We Nintendo fans have a tendecy to overreact sometimes. Well, less of a tendecy, more of a natural instinct.

So, naturally, when Nintendo turns up a pretty lacklustre performance at E3, after all the waiting and anticipating and optimism that goes with it, Nintendophiles get pretty angry. Not all of us obviously, some have managed to remain level-headed about the whole thing. But there have been those that flooded our message boards with claims of Nintendo's demise, of Gamecube's ruin, of ditching Nintendo for a PS2 or Xbox. Apparently, Gamecube has no good games coming out for it. Yes, apparently EAD are just sitting about on their asses all day. And apparently, no Zelda game will ever be good again because two Zelda mini-games Nintendo showed were pieces of crap. It's all news to me.

Okay, let's get one thing straight; E3 is just a show. Yes, it's normally the biggest few days in the gaming calendar, and an event of big importance to the console-makers, but it is just one show. E3 is not a window to everything developers are working on, it isn't the be-all and end-all of gaming, it's not a fountain of wisdom granting knowledge of everything that's happening in the industry. As one N-Sider forumgoer so rightly remarked, gamers can find it hard to see outside E3, like a child who knows only the small world around him, not the wider one out there. While we used to be able to use E3 as a guide of sorts for the year ahead, it's increasingly becoming a closed affair. A disappointing line-up wasn't exclusive to Nintendo though, Sony and Micrsoft both had a pretty average shows, albeit with a few stunners in the mix (Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 come to find).

But lets ponder one thing; would E3 have been such a disappointment if Nintendo had've kept the unveilings of Mario Kart, Pikmin 2 and Metal Gear Solid until then? Hell no. It seems that Nintendo are unfortunately listening to complaints about their famed secrecy. I for one dislike this transparency, and prefer the good old days when tip-lipping was Ninty's traditional policy. At least then we had some good surprises at E3. Yes, we had some surprises at E3. But mostly, they weren't very encouraging ones. I'm not going to dwell on the subject, but those two Zelda games are a joke, and don't deserve the precious franchise. Sure, we can wait until we learn more about them, but it's nigh on impossible they'll turn out anything but dire. My apathy is shared with this gimmicky GC-GBA connectivity/multiplayer focus. For that's all it is; a gimmick. And it doesn't deserve the time of Nintendo's developers when they could be working on something more important. Like making the coffee.

However, the more cynical of us have lept on these obvious failings, and ignored the positive points of the show. There was the highly-promising Geist, Custom Robo, Mario Kart (which loks brilliant fun), Pikmin 2 and some on MGS and the next Metroid Prime. Nintendo seem to taking a more aggressive stance in regards to Gamecube's successor, determined to launch early while doing their own thing. I for one am totally happy with this. Yes, it means a short life for Gamecube, but it's a worthy sacrifice if Nintendo aren't to repeat the mistakes they made with the N64 and GC.

But some people seem to think that this, coupled with the unexciting E3 performance, means there's nothing left in Gamecube, that Nintendo have given up and we should all be discarding our purple cubes to the trade-in booth at out local games store. To them I say; riddle me this - which console will see Skies of Arcada, one of the best RPG's of recent times, Splinter Cell, the fantastic Viewtiful Joe, XIII, F-Zero, Mario Kart: Double Dash (a game that looks set to be the best multiplayer game in a while), Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid, Harvest Moon, Pikmin 2, Soul Calibur 2 (probably the greatest 3D beat-em-up ever) between now and Christmas? Gamecube, that's what. And which console will see Metroid prime 2, Rogue Squadron 3, Animal Crossing 2, Resident Evil 4, Unity, Billy Thatcher, Skies of Arcadia 2, the last Phantasy Star game, and a bunch of other geat games in the future? Yep, you guessed it; Gamecube. And that's only the announced games.

Where's EAD on that list you ask? Look to Spaceworld I say. There's got to be one. Obviously Nintendo have got games under development at home, I really don't think that much of their efforts are being channeled towards the next console, like they're just ignoring Gamecube or whatever. But who knows why they didn't showcase them at E3. Probably could've stolen the show. Oh well. It's just one show. One bad E3 does not suddenly make Gamecube obselete. It does not magically make all the great games we know, and don't know, are coming disappear. The great games are still coming, E3 doesn't change that.

Yes, E3 wasn't very exciting. Get over it. When passion boils into extreme cynicism, just don't lose your head with apocalyptic warnings. There's still life left in your Gamecube, a bad four days for Nintendo doesn't change that. So everyone, just calm down.

-By Conor