Nintendo chose to hold their post-E3 games tour in a discreet, underground club tucked away in the middle of Soho. Not the kind of place many people would like to find themselves after a night on the town, but I was there nonetheless � chatting with the PR reps, helping myself to the free food and drink, and playing the games Nintendo showcased in Los Angeles. An overweight fanboy's wet dream. With the company touting innovation as the only way forward for the industry, it was very interesting to sample their vision for the future of videogames.

Ugh. Innovation. I'm starting to hate the word. Everywhere I turn, I see die-hard Nintendo followers holding the DS as an example of how innovative and brilliant Nintendo are, and how the competition is a waste of time because, ooh, guess what, the DS is innovative and everything else isn't. Most of them can't even spell 'innovation', and yet they would follow Nintendo to hell and back for the sake of it.

Granted, the DS certainly has some quirky, unusual titles that have caught my interest. The likes of Phoenix Wright, Trauma Center and other such idiosyncratic games were highly entertaining, but the demos failed to hold my attention for more than twenty minutes each � because there was a DS game there that managed to eclipse all the others through pure entertainment value alone. And guess what that was?

New Super Mario Bros. The title is an irony in itself, because it uses the same formula that's been around since the NES. The same gameplay mechanics we have been used to for years and years, with the action taking place on one screen (gasp!). The touch screen was relegated to power-ups, not some overwhelmingly original, unprecedented gameplay mechanic. It was refreshing to play � not because it was new, but because it was old. It was a return to the simple genius of past Mario games, the simple genius we all love about Nintendo. Out of place among the plethora of original titles on the DS, but at home among the hearts of all long-term Nintendo fans.

There were plenty of GameCube games too - and I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear that I gave Zelda: Twilight Princess the most attention. It's one of the most anticipated games of the year, and it was certainly the most entertaining at the event.

But think about that for a moment. The most anticipated title from Nintendo, the company striving to push their inventive, original titles to the limelight, is a game based on a franchise that has been around for eighteen years. Using gameplay mechanics that have been around since 1998. The game Nintendo are really pushing is a game from one of their oldest franchises, rather than some all new, creative concept from Shigeru Miyamoto. A game based around traditional ideas and structure was played the most, while more unusual titles like Chibi Robo were relegated to the corner, avoided by most. If we are really supporting Nintendo's push for original games, why weren't we queuing up for that instead?

And to cap it all, I left the event largely impressed with the demonstration of Nintendo's new hardware � the GBA Micro. Five year old technology that has been given yet another makeover in an attempt to make it just like fashion accessories like the iPod. Hardly a 'new' Game Boy, and yet the way they had adapted the old ideas was more impressive than the brand new games on display.

Make no mistake: I'm all for innovation in the games industry. But if any company knows about recycling old ideas and making them feel like new, it's Nintendo - the alleged masters of creativity.

Now, who's up for some Mario Party 6?

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