euphoria over it really justified? I think you already know the answer to those questions.

Was this E3 a good E3 for Nintendo?

Tom:

YES. E3 was incredible for Nintendo. They have regained the trust and love of thousands. They now have a huge ammount of respect in the industry. People are excited about Nintendo again, which is something that hasn't happened for a long time. Quite apart from the obvious, Zelda and DS, they also showed a huge number of games that hadn't been shown for ages, and they all seem to be shaping up well. They have set the Gamecube up so that it will go out gracefully, and will be remembered fondly.

And, best of all, they have worried the competition. Great stuff!

Beautiful. Just...beautiful

Javid:

Indeed, and with the rush of joyous emotions comes the realisation of what Nintedo has been missing as of late. You think back to last year and compared to this year, it seems pathetic and mediocre in comparison to E3 2004. Realistic Zelda. That was always the key, and as much as we may love the Wind Waker and Nintendo vow to be innovative, sometimes you have to break and give in to the demand of something so predictable, the difference this time was it wasn't expected!

The DS has also been an enormous surprise; classic Nintendo keeping tight-lipped and then bam, we have a touch screen, wireless Wi-Fi spectacle before our eyes. It's tough to imagine playing it, although I know it will be a defining moment in anyone's gaming life, a special one at that. Cannot wait! Of course, although Zelda and the DS seem to steal the show for me, the whole wealth of games for the Cube and the DS are very impressive and all more reason to tip our hats to Nintendo, raise a glass and thank God the Nintendo we love still lives.

God bless Retro

Dominic:

E3 was brilliant for Nintendo. It was a really great start as well, "I'm about kicking arse and taking names, and we're making games" after that we were on a rollercoaster ride through what was the best conference at E3. It was enough to get any Nintendo fan sexually excited. To top it off, when Zelda was shown it was like an ultimate orgasm, the crowd were insane and Miyamoto was just beautiful.

Obvious the main attraction was the Nintendo DS. This little beauty made me so want to get one. It has an insanely large amount of potential. I plan to get one on release day and begin playing people around the world with Wi-Fi.

There were lots of games, some a bit different than I was expecting. Advance Wars was different from what I was expecting but I'm willing to give it a shot if it's a good game to play. Resident Evil 4 is still one of the top games I can't wait to get hold of. Prime 2 has me all hyped up again for the sequel. The story seems very interesting.

It was a great show, brilliant, just orgasmic and if Nintendo keep this attitude then I think we might be in for an actually change of how the console market is becoming.

The DS has impressed all around (evidently/)

Ben:

This was Nintendo's E3. Sony and Microsoft slipped up with their tedious stat-filled stop-and-start conferences; and Nintendo took full advantage of that by delivering an awe-inspiring shock-filled gaming bonanza. The Nintendo DS is so much better than expected- with tonnes of great games and beautiful features- and with MP2, and especially the new Zelda, bringing up the rear; Nintendo made this year's show their own.

Iun:

This sure was a good E3 for Nintendo, it has signaled what I think we all hope will be a permanent turnaround in fortunes and their approach to the videogames market as a whole, rather than just focusing on a small hardcore of elite gamesplayers.

Whilst it may be true that the Nintendo DS may initially appeal to the "10%" of gamers Iwata-San predicted, the fervent reaction it received at the press conference and the buzz that has been doing the rounds on these sites of late seem to suggest that the hardware will appeal to far more people than originally expected.

As for games, who could fail to be impressed by the new Metroid and the long-awaited Zelda sequel? Only the most closed-minded Microsoft zealot, that's who. It may well be that Nintendo have gained some ground but lost even more this time around with the Gamecube, but that sure as hell won't stop them making the best of what are prematurely it's autumn years.

I'll admit this now: I own every single current-market console, and quite frankly, I own one game for the Xbox, and that's Morrowind. There is nothing, now or in the future - NOTHING - on any of my other consoles that I am looking forward to even half as much as I am to the future Gamecube releases. And we haven't even seen ECTS yet.

Another E3 for Pikmin 2

Chris:

This year's E3 was absolutely fantastic! I have to be honest, after last year's big letdown I wasn't going to be getting my hopes up this year incase the same thing happened. Because of going in with low expectations E3 surprised me and exceeded all my expectations for the event. Nintendo delivered big time and is releasing a stack of killer titles for our purple box over 2004/2005. With Metroid Prime Echoes, Resident Evil and Zelda all around the corner people would have to be crazy not to own a Gamecube!

A little dodgy perhaps?

Bas B:

I think Nintendo had a good show, though I'm not overly enthusiastic about the entire GameCube line-up.

I was most pleased by the possibilities of the DS. Wireless communication, touch screen, voice recognition and two screens may pave the way for an entirely new kind of games. Athough I must admit the games that were shown didn't really prove the usefulness of a second screen, yet. I'm also pleasantly surprised by Nintendo that the DS will play GBA games. Usually they would make you buy a converter or something like that.

The Cube has a line of promising titles, though lots of them were shown last year as well. Of some games, like StarFox and Geist, I'm still not sure whether they will be any good, even after a year of development since last year's E3.

Of the new games, Jungle Beat looks fun and innovative. I do think Nintendo does rely too heavy on their existing characters, though. Advance Wars seemed okay, but mostly because of its name. Athough in my opinion a deathmatch mode is an unneccesary addition, Metroid Prime 2 looks wonderful and the new Zelda looks fantastic. Hopefully Zelda will be much more than a GameCube update of Ocarina of Time.

Overall, it was a great show, but I'd like to have seen as much innovation in software as was shown in hardware.

Here's another look...*sniff*

Conor:

I'm working on a more detailed analysis of E3 at the moment, but to suffice: it was brilliant in so many ways. Nintendo were firing on all cylinders and seemed to have adopted a new attitude, brimming with justified confidence. Zelda looks beautiful, the Gamecube software lineup is full of corkers and, of course, the DS looks stonkingly innovative.

To borrow a question from N-Sider, was E3 'Fantastic of Crap-tastic?' Post with your thoughts.