I didn't even have to be at E3 to feel it. 15,000 miles away in my trampy town of Lurgan, N. Ireland I could feel it, hunched over my PC, listening intently to the conference coming out of my speakers. The picture was blurry and indistinguishable, but it didn't matter. I could still feel it. The electricity in the air, the excitement of Nintendo fans bubbling and exploding at the surface. I may have been halfway across the world, but I still felt part of the crowd. I 'oohed' when they 'oohed', I gasped when they gasped and I grabbed my brother in a frenzy during the DS revelations, as I'm sure they felt like doing to the guy beside them. And when the curtain came down and they made their exit, we were all feeling it. It was like stepping into the bright sun after years in darkness. We fell in love with Nintendo all over again.

A new Nintendo has emerged from E3 2004, an event that is likely to go down in the history books for Nintendophiles. To be more accurate, it's the same Nintendo we've been grumbling over, but they've regained their confidence of old. It's the same Nintendo, but with a new attitude. This is a Nintendo not content with waiting in the wings while Sony and Microsoft swagger about the gaming stage. Many had already dismissed Nintendo as a declining force in the industry, a few even predicting an approaching demise, but most just felt like they were waning. They have proved all the doubters wrong, and come out fighting. Even if this is some kind of last desperate punch, it's a knockout.

Things did seem bleak. Some of Gamecube's biggest titles had disappointed, there was talk of cutting losses and going for the N5, they'd let the talented Silicon Knights slip through their fingers and Sony was about to blitz their dominance of the handheld market with the PSP. But E3 saw a complete turnaound in confidence in not just Gamecube, but everything Nintendo-related. To outsiders, it'd be difficult to see exactly how - since not a whole lot of new Gamecube games were shown. But the show did see the next 12 months' worth of release and further take on a more formidable shape. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Paper Mario 2, Timesplitters 3, Resident Evil 4, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Advance Wars, Viewtiful Joe...we have a good year ahead of us.

But what of Zelda? What can you say about this game that hasn't already been said. Few single trailers have prompted such an onslaught of excitement from the gaming community, but the video really was stunning. One had only to see the crowd come alive at its appearance, a surprise that took most people off-guard. Honestly, who was expecting Nintendo to go and actually give us what we wanted; a realistic Zelda. Not that I'm glad to see the back of cel-shading; I was personally hoping for Ninty to bring Wind Waker's evocative visual style into new Zelda areas, but I find myself completely unable to begrudge the new Zelda in any way. All my hopes for a cel-shaded title evaporated when I first set eyes on this new Hyrule.

Is this new Zelda "mature"? Is it more "cool" than previous games? Terms like these have been batted about recently, but it's hard to see the relevance of them. Zelda is a whole other league to most other games, and arguably doesn't subscribe to the rules and trends of them. It's like it exists in a whole of its own, sitting apart from other software. This used to be the way of thinking, but no longer, considering the interference of the business side of things in Wind Waker's development (rushing its release to get it out in time). Now that Nintendo realise that Zelda is treated like any other games series by the general public (the crowd Nintendo need to pull most), it can take positive steps in increasing its appeal. Gamers in the know will buy the game anyway, for its gameplay and design attributes, but anything that can be done to better its image is welcome.

Whether covertly or overtly, this new Zelda is the one with the biggest mainstream appeal. Times have changed since the NES, and even the N64, so developers would do well to hold these new times in consideration during development. And, thankfully, Nintendo look to be doing this. You could show the trailer to a casual gamer and expect a positive reaction, unlike the previous game (although that's a different matter entirely). It's just such a kickass video - merging vivid images and stirring scores in a way you'd expect from a quality film trailer. There's the lush beauty of Hyrule's fields and forest, the dark, foreboding atmosphere elsewhere. I've watched the trailer over and over, and that image of Ganon's army rising for battle over the hill, the sun blazing in the background with gorgeous use of heat waves is the one which has been seared into the back of my head. This is so far away from a young boy trying to save his little sister and waving goodbye to his granny. Link has grown up. That boy is gone, leaving a true warrior in his place. A warrior who will ride into battle alone to strike the face of evil and protect his unspoiled land. This is about more than a quest. This is about war. Real, proper Good vs Evil slugouts. Thanks to the new visual look and darker concept, Zelda is likely to become Gamecube's much-needed selling title. We know it will be great, now the massmarket can find that out for themselves.

This new confidence is clear. The greatest symbol of this new attitude is, of course, the Reggie man himself, Nintendo's new Director of Communications (PR). The man has become a celebrity overnight, with many dubbing Nintendo's apparent revivial the 'Reggie-lution'. It's all pretty hilarious, but there is a point to it. Few Nintendo PR guys have been as emotive and enthusiastic as Reggie, and his speech at E3 ("I'm here to kick ass and take names, and we're here to make games.") has become part of Nintendo lore. Could you honestly image Nintendo saying something like that, say, under Hiroshi Yamauchi? And the thing was, it wasn't naff, because they had the games to back it up.

But Nintendo's coup de grace at E3 was the DS, the most exciting console to come out of Kyoto in years. Even I was a little bit skeptical about the DS beforehand, but find myself absolutely convinced of its worth. It's just...brilliant. And this is from a guy who has only viewed screens and read impressions. I don't need to play it to know it's daring and bold and absolutely bloody brilliant. It's a reminder why Nintendo is the best developer in the industry, and more times than not are at the forefront of gaming innovation. Could Sony do this with their handheld? Could they what - the best that can be said about the PSP is that it can play games and movies, at good visual quality. I was semi-excited about the PSP before E3, but now it just looks pedestrian in comparison with the DS. The DS is changing the way we play games and allowing developers to do new things with their software; measured against that, most things seem ordinary.

Before E3 the DS was just 'the handheld with two screens'. But it has grown out of that gimmick, into a new kind of handheld. The different functions of it are individually pleasing, but together stellar. I'm very excited about the ways the touchscreen could be used in games, in particular with the ideas shown in the baby Mario tech demo on show, where players had to draw obstacles to manoeuvre the falling infant into the paths of coins and away from enemies. The idea of gamers using the stylus to forge their own gaming environments in such a physical way offers so many possibilities. Wireless multiplayer is a neat idea, as I've always disliked the fiddly nature of link cables, and the alert which appears when someone else's DS is within a acceptable distance is a terrific idea. Imagine sitting on the bus, train or plane playing some Metroid when a message appears from a guy at the back, challenging you to a deathmatch game. This breaks down all kinds of barriers, and is such an ingenius idea you wonder why no-one has thought of it yet.

Online play is hugely promising, if pulled off right. It's ironic that Nintendo are pushing ahead with it on the DS, considering the flak they've got for their reluctance to explore it on their home consoles, and it's an encouraging sign from the Big N. Given the mobile aspect, online gaming is arguably more preferable on a handheld than a home console. We do need more details though, but for now it remains a hugely intriguing option, which could become the console's selling point. The more attention paid to Wi-Fi play, the better, as it could be very beneficial for gaming. Finally, the recent threat to Nintendo's DS profits is bad news, but it's encouraging that Nintendo are willing to take a risk on it, hopefully meaning they're beginning to come out of their conservative shell.

It's difficult to see how people could've been disheartened with Nintendo a couple of weeks ago, given the new zest of life they seem to have acquired. Nintendo never cease to amaze me - when you think they're down they pull off something like this. What's the most hopeful thing about the whole episode is that Nintendo are finally beginning to realise just how good they can be. They're beginning to realise they don't have to sit in Sony and Microsoft's shadow and take abuse from the gaming public. They are Nintendo. The gaming industry would be dramatically worse off without them, and the DS shows why. In the current climate of 'bigger, faster, better' hardware, Nintendo have made clear they're not going to play their rivals' game. They're here to push gaming forward, kick ass and take names. It looks like they've regained the gutsy to do exactly that.

Call me premature, but it looks like Nintendo's fortunes could change soon. If not, it wouldn't be for lack of deserving it.