LIVE: Welcome to the Nintendo E3 Conference 2006! We provide the minute-by-minute analysis inside!

6.40PM: Reggie says Nintendo is a company that doesn't run from risk - something that he says both the Wii and the DS are. Again, the "playing is believing" moniker is talked about, as Reggie closes the show from the Kodak theatre. No Smash Bros. then, but some great footage of Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Disruption, along with Twilight Princess and plenty of other Wii goodies. Thanks for joining us, and make sure you stick around for all our E3 coverage during the week!

6.34PM: The AOL prize-winners are talked about - the final three of them are in the audience. The grand-prize winner is going to be the first member of the public to play Wii, live on stage. Shigsy comes out, to demonstrate the Tennis WiiSports title - it is just as if the controller were a racket, the various types of shots that can be performed. The winner is announced as... Scott Dyer, who looks mildly pleased as he gets on stage. He and Shigsy play Tennis against each other, along with Reggie and Iwata to play doubles. Reggie says he can take the names and Iwata will make the games - Iwata says yes, that is indeed his job. The audience laughs. One of the on-screen Tennis players has Iwata's head - another has Reggie's, and a third has Shigsy's. Reggie and Iwata loses to Shigsy and Scott, and demands a "Wii-match". The audience gets really involved as all the Nintendo personalities get into the game, launching themselves around the stage!

6.30PM: WiiSports is announced - it will include the tennis, golf and baseball games we've seen already - all in one package. It will be a launch title.

6.29PM: WiiConnect24 is announced - the console can sit in standby mode using the same power as a miniature light-bulb. This means the console can stay connected to the Internet - allowing new content to be downloaded while you sleep. Animal Crossing Wii is highlighted - you will be able to visit other people's towns while their Wii's are in this mode!

6.23PM: Satoru Iwata takes the stage, saying that since he became President, he has always tried to reach more people who don't currently play gamers - non-gamers and lapsed-gamers - people who used to play. Re-inventing the console-to-player interface was integral to this, he says. The DS, Touch Generations etc. are all part of this. The Wii-mote will break down the barrier. Older gamers remember simple games, something Nintendo want to re-capture. He mentions frustrating game-loading times, saying when he plays games he gets frustrated if he has to wait - the DS's open/close sleep function combats this. But how will the Wii help solve this problem for the mass market? The Wii will be able to load Virtual Console games or content via a web-browser in just a few seconds.

6.15PM: George Harrison takes the stage, to talk about the DS. The handheld is part of Nintendo's pattern of destructing gameplay. Commenting on the PSP, he said the battle in the portable market was as always based on software, and that the DS had really 'new' titles. 16 million units have been sold in about 18 months. The PSP has sold millions less. Nintendogs has reached six million in sales, and 1.3 million users have clocked up 40+ million gameplay sessions on the Wi-Fi Connection in six months. Brain Age is doing well in America - 120,000+ units plus since launch. The Touch Generations range is mentioned - with Sudoku, etc. Yoshi, Starfox, Diddy Kong titles are on the way for DS. Final Fantasy III and Downhill Jam footage is shown, both looking great. Downhill Jam will feature VoIP chat. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is confirmed as the sequel to Wind Waker - and footage we've seen before is shown. 100 new games will be released this year. Touch-screen Arwing battles are shown on Starfox DS. Also shown: Elite Beat Agents, Yoshi's Island 2 featuring various Baby Nintendo characters, and Diddy Kong racing looking a lot like Mario Kart. Mario Vs. DK March of the Minis - a new puzzle title.

6.13PM: Two Ubisoft guys are on, talking about the Wii-exclusive launch title Red Steel. Set in both the US and Japan, this means you have to learn two styles of fighting. Nunchuck used to aim and shoot. Doors can be opened by a natural movement with the wii-mote. "It feels like you are in the screen.. you are in the game," the Ubisoft presenter said, as cars are shot out and real-time physics are shown. The game looks very tasty indeed. Neon signs are shot out as more explosions rocket nearby. You'll be able to pinpoint specific areas on enemies to attack, for lethal or non-lethal combat. Water tanks are shot out - the glass explodes into a million pieces as the water pours out. Very impressive graphics. Two samurai-sword gameplay is shown, the title will be playable tomorrow on the floor.

6.06PM: Brief news on already-known third-party titles. They say around 27 Wii titles will be playable tomorrow, though how many will be at the console's launch is not going to be revealed. More will be on-show at E3 in video-form only. The 27 titles do not include Virtual Console games.

6.05PM:New first-party franchises - Excite Truck will feature the terrain deforming against you in real-time. Project H.A.M.M.E.R. is a new title feature hammer-em-up gameplay, and Disaster: Day of Crisis is an adult looking game featuring an erupting volcano.

6.04PM: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the new name for MP3, and is shown along with Super Mario Galaxy again. Swinging your hand will bat away objects, allow you to grab stars, and more!

6.01PM: Lots more Zelda footage - the game looks amazingly smooth and detailed, and the controls seem to fit perfectly - with a blend of button-pressing and wii-mote waving. The demo stops at the dungeon's boss door. Fishing in-game is confirmed as using the wii-mote. Twilight Princess will launch on the same day as the Wii, in two versions - Wii and GameCube!

5.54PM: Zelda is the best in the series so far, and the most beautiful. It will be available at the systme's launch. Two Nintendo of America guys, Nate and Bill, show off the controls on Wii. Movement is used via the Nunchuck's analogue, targeting via Z-button, and items via the D-pad. Navi shows where you are pointing, like a cursor. We're shown round a sort of mine-level, and shooting via the Wii-remote's pointer. Targeting and camera is all realistic, as the camera zooms in so the player can take a shot. The Wii remote's speaker is shown, as the bow is fired and the sound-depth can be heard as the arrow hisses into the chest of your enemy. Basic sword-play is via the B-button, though flicking the controller up makes Link shove the enemy with his shield, felt via the controller's rumble feature. You can also use it throw things - ie. crates and jars. The nun-chuck is confirmed as having motion-sensor too. Link will have iron-boots again, which is shown to allow him to hang upside down on an electro-magnetic plate.

5.52PM: More footage. Metroid Prime 3, Dragon Ball, a Fire Emblem Wii title, Spongebob, Super Mario Galaxy, a new title called Necro-Nisia from Spike, Elebits from Konami, Red Steel, Rayman Raving Rabbids from Ubisoft, a Dragon Ball title from Atari, Super Swing Golf from Tangyo, Sonic Wild from Sega, Project HAMMER, a horse-racing game, One Piece Grand Aventure, Madden from EA, Crystal Chronicles, and more. The big news again - Super Mario Galaxy is the new name for Mario 128!

5.51PM: Reggie thanks everyone who thought the Wii name was good when they heard it - both of them! He explains that the Wii name is new, and the sound of the future. It has to be different. He promises third-party stuff coming up.

5.46PM: Reggie compares the Wii to the previously suspect ideas of the DS, and Nintendogs. He promises answers today to many questions, but not all. He says that we must use our left-brain, as well as our right, and that the industry not changing will be fatal. Reggie says definitive pricing and date details will not be revealed, though players will be playing it Q4 2006.

5:40PM: We have the first footage of next-gen Mario as the demo continues. He's jumping by using the rev-mote to direct, and taking on some giant boss surrounded by lava and jumping up an inverted cliff to collect coins. Followed by shots of a flying game and Metroid Prime 3. The graphics look stunning. Wario Ware Wii is also shown, along with more sports-based titles, including baseball. Twilight Princess is also shown, using the controller to aim the bow. The video ends with "Wii: 2006".

5.39PM: Reggie takes the stage. He claims that Nintendo is not just "next-gen", but new. No longer having to just play games standardly. Playing is believing, he says, as the Wii trailer we've all seen online which then turns into new footage - the tennis game, a golfing title, and the orchestral title that Shigsy was playing earlier. How fast you move the controller dictates the speed of the music.

5.38PM: Still dressed as a conductor, Shigsy and another are now playing a racing game, and then Red Steel to more music. Awesome stuff.

5.36PM: The camera pans round as the sounds of an orchestra start. Miyamoto walks on the stage holding a Wii-mote as an orchestral baton, conducting a 3D orchestra in the background in real-time. They're playing the Zelda theme!

5.31PM: The scheduled start time has come and gone, though these things never begin on-time. Let's just hope Nintendo don't keep us waiting as long as Sony did last night...

5.20PM: We're all waiting for the conference to start. A Nintendo test-card is being shown, along with some porno-style background music.