It’s tough to gauge what the tone of E3 is going to be this year, since it feels like the show is starting over from scratch. Will it be as expansive and over-the-top as E3s past, will it be more restrained, or will it be somewhere in between? It’d hard to say, but one thing I’m sure of is that Nintendo will once again be treating it as a platform to speak to all gamers. Their E3 2008 press conference was clearly aimed at the mainstream market, much to the chagrin of the enthusiast press. I think this year’s press conference will be sure to have a little something for everybody, which means trailers and demonstrations of games that speak to both casual and hardcore audiences.

I expect Nintendo to push Wii MotionPlus in a big way at the show, with a large amount of floor space in their booth devoted to games that utilize it. In addition to Sega and EA’s tennis games and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, I’m sure that Red Steel 2 will be on the floor as well. I also think that there will be one or two surprise Wii MotionPlus games revealed in playable form, with one of them being developed by Retro Studios (and I don't mean Metroid Prime Trilogy). We’ll also see a sequel to Wii Fit and a new console Zelda game announced for release this Christmas. Some of Nintendo’s largest console development teams have been curiously silent for too long, and we’re sure to see the fruits of their labor this holiday season.

On the handheld side, I’m not expecting any major announcements (there’s no way Nintendo will steal the DSi’s recent thunder by announcing a new portable), but we’ll definitely get hands-on with huge upcoming titles like Dragon Quest IX, Mario & Luigi 3, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. The Nintendo DS sales train shows no sign of slowing down, so we’ll see some major first and third-party game announcements too. I also think we’ll see major third-parties like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft begin to embrace DSiWare, by announcing a slew of titles for the service. It’ll be more good news for Nintendo DS owners, that’s for sure.

My only wish for E3 2009 is that all of our staffers have a great time at the show, especially those that are attending for the first time. I won’t be able to be there, but don’t feel too bad for me since I’ll be kicking back for a week in the Caribbean on my honeymoon. We have a large NWR contingent attending this year, which means we’ll have great coverage and some kick-ass pictures for you guys to enjoy. We’re all stoked and can’t wait for the show to start!