As you may recall, back in June was this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (also, more commonly known as "E3"). A number of forthcoming games for Wii and Nintendo DS were announced, as well as the unveiling of the first Eighth Generation console, the Nintendo 3DS.
Some people might argue, "No, it's not the Eighth Generation -- it looks practically the same as the Nintendo DS Lite, but with a wider upper screen and a thumbstick, it's backwards compatible with DS games and with the DSi Shop, and it has 'DS' in the name."
All of these statements are true (except, perhaps, the DSi Shop one... no one really knows at this stage). However, all who saw the 3DS testimonials and the interview with Miyamoto-san from E3 will know that the 3DS has an enormous number of technological advancements, relative to its predecessor, the Nintendo DSi.
Apart from having a new menu screen and a pair of cameras, DSi was identical in technology to the DS Lite, which was a condensed version of the Nintendo DS. Still very much a Seventh-Generation device.
However, the 3DS will have a thumbstick (akin to the "controller nub" on Sony's PSP), video-recording capabilities, new games which will not be compatible with previous DS models, and (the star of our show) the 3D display. All the glitz of 3D films, but without the glasses. Definitely an Eighth-Generation device. But, I digress.
Somewhere on the order of thirty-five new games were unveilled at E3 as well, intended for the aging Seventh Generation consoles. In particular, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, GoldenEye 007, The Sims 3, Epic Mickey, Metroid: Other M, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii.
Well, a fair amount of time has passed since E3. Enough time, some would speculate, for the design and programming crews to finish their work on these games. This has proven to be the case on many of the E3 games. Metroid and Kirby have been released now. Toys R' Us claims an in-store stocking date of November the 2nd and 9th for GoldenEye and The Sims 3, respectively. Nintendo's website returns a release date of November 21st and 30th for Donkey Kong and Mickey, respectively.
Fortunately, no further information on the subject of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been provided. "Fortunately?" Yes, for those who don't think Wii has overstayed its welcome just yet. As I mentioned on that entry of mine back in July, the trend over the past two generations has been to release two Zelda games per console. DS has had its games: Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Wii has had only one thus far: Twilight Princess. When Skyward Sword is released, Wii will be living on borrowed time.
Of course, there is no cardinal set of rules governing when gaming consoles will be obsolete. That's entirely up to the crew who work on the new consoles. Wii could have ten more Zeldas released for it before the "Nintendo 512" comes out. If the crew needs more time to shoehorn all that technology into less real-estate, Wii could last until 2020 (an unprecedented lifespan for a gaming console, of course -- 14 years). Then again, Nintendo could announce Wii's successor at E3 2011 and release it a month later.
The point is, Nintendo is highly unpredictable in this field. Looking at "typical" stuff, ever since Super Mario World, there has been only one Mario platformer per console. Wii has had two: Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 (an exception, I guess, would be Super Mario Land and Six Golden Coins on the original Game Boy -- both are platformers). Nintendo could surprise everyone yet again with a third Zelda. We just really don't know.
All we do know is that the Nintendo 3DS inches ever closer to completion. Anticipated games are being released like bullets from a Gatling gun. The Eighth Generation is upon us!
